When Herbert Hoover and Winfield's football teams take the field against one another, it's normally a spirited game.
Now, both sides will try to get the edge over the other come Friday night at Generals Stadium in Winfield.
Herbert Hoover coach Joey Fields wants to see more fight out of his group, while Winfield coach Eddie Smolder hopes the Generals grow from a Week 1 victory over Lincoln County, 55-8.
The Huskies are coming off a close loss to the Independence Patriots in Coal City last week, 37-34.
Fields has had some time to watch the tape, and he just wants to see some more fight from Hoover this week.
"We had a horrible week of practice last week," Fields said. "We told them everything we were worried about, and that showed up. We didn't play well. We have a little problem right now, which is, do our guys care? We're trying to find the ones that have a care factor and get those guys in more."
Fields didn't mince words regarding whether or not he's seeing a more spirited Huskies group in preparing for Winfield.
"Not much, and it's concerning," Fields said. "We got seniors, who were once freshmen, that haven't lost a lot and played in two state title games. Then, we got some guys that came in who were very good players, but where they came from, they've mostly lost. I was worried about us losing. I'm not sure it's affecting us the way it probably should be, with the urgency to get better and fixed.
"These guys want to be good as a team and individually -- which is great; however, you gotta go out and do your job. If you continue to do your job, you'll find wins and everything else takes care of itself. I don't know if we completely realize that or not."
The Generals, on the flip side, aim to avenge a 29-15 loss in Elkview last season.
Winfield totaled 333 yards of offense in its opener against the Panthers, with 170 through the air and 163 on the ground.
"Our kids played hard, smart and together last week. That's the most important thing," Smolder said. "Once we get out there, that's what we stress, and that's how we practice. We spend all this time in the offseason preparing for this.
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"I thought offensively we executed well and, defensively, we swarmed good. We still got a lot of things to work on. That's what we've been focusing on this week, which is correcting our mistakes."
Smolder noted that the corrections are occurring with technique and fundamentals, in hopes to help in the Cardinal Conference matchup against the Huskies.
"They've got a good football team, like they have been the last four years I've been here," Smolder said of Hoover. "It's our most important game for us because it's the only game. It's the only game we get to play this week. Every week and day is the most important.
"We stress to our kids that yesterday's history and tomorrow's a mystery. Today's a gift from God. That's why they call it the present."
Fields has had his fair share of success against Winfield, winning three games against the Generals.
The sixth-year Hoover coach sees a hungry Winfield team waiting.
"They're a motivated group that's a good football team that plays hard, as always," Fields said. "They make you earn everything on both sides of the ball. They give you some matchup problems. They played well from what I saw in their scrimmages against Woodrow Wilson and Mingo Central, then obviously last week against Lincoln County.
"It's going to be challenging for us to go on the road and try to win. We have to play hard and find a way to win this ball game."
Smolder looks for Winfield to focus on itself this week and being the best it can be.
"We're mostly focused on ourselves and how we can handle certain situations," Smolder said. "We're focusing on personnel groupings, along with our defensive checks. Offensively, we're more focused on our execution and formations. Our blocking schemes and executing off that have been key as well."
The Generals and Huskies have split the last six meetings. Winfield leads the all-time series 10-5.
