Glasgow quarterback Dalvin Smith is hit by Warren East linebacker Isaiah Boards on Friday, Sept. 15, 2017, at Warren East. (Austin Anthony/photo@bgdailynews.com)

Conventional wisdom, with plenty of unsightly history to back that up, has shown that the first round of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association state football playoffs is often … ahem … not pretty.

The opening round is the domain of blowouts, for the most part, since the KHSAA’s six-class format demands the inclusion of just about every school in the state for at least one week.

There are exceptions – Warren East coach Jeff Griffith is pretty sure he’s been staring at one side of just such an anomaly all week on film and the other side during practice leading up to Friday’s first-round matchup against visiting Hopkinsville at Jim Ross Field.

“I think, looking at them on film, it’s two very evenly-matched teams,” Griffith said. “If we played their schedule, we’d probably be sitting at 4-6 and if they played ours they’d probably be around 6-4. I think we’re two very evenly-matched teams with similar type players.”

The first-round game is a rematch from last season, which followed the predictable script as the host Tigers rolled to a 54-0 blowout win over the Raiders.

Warren East (6-4) gets the chance to host this season and unlike last season, when the team lost two of its last three regular-season games before the playoffs, the Raiders are on a roll after having won three of their last four.

“The past two years for us, I guess they’ve really just been building years,” Warren East junior left guard/defensive lineman Matt Mellencamp said. “And this is the year we finally get to put it together.”

Hopkinsville (4-6) has also finished strong with three straight wins to close out the regular season, including last week’s 31-6 demolition of injury-depleted Greenwood. The Tigers have played on while grieving the death of one of their teammates last month when freshman Elijah “E.J.” Austin passed away from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“I think that both of us have started playing our best football coming in,” Griffith said. “Both teams were relatively young in some spots to start the year, and I think that showed in some ways for us – especially in the middle of the year when we had some injury issues to overcome, but since then I think we’ve come on.

“Hopkinsville has experienced some of the same things. They were young at the beginning of the year, went through some things with the death of one of their players. They’ve kind of recovered and played well at the end of the year.”

Under coach Craig Clayton, the Tigers run a pro-style offense. Quarterback Javier Bland has completed 87 of 206 passes for 1,614 yards and 13 TDs, with Gavin Marschand (39 catches, 905 yards, 6 TDs) his favorite target. Mitchell Degenhardt is Hopkinsville’s leading rusher this season with 323 yards and five touchdowns.

Stuffing the Tigers will be the top priority for the Raiders, who are coming off a convincing 36-6 win over Bardstown last week.

“I believe Hopkinsville will be a pretty tough opponent for us to play,” said Warren East senior linebacker Isaiah Boards, who leads the team with 119 tackles. “We’ve just been preparing all week, trying to get everything right to hopefully get a win this Friday night.

“… Last week’s win was good for us. It helped us get our wind back and get back on a winning pace.”

Griffith said the Raiders are about as healthy as they’ve been in a while, with just one caveat – four starters are out for the season with injuries, including quarterback Dwayne Cook and run-stuffing nose tackle Dylan Cook.

Dwayne Cook’s season-ending injury midway through the year forced freshman Nolan Ford into the lineup, and he’s continued to progress well in Griffith’s estimation. Ford has completed 31 of 70 passes for 527 yards and four TDs, with top wideout Caleb Huskey a dangerous deep threat (29 catches, 781 yards, 9 TDs).

“First couple games, he was kind of skittish but that’s with any freshman,” Mellencamp said of Ford. “As he’s come along and he’s got a couple games under his belt, he’s doing really well.”

The Raiders hope to control possession by leaning on Ford plus dual workhorse running backs Thomas Maxey (839 rushing yards, 6 TDs) and Trevor Naftel (819 rushing yards, 7 TDs). It could be tough going against a rapidly improving Tigers defense.

“That’s their strength, I believe,” Griffith said. “They’re really athletic, they’ve got some guys up front that can give you problems and they get to the football.”{&end}