Just under a year ago, Dublin and Jefferson County collided in the second round of the state playoffs on the Irish’s home field. Friday night, they’ll face each other again; this time in Louisville for the Region 3-AA title. And in Dublin coach Roger Holmes’ estimation, both teams just might be playing even better than they were last year, when the Irish came away with a 21-13 victory to move on to the third round of the playoffs.

“I think right now we have a little bit better balance in our backfield (than last year),” Holmes said. “We’re starting to play about at the level where we did last year on defense.”

The Warriors (8-1) returned most of their defense and still have the highly-touted B.J. Bostic, who has thrown for over 1,200 yards and run for over 1,100 through nine games, running their spread offense. “Bostic “is an all-world guy,” Holmes said. “They’ve added option to their offense, which is certainly a dimension that makes it that much harder to defend them. It’s one of those things where we’re going to have to man up if we’re going to win this football game.”

But the Irish (8-1) have a signal-caller of their own whom some might consider “all-world” in senior Rashard Smith. Not to be outdone, Smith has thrown for better than 800 yards and run for more than 700 with more total touchdowns and fewer interceptions than his counterpart.

“Both quarterbacks are key to both teams and obviously both game plans will be geared toward trying to slow them down,” Holmes said. “Because I don’t think you can stop either one of them.”

Meaning the outcome could well be determined by which quarterback has the better supporting cast, which is where Dublin’s balance comes in. The Irish relied on Smith heavily the first half of the year to carry the load as a runner, but in recent weeks his backfield mates Nick Glenn, Josh Jordan and Michel Coffey have increased their production dramatically.

“We’re definitely less reliant on Rashard right now than we were earlier in the season,” Holmes said. “There were some games where he carried the ball as many as 20 times, but the last couple weeks he’s only had six or eight carries.”

With multiple big-play threats, the Irish offense has become much more difficult to defend. It also doesn’t hurt that Dublin may be as healthy as its been in some time, as seniors Chris Smith, Anthony Thomas and Evan Melton are expected back from injury.

Though the Warriors appear to lean on their quarterback just as heavily as they did early in the year, their biggest advantage could be their overall depth. Holmes said Jefferson is a two-platoon team, which means no one is forced to play both offense and defense.

The Irish, meanwhile, have many players who go both ways, so the game may come down to their ability to play through fatigue against a fresher opponent.

“I hope we’ve got enough gas left in the tank to be competitive for four quarters,” Holmes said. Considering the way these teams have run through a brutal region, it would figure to be competitive all the way to the finish.