CLARKSVILLE —  It’s hard to believe the Providence-New Albany rivalry just got re-started five years ago.

Really, what were the schedule makers thinking?

“It was unfortunate for us,” said Providence coach Larry Denison, who was a longtime assistant under Gene Sartini until last year, of not playing New Albany every year. “The rivalry means so much to the Providence community. I’m just so glad that we’re back playing each other again. I think both sides really wanted it.”

“There was a lot of stuff that went on,” said New Albany second-year head coach Charlie Fields, who was an assistant coach for the Bulldogs at the time. “We had some news teams come into the conference [Columbus East and Seymour], so the schedule got changed around. But New Albany and Providence should be playing every year.”

The rivalry is extra special for Denison. His mother went to Providence and his father attended New Albany. The two went on their first date to the rivalry game in 1962, which the Pioneers won 2-0.

“The New Albany game has always been big in my family,” he said. “This is definitely a big event. It’s nice to have the first game mean so much.”

The matchup is honestly just a little more special for Providence, anyway. New Albany will go on to face rivals Jeffersonville and Floyd Central in the middle of its Hoosier Hills Conference season. On the other hand, Sartini said weeks before the resumption of the rivalry in 2007 that beating New Albany was second only to winning a sectional championship.

“All of our local rivalry games are big,” Denison said, referencing games against Jeff, Charlestown and Floyd Central. “But New Albany is special — maybe a little more so than the others.”

“They live to beat us,” Fields said. “I told all of my kids that Providence kids are given footballs in their cribs that say, ‘Beat New Albany.’ We understand that from the get-go. To them, this is bigger than the Super Bowl.”

Since the rivalry’s resumption, there have been some classics, and the last two years have been the best.

In 2010, Providence won a 47-46 overtime thriller. That was the last time Sartini, who said beating New Albany was second only to winning a state championship in his mind, would face the Bulldogs. Last year, Denison won his first game as a varsity head coach with a 21-19 win at New Albany. The Pioneers led 21-12 before holding on for the victory.

“We respect their program,” Fields said. “They play football the right way and they play a winning style of football.”

This year, both teams are younger and smaller than they have been in the past. That certainly doesn’t mean either is expecting the other to provide anything other than a stiff challenge.

“I think it all starts with their quarterback,” Denison said of Bulldog signal-caller Michael Diehl, who rushed for 120 yards and threw for 77 against the Pioneers last year. “He gave us some trouble trying to contain him and we can’t just focus on him. They have a lot of skilled players on their team.”

“We think we have a bunch of football players and Providence does, too,” Fields said. “They’re going to try to run the football and control the line of scrimmage. That’s how they win games. They’ll try to exploit any mistakes and make us pay for it.”

Fields said he believes a win will set up either team for the long season, while a loss can be devastating.

“There are a lot of a positives and a few negatives about playing this game the first week,” he said. “It can springboard you if you win, but it can demoralize you if you don’t.”