Coaching Friends, Rivals Face Off Friday Night In Owasso-Jenks Matchup

This is "week zero" for high school football in Oklahoma.

Our game of the week features two head coaches who are rather familiar with each other.

On Friday night, it'll be a blast from the past between Bill Blankenship and Allan Trimble.

It was Union and Jenks then but now it's Owasso and Jenks, good friends turned rivals again.

"It's been a lot of year's since we hooked up, but, really excited because you know what you get when you get a Jenks Trojan team, especially a Trimble coached team,” said Blankenship. “On game night, we're going to try to beat our grandmother if they're over there on the other side, but by the same topic, we're going to leave and that guy's still going to be my friend. He's still going to be a guy I'm concerned about and I pray for.”

On the field, the players are just trying to reverse a 3-7 season from last year, and it helps when one of their best players is back from injury in Josh Proctor.

"Hear a lot of talk; he's this, he's that, he didn't show anything last year, but, so basically people look at film of me from my past years, so I'm looking to get out here and show them what I can do,” said Proctor.

And no better test to prove how much they've improved than against the perennial power. And under a new era with Blankenship in charge, they're ready to prove they're better.

"We need to keep moving forward when we hit adversity, and I think that's changed a lot of the culture here so far and helped us as a team get better,” said quarterback Will Kuehne.

Blankenship said, "I'm not dealing with guys who think they're too good or they like the way it's been. They want to find a way to go to another level."

Proctor added, "First game of the season, we just need to play our game, minimize mistakes and hopefully come out on top."