Just how big of a rivalry is New Albany High and Ripley High?

“It doesn’t take too long living in either place to know that you don’t like the other one too much,” said third-year New Albany head coach Ron Price, who grew up in Corinth and graduated from Alcorn Central High School, a Division 1-3A opponent of Ripley’s.

And to understand how important it is to win the annual matchup, just hear the New Albany players and coaches talk about last year’s win, a 33-28 triumph in Ripley.

“They’re dying for success, and they were proud to welcome us in town Friday night,” Price said last year about a police escort from Ripley to downtown New Albany, where a couple of hundred Bulldogs fans gathered to celebrate their team’s victory over their rival that same night.

“It was neat for the coaches and the players. It was a special night for us.”

Ripley head coach Grady McCluskey will be coaching in his first Tigers-Bulldogs contest tonight at 7:30 at New Albany’s Kitchens’ Field. He was named Ripley’s new coach in June, and had previously coached as an assistant at Columbus High. He replaced Mac McCurry, who resigned in May after five seasons.

“I was a little more intense yesterday than the players were,” McCluskey said about Monday’s practice. I know they (New Albany) are 20 minutes down the road. I know how small towns are: You want to beat those guys with everything you got.

“We’re an underdog, no doubt. We’re very young and inexperienced, and we got some injuries.”

Heading into tonight’s game, the Bulldogs, ranked fourth in the Daily Journal’s large school rankings, will have plenty of confidence after dismantling Booneville 27-11 on the road last Friday. However, a shaky second half against the Blue Devils may have taken away some of the Bulldogs’ confidence.

“We just gotta concentrate more,” said New Albany senior quarterback Tyler Basil. “That’s one of the problems: We weren’t concentrating. We thought we had this one (game against Booneville) in the bag. ...

“Ripley, I think, is going to be a lot better. We just gotta keep our concentration and finish – that’s the most important part, is finishing.”

Said McCluskey of his second-ranked Class 3A team, “We better be ready to play. We have to control the ball and keep them (New Albany’s offense) off the field. We have got to cut their big plays down. ... They can put points on the board in a hurry.”

Contact John Wilbert at 678-1572 or john.wilbert@djournal.com.