Some people say a game can’t be considered a rivalry when the matchup has been dominated by one team.

But alumni, coaches, players, students and fans from Acadiana High and Lafayette High would vehemently disagree.

“It's a rivalry to me,” Rams head coach Doug Dotson said. “ I can tell you that. (Beating) Lafayette High has never lost its importance and I go way back with Acadiana and so do some of our coaches. So, certainly don't want to lose to Lafayette High.”

And the Rams haven’t lost to the Mighty Lions in two decades. In fact, the last time the Lions defeated the Rams was in 2006 when they won 21-14.

“I mean we certainly are aware of the tradition,” Dotson said. “We want to keep that (the streak) going. You know that is a sense of pride for us.”

Lions head coach Stephen Hearen, who is in his second season at the helm, is a Lafayette High graduate. Hearen was a member of the coaching staff as non-faculty coach when the Lions beat the Rams nearly 20 years ago.

“I mean people bring it up,” Hearen said. “It's been mentioned by us at practice, so I think everybody is aware of the history. So, you want to use it as motivation.”

In what will be the regular season finale for both teams, the Lions will look to snap their winning drought against Acadiana when they play host to the Rams at 7 p.m. Friday.

“It's a big game. Obviously with it being Week 10 it kind of gives it a different feel,” Hearen said. “I don't know of all the Lafayette High/Acadiana games I've ever been involved in, I don't remember one being in Week 10. So the fact that it's end of season, both teams are 6-3 and playoff seeding on the line, it's really huge circumstances I guess for the game this year. But it’s a big game whether it's Week 4 or Week 10.”

Dotson knows it’s hard to keep anything away from players due to social media, but he has warned his players that past success won’t have anything to do with this year’s game.

“It’s going to be a challenge and we're not taking this game lightly just because we have beaten them for the last however many years,” Dotson said. “That has nothing to do with Friday night's game and we've made that very clear to our kids. They understand the importance of this game and we want to go into the playoffs with a victory.”

The game is going to feature two of the best running backs in the state - regardless of classification - in the Rams’ DaShun Lightfoot and the Lions’ Jaden Celestine. While both have missed time at different points of the season due to injury, Lightfoot and Celestine have been outstanding when on the field.

Lightfoot is the Acadiana area’s eighth leading rusher with 952 yards and 14 touchdowns on 111 carries.

“I've said it before that when we're healthy. on offense, we play pretty well,” Dotson said. “Lightfoot and Nicholas Cooper, our right guard, being back is big. Those two guys are a big part of what we do.”

Celestine, who is ninth in the area in rushing with 876 yards and 15 touchdowns on 101 carries, is expected to return against the Rams after missing each of the past two games with an injury.

“I think he's feeling good and should be ready to go,” Hearen said. “He's had a good week of practice. I think he feels pretty good, pretty confident and he has looked good moving around in practice. So, he should be good to go.”

With Celestine, quarterback Richmond Saunier and receiver Brendan Shullaw, Dotson said it’s easy to see the improvements the Lions have made when watching film.

“We know that they're a really good football team and they’ve shown all year that they can move the football against anybody,” Dotson said. “I think the Saunier kid is tremendous. He's one of the better quarterbacks we have faced, so we're going to have to contain him. (Shullaw) is really good and of course they got a stable of backs led by Celestine. It's going to challenge our defense to stop these guys.”

As for stopping the Rams’ offense, Hearen said the players on defense “must do their job.”

“There's no nothing we can throw at them that they haven’t seen over the course of four decades running the veer,” Hearen said. “So, there's no magic bullet as far as we're going to run this and we're going to surprise them. Whatever you run defensively, you have to be disciplined in what you do.”

Knowing how long it has been since the Lions have defeated Acadiana, Hearen doesn’t want his players to put any added pressure on themselves.

“When you're on this side of it, you can kind of get caught up in the wrong things a lot of the time,” Hearen said. “When preparing for big games, sometimes kids feel like they have to play 20 years' worth of games in one game.

"You want the kids to be excited, you want them to play with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, and you want them to be motivated. We just got to go out and play good football if we want to get a win Friday.”