The best thing about following the Skyline-Bothell rivalry this season is listening to the way both teams talk about each other. There isn't a lot of trash talk and bulletin-board material flying around.

There is a lot of respect between, not only the coaches, but the players as well.

We had our annual Star Times football luncheon on Monday and I took a minute to talk to Spartans middle linebacker Anthony DeMatteo and Cougars left tackle Colin Porter about the rematch in the 4A semifinals, which takes place at the Tacoma Dome at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

DeMatteo:

"Bothell has always been a great program. They’ve always put out very good teams. We feel honored to go out and play against them twice in one season, especially on such a big stage this time."

Porter:

"It’s going to be tough, especially since we beat them the first time. It was such a close score and I’m sure they felt like, had they capitalized on some of our mistakes, it would have been the other way around.

"The game could have gone either way and I think that’s going to make them even hungrier and I think that’s going to make the game tougher for us."

Those were the first thoughts of the seniors. I'm going to have a feature on DeMatteo later this week. I wrote a feature on Porter for Tuesday's paper. Here it is.

I also talked to Porter about playing at Washington next season. Here's what he had to say:

"I’m excited for the coaching staff. The coaching staff is awesome. They are one of a kind. I’ve talked to quite a few coaches and whatnot and the charisma of coach Sark and coach Mills, my recruiter. The offensive line coach (Dan Cozzetto) he’s a little more stoic. He’s a little bit more reserved, but when he’s on the practice field, he will tear you a new one. It’s exciting. Everyone needs that at some point in their life to really mold them into men.

"I’m just really excited about the whole experience."

We will have semifinal coverage here and in the paper throughout the week. One of the big features here on the blog is the live chat with Skyline coach Mat Taylor and Bothell's Tom Bainter. It should be interesting to get their take on the game.