You won't have to wait much longer for this big-time game.

Lufkin at Longview checks in at No. 4 as ETSN.fm counts down the top 25 regular season football games of the 2015 season. Kickoff is in six days at Lobo Stadium.

Should we start with the short-term or long-term significance to this one?

It's immediately a statement game, but it very well could be a playoff preview as well. Even if it's a faulty preview.

Lufkin quarterback Kordell Rogers will make his first varsity spot at the position on Friday. (Rob Graham, ETSN.fm)
Lufkin quarterback Kordell Rogers will make his first varsity spot at the position on Friday. (Rob Graham, ETSN.fm)
loading...

The Panthers wiped the floor with the Lobos in a 44-14 opening-night win at Abe Martin Stadium last season. But the Lobos got a big last laugh by converting a two-point conversion with 31 seconds to play in a 43-42 Class 5A Division I bi-district playoff win.

Longview and Lufkin's student enrollment make the two schools the largest in their adjacent districts, so they can only make the Class 5A Division I playoff bracket.

Automatically, there's a 50 percent chance the two teams will meet in the bi-district playoff round once again this year.

The Lobos are favored to win District 15-5A and Lufkin is projected to make the playoffs out of District 16-5A but finish behind John Tyler, another school that has no option but to go the Division I route.

If all of that actually plays out, it is guaranteed Longview and the Pack will meet in their first playoff game.

Both teams are very similar on both sides of the ball this season. But the Lobos have better-known offensive commodities in senior running back Tylan Miller and senior receiving Jon Sorey.

Lufkin's offensive skill players are virtually all first-year starters. Junior quarterback Kordell Rodgers is in for a big test in his first career varsity start against an experienced Lobos secondary.

Bronson Massie, an end, headlines the Panthers' defensive side with multiple Pac-12 college football scholarship opportunities. The defensive line as a whole is expected to be a major strength.

However, the unit will be working against one of the area's best offensive lines.

Paper says Longview wins the game. Yet match up problems seem to go out the window in high-emotion games.

This is a meeting that will incorporate a grudge, a rivalry and all the jitters that come with opening night.

Buckle up.

ETSN.fm's Top 25 Games of 2015

More From East Texas Sports Network