Wellsville ? The coaches agree: The pressure will be on Eudora in tonight’s high school football opener against Wellsville.

“It’s a very big game,” Wellsville coach Bill Oshel said. “Actually, it’s probably more important to Eudora because they have all the chips. We by far are the underdogs. They’re the ones who have to prove they can do stuff. If we can stay on the field with them and be there at the end, we’ll be satisfied.”

That scenario is exactly what scares Cardinals coach Gregg Webb.

“They were like 0-4 when we saw them, and they were tougher than a boot,” Webb said, referring to last year’s 14-7 victory over the Eagles in Eudora. “Our defense had to play really well at some points for us to win because our offense did nothing.”

In 2003, Eudora went on to win its fourth straight Class 4A district title, and the Eagles went on to win six in a row before losing to Class 3A state runner-up Silver Lake.

“I hope we can continue off what we did at the end of the season,” Oshel said. “But we’re not the pros, not all of the same kids are coming back. We’ve got a good core group of kids, but we might struggle offensively early on. Our defense might have to carry us for a while.”

For Wellsville, the key may be a faster start than the Eagles had in last season’s meeting.

“I think in that game, Eudora was pretty lucky to win,” Oshel said. “They dominated us in the first quarter, but we pretty much played them even from there. But they had the edge because we let them have 14 quick ones. It was even other than that.”

Webb, who has won Class 2A state titles at Claflin, believes the Cardinals will lose if they don’t play at a higher level tonight than they did against the Eagles in 2003.

“Our whole game better be ready, offense, defense, everything,” he said.

“Our kids are excited. They know what’s going to happen, and the big rivalry with Wellsville. It will be time to tell Friday night.”