When Howard travels to Polk County tonight, the game will be the first of three Region 3-3A contests worthy of game-of-the-year billing.

Each team is 5-0 overall. Polk is ranked fifth in the state with Howard sixth. And each still has 5-0 and third-ranked McMinn Central on its schedule.

The last two years the winner of this game has finished no worse than second; the loser, third.

The coaches — Polk’s Derrick Davis and Howard’s Alvin Tarver — have become friends as much as rivals, and they know and respect each other’s program.

“When I look at Polk County, I see a well-coached and disciplined team and a team that’s never going to quit,” Tarver said. “I don’t know that any one individual jumps out at you when you watch them on tape. They work well as a team, and they’ll be well prepared. And when a team is well prepared, any of those guys can be extremely dangerous.

“This will be the best team we have played. I think that probably goes both ways.”

In Tarver’s first season as the Tigers’ head coach three years ago, the Tigers got embarrassed as Polk scored 50 points. Since, though, Howard has taken 14-7 and 16-14 wins.

“We have been on the short end of the stick the last two years. They have had our number,” Davis said. “I haven’t really talked about defending our house. I don’t know that I have ever used that phrase. We like playing at home because we usually have great fan support. We just want to play hard for this community. They plunk down their $5, and we want to make sure they get their money’s worth.”

They should see one of the season’s best games.

“They have a lot of speed and we don’t. It’s going to come down to a handful of plays, I hope,” Davis said. “Hopefully they won’t blow us out.”

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