War on 24: Silver Lake and Rossville ready to rumble on the gridiron

Topeka, Kan (KSNT) - Silver lake and Rossville is always one that's circled on the schedule. It's our game of the week tomorrow and both teams come into this one undefeated. From playoff implications to bragging rights, it has a bit of everything.

"Obviously we want to come out with a win like we do every game, being that its Rossville, we're a little more motivated to win this," Silver Lake senior Nathan Boyden said.

"With how close we are it's a big game, ever since my grandpa was in high school." Rossville senior Caiden Brown said.

Two towns seperated by five miles, the War on 24 is one of the oldest rivalries in the state.

"It's been intense since the beginning of Silver Lake - Rossville, you go back to the record books and look at the 30s and 40s, it's always been the one you mark on your calendar and the one you get ready to play," Silver Lake coach CJ Hamilton said.

"The rivalry itself and the meaning that it has for both communities is consistent from year to year but I think each year, and each team, and each season has a different makeup," Rossville coach Derick Hammes said.

Part of that makeup is the success of both teams, this game always has seeding implications on top of everything else.

"What's made this rivalry special is that there's been a lot of games with something on the line," Hammes said.

"If we play well we know we're going to be one of the elite teams in our class because Silver Lake Rossville has represented the state very well," Hamilton said.

The kids in the game prepare for this their whole life.

"Ever since playing behind the bleachers it's been 'Let's try and beat silver lake', it's just what our parents have told us ever since we were little kids," Brown said.

"I think it's just part of being Silver Lake, we have to beat them, we gotta keep the tradition going of beating them every year, it's definitely a big part of Lake," Boyden said.

Lake has won the last three, Rossville the three before that, but that doesn't matter in the eyes of the coaches.

"What's happened in the past either way has very little bearing on what's going to happen this week," Hammes said.

"What's happened three years ago, two years ago, one year, four years, thirty years ago, it doesn't mean anything," Hamilton said.