Coming out of the preseason and into week one, coaches often like to play a team they match up well against. Someone who can show them their strengths and weaknesses and give them a competitive game.

For St. Aloysius, that someone is Pelahatchie.

The teams have played each of the last three seasons — this is the second year in a row they’ll open up against each other — and the three games have been decided by a total of 18 points. St. Al won in 2008 on a last minute touchdown, while Pelahatchie knocked away a late pass to preserve last year’s 13-6 victory.

Round four of the early-season rivalry comes Friday night at Balzli Field when the teams kick off the 2010 season at 7:30 p.m.

“It just seems like they play us real well every year. I guess we’ve been real close in talent the last couple years,” Pelahatchie coach Bill Ward said. “The first game, these games it really is whoever makes the fewest mistakes is going to win.”

On paper, it appears Pelahatchie has the edge this time around. It returns most of the key players, and 17 starters total, from last year’s team that went 7-5 and lost in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs.

Among those returning starters are tailback Darryan Ragsdale and quarterback Labrandon Hill. Ragsdale rushed for 1,925 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2009, while Hill provided a solid threat in the passing game with 561 yards.

For a St. Al defense without a lot of experienced depth, stopping that combination will be a mighty challenge — and one they had trouble with last season. Ragsdale had 147 yards and two touchdowns, including a 56-yarder, against the Flashes.

“They’ve got a bunch of good athletes. The one we know we’ve got to stop, and it ain’t no secret, is Ragsdale,” St. Al coach B.J. Smithhart said. “That’s what we’ve got to do this year is keep him in check and contain the big plays to a minimum. He can take it 80, 90 yards in a second.”

St. Al counters with a fresh look in its offensive backfield. Senior Carlton Campbell, who had 317 yards in a backup role last year, takes over as the starting tailback.

In front of him is senior quarterback Ford Biedenharn, who has never had a regular-season snap at the position. Fortunately for St. Al, it does have a big offensive line. Right tackle Matt Wooten is a three-year starter who earned All-Region 4-1A honors, and is joined by sophomores Tyler Matherne and Sage Lewis, and juniors Robert Arledge, Scott Johnston and Tyler Cranfield.

Wooten was confident his group could control the game and help the Flashes keep Ragsdale and company off the field.

“Our line is pretty stacked. If we can block anybody we can run the ball. If we win or lose, it’s going to be up to us,” Wooten said.

Smithhart said the Flashes also need to do a better job of hanging onto the football than they did in last week’s jamboree game. A series of miscues allowed Trinity Episcopal to pull away in the second quarter for a 24-0 victory.

“Blocking, tackling, all that fundamental stuff,” Smithhart said when asked what he was looking to improve upon this week. “We missed probably 10 open-field tackles in that quarter.”