Friday night features a change of pace for the KingCo 3A/2A: Two undefeated, powerful teams will clash and neither one is Bellevue.

When Juanita visits Liberty Friday it will likely determine the league’s top dog — at least for now.

The Wolverines stumbled to 2-2 after losses to some extremely tough out-of-state competition, leaving Liberty, Juanita and Interlake as the top teams in the KingCo for now.

Interlake could be prone to trouble in the future as the Saints have allowed nearly 33 points per game this year.

That leaves Liberty and Juanita. Two teams that have been absolutely rolling and seen just one close contest between them this year. The Rebels have won by an average of 19.25 points this year, the Patriots by 33.75.

What will it take to win the game? Let’s hear from the coaches themselves.

Steve Valach, Liberty head coach:

“Juanita is a physical team with a strong running game and a big-play receiver. They don’t turn the ball over, so the key defensively is to give them long fields and prevent the big play. We need to match their physical play.”

“Offensively we need to find our rhythm this week, take care of the football, and take what the defense is giving us. We are best when we are balanced in terms of run and pass, and that allows us to keep the defense off balance. Any time you play a big game against a quality opponent, taking care of the football and preventing the big play is the key.”

Shaun Tarantola, Juanita head coach:

“Liberty is a very good all-around team. They really do not appear to have any weaknesses so for our focus we would like to eliminate the big play, slow down the running game and find some ways to get them out of rhythm on offense.”

“For our offense we need to run the ball effectively while protecting the football. We would love to get long, time-consuming scoring drives.”