Confidence plays a big part of preparing for a football game. But when you are meeting for the 111th time in your history, there is no shortage of confidence in your step for Aberdeen and Hoquiam.

On Friday night, the Myrtle Street Rivalry will be renewed at Stewart Field when Hoquiam visits Aberdeen. This is the 111th meeting between the two longtime rivals and is the marquee matchup for the second week of the high school football season.

Meeting early in the season has given both teams full access to their rosters as they take center stage, confident in their chances to make a little history of their own.

“It is more than just football,” Hoquiam senior quarterback Gregory Dick said. “It is about the communities and showing who is better on that night and what they are all about. We all feel like we’re a part of (Harbor) history. We want to make history and write it how we want it to read.”

The Grizzlies own a two-game winning streak over the Bobcats, with Hoquiam holding Aberdeen scoreless in both contests. Overall, Aberdeen still leads the series, 68-37-5.

Both head coaches have been on both sides of the rivalry — Aberdeen’s Kevin Ridout and Hoquiam’s Rick Moore — and both were pretty safe when asked to describe their opponents.

“This is my 10th Aberdeen-Hoquiam game and the key to this game is to keep it business as usual,” Ridout said. “When you do, you bring into the context of the game, but you keep the focus of the game where it needs to be. We will treat it like a special game by the way we prepare and how we step onto the field.”

“We’ve talked about the historical aspect of the game,” Moore added. “We still try to approach it as another game to make ourselves better, to approach it in a workman’s way. It is just a football game.”

However, even when everyone involved noted that this is just another week on the schedule, both sides still exude confidence in their chances.

Against Montesano, Aberdeen hit on big plays, compiled more than 300 yards of offense on the Bulldogs’ defense and made the perennial Evergreen 1A League contenders work until mistakes did them in, 54-20.

Against Chehalis, Hoquiam went up against a bigger opponent and went toe-to-toe before the Bearcats’ size and running game wore it down in a 21-12 loss.

“I know the score didn’t come out like we wanted, but getting 20 points on Montesano was really good,” Aberdeen junior running back Kylan Touch said. “It showed we improved over where we were the last time we played Montesano. There’s so much riding on this (Hoquiam) game. Guys are putting more into the drills. That’s what you need to do this week.”

“We’re still confident; Chehalis is a good team and we’re a good team,” Dick added. “We didn’t execute when we needed to. We’re going to make some chances, execute better and come away with the win.”

Aberdeen produced plenty of offense from Touch and senior wide receiver Braden Castleberry-Taylor. Touch finished with 195 yards of total offense, including five catches for 105 yards and one touchdown from quarterback Ben Dublanko.

Castleberry-Taylor was Dublanko’s favorite target, getting 10 catches for 118 yards and one touchdown against Monte.

In terms of game-planning, it is easy for Hoquiam’s defense to target all three to slow down Aberdeen.

“We need to account for both (Touch and Castleberry-Taylor); they can play for anyone,” Moore said. “We just need to execute on defense. Aberdeen isn’t quite as big (as Chehalis). They have some guys, but they have threats we have to be aware of.”

“This week, we’re going to find out who’ll step up and make plays,” Touch added. “We can’t have the same guys making all of the plays. We need everyone to step up and contribute. I need to do my thing, too; do what the coaches ask of me and have others step up to do their jobs.”

For the 10th-ranked Grizzlies, they have skill players who’ll get attention from the Bobcats’ defense, starting with Dick. The senior threw for 196 yards on 18-of-34 attempts and one touchdown.

Senior running back Artimus Johnson scored twice for Hoquiam, including a 27-yard touchdown catch-and-run from Dick and 162 yards of total offense from scrimmage.

“We need to keep (Gregory) contained and keep Artimus from breaking loose,” Ridout said. “Defensively, you aren’t going to shut them down. But, we can put pressure on them and make it difficult to move the ball. We have to play very disciplined football.”

“Our tempo messes with some teams and can play a big role in the game,” Dick added. “When we play to our potential and come together as a team, we can play with anyone. I hope we can come out of the gates fast and keep pounding the ball on them. We have our confidence back and we have the emotion needed coming in.”

Other games

Montesano, fresh off its win over Aberdeen at Rottle Field last week, will hit the road to take on the Sequim Wolves for the first time. This is the second consecutive Class 2A opponent for the Bulldogs, who are now ranked eighth in the state 1A media poll. Last week, Carson Klinger ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns against the Bobcats, while quarterback Trevor Ridgway threw for 176 yards on 8-of-10 attempts and two touchdowns. … Elma will have the longest road trip of the week when it heads down to the Oregon border to take on White Salmon near the Columbia River. The Bruins knocked off Central Washington’s Goldendale during the opening week. … All five of the Twin Harbors’ Southwest Washington 2B Coastal Division teams are taking on district opponents, four of them are at home: North Beach, Ocosta, Pe Ell-Willapa Valley and Raymond. Ocosta and South Bend are both at 1-0 so far and each have opponents who may give them a chance at a 2-0 record by the end of Friday night. … Taholah will get another Saturday night non-league road game, this time heading to Puyallup to take on the Crusaders of Tacoma Baptist, a former 11-man school.

Rob Burns: (360) 537-3926; rburns@thedailyworld.com; Twitter: @RobRVR