MINERAL SPRINGS, Ark.-The Mineral Springs Hornets (1-5, 1-2) are on the heels of a rivalry win against Dierks a week ago, 40-22.
"That was a big win for our kids," Mineral Springs head football coach David Bennett said. "We won the Howard County Cup and I believe that's the first time we've won since 2012.
If you go years back, Murfreesboro and Mineral Springs have always had competitive games. Both of us have struggled this year but I don't think that will change this rivalry. It's a great rivalry game and I'm expecting a good, hard fought game Friday."
Senior Octavion Ceaser and junior Peyton Haddan have led the Hornets under center in their dual-quarterback system Bennett has implemented.
"Both of our quarterbacks have played well for us this season," Bennett said. "We have packages where we split Octavion at receiver and it works well for us. Peyton has thrown the ball well for us. Octavion was injured earlier in the season, so we went more with Peyton but both have played well for us this season."
The Hornets have a triple-headed monster in the backfield with junior Tahji Beal, senior Rickey Walker and sophomore Ladarrius Hicks.
"All three of those guys have done a good job for us this season in our offense," Bennett said.
Mineral Springs defense which has given up 198 points this season, is led by Beal, Walker and Ceasar.
"Raheem Brown and Peter Alexander have had a good season for us defensively," Bennett said. "Our defense has struggled at times but we are getting better as the season goes along."
Although the season is at its midway point, last week's win put the Hornets in contention for a playoff spot.