Cullman’s Will Crenshaw celebrates after catching a 46-yard insurance touchdown on a double pass in the fourth quarter of last year's 14-6 home thriller over Hartselle. The arch rivals will meet again Friday at J.P. Cain Stadium.

The fat lady knows better than to sing until she absolutely has to in the Cullman-Hartselle series.

As she tuned up her pipes in the waning seconds of last year’s thriller, the Tigers made sure she couldn’t belt anything out until the bitter end. Only once Jake Tiffin’s last-ditch pass to Tobias Mitchell fell incomplete just outside the end zone were Mark Britton and the Bearcats finally serenaded by her sweet, sweet melody.

“That kind of epitomizes our games the past few years,” the coach said of 2013’s 14-6 upset of the then-No. 5 Tigers. “We’ve lost some that were very, very close. And we’ve won some very close games.

“When you get a win over a quality program like Hartselle, you’ve earned it. You’re probably exhausted mentally and physically, but those are the great games that you think about when you look at your wins.”

With the 103rd chapter of the Cullman-Hartselle rivalry set to be written Friday at J.P. Cain Stadium, Britton expects nothing but a playoff atmosphere. He should get it, too, considering just how many postseason implications the Week 8 clash contains.

Cullman (4-2, 2-1) is all alone in third in the Class 6A, Region 8 standings, while Hartselle (4-2, 1-2) is a half game behind Muscle Shoals (4-2, 2-2) for fourth. A Bearcat win would all but knock the Tigers out of contention with region dates on the horizon versus Florence (4-2, 3-0) and Austin. A Hartselle victory would likely leave Cullman looking for at least one triumph against Decatur (5-1, 3-0) and Muscle Shoals to have a shot at securing a 10th straight playoff berth.

“We both need to win this game,” Britton said. “Not all would be lost, but it would really be a big step forward if you could put this game in the win column.”

Friday’s showdown features a pair of bite-sized quarterbacks — Cullman sophomore Ross Crocker is listed at 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, a full inch taller and 40 pounds heavier than Hartselle’s Tiffin — who’ve come a long way since last year’s meeting.

The Tigers should be plenty familiar with Crocker, who briefly entered the 2013 bout in the fourth quarter to throw a 46-yard touchdown to Will Crenshaw as part of a sneaky double pass Hartselle never saw coming.

Tiffin is a worthy counterpart with six touchdowns tossed over the last two weeks and 10 for the whole season. Britton lauded the junior as an experienced signal-caller who makes good decisions and has a knack for avoiding turnovers.

“I think he’s an outstanding leader for them,” the coach said.

Britton also used “outstanding” to describe seniors Jaylan and Jamal Jackson. The twins have proven to be a handful as receivers, running backs and special teams returners.

And then there’s Andrew Langston, who anchors a corps of “typical Hartselle linebackers.”

“They’re going to be in position. You’re not going to trick them,” Britton said. “You’re going to have to out-physical, out-block and out-tackle Hartselle to win the game. That’s the formula to beat them, and it’s a very difficult one. It’s a lot easier to say than do.”

While winning its first game at Hartselle since 1997 won’t come easy for Cullman, neither will replicating last week’s fast start versus Athens. The Bearcats took advantage of two fumbled kickoff returns with three touchdowns before the Golden Eagle offense even took the field en route to a drama-free 28-7 victory.

“If I could order that up (every game), that’d be great,” Britton said. “But I guess I’ve been waiting for that for 27 years. If you stay in this game long enough, you’ll see some crazy things happen.”

Only expect the crazy to continue Friday night.