COLUMBUS, OH (WCMH)– As if the stakes couldn’t get any higher, there’s a new layer added to the ‘Battle of Hard Road’ this year.

“It kind of makes you want to work harder,” said Dublin Scioto field commander Yasmin Hadadi.

“It’s a big show, not only for the football team, but also the band and the cheerleaders,” added Worthington Kilbourne drum major Brady Cloyd.

Just three miles separates Dublin Scioto and Worthington Kilbourne high schools along Hard Rd. just outside of Interstate 270.

“We’re both trying to claim that piece of turf that we always fight for every year,” Cloyd explained.

Before a down of football is even played Friday night, the bands can claim a W by being crowned the NBC4 Band of the Week.

“It’s the 25th anniversary [of Dublin Scioto High School], so the 25th year doing this. It’s a really big deal,” Hadadi said.

The bands have been practicing their shows for months and want to show them off to Central Ohio.

The Fighting Irish’s show is called “Moving Still.”

“It starts off very high intensity and a buildup kind of, and then, into our ballad, and that gets really soft, and then, we have some solos in there as well,” Hadadi elaborated.

The Wolves are taking advantage of the growth their band has seen in recent years in their show called “Concerto for Mother Earth.”

“We want the audience to feel the sense that they’re part of nature, they’re one with nature,” said Cloyd.

While fierce rivals, the esteem the bands have for each other is evident.

“It’s really fun because we get to compete and compare each other,” said Hadadi. “There’s not any ‘our band is better!’ but we love and support every other band.”

“Its also a way for the communities to connect,” Cloyd said. “We all respect one another, but also, there’s that sense of competition there as well.”