Johnston White lunges for extra yardage during action last year against Brighton. The Cardinals won, 21-10.

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Brighton and Covington played one another in a football game for the first time in 1997, a year after the new Brighton High opened its doors. 

Predictably, Covington routed a young Brighton (the new school didn't have seniors yet) team, 58-13. 

That win set a trend that would last a decade. Finally, in 2007, the Cardinals beat their neighbors to the north for the first time, 20-19. 

Since then, Brighton has beaten Covington four straight times to carry a five-game winning streak over the Chargers into Friday's game between the two teams in Brighton. 

I've been to all 16 of the Covington-Brighton games, and most of them have not been competitive. 

From 1997 to 2004, which included a Covington-Brighton playoff game won by Covington in 2003, the Chargers won by an average margin of 33 points. 

Between 2005 and 2007, the rivalry finally got competitive. 

Covington eked out a 21-12 win in 2005 and a 12-7 victory the following year before the Cardinals finally broke through in 2007. 

I bring all this up for two reasons:  to strum up interest in Friday's game and to (gulp) make a prediction on Friday's game, something I've done only one other time. 

Back in 2006, I wrote a column predicting Brighton would finally break through after 10 straight losses and beat the Chargers. I was, of course, wrong by one year.

Sometimes journalists overestimate their lot in life. 

When we say there was an uproar about some story we wrote, because of delusions of grandeur, we quite often mean we received three angry phone calls, a couple of e-mails and a dude at the grocery store gave us the stink eye. 

Considering most stories we write elicit zero reaction, we get kind of excited when somebody notices something we wrote. 

Now, when I predicted Covington would beat Brighton six years ago, there were not hordes of purple-and-gold-clad people beating down the doors of The Leader demanding that the the sports guy be tarred and feathered. 

But, when I attended the game in Covington, there were two or three people who were rude to yours truly simply because I predicted the underdog Cardinals would finally win. 

And, when the game's outcome was no longer in doubt, there was a sarcastic “Jeff, Jeff, Jeff” chant from a small group in the crowd. 

Shockingly flattered that some people would actually take the time to chant my name, I looked up and saw the group smiling and pointing at me. 

It was a friendly jab that I actually enjoyed. 

So, after a six-year break, it's time for another friendly prognastication. 

Please keep in my mind this is not who I want to win. I was born in Memphis and have no allegiance to Brighton or Covington. 

This is merely who I think will win. 

So here it goes:  The Chargers break the five-year streak and win 28-21. 

Feel free to chant my name if I'm wrong.