Perhaps “Faces of Death,” “Psycho,” “Saw” and “The Silence of the Lambs” were all out of stock. Erik Bertram certainly had other horror-film options at his disposal Wednesday night, but the R.A. Long head coach opted for a screening of the 2008 Civil War football game.

It was a masochistic choice, considering that Mark Morris routed Bertram’s Lumberjacks 53-20, scoring the most points in the history of a rivalry that turns 51 years old at 7 p.m. tonight at Longview Memorial Stadium.

Why, oh why, would you watch that game again, Coach?

“You want to make sure you are covering all the bases,” Bertram said. “I think it is fair to use that game as a yardstick. We have our main guys back, they have their main guys back, and they put it to us last year. We certainly want to prove (Friday) that they are not five touchdowns better than us.”

Redemption and atonement are typical rivalry sentiments, but the 63rd chapter of Longview’s football rivalry is no typical Civil War. For just the second time in the history of the crosstown series, the head-to-head matchup will determine an outright league champion.

The only other time that occurred was in 1987 (20-0 MM win).

If Mark Morris, the consensus if not the prohibitive favorite, wins, it will clinch its first league title since 1997. If R.A. Long wins, it claims its first crown since ’96.

The forecast at kickoff calls for cloudy skies — but no rain — and a mild breeze. An overflow crowd of at least 5,000 is expected to pack the stadium.

Everyone is tired of waiting for kickoff.

“There’s a little something going on over at the stadium,” MM coach Shawn Perkins said with a chuckle. “I don’t have anything else to say. I want to start playing. I’d like to play at 8 a.m. Friday morning. Let’s get going.”

Neither Perkins nor Bertram has ever coached a league champion. Half of the players from both teams were in diapers the last time their school won a league championship. A substantial portion of the seniors on both teams were varsity contributors as freshmen, when neither program was playoff-caliber.

No one has ever been 48 minutes away from a league title.

“We have 23 seniors and they’ve seen all sides, the good and the bad,” said Perkins. “They’ve been through the program. They set goals for themselves. I think we’ve accomplished some of those goals, but we’re still hungry to keep working and keep getting better. Our seniors understand what they want.”

Mark Morris (7-1, 4-0 league) finished second in 2007 and 2008, and was the only team from the Greater St. Helens 2A League in those years to win district crossover games and advance to the state playoffs. Winning a championship would be a significant step forward.

For R.A. Long, it would be a quantum leap. The Jacks (7-1, 4-0) went winless and finished last in ’06, won only once and finished last in ’07, and went 5-5 and finished fourth in ’08.

“We’ve taken a step in the right direction this season,” Bertram said. “We’re happy with that. I don’t think there is anyone in our program who at the start of the season wouldn’t have been happy with going 7-1 and playing for a league championship.

“What we’ve done so far, and to have a Longview vs. Longview league championship game, is exciting,” he added. “We’re moving in the right direction. But we’d like to do bigger things. Obviously, now is when great teams are made.”

Coaches tend to discuss rivalry games using concepts more suited to chaos theory, and “anything can happen” can be a hopeful prayer or a nerve-wracked lament. It’s no secret that Mark Morris will run the ball a lot Friday, and if R.A. Long cannot stop the run, the rest is academic — and the outcome could be lopsided.

The wild card — and perhaps the key factor in an upset scenario — could be turnovers.

“There’s no favorites in a game like this,” said Perkins, who believes that the ’08 result — which later was declared a double-forfeit because of ineligible players used by both sides — is irrelevant to Friday's matchup.

“Whoever plays the best and doesn’t turn the ball over,” Perkins added. “We need to make sure we play our type of football, keep it out of their hands, play like we’ve played all year.”

Over its last six games, Mark Morris has outscored its opponents 247-22. Perkins said the team probably takes more pride in the second number. The defense has been mean, violent and stingy in allowing just three touchdowns, one two-point conversion and a pair of point-after kicks.

The first number is a tribute to the near-unstoppable efficiency of the Wing-T, and why Bertram said his team “can’t afford to lose the turnover battle.”

“If we’re equal, I think we’ve got a shot,” he said. “If we win it, we’ve got a better shot. If we lose it, we could be in trouble.”

Bertram knows what his defense is up against.

“They’ve been running their offense for a few years. They are pretty crisp and pretty sharp and won’t have a lot of negative plays running the ball,” he said. “If we can hold up physically, we’ll be fine. If we struggle physically, they won’t be afraid to rush the ball 50 times. Teams that can run (even) when you know the run is coming are tough. Not that they can’t do other things. But it is no secret that they are a running team.”

Notes: R.A. Long leads the all-time series 38-22-2. … The winner of the Civil War hosts a district playoff game against the fourth-place team from the Evergreen 2A Conference at 7 p.m. on Nov. 6. The loser will host Tumwater (EvCo No. 3) at 5 p.m. on Nov. 7 in another district playoff. Both games are winner-to-state. … Game tickets are on sale Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the main foyer of R.A. Long.