The run-up to Friday's famous cross-town rivalry would not be complete without a little reflection and philosophizing from the head coaches.
The head coaches of Arkansas High and Texas High were the much anticipated program at Thursday's Wilbur Smith Rotary Club noon meeting at Northridge Country Club in Texarkana.
The heated rivalry dates back more than 100 years and in years past attracted regional and national attention.
THS coach Gerry Stanford said this was about the seventh program the two coaches had appeared at this week.
He talked about the value of education and sports in education.
"Sports is one of the last frontiers that teaches what real character is. There are not a lot of things in this world that can teach you how to get up when you get knocked down. In athletics that allows you to learn what life is really about," Stanford said. "That's what this game is all about. Somebody is going to win and somebody is going to lose. And out of that competition somebody's learning how to get back up and somebody is going to learn how to handle success and how to move on and be humble within that success."
He said there are very few things that can teach you those things within a 48-minute span.
AHS coach Barry Norton said this time of year resonates with him.
"I just like football. I like football practice. I just like everything it entails," he said. "So this time of year is always special. It really is. It's like a new beginning; it's almost like a new year, for me, and for a football coach. January 1st doesn't mean much. August 1st does. When you start fall camp everybody has the exact same record, and everybody has the exact same hopes and dreams."
Norton said his players have worked extremely hard and spent all spring and summer in the weight room "trying to get as big and strong and fast as we possibly could."
He called his team inexperienced. "I think we have some talent. I think we have some kids that can do some things, they've just never done it," he said. "Our job as coaches is to get them there, to make sure we get them to be the best that they can possibly be."
The annual Arkansas High/Texas High Football game is at 7 p.m. at Arkansas High School's Razorback Stadium. A full house is expected. More often than not it is delivered.