Will Tyler Kacmarynski and the Tigers be ringing the victory bell tonight in Spencer?

One of the biggest games of the year, and one of the oldest rivalries in the state takes place in Week 1.

Spencer owns a two-game winning streak in the rivalry after watching the E-Hawks reel off four straight wins from 2002-05. The Tigers ended a 15-year road losing streak to Emmetsburg in '06 with a 21-0 win before knocking off the E-Hawks 22-21 at Dale Norton Field last season.

Emmetsburg finished the '07 season 5-4 overall, 4-3 in Class 2A District 2, missing the playoffs after 24 straight trips.

"I think they still played well. Just like any program, they maybe just didn't have the state championship caliber team, but after watching some tape, it looks like they might be heading back to that," said Spencer head coach Jim Tighe, whose Tigers finished 7-2, 5-2 in Class 3A District 1.

Emmetsburg's running game suffered in the '06 loss, falling short of 60 yards after the Tigers held the E-Hawks to negative yards in the second half. The E-Hawks were closer to typical form in last season's loss, running for 194 yards.

"They're very physical, they've got some tough running backs and they're very big up front," Tighe said of the E-Hawks. "They've got a strong senior group back, but one of their better classes is their current juniors.

"They'll run their power offense," Tighe added. "And they'll use different formations, making subtle changes to get a numbers edge."

Spencer put up back-to-back 200-yard rushing games in its consecutive victories over the E-Hawks and added 200 combined yards through the air, passing for 163 yards in '07.

Spencer will look to its top returning rusher, junior Skylaur Konrady, and its offensive line to set the tone Friday. The Tigers will start Tyler Kacmarynski, Zach Van Wettering, Cody Rolfes, Taylor Allen and Matt Larson up front, from right to left.

"Skylaur's moving to fullback, so he'll take over for Eric Norgaard," Tighe said of Konrady. "He's going to be a different runner than Norgaard, probably more of a darter whereas Eric just ran guys over. He's looked good in practice, I'm looking forward to seeing him live.

"We're not going to be as big as last year on the offensive line, but we will be quicker," Tighe added.

The Tigers' biggest hurdle will be overcoming Emmetsburg's size as Spencer looks to take its third straight game from the E-Hawks, who shifted to Class 1A for the first time this year.

"They're going to be very physical defensively. They're bigger than us. Their size does concern us, but we're built on smaller, quicker linemen," Tighe commented. "The big thing is I think we can rotate more bodies in. Hopefully we can keep our guys fresher."

Even against the 1A school, the physically smaller Tigers seem to be looking more like David than Goliath. But that's a role these Tigers already seem accustomed to.

"I don't think a lot of people are looking at us as contending. That's fine. We don't mind that role," Tighe said. "We know that if we take care of what we can control, those things will fall into place. We stress worrying about ourselves and getting better every day."

Opening kick is set for 7:30 p.m. at Dale Norton Field.

Outstanding Offense

Spencer

Featuring a wishbone offense, the Tigers have shown their potential to be offensively versatile over the past two season. As a run-first team, Spencer has managed to throw for more than 550 yards in each of the last two seasons. But the Tigers' bread-and-butter remains the ground game, which has produced seven 300-yard rushers over the last two seasons, including a 1,000-yard back in 2007. Junior Skylaur Konrady, an All-District Honorable Mention last year, takes over as the Tigers' featured option after running for 322 yards (8.4 per carry) as a sophomore.

Okoboji

The Pioneers were extremely versatile in 2007, boasting a pair of 500-yard rushers and a quarterback who threw for nearly 900 yards. Okoboji returns its quarterback, its leading rusher and its leading receiver from a year ago. Max Burgeson averaged 6.5 yards per carry, rolling up 840 yards and nine touchdowns, while wide receiver Blake Kliegl caught 24 passes for 378 yards and six scores. Ryan Wurtz was 81-of-132 passing for 897 yards and six touchdowns. "We need to be patient and take what comes to us or what the defense gives and not put undo pressure on ourselves," said Okoboji head coach Travis Schipper. "Ideally, in any game, we would like to be balanced in our attack. We believe that we should be able to do one or the other against a defense, and we just have to be patient and take what the defense gives us.

Sioux Central

Two-time All-State wide receiver Trevor Tiefenthaler carried the load for the young Rebels during his junior campaign, catching 44 passes for 589 yards and seven touchdowns. Tiefenthaler, the school record holder in nearly all receiving categories, shifts to quarterback where Sioux Central hopes he can help revive the running game.

Clay Central-Everly

The Mavericks proved to be nearly unstoppable on the ground during stretches of the 2007 season, averaging nearly 250 yards rushing and more than 20 points in their final eight games. CC-E returns its two leading rushers in Kasey Kunzmann, who put up 787 yards and three touchdowns, and fullback Lance Englert, who carried for 465 yards and six scores. "Our backs are definitely our strength. They've got the experience -- all three of them started the bulk of last season. Athletically, they're a strong group," said CC-E head coach Kevin Fahnlander.

Ruthven-Ayrshire

Under first-year coach Luke Miller and featuring a team filled with more size and strength than the Raiders have seen over the past two years, Ruthven-Ayrshire expects to be more capable offensively despite a strong district. The Raiders will start a versatile quarterback in Brad Geelan, and will lean heavily on halfbacks Kyle Simington and Shawn Molitor. "We're just going to work on the same fundamentals we've been working on in practice. We've got a big strong line that we're looking to take advantage of," said Ruthven-Ayrshire head coach Luke Miller.

Coach'sNotes

Spencer

"The biggest thing, if we're going to compete with Emmetsburg, we can't beat ourselves with foolish penalties. We've got to control the ball on offense and keep them off the field."

- Tigers head coach Jim Tighe

Okoboji

"The keys for us to this game are to limit mistakes. Last year we had some mistakes that really hurt us -- like turnovers and penalties. We will have to limit those if we want to change the outcome this year."

- Pioneers head coach Travis Schipper

Clay Central-Everly

"We can't give up the big play. We need to be in the right place at all times. With our lack of experience, it doesn't matter how good of an athlete you are or how good of a hitter you are, you have to be in the right place to stop the big play."

- Mavericks head coach Kevin Fahnlander

Ruthven-Ayrshire

"What we want to accomplish is to be able to be competitive in each and every game. We're working on building up the kids' confidence. That confidence is huge. The team's got to learn to win."

- Raiders head coach Luke Miller