MADISON BOWL 2026: Battle of rivals and friends

MADISON- Two words are the origin for the enormous excitement across Madison this week: “Madison Bowl.”

The annual battle lines between the two high schools in Madison become even more intensified for the gridiron gathering where one school can gleam as having the best football team of the two competing schools. This Friday’s “Madison Bowl” will pit the host team of James Clemens versus its arch-rival Bob Jones with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff at the Madison City Schools Stadium.

Going into the conflict of the two teams, Bob Jones (1-1) and James Clemens (1-1) are evenly matched, but are playing more than just a regular season game and a Region 4 showdown. For the schools and football programs, not to mention, players, coaches, cheerleaders and bands, the Friday night lights contest is bragging rights for an entire calendar year.

“It’s special for me as we get to play against our biggest rival as we have to share the stadium with Bob Jones, and to me, it’s like they are taking what’s ours,” said Malikai Cooper, senior offensive lineman at James Clemens.

Bob Jones senior running back Jaden Rice said of the game, which to everyone involved, is a big deal, “Of course it’s a big deal. I wants folks to think of the Madison Bowl and automatically think of Bob Jones and our team as I know this game is a big deal to the fans.”

Friday’s clash is the 15th edition of the arch-rival game where Bob Jones owns an 8-6 edge in the series. The Patriots won the first six of the series’ matchups before James Clemens took the next four in-a-row, including a 35-28 overtime victory in 2021. The last four meetings between the two programs have been split, including an enormous show of force victory by the Patriots last season of a 54-7 victory over the Jets.

“We all put in a lot of work this summer knowing this game was coming up and the fact James Clemens will be looking for revenge, but we are looking at our hard work to pull us through to victory again this year,” added Ride, who rambled for 200 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries in the big Bob Jones win last year. “Because of my success in last year’s game, I know I’ll have a target on my back. I trust the work I put in since that game a season ago will help me prepared for whatever James Clemens sends our way.”

“We have something to prove after last year’s embarrassment and I believe we are a much better team than last year as I was the only returning starter of the offensive line,” said Cooper, who will sign with The Citadel after the 2026 season is complete. “After the Bob Jones game, we improved a lot and we’re better this year as we’ve been together now for a year and we have that unity we needed. For those of us who played in this last year, we’re taking what we learned from that game in this Friday’s battle.”

Bob Jones, the official visiting team in Friday’s matchup, opened the season with a 35-6 loss to a very good Hartselle team and then bounced back last week with a 28-21 victory against the Athens Golden Eagles. Game one was filled with mistakes while game two looked more like what Patriots’ head coach Seth Parker expected out of his team as he looks for his first Madison Bowl as head coach.

The first-year head coach is also the only person to have experience in the Madison Bowl as a player (first game of the series), an assistant coach and now, a head coach.

“We have to take this game as just another game on our schedule, but we do understand all of the exciting festivities surrounding the game with a large crowd on hand,” said Parker. “If not careful, you can make this game too big. We are aware of the Madison Bowl aspect, but it’s also our first region game, which is most important.”

The host Jets are coming off a 34-7 spanking at the hands of Parker High after a season-opening impressive 21-point win over always tough Austin High.

Juan Johnson, James Clemens second- year head coach was unavailable for comments. The Jets have been outscored in their two games 58-52.

“We made a huge improvement from week one through week two as we played clean complimentary football last week against Athens. We played very physical by running the ball and stopping the run up front,” said Parker. “We got healthy up front on our offensive line and had a tremendous effort from our senior tight end Brayson Albin who moved to right tackle. He gave us a massive spark and did an outstanding job.”

Albin is the Patriots’ long snapper and is ranked No. 1 in Alabama and No. 4 in the U.S. and has committed to sign with Western Kentucky.

“It’s our crosstown rival. This game means a lot to me, especially being my last chance of beating them,” added Rice.

“I’m ready to play this game and revealing the truth that we have the best team,” said Cooper. “I don’t believe in all that smack we’ve heard from those around Bob Jones.”