None of the players on the Pisgah and Fyffe football teams remember the last time the two teams played each other. None of the Pisgah players was born the last time the Eagles beat Fyffe.

Both teams are likely to remember Friday night’s 7 o’clock game at Pisgah’s Sam Kenimer Stadium as the rivalry is renewed for the first time since 2005. Pisgah is 6-1 on the year and Fyffe is 7-0 and both are tied for the Class 2A, Region 7 lead with 5-0 marks.

Both are safely in the playoffs, but the top seed is on the line in this Sand Mountain showdown.

Fyffe has been ranked No. 1 in the Alabama Sports Writers Association poll all season after dropping from Class 3A, where the Red Devils were 10-2 in 2021 after three straight perfect seasons and state titles – the first two in 2A.

Pisgah is ranked fifth and has been in the Top 10 all year. The Eagles had not been in the ASWA poll since 2009.

“Before last year’s region championship game win over Tanner, none of our kids were alive the last time we won the region,” Pisgah head coach Luke Pruitt said.

While the varsity teams haven’t met in over a decade, the coaches are quite familiar with each other. Pruitt is the son of Dale Pruitt, who returned to his hometown this season for a third stint as Plainview’s head coach.

Fyffe coach Paul Benefield, who will be looking for career win No. 330 on Friday, has a history with the Pruitt family.

“Way back, he was my dad’s offensive coordinator,” Luke Pruitt said. “It predates his Sylvania days. His wife played with my aunt in softball.”

Benefield began his head coaching career in 1992 at Sylvania, where he was 45-11 in five years before taking over his hometown team in 1997. He took the Red Devils to their first state championship in 2014 before the run of three straight from 2018-2020.

“Our kids know about Fyffe football,” Pruitt said. “We’re on one end of the mountain, they are on the other. They have played pee-wee ball against each other.

“Here’s a crazy thing: Four of the kids who start for them, their dads played for my dad. I know a lot of them.”

Pruitt knows a lot from film study of the Red Devils, too. Fyffe ranks first in Class 2A in scoring and in scoring defense – second in the state in both. The Devils score 53.3 points a game and give up a paltry 5.6. Benefield’s squad has turned the ball over just twice while forcing 20 turnovers.

“Coach Benefield has that Wing-T (offense) background,” Pruitt said, “and there’s some similarity with some of the teams we play, but because of their execution what we’ve played is nowhere near Fyffe. The pace, the speed of it is different and we don’t get that look in practice.

“Defensively, they give you multiple looks. One thing they do a great job with is special teams. They’ve always blocked punts – they had two blocks last week, one for a touchdown and they returned a kickoff for a touchdown. We’ll have to do a good job on that.”

Offensively, ophomore Legion McCrary leads the Eagles with 792 rushing yards on 75 carries and he has scored 10 touchdowns. Quarterback Mason Holcomb has thrown for 1,226 yards and 13 TDs. Jakob Kirby has 21 catches for 430 yards and four scores.

Junior center JD Martin, a second-team All-State pick last season, leads the way up front for the Eagles.

“He makes a lot of protection calls and he is athletic and do all the things we need up there,” Pruitt said. “He also plays defensive end for us and sometimes inside linebacker.

“On defense, Caiden Hawkins plays ‘Mike’ linebacker for us. He’s a four-year starter and the quarterback of our defense. He made over 100 tackles last year and is on pace to do something close to that again.

“Both of those kids are very football savvy with really high football IQs.”

The Pisgah coach said the key for his team’s success will be “on the defensive side, to win first and second down. We’ve got to get them behind the sticks and get them beyond page one of their playbook. We have to do a good job to win the line of scrimmage. We have to tackle and I know they haven’t had but two turnovers, but we need to cause some.

“Offensively, we have to take what they give us. If they give us 4 yards, we have to get 4. We’ve got to move the chains,” he said.

Pruitt, who is 24-26 in his fifth season at Pisgah, said he’s excited about the community support his team has and he expects a packed house Friday.

“The community has supported us, even early on when it wasn’t going really well,” he said. “It’s going to be a playoff atmosphere. If we handle our business, it will be a big game. There are high stakes in this one. I told our guys they deserve this and to enjoy it and take it in. They’re going to remember this one.”