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BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Gallatin Raptors are preparing to face the Hawks this Friday in what will be the seventh installment of this year’s highly anticipated crosstown matchup. 

A win for the Hawks would hand the Raptors their first loss of the season, while a Raptors victory would keep their hopes of consecutive unbeaten regular seasons alive.

“We’re very excited. We got that momentum from winning last year,” said senior linebacker Sam Talbot. “We all think that we could have won it more convincingly, especially with fumbles and takes. But I think this year we’ll be a lot better prepared. And we’re really focused on doing our job,” said Talbot.

Diesel Zallar, another senior linebacker, highlighted the team’s efforts this season. “All the lifts, so many camps, so much coming up to this. This could be a big game for us,” said Zallar.

The Raptors have been dominant in the first four weeks of the season, outscoring their opponents 146-33. Zallar emphasized the importance of their offensive success. “We know our guys are going to put up points. It brings more confidence brings more juice every time we score. We know we have a good team and all in all it just makes us trust each other,” he said.

Talbot shared the team’s confidence in their defensive abilities. “You have a stop and you just get that good feeling your stomach. You know the other team isn’t feeling good. You know that. They’re scared that they’re going to get scored on. So that’s pretty good and just to be able to stop a team and know that you’re going to score from it, that’s really important to have,” he said.

The Raptors have come close to a state title in the past three seasons, losing in the semifinals each time. This year, they aim to overcome that hurdle not just for themselves, but for those who came before them.

Carsen Ross, a senior lineman for the Raptors, reflected on past losses. “Losing to Glacier the last two years, that’s something that we think about every day. I mean, our seniors, we’ve all been on that team. We’ve all we all know what that feels like. And that’s just constant motivation. All summer we were thinking about that and we want to do it for ourselves, but we also want to do it for all the guys that we couldn’t get it done with a couple years ago,” said Ross.

The Raptors battle the Hawks Friday 7:00 p.m. at Van Winkle Stadium.