Sure, the schools are rivals, separated by mere miles and a county line.

But in Grove City these days, the mood of the football team is reserved as it prepares to travel those mere miles over that county line into Slippery Rock to play the Rockets at 7 p.m. Friday.

No frothing at the mouth. No frenzy of any sort to get pumped up for this one.

Just business as usual - well, as usual as it gets in the week leading up to the Slippery Rock game.

"I think the last few years, we got the kids whipped up about the game too much," said Grove City coach Jeff Bell. "After the last two years, I'm trying to play this one down. It's just another game for us."

But Grove City versus Slippery Rock is rarely just another game.

This year is no exception.

Both teams have a lot riding on this game, as it is a key early season Region 3 matchup.

Grove City (1-2 overall, 1-1 in the region) is coming off its first win of the season, an impressive and dominating 41-0 thumping of Reynolds.

Slippery Rock (2-1, 1-1) is coming of its own dominating performance in a 35-14 win over Sharon."It's nice going into the Slippery Rock game after the way we played last week," Bell said.Grove City held Reynolds to nine total yards in the victory and Jim Jaskowak hooked up with Jesse Alfreno on two long scoring passes through the steady rain produced by the remnants of hurricane Ivan.Slippery Rock took a more traditional approach, lining up in a power-I and pounding the running game at Sharon.The results were good as the Rockets piled up 446 rushing yards."I always ran the I-formation in the past," said Slippery Rock coach Clyde Conti. "To be honest, we just got away from it except in the Tyrone game (in the playoffs last season). We needed some kind of boost."Slippery Rock was coming off a loss to Reynolds in which it was pushed around up front. The Rockets gained just 84 yards rushing in that contest.But the Rockets responded. Since Conti took over the Slippery Rock program, the team has lost two in a row only once - Conti's first two games at the helm."I think when you face adversity, how you respond to it tells you a lot about yourself," said Slippery Rock coach Clyde Conti. "We felt we responded well."Sean Ray rushed for 220 yards and Trevor Gallo added 194 on 30 carries to lead Slippery Rock.But if a comparison of the results against similar opponents means anything, Slippery Rock is in for a challenge.But does it matter?"No," Bell said. "It doesn't mean anything. I've been around long enough to know it's high school football and if Slippery Rock plays Reynolds next week, it could be a different outcome."For Conti, though, his eyebrows are raised."Grove City held Reynolds to (nine) yards and Reynolds beat us by two touchdowns," Conti said. "You do the math."