An unforgettable reunion of two friends from Arkansas who rejoin as rivals during the football playoffs

Little Rock, Arkansas – The Hornets of the 5A Central will meet the Greenbrier Panthers of the 5A West in Maumelle on Friday night in one of the most anticipated high school football games in the state of Arkansas.

Randy Tribble, head coach of the Greenbriers, stated, “We’re really excited to be in the playoffs.” “That’s what you play for all year is to be in the playoffs.”

In addition to being a playoff game, Friday night’s matchup will mark the reunion of two buddies on the field.

Tribble, the current Greenbrier head coach, recruited and mentored Brian Maupin, the head coach at Maumelle.

“Coach Trib has consistently been my partner. Maupin stated, “You know, he was a big part of why I came up there my freshman year and signed with Harding.” “He had a fantastic football mind and was always such a great man. It’s just a nice talk every time. He was like family to me, really.

Tribble had just as many positive things to say about his former player as Maupin did about his former coach.

It’s unique. “Anyone who’s close to your sons and whom you’ve sort of watched grow up,” Tribble added. “As you can imagine, he had a lot of energy as a player, you could tell he understood football, and he liked learning football and related to people well.”

Even though Friday night will be exciting for the two head coaches, they both undoubtedly want to win.

“I told the guys, 50% of the kids in the state are done playing already, and 50% more will be done Friday, and 50% are on the road this week,” said Maupin. “So to be in that top 50% that gets to host a playoff game, we don’t take that lightly.”

“It’ll be serious business [on Friday night], it won’t matter who’s over there much tomorrow night, we’re just trying to keep this team together and get to play another week,” Tribble said.

The friendship between the two head coaches and their competitive nature makes for an exciting game on Friday night.