WEIRTON — Friday’s meeting between Indian Creek and Weir High at Jimmy Carey Stadium is one between two teams that have had very different starts to their seasons.

On one hand, Creek makes the trip across the river with a 3-0 record, coming off a hard-fought win over Union Local and two more lopsided victories on the road at Cambridge and East Liverpool.

The Red Riders, on the other hand, are 0-2 with tough setbacks to Oak Glen and John Marshall, two teams that seem poised to be stronger than many might have predicted before the season started.

Despite the difference in their records, though, neither coach that will lead their team onto the field Friday night expects anything short of a battle.

“We want to get better every week, you never want to rest on your laurels,” Indian Creek head coach Andrew Connor said. “You don’t want to get complacent because you won three games. Those three games are over now and we have to keep working hard.”

Do not expect Creek to take the Red Riders lightly, Connor is making sure they don’t.

“Absolutely not, we cannot take anyone lightly,” he said. “First of all, they’ve got a heck of a coach, in Coach Wilson. I think Quincy’s going to do a great job there. And the kids play hard. You can tell that in the games. I’ve seen them in their scrimmages live and watching them on tape.

“And, it’s a rivalry game.We’ve had some really classic games with them over the years I’ve been at Indian Creek. I would expect the same type of atmosphere over at Jimmy Carey. I expect their kids to play hard, and I know Quincy is going to have them ready to play football.”

Wilson knew his team was young coming into the season and expected some growing pains. He has seen them get better as they grow up on the field, however, and thinks they’ll be ready to go for the challenge Creek will provide.

“We’ve got a young group,” he said. “With a young group, I think that’s probably the easiest thing, getting them to refocus. Getting them to focus on how can we get better? When you have older guys, you’re kind of trying to reel them in when things are tough. But I think with the younger group, they know we’ve got to get better and they’re working to get better. That’s the good thing.

“We’ve played two really good football teams and Indian Creek is another really good football team, they’re probably the best team we’ll play.

“It doesn’t get any easier. But, I tell the guys these are measuring-stick-type games. I want to know where we’re at, and when you play good teams, you find out.”

Connor, dissecting the Red Riders in preparation, has seen the signs of a young team, but some good signs from Weir High that show the potential if they can put it all together.

“I just think sometimes they’ve had some missed opportunities and bad luck,” Connor said. “I think overall, their kids have played really hard. They’ve had some nice plays on offense and defense where you can see they’re athletic and they’re big and they’re strong.

“I saw them improve from Week 1 to Week 2, and I’m sure that Coach Wilson’s going to keep making sure they get better at practice.

“We’ve got to make sure that we don’t allow them to dictate to us the way the game is going to be played. So we have to have a good week of preparation and we need to have a good start to the football game.”

As for what makes Creek so challenging, one thing really stood out to Wilson.

“First it’s their size,” he said. “They’re pretty big up front. Obviously, they have five seniors up front, those guys have been together, played a lot of football together. Another thing that stands out is their quarterback (Ian Starkey), he makes it all go. I always say, whenever you got one of those, you got a chance in any game. So (Starkey) is really, really good, and we have to keep our lanes and make sure we make them get rid of the ball fast.”

Wilson knows he’s going against another veteran coach he has a lot of respect for this week as well after taking on JM’s Mark Cisar last week.

“He’s an awesome coach and a great guy,” Wilson said of Connor. “I know him from when I was in college coaching, I would come back to the Valley and talk to him and go over there. So traditionally, they’ve always had, you know, great, great kids and they always have played hard. That was one of our fiercest games when I was in school and things haven’t changed”