OPELIKA -- Opelika coach Spence McCracken pulled down the sheet of paper hanging behind his desk.

On the sheet were a list of things McCracken said his team "did bad" in its first semifinal appearance last season. A week after eliminating Prattville in the quarterfinals, the Bulldogs lost to Daphne 24-21 in the final seconds of the Class 6A semifinals.

"Last year, just wasn't meant to be," McCracken said. "We've done some things to make ourselves better since then."

The list has served as a guide for the Bulldogs (12-1). Tonight, when Opelika hosts Prattville (13-0) in the Bulldogs' second semifinal appearance, McCracken is hoping to see better results.

"This is the biggest game that has been played in this city," McCracken said. "We knew if we got this far, we'd probably have to play Prattville. I'm glad it's come down to these two teams."

Prattville head coach Bill Clark and his Lions have been preparing for the rematch. If the two most recent meetings between the teams are any indication, tonight will be another tough battle.

Opelika eliminated Prattville 17-15 in the 2005 quarterfinals and Prattville knocked off the Bulldogs 28-19 earlier this season.

"This is a game with two good teams, but one has to win and one has to lose," Clark said. "Both teams are playing with confidence and both teams have great motivation. I've told our guys, there's not a hair's difference between us and Opelika. It will come down to who is the best (tonight)."

For both teams, the driving motivation is to be playing at Legion Field on Dec. 9. The Lions reached the championship game in 2004, losing to Hoover. Opelika is still looking for its first berth in the championship game.

"What we have is two very good high school teams," McCracken said. "Both want to go to Birmingham and play next week. The only difference is, Prattville has been before. (This program) has never been to the Big Show."

McCracken agreed both teams are evenly matched in most areas. The difference tonight will be little things, he said.

"The last time we played, they made six big plays and we made five," McCracken said. "A game like this comes down to things that can happen -- turnovers, big plays, etc. We had three tunrovers the last time we played them."

Prattville offensive lineman Christian Kimbrough said neither team can rely on the previous games for comfort.

"Just because we won last time, doesn't mean we can just show up and win. It will be whoever shows up to play (tonight)," Kimbrough said. "What we've done so far this season doesn't mean a thing if we lose (to Opelika). If we lose this one, we might as well have been 6-4 instead of 13-0."

Senior defensive lineman Nick Gentry said this may be the (current) Lions' only chance at a championship.

"For us seniors, this season is our last chance to win a state championship," Gentry said. "For the younger players, you never know what will happen the next couple of years. Since we're this close, we want to go ahead and win the next two games. We want to stay focused and play to win."