With all due respect to the Buccaneers of Buckhannon-Upshur, in 20 years when the guys playing football for the Indians this year get together and reminisce, they won't be talking about the regular season 68-0 whitewash of the team from Upshur County.

The regular season game they will want to talk about will be this week's contest against the Martinsburg Bulldogs. In addition to our kids, as the entire WV high school football fandom looks at the slate of games around the state, they will all be tracking Martinsburg v Bridgeport as they watch their own team. They will be refreshing the MetroNews football scores app every ten minutes or so and there will be talk throughout the stands as those in the know spread the word about the score. It will certainly be the game of the week and could be the game of the year around WV.

As early-season games go, #1 in AAAA and #1 in AAA, two teams that aren't particularly liked outside of their own fan bases, going head-to-head is a big deal that will draw all eyes to Wayne Jamison Field this Friday night.

You might be asking yourself, why would the Indians want to play the AAAA powerhouse Martinsburg Bulldogs? Conversely, the Bulldog fanbase might be asking a similar thing: why would we want to travel halfway across the state to play a team that, even if we beat them, could result in the same number of playoff points that beating a decent AAAA team would generate, and potentially, we could lose to?

The truth is both teams struggle to find regular season opponents. It's been much discussed that there are teams in north central WV that will not play the Indians. Even teams in our own Big 10 refuse to play us during the regular season. Martinsburg faces the same challenge, and if you've paid attention to their past scheduling, they regularly are forced to play teams out of state, and a few years ago, traveled all the way to northern Ohio to find a game. Very few WV AAAA teams want to put them on their regular season schedule. Both teams need a willing opponent.

However, the most important reason to play this game is what Coach Phares said when discussing the development of his offensive line last week, "They (the offensive line) need tough experience; the Martinsburg game will help us tremendously". The fact is you don't get better at any sport playing cream puffs; you get better by being challenged. The one common denominator of all the Bridgeport Indian champion football teams is they get better as the season goes on. This is an opportunity for the coaches to see our guys against guys that are their equal and so they can better evaluate where we need to improve and assist in improving the team.

I don't know what the outcome of Friday's contest will be. What I do know is two proud teams, two of the bluest of blue bloods in the state, that begin every season with nothing but state championship aspirations, are going to lay it on the line, settle it on the field, and put on a great contest.

Bridgeport fans, show up, show out, and let's watch as our boys make lifetime memories.