Old rivals in the middle of rebuilding seasons, the Harlan Green Dragons and Lynn Camp Wildcats meet Friday just outside of Corbin in a game that will likely determine which team will have to travel to Williamsburg for the first round of the playoffs three weeks later.

Harlan (1-6) lost its district opener last week, falling 47-6 at home against Williamsburg. The Dragons were down to only 18 players in uniform with six others out due to injuries or suspensions and were unable to keep up with the big-play offense led by quarterback Dalton Ponder, who passed for 267 yards and four touchdowns in one half of action.

“We have done pretty good against the pass against these other teams, even back as far as Berea,” Harlan coach Eric Perry said. “We just didn’t match up with those guys They were just so much more athletic than us.”

Ethan Clem moved from running back to take over at quarterback out of a Wildcat formation several weeks ago and led the Harlan offense with 54 yards rushing before suffering an injury in the second half. Jayden Ward took over at quarterback at that point and scored the Dragons’ only touchdown of the night after directing a successful drive.

Perry said he expects Clem and running back/receiver Juan Bynum back in the lineup this week. Harlan could also get senior lineman Jordan Howard back from an injury.

Lynn Camp (2-4) also lost its district opener last week, falling 14-6 at Pineville. The Wildcats have also suffered two one-point losses, 28-27 to both Middlesboro and Estill County.

Chase Brown has taken over as the Wildcats’ primary ball carrier with Dalton Cook graduating and has responded with a team-high 514 yards and six touchdowns through five games. Jayden Dunn has added 292 yards and three touchdowns. Tyler Smith has completed 17 of 34 passes 259 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

“They will give you all kinds of different formations, but they definitely want to run the ball. They will throw it six or seven times a game,” Perry said.

Junior defensive back Jeremiah Mills has led the Harlan defense with 38 tackles. Jon Eldridge is next with 24 tackles, followed by Ward with 23 and Britt Lawson with 22.

Bryson Batt and Spencer Gilbert have led the Lynn Camp defense with 16 tackles each. Dunn has added 14 tackles.

“We feel we can compete, and if we have some success running the ball we can. We have to sustain some drives, eat clock and get our defense off the field,” Perry said. “We hope having a couple of bodies back this week will help us. We still have a lot of people going both ways and struggling with that.