In high school football action tonight bragging rights are up for grabs in Lyon County as class 2A second rated Central Lyon/George-Little Rock hosts class 1A third rated West Lyon. Central Lyon coach Toby Lorenzen says it is a great test for both teams. Lorenzen says they talk to each other as coaches and say it’s a big measuring stick for both of their programs, where they find out what they need to work.

The game has gotten so big that it now has a sponsor and they call it the Lyon County Beef Bowl, and there’s a traveling trophy. Both teams will play more important games this season but few will be as meaningful as this one. "It’s just great small town Iowa football," Lorenzen says.

This opens a tough non district slate for Central Lyon which will take on class 3A 6th ranked LeMars next week. West Lyon coach Jay Rozeboom says they don’t want to play down in non-district games as that doesn’t help them. He says they’ve been able to take some early loses and still do well. Rozeboom says a lot of questions will be answered tonight.

Rozeboom says a game like this will help them become a better team. He says they can watch tape of the game and see the things they need to do to improve and be able to win against the best teams. Rozeboom says they would like a chance to get the traveling trophy that goes to the winner.

There is an early showdown in class 4A as fifth rated Cedar Falls hosts second ranked Cedar Rapids Washington. Cedar Falls coach Pat Mitchell says a game of this magnitude right out of the gate forced them to alter pre-season workouts.

Mitchell says you normal start with the fundamentals in preseason, but he says in this case they knew they’d have to play Wash and knew what they would face, so the practices have been intense. Mitchell says limiting mistakes will be a key, as he says there are typically mistakes in first games of the season. Mitchell says their major concern is preventing the home run.

After losing to eventual state champion Bettendorf in overtime in the semifinals a year ago the Tigers feel they have some unfinished business. Mitchell says he’d be lying if he said they didn’t think about that, but says it’s something that makes them want to come out and win.