When football rivals La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) School and The Bishop’s School meet on the gridiron, one thing you can usually expect is a hard-fought game. Fans will likely see just that on Friday (Sept. 18), as the two tangle in a special 3 p.m. match-up at the neutral venue of La Jolla High School’s Edwards Stadium. La Jolla Country Day School has jumped out to a 2-0 record to date, scoring convincing wins over Calvin Christian (49-7) and The Meadows School (42-7). The Bishop’s School, meantime, rolled to a 56-0 win over Tijuana Instituto in its first contest. LJCD head coach Jeff Hutzler’s squad went 8-4 a season ago, going 3-1 in Pacific League play (second to Army Navy Academy), while losing to ANA in the second round of the CIFs. The Bishop’s School, which welcomes in new head coach Joel Allen this season, finished 7-7 last fall, losing to Francis Parker 51-22 in the CIF Division V title game. The season before the Knights walked away with the CIF crown. As the two prepare to tangle on Friday in La Jolla, both coaches know their respective teams will need to be at the top of their games in order to win. “A game between La Jolla Country Day and Bishop’s is always a big game,” Hutzler said. “It does not matter what the teams’ records are, both teams will play hard in this one. The fact that both teams are unbeaten going into the game and the fact that the game holds playoff implications, even this early in the season, makes the contest even more exciting. Bishop’s is talented and I know that Coach Allen will have them ready this Friday afternoon.” Since there is a Jewish holiday this week, the game’s kickoff was moved up to the middle of the afternoon. “The game being at 3 in the afternoon hurts a little as far as crowds go,” Hutzler noted. “We usually have huge crowds for this game. I’m sure the whole Bishop’s community will be there and will be loud. Hopefully our kids and families can hustle over to La Jolla High right after school lets out at 2:35.” As his team prepares for its third game of the season, Hutzler said he is happy with where they’re at, for the most part. “I like our team at this early point in the season,” Hutzler commented. “We haven’t found the rhythm on offense that we would like yet, but our kids are playing really hard on both sides of the ball. We need to improve in our kicking game some, cut down on penalties and improve in a few other areas of our game. As long as we continue to fly around and be physical, we will be competitive. Being 2-0 at this point is a lot better than being 0-2.” Hutzler’s counterpart at Bishop’s also expects a hard-fought game when the two teams lock horns. “I expect the La Jolla Country Day game to be very tough,” Allen commented. “They are a very well-coached and experienced team. I think it should be a lot of fun.” Even though it is early in the season for the Knights, Allen says the team is focused in on the importance of the contest. “This is a very important game for us because of the effect it will have when playoffs (CIFs) come around,” Allen stated. “This is as important of a game to us as any other this season.” Like Hutzler, Allen also expects his team to fine-tune some areas of its game as the season goes along.  “I think we are a young team that will continue to get better each and every week,” Allen added. “Hopefully, our experienced players will step up and make plays for us.”  While LJCD and Bishop’s tangle for local bragging rights, La Jolla High (1-1) will look to rebound from a 27-7 loss to Valley Center when it visits San Diego High on Friday (Sept. 18) at 3 p.m. The Vikings opened the season with a forfeit win over Clairemont when the Chieftains lost a dozen players to suspension for the opening game. In their loss to Valley Center last week, La Jolla’s only points came on a Tyler Bassler touchdown. According to La Jolla High head coach Rey Hernandez, he will look to have the Vikings ready for the Cavers this Friday. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have the team mentally ready to finish up strong against this caliber of competition so the blame rests solely on my shoulders,” Hernandez noted. “I will try to get the team better prepared for our game against San Diego High.” San Diego High enters the contest at 1-1, having scored a win over San Diego Southwest (42-6) and suffering a loss to Hilltop (45-31). Finally, University City High was kept off the scoreboard for the second weekend in a row last week, dropping a 56-0 decision to Saints. With a young team hitting the field this season, the Centurions, who fell to El Capitan (32-0) in their opener, will look to make weekly improvements along the way. University City is at Vista High for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday (Sept. 18).