TOLONO, Ill. (WCIA) — Growing up in the Illini Prairie Conference means knowing just how much a rivalry like Unity and St. Joseph-Ogden means.

“It’s a lot for us players just playing against them our whole lives growing up and just knowing some of them now,” said senior defensive end Coleton Langendorf. “But that’s a really big part to this community too.”

First-year Unity head coach Tony Reetz knows the matchup all too well after two decades on the Rockets staff before taking the reins.

“We got a lot of respect for them over there,” said Reetz. “They won a lot of games, just like we won a lot of games here.”

The Rockets had a tough test in week 3, a battle against Bloomington Central Catholic that handed Unity its first loss.

“I think we’re getting kind of complacent, you know, all this hype and the media and stuff and I think we just thought we could just show up and win games without practicing as hard as we can,” said senior quarterback Dane Eisenmenger. “So I think it’s really a humbling moment.”

Unity and St. Joseph-Ogden will meet in the WCIA Week 4 Spotlight Game of the Week on Friday, September 26 at 7 p.m., hosted by the Spartans.