Football night tonight!

It's a great night in Hancock County and throughout the state! All four local schools will have homecoming festivities this evening. We'll be at Mt. Vernon, but all four games involving county schools will be broadcast on local media.

Pendleton Heights (3-1/1-1) at Mt. Vernon (4-0/2-0): MV is ranked No. 10 by the IFCA, while PH is receiving votes from the AP. This is annually a great rivalry and a tremendous matchup between these two old rivals, and tonight looks like one of the top matchups in the series' history. Both teams are strong and in the thick of the HHC race. The last 16 games between them have been dead-even, including the two meetings they split last year. Both teams feature powerful running games, led by MV's Tyler Dicks and PH's Jacob Lyons. Should MV win, it will be 5-0 for the first time since 2004. Andrew Smith, Mike Jackson and Chris Lambert will be on-air with you starting at 7 p.m. on www.hancockcountysports.com

Rushville (2-2/0-2) at New Palestine (4-0/2-0): The Dragons have been strong this year, garnering a No. 4 ranking from the AP and a No. 7 mark from the IFCA. QB Connor Simmons broke the 1,000-yard mark for the season in last week's 31-20 victory over Delta. NP has won 15 straight HHC contests. Rushville is looking for its first league victory in its last 11 tries. The Lions are young, but have a strong RB/LB in Garrett Hittle, their leading rusher in last week's loss to Mt. Vernon. WIFE-94.3 in Rushville will broadcast the game (no web streaming). 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

Shelbyville (1-3/1-1) at Greenfield-Central (2-2/1-1): Good matchup here. G-C has been solid this season, and was so in holding off Yorktown last week for a road conference victory. Two weeks ago, the Cougars took perennial HHC power Delta to the wire before falling 19-17. G-C has a diverse offense and a very strong defense. Shelby found its way in a 29-12 victory over Rushville, but the Golden Bears struggled last week against Pendleton Heights. 7 p.m. kickoff. Broadcast on WSVX-1520 (www.wsvx.com) or WRGF-89.7.

Knightstown (2-2) at Eastern Hancock (1-3): Two first-year coaches from strong programs -- K'town's Pat Mallory -- a Mt. Vernon grad who came over from Center Grove -- meets up with EH's Pat Echeverria, a former Pike assistant. The Panthers have won two straight, beating Wes-Del and North Decatur -- the latter by a 34-32 score last week. The Royals are 1-3, with a thrilling 20-8 victory over South Decatur in Week 2. Last week, EH hung tough but fell to Milan 13-10 on the road. The Royals will try to wrest the Plow Share and Anvil trophy for the first time since 2007. Broadcast with Bill Ludlow and Keith Meyers on www.hcsnradio.com beginning at 6:30 p.m. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

And in the HHC
Yorktown (2-2/0-2) at Delta (1-3/1-1): The Eagles have been strong, and rallied nicely from a two-score deficit to lead New Palestine 20-17 in the fourth quarter last week, but the Dragons rallied. QB Ozzie Mann is a Ball State recruit, but was held in check by the Dragons. Yorktown has hung tough against Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central, but dropped both games. The Tigers rallied with 14 points in the closing seconds last week to make things interesting in a 23-20 loss to G-C. They were tied with Mt. Vernon in the third quarter before the Marauders pulled away.

Next week (HHC & Hancock County)
Mt. Vernon at Shelbyville, 7 p.m. (broadcast: www.hancockcountysports.com)
Greenfield-Central at Rushville, 7 p.m.
Eastern Hancock at North Decatur, 7 p.m.
New Palestine at Yorktown, 7:30 p.m.

Delta at Pendleton Heights, 7:30 p.m.