The Bob Jones-Sparkman game isn’t brother vs. brother anymore, but there’s still a lot riding on Friday’s game at the Madison City Schools Stadium.

Bob Jones boss Kelvis White – who held a 2-1 advantage against older brother Laron before he retired at Sparkman after last season (and 3-1 edge overall, including a Mae Jemison win over Tanner in 2016) – now leads the Patriots against first-year coach Ronnie Watson.

The teams are tied for second place in Class 7A, Region 4 at 3-1. Bob Jones is 3-3 overall and winners of three straight. No. 10 Sparkman lost its first game in six outings last week in a 31-30 thriller against James Clemens, the No. 1 team in the region at 4-0.

“I think our guys just came together and made the decision to just keep working,” White said of the Patriots’ win streak. “They were a little uncomfortable being 0-3. It’s no big secret, I just think they locked in a little bit mentally and this has been the outcome.

“There has been some building confidence in our guys. We, as coaches, always believed in them.”

RELATED: 5 Huntsville-area games to watch

The Patriots opened the season with a pair of losses at Class 6A powers Muscle Shoals, now 6-0, and Athens, now 5-1. James Clemens beat Bob Jones in their intracity rivalry before the Pats topped Grissom, Huntsville and Florence.

Last week’s 29-25 win at Florence came on a 41-yard pass from former fourth-string quarterback Sheldon Graham to Malachi Foster with 12 seconds remaining. Bob Jones sealed the deal by forcing and recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff.

“We lost our senior starting quarterback, Dylan Willingham, in Week 2,” White said, “and we lost our second quarterback in Week 3. This young man stepped up after starting the season as the fourth-team quarterback.”

Sophomore Graham has completed 30-of-57 throws for 334 yards with 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. “He’s so young, but he brings a little confidence in himself. He’s not afraid of the moment. He didn’t throw a lot coming into the Florence game, but he’s a student of the game and he’s absorbing all of it and getting better each week.”

The Patriots have relied on a strong ground game this season, White said. “Our strength has been our offensive line and our backs. We have three returning starters up front and Tyren Washington has been carrying the load for us in the backfield. He’s a big back – 5-foot-10, 240 pounds – who had almost 1,000 yards last year and is on pace to get there this year. He’s getting about 20, 30 carries a game.

“We’ve got three others we try to get the ball to in Caleb Sanders, a little scatback (5-8, 160), KJ Jackson (5-10, 170) and Sam Monroe (5-10, 185). We lean heavily on those guys and our line.”

Washington has 843 yards on 143 carries with 12 touchdowns and five games of at least 100 yards. Sanders has 268 yards on 42 attempts with a pair of scores and Jackson has 153 on just 17 carries with a TD.

The starters anchoring the line are senior right tackle Christian Abrams at 6-3, 310 pounds, senior guard Tafari Alcime (6-2, 295) and junior left tackle David Alexander (6-0, 260). “At times,” White said, “we play seven offensive linemen and four are seniors. We’re putting it on their backs and they have been doing great.”

Foster is the top receiver thus far, with 19 catches for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kolton Wood has 12 catches for 132 yards and Sanders has 10 for 113.

Bob Jones is facing Class 7A’s No. 1 scoring defense in Sparkman. The Senators are allowing 8.2 points per game and have recorded four shutouts on the year.

On defense, White said his team has three returning starters on the front line from last season’s 5-6 squad. UAB commitment Myles Cook, a 6-4, 260-pound end, and coach’s son Brandon White (6-4, 229) are joined by 5-10, 280-pound Kam Suggs.

“We’re a little young on the defensive side and we’ve been banged up,” he said. “We’ve been getting better every week. We started off pretty rough, but we’re settling in and it’s showing off in the game.”

Senior Hezron Kincey and juniors Christen Rice and Calvin Senwo have shown “improvement each week” in the secondary, the coach said.

The Patriot defense will face a challenge against Sparkman, Class 7A’s third-best scoring offense at 42.7 points a game.

“They have a talented football team,” White said. “Coach Watson and his staff do a great job. They are a big-play offense and their quarterback (Josh Ward) is super talented. We have to try to keep him in check.”