If Coal Grove is playing Fairland, there’s a pretty good chance points will be scored.

In the past two seasons since Dave Lucas has returned to coach the Hornets and Brent Wilcoxon has taken over Fairland, the two teams have put nearly 200 points on the scoreboard.

In 2004, Coal Grove went nearly the length of the field with less than a minute to play and won 42-41.

Last season, another clutch scoring drive late in the game lifted the Hornets (3-2) over the Dragons 52-50.

Even though Fairland is 0-5, Lucas doesn’t see much changing.

“They’re explosive. They have some pretty good kids. They haven’t put anything together, but they’re certainly capable,” Lucas said.

“It’s always a good ball game. We don’t anticipate it being anything but a good ball game.”

Fairland coach Brent Wilcoxon is also expecting a similar Coal Grove team as Ohio Valley Conference play gets underway.

“They’re big and strong and they have a running back with some speed which is an element they didn’t have last year,” Wilcoxon said.

“We’re worried about their power game, but they’re also a little more diverse. The quarterback (Eric Davidson) has a good arm.”

Lucas said the key player in the Dragons offense is quarterback Cole Hatfield and receivers Jake Lucas and Michael Lamb.

“They have some really good talent. They’ve had two good quarterbacks the last two years. This quarterback is young but he has a lot of potential,” coach Lucas said.

Fairland has been using the single-wing offense this season along with the spread. Lucas knows about the single-wing since he spent some time at the start of his career as an assistant at Fairland when coach Jim Mayo used the single-wing exclusively.

“I’m pretty familiar. I coached at Fairland when Jim Mayo ran the single-wing, so I know what to do,” Lucas said.

Lucas and Wilcoxon see different keys to winning the game.

“There are two things we have to do. Number one, we have to stop them and, number two, we have to hang onto the ball,” Lucas said.

Wilcoxon said the Dragons “have to execute and we have to cut out our mistakes. When we have a chance to score, we have to punch it in.”