Students from the East Greene, Jefferson-Scranton, and Paton-Churdan school districts will play a football game together for the first time on Friday night as the Greene County Rams. The Rams host the Perry Blue Jays in the annual Cowbell Game at 7:30 p.m. at Linduska Field in Jefferson on August 24. A freshman game at 4:45 p.m. precedes the varsity contest.

The head coach of the Rams, Dean Lansman, is familiar with all three county school districts. Lansman is a graduate of East Greene and his high school teams met Paton-Churdan teams on a regular basis in a variety of sports. Lansman, a former teacher and coach in Perry, has been teaching science and coaching football and other sports at Jefferson-Scranton and JSPC for a decade. He is in his second season as a solo head coach and his 2011 Rams went 6-4 overall and lost in the opening round of the Class 2A playoffs to eventual state runner-up Spirit Lake.

Coach Lansman said the transition from two teams; East Greene and JSPC; into one, Greene County, has been a smooth one. “The kids and coaches have meshed well. Our preseason workouts have gone well and we’re looking forward to getting the season started!”