There was an eerie silence to the start of practice in Santa Ana this week as Mater Dei High School senior Josh Hunter began putting on his pads.

He is no stranger to a CIF championship game after playing in two of his three years as a Monarch, but this week and this game hold a special meaning.

"We've got a job. We have to finish the job," Hunter said. "Doing your part in this great tradition, it's about coming back and seeing your name, seeing the placard. It would be truly special."

The tradition Hunter talked about means everything to the Monarchs; it is the three stripes, the legacy, the discipline and the storied head coach who knows all about rivalry.

This week the rivalry comes to life yet again.

Mater Dei has been playing Servite since 1961. The two schools have met in big games, have played for league titles but will match up for the first time in a CIF title game on Friday night.

To Hunter and his teammate, senior captain CJ Williams, the game is a little more meaningful.

"With all the tradition, there comes customs, players of the past," Williams explained. "You're playing for something much bigger than you and I think that's what both teams do, they play for something bigger than themselves."

It is a feeling that travels down the highway to Anaheim, where another program built on tradition has been building its own legacy and emphasizing brotherhood.

"Everybody is going to say this, but it is the willingness to play for each other," Servite quarterback Noah Fifita said. "I think a lot of people say it, put it on their shirts, tweet it, but not everybody lives it out. We live it out."

Anchored by seniors like Fifita and running back Houston Thomas, the Friars have rebuilt this program since coach Troy Thomas returned four years ago. 

Servite is fresh off a historic win against St. John Bosco last week — their first in the last decade — and is eager for one more against their rivals.

"I mean, it's just crazy from the past, just the epic battles other teams have had is what creates this environment for us," Thomas explained.

"It's crazy. It's so electric," he continued. "It's like that every time we play."

It is sold-out crowds; it is emotion; it is intense.

Both schools can agree, when they meet on the gridiron on Friday night, it will be a battle, but a battle that brings out the best in high school football.

"From when the whistle blows to when it ends, it's going to be war, it's going to be a blood bath," Fifita said. "One thing that's different this year though, is there's not hatred. There's a lot of respect for each other."

"It really makes it for a special game with a lot of emotions and I think that's when football is at its best," Williams added. "When emotions are flying."

Because in a rivalry game, you never really know what will happen as the whistle blows.

"It's war," Hunter said with a smile. "We know they are as strong as we are brotherhood wise."

"We'll be ready and we know they'll be ready," he continued. "That's the best part about it."

As Hunter said, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, it's game on.