Pre-game fervor is running high as the Gorham and Westbrook High School football teams gear up to clash Friday in an old rivalry with a trophy and new name: River Bowl.

The River Bowl is a new name attached to the annual, regular season game between the two teams. Whoever wins gets the bragging rights — and a new trophy.

It’s the regular season finale for both teams and this week both head coaches outlined for Westbrook-Gorham Now some game strategies.

“In order to beat Gorham, we cannot beat ourselves,” Westbrook coach Sam Johnson said Monday. “We need to limit pre-snap penalties and post-whistle penalties. We need to continue to be sound in the kicking game and get off the field defensively on third downs. Offense needs to take care of the ball and hit some homers.”

Gorham coach Sam Morrison said, “If we are to win, we will need to play a clean game offensively; limiting our turnovers and penalties; establish a run game and take our shots in the pass game when we are staying on track with the sticks.”

Kickoff is at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24, at Olmstead Field at Westbrook High School, 125 Stroudwater St.

Patrick Colgan, co-principal at Westbrook High, said the “Brook” community shows up to support school events and said Westbrook Friday will roll out a top seed. “I imagine the turnout will be huge,” Colgan said. Ample parking will be available.

The River Bowl derives its name from the Presumpscot River that flows through both communities, and the game has all the trappings of a bowl game.

Coaches of the two teams reached out the Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club to come up with an idea to add more color to the annual game. Rotarians helped create the bowl theme and will participate in the coin flip ceremony and post-game trophy presentation.

“The Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club was honored to be approached by the two teams to help create this event, fund the trophy, and celebrate and support youth in its two high schools — one of Rotary International’s areas of focus,” Rotarian Phil Spiller said Monday.

Gorham, with nine wins, has the edge in the rivalry with Westbrook that began in 2005 while Westbrook has five victories in the matchup. The game has traditionally been high scoring through the years. Gorham racked up a 47-7 victory in last year’s rendition while Westbrook took the game 40-14 in 2023.

Westbrook comes into the River Bowl with a 6-1 record this season.

“There is a ton of buzz out there about the Blazes at the moment, especially given this past weekend’s gutsy victory on the road against Cheverus,” Colgan said.

Attempts to reach Gorham High School Principal Brian Jandreau were unsuccessful.

Gorham enters the game fresh off a win over Biddeford. On the regular season, Gorham is 2-5.

But Johnson cautioned, “(It’s) Week 8, definitely throw the record book out. Rivalry week, playing for the first-ever River Bowl — this one is special.”

Gorham Superintendent Heather Perry will attend the game to support both teams as they battle for the “river bragging rights.” Perry called the River Bowl a “cool idea. Go Rams.”

Westbrook Superintendent Peter Lancia said unfortunately he’ll be away. “I hope the River Bowl becomes a long tradition,” Lancia said Monday. “We are so proud of our kids. Go Blazes.”

Coaches Morrison and Johnson this week traded praise for their opponents.

Morrison said Westbrook has a lot of good athletes all around and poses “a significant challenge offensively.”

Johnson said, “(Gorham) is dominant in the kicking game and have explosive, physical playmakers on both sides of the ball.”

Fans could look for coaches to slip some surprises into this week’s game plans.

Morrison said the Rams’ practice routine is well established, but will make sure they have a “sound plan of attack in all three phases.” All the teams add a wrinkle or two each week, he said, and the Rams are no different. “We’ll stay true to our identity, but also have a few things in our back pocket within our schemes in all three phases.”

Johnson described Gorham as diverse in what they do schematically. “They are sound and very well coached,” Johnson said.

Both teams do their homework, study game films and scout.

“(We are) constantly looking for ways to get an advantage or find ways to put our kids in a great position to be successful,” Johnson said.

Morrison said they have exchanged films from Weeks 6 and 7 and definitely review films to look for the “new weekly wrinkles. We do watch what they have been doing and they watch us,” Morrison said.

This year, rivalry enthusiasm has reached new heights with a trophy at stake.

The River Bowl “has definitely added an element to the game that brings some energy,” Morrison said.

“It was a thought of coach Johnson’s and myself to add something to this game as we are natural rivals and also play in every other sport,” Morrison said. “Both of our upperclassmen and senior leaders thought it would be a cool, new tradition, so we ran with it.”

Johnson said his players are “beyond excited” and it’s “cool to see the entire community rally behind them. At the beginning of the year, the kids were playing for each other, now they are playing for something much bigger than themselves,” Johnson said.