They meet again, for the fifth time in six Novembers.

Cape Elizabeth will cover an hour’s worth of four-lane interstate and another hour of two-lane state highway.

The buses don’t stop until they reach Mountain Valley, where the attraction is a Friday night drive down the one-way street that is the Western Class B football playoffs.

Kickoff time is 7 p.m. at Chet Bulger Field in Rumford. No. 2 Mountain Valley (7-1) hosts No. 3 Cape Elizabeth (6-2) by virtue of a 20-14 victory two weeks ago at Cape’s Hannaford Field.

“Being at home is obviously what anyone desires,” Mountain Valley coach Jim Aylward said. “The game two weeks ago was very physical, and I expect the same Friday.”

Past performance is no guarantee of future success in this series.

In 2009, Cape handed Mountain Valley the first shutout in its history, 34-0, in the regular-season finale. The Capers needed two late touchdowns to stave off a Falcons upset in the playoff rematch.

Two years earlier, Cape edged Mountain Valley, 16-14, in the game immortalized by “The Rivals” documentary. The Falcons returned the favor with a 10-0 postseason squelching.

Mountain Valley enjoyed a rare respite from Cape in 2010, shutting out Falmouth, Wells and Leavitt in its run to a fourth state championship in seven seasons.

Previous Cape teams had an explosive element with quarterbacks Jimmy Bump and Ezra Wolfinger throwing the ball to offset a big-play running game.

The current Capers are more inclined to grind it out behind 300-pound senior Andrew Lavallee. Mountain Valley mostly saw Lavallee opening holes as a guard two weeks ago.

In its quarterfinal win, Cape went back to feeding Lavallee as a fullback. He dragged well-intentioned tacklers to all three touchdowns in a 21-9 ouster of Greely.

“They’re maybe not as flashy on offense, but every bit as physical as other Cape teams,” Aylward said. “Andrew Lavallee is a kid everyone should pay attention to. His quickness will surprise people.”

Derek Roberts and Donald Clark round out Cape’s three-pronged rushing attack.

Cape put all three runners over 100 yards and controlled the ball for 41 of the 48 minutes in its signature win of the season, a 28-6 rout of Falmouth.

Dominating the clock in that fashion is unlikely against a Mountain Valley defense led by Ryan Glover, Taylor Carey, Colin Merrill, Jake Theriault and Izaak Mills.

“For us, the key is to get off blocks and tackle well,” Aylward said. “We need to play top notch defense.”

The Capers can still fling it, too, with QB Connor Maguire and TE Bill Brooks. Both were knocked out of the first Mountain Valley game, a common theme for each team over the years.

Still smarting from its own wounds, Mountain Valley saddled up Kyle Duguay and makeshift fullback Mills in last week’s 48-0 shellacking of Spruce Mountain.

“It forced us as coaches to look very closely at our depth in each position, and that helps us to prepare for a variety of scenarios,” Aylward said. “We’ve gone over a lot of what-ifs.”

Matt Hosie will play fullback, if healthy. But Mills provided 100 yards, two touchdowns and a season’s worth of crunching blocks in a relief role.

Duguay rushed for nearly 450 yards and three touchdowns in a span of little more than six quarters against Cape and Spruce.

QB Zak Radcliffe connected with Mills and Isaac Roberts for important gains in the red zone a week ago.

This year’s senior class is the first one for both schools that had no participation in “The Rivals,” Cape football parent Kirk Wolfinger’s motion picture about the proud football programs and their disparate communities.

“To them it’s a movie,” Aylward said. “I don’t think they view Cape any differently than Wells or York. Our community recognizes who has matched up with us the best over the years. Cape has.”

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