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GREENSBORO -- Our high schools are our clearest reflection of ourselves, perfect pictures of academic communities loosely tied together over time by school colors and mascots and memories.

And nothing is a better snapshot in time than a Friday night football game between communities that grew up side by side with little or no interaction other than the games themselves. Tonight's rare clash between undefeated Dudley and undefeated Ragsdale is one we saw coming from far away, hoping against hope that football would force the two together on a level field with nothing less at stake than the season itself.

Generations of alumni from the two county schools will come together on the night after Thanksgiving, packing Tarpley Stadium beyond capacity to watch a game that will have meaning beyond its outcome. That's what high school playoff games are all about, settling seasons and producing memories for future generations to remember and argue over.

The distinct character of the two teams and communities make this one better than any Guilford County playoff game in recent memory.

Dudley comes in rolling after a 46-0 win over Wilson Fike last week in a game that should have been a stern test for the defending state champions. The 13-0 Panthers instead blew into the region semifinals with the daring, slashing style of past Dudley teams.

Ragsdale comes in after a 14-3 win over Western Guilford, a game won in Ragsdale style -- efficient, ruthless and inevitable. The 13-0 Tigers scored once in the first half and once in the second to brush past Western and set up tonight's game for the ages.

Close observers of the two teams know they are similar in ways not obvious to most. Both teams play great defense, both take advantage of opportunities and both play exactly as their coaches want them to play. Little has varied from the season-long script that will end for one team tonight and send the other into the round where championships and banners are at stake.

The similarities end there.

Dudley is fast and free-wheeling on offense, a team that lines up in various formations only to rely again and again on the feet of quarterback Ricky Lewis, who gained 206 yards on the ground last week and scored three touchdowns in the big win over Fike. The explosive Panthers ran for 415 yards and threw one pass.

Ragsdale runs out of a pro-set offense that every kid in Jamestown understands. Many of them have been playing together since they were 10-years-old, and all of them know that games can be won running, passing, kicking or punting. The strength of the Tigers is their abundance of kids with good talent who understand their roles.

Of course, Dudley would say the same thing about itself, just as Ragsdale would point to its 27 points a game average and blowouts such as the 48-0 season-opening win over Morehead and 28-0 win over powerful Asheboro.

Ragsdale, out of the Mid-Piedmont 3-A Conference, gave up only 29 points in its six league games, and Dudley gave up only 32 in six Triad 3-A Conference games. Both teams are set up to stop the other from running.

That's what makes tonight's game so interesting. They've been on a collision course all year, and no one really believed one would be able to avoid the other. You could see this one coming for years, in fact. Eventually, though they reside in the same county and in sister 3-A leagues, the schools simply never play.

It's been that way from the beginning, when Ragsdale was born in 1959, the largest school in Guilford County, a 4-A juggernaut that started winning state titles quickly, even more after it dropped into the 3-A ranks in the late 70s. Dudley, the county's first all-black high school, has more rivals than almost any school in the state having played against the three city schools and fighting out of the state's toughest 3-A leagues for years.

But the two programs have never become football rivals despite the success of both, despite being in rival leagues and in the same county with the same goal for generations. Ragsdale, with multiple state titles and rich community traditions, has won 43 games in five seasons. Dudley, with multiple state titles and rich community traditions, has won 56 games over the same period.

Not once did they meet on the football field, however.

Mirror images, they are not. Tonight, all the colors will clash and the communities and the alumni will come together again for a football game that might be the start of still another rivalry but will certainly be the end of a trend that has continued for too long.

Undefeated, untied and unvanquished, Dudley will finally meet Ragsdale tonight in a game they'll probably talk about for years to come.

Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ed.hardin@news-record.com