Tom Larkey is accustomed to having Bell County standing between his team and a district championship. But he thought those days had ended when he left Rockcastle County to become the first coach of the new Harlan County High School last summer.

With Bell, the defending 4A state champs, and Harlan County in its first season of 5A competition, the Bobcats and Bears compete in different districts, but Harlan County is locked in a three-way tie for the top spot in District 8 with Letcher Central and Whitley County. In the tie-breaker system used by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, teams in a three-way tie can count the wins of four defeated opponents (not including those involved in the tie) to determine the champion. Harlan County is currently third under the tie-breaker system but would likely jump to first by upsetting Bell and picking up eight points from the Bobcats’ eight wins.

“When we were in the same district, we were one or two every year for about 16 years or so,” Larkey said. “We’re not in the same district now, but it’s a district title for us if we can win the game. It’s funny things happen this way. It’s all on the line again one more time with Bell County.”

Larkey’s longtime rival at Bell County, Dudley Hilton, is looking forward to starting a new rivalry with Harlan County. A Harlan County team hasn’t defeated Bell since Cawood in 1986.

“I guess any time coach Larkey and I meet, it’s going to be a good football game. It always has been,” Hilton said. “I guess it don’t make no difference whether I was at Bourbon County playing Rock or Bell playing Harlan County like it is this time.

“I think it’s going to be a good rival game for us. Our kids play them in everything else. We’ve been without a close rival. It’s hard to have Rockcastle 80 miles away be a rival.”

Bell County (8-1) rolled through a 15-0 campaign in winning its second state title last season and lost only once this year in the season opener against Alcoa, Tenn., a defending state champion in the Volunteer State. The Bobcats are ranked second in 4A and are among the favorites to win their second straight title.

“We try to always put ourselves in that position,” Hilton said. “That’s why we work so hard in the offseason. We lost a lot from last year, and this time has surprised a lot of people.”

Harlan County (7-3) won four straight district games to tie for first place in District 8 of 5A, and Hilton says the Bears look familiar.

“You’ve got a team that’s very big and very strong with a good number of seniors,” Hilton said. “You’ve got a coach who knows what it takes to win, and they’re listening to him, I guess. They have to be, or they wouldn’t be where they’re at. It’s a very solid football team.”

Neither coach expects very much new from their counterpart on the other side.

“All of us old coaches, like coach Hilton and I, we don’t make a lot of changes,” Larkey said. “We know what each other does. I feel in order to beat Bell County you first have to be a very mentally tough football team. You have to be willing to go out there and put your body on the line. You can’t every little excuse take you out of the game. You have to have kids who will show them they are as good as they are and play to the last second ticks off the clock.

“Defense is the name of the game against Bell County. I feel we’re playing good defense right now. The times we won at Rockcastle, we had really good defenses, and our offenses managed to keep drives alive and the chains moving.”

Defense is again a strength for Bell as the Bobcats limited opponents to only one touchdown in six straight games before shutting out McCreary Central last week.

Junior linebacker John Dudley Hilton, the coach’s son, leads the unit in tackles. Josh Brown and Dominic Carton, both junior linebackers, are also leaders on defense, along with senior tackle Billy Lawson, senior end Keith Lowe and junior end Justin Patterson.

The Bell County offense is led by speedy sophomore Cory Davenport. Junior quarterback Ben Madon has completed 44 of 73 passes for 858 yards and nine touchdowns through the first eight games. Junior Cody Davenport and senior Matt Rains lead in receptions.

“They are fundamentally strong and they block well and tackle well,” Larkey said. “They always have a very good wide receiver, and this year it’s Matt Rains. They always have a good tailback, and Cory Davenport worries me. We’ve got to try and slow him down and stop him on the line of scrimmage.

“Our defensive line has to be tough, but our linebackers have to play the best game of their life. T.J. Green and Tucker Lewis have to step up this week. They have to get their reads and get to the gaps and holes they’re supposed to be at, and they have to make the tackles. We’ve got to have a lot of people on the football every time.”

Harlan County is led on offense by Green at quarterback and sophomores Cody Taylor and Marcus McMillian sharing time at tailback. Dylon Smith, a junior receiver who saw his first action of the season two weeks ago against Perry Central, sat out last week with a sore knee and isn’t expected to play again this year. The Bears could also be without standout defensive lineman James Phillips, who has been slowed by a shoulder injury. The Bears may get senior guard George Shoemaker back for the Bell game as he was recently released by the doctor after missing several games with a broken hand.

Hilton said “two or three” of his starters are also expected to sit out due to injuries with the intention of getting them back in time for the playoffs next week. The Bobcats have already clinched first place in their district.

While execution will have to be almost flawless to beat Bell, confidence is crucial for the Bears against one of the state’s top football programs, and Larkey believes his team is ready.

“Bell County is a great team, but our kids have really come along this year. I really feel they’ve been focused in practice this week, and they are excited about playing Bell County,” Larkey said. “They are going into the game believing they can win, and I’m going into the game believing we can. We might be the only ones believing we can win. Whether or not we do, we’ll fight to the last second and make a good game out of it and get something established between these two teams.”