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Sports

Update: 'Battle for Germantown' Game Rescheduled Due to Rain

Seneca, Northwest will square off at the 13th 'Battle for Germantown' 2 p.m. Saturday.

(Updated noon Friday, Sept. 9) The annual Battle for Germantown game between Northwest and Seneca Valley has been postponed until 2 p.m.Saturday.  

Northwest Athletic Director Jim Tapley said that he and Northwest staff evaluated the school's field conditions Friday morning and deemed the field unplayable due to the excessive rainfall that has pounded the area for the past five days.

(Updated 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 9) Northwest-Seneca game has been rescheduled due to rain. The make-up date, as of now, is Saturday at 2 p.m.

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(Original) Separated by a few neighborhoods and a handful of streetlights, Seneca Valley and Northwest High Schools are closer in proximity than most schools in the county.

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This fact alone could make it one of the best football rivalries in Montgomery County. 

"I love it," said Seneca Valley coach Fred Kim, who has been with Screamin’ Eagles eight years. "In many cases, many of these guys grew up playing youth football together and want to win this game in the worst way. It's as competitive a rivalry as I've ever been part of, that's for sure."

The 13-year-old rivalry will come to a head on the gridiron Friday night, when the Screamin' Eagles (1-0) make the short trek down Great Seneca Highway to take on the Jaguars (0-1) on their home field — AKA the Black Hole.

The rivalry began in 1998 when the opening of Northwest essentially split up Seneca Valley's existing classes, forcing many players to transfer and turning one-time teammates into new adversaries. The two teams traded wins back-and-forth during the first eight years of the series, and by 2006, each team had claimed the King's Trophy four times. 

However, after four straight wins for the Screamin' Eagles — including a 37-0 shutout in 2010 — the all-time series is owned by Seneca Valley, 8-4.

Northwest’s new head coach Mike Neubeiser is looking to erase that Friday night.

"He was there during the Northwest glory days," Kim said. "He was there when they had a tremendous amount of success. He's from the original regime of Northwest and he knows how to make things happen over there."

Neubeiser was an inaugural member of Randy Trivers' staff and has been part of five of these games, including Northwest's 37-34 win in 2003, which gave the Jaguars their first series lead, 3-2. It was the same year Northwest won the 2003 3A State Championship. 

Northwest enters Friday's game looking to bounce back from Friday's overtime loss to Blake in its season opener. Northwest went to the air to get both of its touchdowns last week against Blake. Matt Callahan finished with 144 yards.

Seneca Valley, meanwhile, is fresh off a 24-6 win over Einstein. Kim will once again be leaning on junior running back James Jones-Williams to lead the offensive effort for the Screamin' Eagles. Despite a prior hamstring injury, Jones-Williams scored two of Seneca's three touchdowns last week against Einstein and rushed for more than 100 yards.

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