Ever since the third grade, Josh Price has been best friends and teammates with DeMichael Harris.

That’s part of the reason why, when they suit up for their final high school football game on Friday afternoon, Price would love nothing more than to knock the snot out of Harris.

The St. Aloysius seniors are on opposing teams — Price on the White and Harris on the Blue — for the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools All-Star Game. The split came about because of a new format for this year’s game. Instead of a traditional “North-South” game, all-star players were selected and then drafted onto teams by the game’s coaches and MAIS officials.

The game will be played Friday at 2 p.m. at Jackson Prep.

In addition to Harris and Price, Sharkey-Issaquena Academy lineman Nathan Nichols and Tallulah Academy quarterback Mason Todd were also selected.

“I’m going to let him know what it feels like to play against me,” Price said with a smile. “It’s really weird. But they chose us on different sides for a reason. They didn’t want us together. We’re Batman and Robin. I’m not sure who’s Batman and who’s Robin.”

Price and Harris certainly played like a couple of superheroes for St. Al.

On defense, Price racked up 52 total tackles and 12 sacks. He also moved from the offensive line to H-back early in the season and was Harris’ lead blocker.

Price only had 13 carries for 32 yards on offense, most of them near the goal line and in short yardage. He scored six touchdowns this season, and had 10 in three years in the same role despite having a total of 29 career carries.

“I started playing with a motor. I started playing every play like it was going to be my last. I started playing with a little attitude. Just knowing it was my last year, I wanted to finish with somewhat of a bang,” Price said.

Harris, meanwhile, missed all or most of five games with an ankle injury yet finished the season with 1,470 yards and 24 TDs. He set a Warren County single-game rushing record with 395 yards and six touchdowns — the totals also broke an 81-year-old school record — in a 56-28 playoff win over Bayou Academy.

“I wouldn’t pick anybody over Josh on the defensive line, and wouldn’t take anybody over DeMichael at running back,” St. Al coach BJ Smithhart said.

Harris said the all-star selection was a bit of a surprise considering how much time he missed. He was hurt on the second series of a Week 2 game against Pisgah, tried to return too early and aggravated the injury two weeks later against Washington School, and then finally came back for good Oct. 2 against Greenville-St. Joseph.

Harris rushed for more than 100 yards in each of his last six games, and for 230 or more four consecutive weeks. Not coincidentally, St. Al rallied from a 1-7 start to finish 5-7, won the District 3-AAA championship, and reached the second round of the playoffs.

“It’s wonderful. I didn’t think I was going to be able to get it because I had gotten injured towards the beginning and middle of the season. I just kept playing hard and made the most of what I had,” Harris said.

Now, the two players who have helped power St. Al to back-to-back district championships will line up on opposite sides of the ball. They were surprised to get that news, but quickly started looking forward to it. At some point, they hope, they’ll get a chance to meet one-on-one to see who’s the best.

“I was kind of excited finding out I was playing aganst DeMichael,” Price said. “We have good chemistry. I know what he likes to do and he knows what I like to do. I’ll just try to catch him slipping.”

Harris, who stands to take some punishment — and some ribbing — if Price does indeed do that, wasn’t about to let it happen.

“He says he’s going to get a pretty good shot on me, but I can’t let that happen,” Harris said. “I’m going to treat it like another face. I’m going to run like I usually run. I’m not going to shy away from it because I know he’s not going to shy away from it.”