For over 30 years Barnstable dominated Dennis-Yarmouth on the gridiron, until the Dolphins had had enough and the rivalry was scratched from the schedule.

Then in 2006, Coach Spanky Demanche and Paul Funk brought the rivalry back and since that time it has grown to become the game to watch on the Cape while D-Y has fully exorcised its ghosts of the past in the process. Since 2006, D-Y has defeated BHS four times for a 4-2 record versus the Red Raiders, including a one-point victory last season.

BHS hopes to even the score Friday night at W. Leo Shields Memorial Field. D-Y is coming off a bizarre, lightning-shortened game versus Canton, one which the MIAA has apparently ruled will not count in the either team’s standings. Apparently, D-Y fell behind 14-12 before the game was postponed, in spite of local headlines that claimed D-Y had won.

The Red Raiders are coming off a 55-6 rout of B.M.C. Durfee High School on the road. Confident and talented, expect the Red Raiders to pull out all stops.

Regardless, and even with a young sophomore-laden team, expect Funk’s troops to be riled and ready.

But also expect a tough, senior-stocked Red Raider squad to turn things up full bore. It will be a battle.