Two teams that carry a rich football history clash tonight when Sigourney-Keota hosts Pekin for their season opener.

The journey for a fourth straight state appearance starts for Sigourney-Keota as they are coming off of a year where they went 8-2 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. The Cobras will have to establish a running game losing their all-state running back Avery Moore to graduation who racked up 1,509 yards on the ground a year ago. Reloading has never been a problem for the Cobras, and Carson Crawford is poised to take over the position collecting 708 yards in 2016. Crawford and the rushing attack will have their hands full with the Pekin defense, as the Panthers held Albia to negative yards rushing in their week zero contest.

In their game last week, Pekin defeated the Blue Demons 42-7 to kickoff the season. Last year, the Panthers went 6-3 and bring back a lot of their core players for 2017. Caleb Cornstock returns for his second year under center compiling 368 yards through the air for six touchdowns last season. Defensively, they return their top three tacklers including Kaden Baker who recorded 49.

The battle on the gridiron gets started at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Sigourney High School.