When: Tonight, 7Coaches: Tim Holley Jr., Gilman;Lawrence Smith, DunbarLast meeting: Gilman won, 28-14, in 2004Key players to watchGilman: TE Thomas Booker, Jr.;LB-TE Antonio DiCerbo, Sr.; FS-WR Drew Ehrlich, Sr.; RB-SS Robert Levine, Sr.;QB Purnell Hill, Jr.; RB-CB Brandon Madison, Jr.; WR-CB Ayende Watson, Sr.;WR-CB Brandon Willis, Jr.Dunbar: SS Avery Thurman, Sr.;DE-OT Rafiq Abdul-Wahid, Sr.;DE-OT Joshua Pryor, Sr.; OL-DL Melvin Kiah, Sr.; QB Jared Lewis Jr.; RB Da'Shawn Darien, Sr.; LB Christopher Bazemore, Sr.; WR Kwesi Evans, Soph.Keys to victoryDunbar and Gilman will play football tonight for the first time in 12 years, but there was a time when they were regular rivals.Dunbar coach Lawrence Smith and Gilman coach Tim Holley Jr. played for their respective teams when they were part of the Maryland Scholastic Association. For 75 years, the MSA governed boys sports at Baltimore City public schools and Baltimore-area private and parochial schools until it disbanded in 1993."Anytime we can play an MSA school, I'm thrilled to have that opportunity," Holley said."I played against Dunbar as a kid, so my loyalties and allegiances to the MSA and the schools that were part of the MSA still kind of tug on my heartstrings. I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to do something, at least as high school programs, to kind of bring the city together and have two different types of schools from two different areas of the city get together and celebrate Baltimore high school football."In 1993, MSA officials voted to dissolve the organization, because there was nothing holding it together after the city public schools joined the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association in 1992. Public and private school teams didn't play each other so often after that.Now there are only a handful of games between public and private school teams each year. Seven Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A and B Conference teams will play public school teams this fall. Dunbar will also play Boys' Latin.Holley, who graduated from Gilman in 1977, is more nostalgic for the MSA than Smith, who graduated from Dunbar in 1992. Smith prefers the MPSSAA, because his team can play for the state championships — and Dunbar has won nine of them."The MSA was great. It was a great thing for its time," Smith said, "but I would take the state format over the MSA any day."With a strong returning contingent, Smith is ready to test the Poets as they aim for their 10th state title."It's going to be a great atmosphere," Smith said. "It's bringing back a lot of history of the MSA, which is great and it does a lot of good things to see a public and a private play. The kids love it, because a lot of kids feel like the private schools are always [considered] superior to the public schools and that has nothing to do with Baltimore City. That's statewide. A lot of kids want that chance to play those private schools and show what they can do."Smith said playing a strong private school team helps prepare his team for the playoffs. Since the teams started practice within two days of each other in August, he feels it's a great way to see how his team measures up against another of the area's best programs.Holley, who took over the defending A Conference champions when Biff Poggi left to take a job with Michigan's coaching staff, looks at the game the same way.In addition to the public-vs.-private aspect, Holley said, football fans in Baltimore are eager to see how this team stacks up with Poggi and his staff departed, most of their top players graduated and others transferred."I think the jury's out on Gilman right now," said Holley. "I think people are wondering what the Gilman of 2016 is going to be like compared to the more recent teams. I think our kids are really excited to get out and reap the reward from their hard work. The kids who stayed and decided they were going to commit to Gilman put a lot of time into it and they're excited to take the baton on their leg of the race."Both teams figure to be contenders in their leagues. Dunbar, which reached the Class 2A state semifinal last fall, is the highest-ranked team in Baltimore City. Gilman, which went undefeated in the AConference last season, still has quite a bit of talent to contend in what should be a tight conference race that potentially could include all seven teams.katherine.dunn@baltsun.comtwitter.com/KDunnSun