SALINA — Travis Sims knows about rivalries.

He has been a part of Western Oklahoma’s premier high school football rivalry, Weatherford and Clinton, as a player.

As an assistant coach the last three years, at Locust Grove, he has experienced the neighborhood rumble that heats up along Highway 82 from Locust Grove to Salina.

Tonight, he enters this classic confrontation for the first time as a head coach.

His Locust Grove Pirates storm into Salina with hopes of ending a two-game losing streak to the Wildcats.

His first game as a head coach, after 11 seasons as an assistant in three programs, comes in the biggest game on his team’s schedule.

“It’s interesting,” he said this week. “Not everyone gets to go through a rivalry game and have something like that.

“I think I have a different perspective on that because I grew up in the Weatherford-Clinton tradition. That’s one of the big ones in the state every year.

“So, I understand the importance to the towns, and at the same time, how the game itself and the outcome of the game itself can affect your overall mentality for the rest of the season, a lot of times.”

Over the last decade, Salina and Locust have established a tradition of openers and rivalries.

“It’s one of those big things,” Sims says. “It’s tough to play a rivalry game right out of the box. It’s great to have a rivalry game, but, man, that first game, to have it there, sometimes it slaps you right in the face.

“It’s kind of a double-edged sword in that it is a very important game, but at the same time, it doesn’t affect your overall district standings later on.”

The two schools might never be paired in the same district. High school enrollments dictate classification, and Locust Grove’s average daily attendance, according to the latest figures from the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, stands at 458. Salina’s enrollment, or average daily attendance, is 272. Locust Grove is in Class 3A, Salina is in 2A.

School enrollment does not appear to coincide with population. The 2009 census figures for Salina lists its population at 1,479. In 2007, the population of Locust Grove was 1,413, according to the same numbers.

“The two towns are basically the same size,” Sims said, “but our (school) district is so huge compared to theirs. We bring in a lot more kids.”

Thursday’s game will also bring in a lot of emotion. Especially for a first-year head coach.

“I think every game is emotional,” Sims said.

He deflected the attention away from his first-game status, preferring to discuss his team.

“When you spend as much time with the kids as the coaches do ... you just want the best for your kids,” he said.

“Emotional? That’s going to answer itself Thursday night.”