The Acorn's High School Football Game of the Week

UNDEFEATED-Oak Park's Logan Ketchum, left, takes the handoff from Kyle Benton during the Eagles' 34-13 victory over Grace Brethren last weekend. OPHS will play crosstown rival Oaks Christian Friday night at Moorpark College. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. Contrary to popular belief, Bill Redell and Dick Billingsley actually like each other.

History would argue otherwise, as Oaks Christian's Redell and Oak Park's Billingsley have exchanged verbal snipes for years.

Recruiting, sportsmanship, competitive balance and ingame controversies, no topic has been too grand for these head coaches to discuss on the record.

But truth be told, entering Friday's matchup between the undefeated Tri-Valley League powers, Redell and Billingsley are acting more like longtime friends than bitter coaching rivals.

"I have a great deal of respect for Coach Billingsley because I'm considerably younger than he is and I have great respect for my elders," said Redell, who at 65 is the older of the two gentlemen.

When told of Redell's comments, Billingsley fired back.

"The difference between he and I is that he's the head coach and oversees everything," Billingsley said. "I'm the head coach here, but I'm also the offensive coordinator. I have a position to coach. He makes a lot of money for doing absolutely nothing, and I have to work my (butt) off for almost nothing. That's the difference."

Pleasantries aside, there's still a game to be played between Oaks Christian, the private institution with the marquee names who's won 37 straight games, and Oak Park, the public school with a chip on its shoulder and something to prove.

"They are ranked nationally and are even No. 1 in some polls," Billingsley said. "So it's quite an honor for us to play Oaks College. That's what I'm calling them because they have all those guys with Division I scholarships."

Oaks Christian's talent can create matchup nightmares for opposing coaches.

Quarterback Jimmy Clausen has thrown 20 touchdowns and one interception. Running back Marc Tyler has found the end zone 19 times and every wide receiver on the team averages more than 16 yards per catch.

On average, the Lions score 55.8 points per game, so stopping them will require a different type of defensive game plan, Billingsley said, adding that limiting the Oaks Christian aerial attack will be priority No. 1 for his defense.

"We probably won't defense them the way some of the other schools have," Billingsley said. "They just made it too easy."

Oaks Christian's never had an easy time beating Oak Park. In fact, Oak Park was the last team to defeat the Lions back in the 2003 regular season, a game the Eagles won on the final play of regulation.

Later that year, in the CIF-SS Division XI championship game, Oaks Christian defeated Oak Park to win its first CIF football title.

In 2004, OCHS beat Oak Park once in the regular season and again in the CIF title game. Last year's contest was cancelled because of wildfires.

At 60 and with several quality wins over larger schools, Redell said this year's Oak Park team is talented and must be taken seriously.

"Defensively they are very solid," Redell said. "Their line play-offensively and defensively-is good. They've got a good quarterback, receivers and a few guys that can run the ball well. They are a very good team."

With a capacity crowd expected, Oak Park moved the game to Moorpark College. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.