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Prep Football Week 5 Previews: Eldorado squares off against Hamilton Co. in Rivalry Week; Bulldogs travel to Massac Co.

By MICHAEL DANN

mdann@dailyregister.com

ELDORADO - There are always three things you can count on in life: Death, Taxes and Week 5 in the Black Diamond Conference being Rivalry Week.

For Eldorado, that means a road game to nearby McLeansboro and a matchup against winless Hamilton County.

Under first year Jeff Rush, the Foxes have allowed 116 points per game and have lost seven straight to the Eagles, including back-to-back shutouts the last two season.

Eldorado head coach Joe Clark calls the week "unique."

"This week is usually homecoming for a lot of schools and it's also the midpoint of the regular season. By now, a lot of coaches have a pretty good idea what their football team is, but the Hamilton County and Eldorado game always has some bitterness to it. It's just far enough away where you do't have a lot of the personal relationships, but make not mistakes, its a rivalry and not just in football."

Eldorado (4-1) is 14-7 against Hamilton County since 1996 with the Foxes' last win coming in 2009. Clark recalls the shift in power during that time.

"We've been the better team on a lot of nights against them," he said. "And it's been a fist fight. The reality is if the Hamilton County kids were more developed within the program they would be better. They have good physical players, but they are just similar to us in 2008-09. They haven't had the consistency in coaching.

"They are where we were at in the period from 2005-09. Now they are the ones going through the coaching changes and any coaching turnover, especially one from the outside, creates a difficult set of circumstances to maintain. That's where they are at and that's where we have been, but they always play us physical and come to fight. How that will effect the game, I don't know."

Waylon Webb leads Hamilton County's ground game with 34 carries and 118 yards on the season and Derrick Epperson has 32 passing yards on 14 pass attempts under center for the Foxes.

Harrisburg at Massac County

Looking to remove the taste of a bitter loss to West Frankfort last week, Harrisburg hits the road to Massac County, where the Patriots are 0-4 on the season and 0-1 in River-To-River Ohio play.

At 2-2 on the season and also 0-1 in league play, Harrisburg knows a win Friday is crucial in hopes of making the playoffs with just four games left on the schedule.

"We have to get the ones we are supposed to get," Harrisburg head coach Gabe Angelly said. "Massac County has a ton of talent, but we feel like this is a game to have to win. In all of our games, we have either led or trailed - all of them - so this group that is scrappy and likes to battle and put us in a position. We'll always be in games because these guys don't quit fighting."

Angelly added that every game is a must win (at this point) and while the loss to West Frankfort was disappointing, Angelly felt his team was in a position to win the game, but a bad series turned the game around.

The Bulldogs also lost running backs Hunter Smith and Jordan Bartok late in the game due to injury and Angelly said that while he's not certain of Smith's status for Friday night, Bartok will be limited in his duties.

The Bulldogs have had success against Massac County in recent years, winning seven straight and are 15-7 against the Patriots since 1996.

Massac County has given up a conference high 147 points per game, opposed to Harrisburg has given up 98. The Bulldogs have scored 86 points to the 47 by the Patriots this season.

Following this week, Harrisburg has a trip to Benton next week and will host Murphysboro on Oct. 6. The Bulldogs close out the season on the road at Herrin (Oct. 13) and at Carbondale.

"We don't have any easy games on the schedule," Angelly said. "We have to go out and take care of business and put ourselves in a position. It will be a battle with Benton and hopefully we can get some momentum going into the Herrin and Murphysboro game."

Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Register, Eldorado Journal & The Gallatin County Democrat. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.