Troy Everhart doesn’t mind admitting he likes the spoils — as in the spoils of victory.

That’s one reason a Middletown High School football win over Hamilton is important to him. There’s a trophy.

“The Butler Bowl,” he said, referring to the trophy that goes to the winner of the game between the long-time Butler County rivals. “It’s a trophy game. If there’s a trophy, I want to win it.”

The hardware will be on the line when the two teams square off on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Middletown’s Barnitz Stadium for what the HHS football record book says is the 65th time.

The Big Blue has played the Middies more than any other team, with Middletown owning a 28-33-3 advantage in the series, including wins in the last two games after Hamilton’s 34-14 win in 2008. They didn’t play in 2009, the game falling victim to the Greater Miami Conference’s scheduling system under which teams don’t play every team in the conference every season.

“Every GMC game is important, but when pull the trophy out and put it in the team room all week, they start to understand the importance of keeping it,” Everhart said.

This year’s matchup features two teams struggling through similarly disappointing seasons. Both are 2-6 overall, with Middletown 1-4 and Hamilton 0-5 in the GMC. The visiting Big Blue will lug a five-game losing streak up to Middletown, where the home team will be dealing with its own four-game slide – the longest by an Everhart-coached team, he said. Still, he expects the rivalry to produce intensity.

“It’s a tough matchup,” said Everhart, in his second season with the Middies. “I thought, last year, we were a good football team and their record didn’t indicate that as much, but they played us extremely hard. Their defense was one of the hardest-hitting we faced. They’re just tough kids who play hard.”

Besides the rivalry, Everhart is counting on his players — especially the seniors — coming to the realization that their time as teammates is running out.

“They’ve only got five practice days and two games left,” he said. “They basically only have a week together.”