There are many great rivalries across the state of Oklahoma, but when it comes to Mustang versus Yukon, Mustang head football coach Jeremy Dombek says there is no comparison.

“You know, I’ve been a part of some really good rivalries in this state,” Dombek said. “I’ve been a part of the Moore wars between Moore and Westmoore and the Edlam rivalry between the Edmond schools, but there’s something a little different with the Mustang-Yukon rivalry. It goes a little deeper between these two schools and communities.”

The annual Canadian County rivalry will continue its long-standing tradition at 7 p.m. Friday at Miller Stadium at Yukon High School.

Miller Stadium has a seating capacity of just less than 7,000, but there are expected to be close to 14,000 people in attendance for the game.

Dombek hopes his second experience with Mustang-Yukon goes better than his first one did.

Last season, Mustang was widely considered across the state as the better of the two teams, but it was Yukon which came into Bronco Stadium and defeated Mustang in overtime 19-16.

“It hurt,” Dombek said. “The thing is, it’s not a make-or-break game for the season. We are in different districts and the winner and loser of that game is not better or worse off in terms of playoff position following the game, but it means a whole heck of a lot in our hearts. We remember last year’s game. We remember how it felt walking off the field. We don’t want to go through that again.”

The Millers are a different looking program than they were a year ago. Former Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bill Young is now the head coach at Yukon, so the expectation to win is higher than ever north of I-40.

Dombek said he expects to see a well-coached football team on Friday night.

“Coach Young is a fantastic football coach,” Dombek said. “We know they are going to be well-coached. They aren’t going to make mistakes. They aren’t going to beat themselves. They are going to play physical on both sides of the ball, and we have to be ready for it. They are going to be big and physical on the line of scrimmage. We know that.”

Dombek said no matter who wins or loses this game, there is still a lot of football left to be played.

“Just look at last year,” Dombek said. “We lost that first game at home to Yukon and then we still were able to make the playoffs and make a quarterfinal run. We understand that this game will not make or break our season, but we want to win this game as much as any other game on our schedule, I guarantee that. We want to start the year off right.”

The annual Bronco Pigskin Preview was canceled on Aug. 28 because of inclement weather in the area, so Mustang has not had a lot of action against other opponents in the preseason.

Dombek said he is confident in his team and is eager to see them against someone else this Friday.

“We haven’t worked on special teams in a live situation yet,” Dombek said. “And as a team, we haven’t seen anyone else other than us very much at all, so we are ready for Friday night. We have had a great month of practice, and we are going to have a great week of practice this week. No matter what happens Friday night, win or lose, there will be things to correct going forward.”