The first call Hamilton Southeastern football coach Scott May makes or receives at every career milestone or crossroads involves Mo Moriarity.

On Friday, he won’t have to go far to keep in touch.

May, who played for Moriarity at Lakeland High School and served as an assistant under him at Bloomington South, will lead his Class 5A No. 7 Royals (10-1) into the sectional championship game against No. 1 Carmel (10-1) and Moriarity at 7 p.m. Friday. It is the first time the longtime friends have faced each other as head coaches.

“About everything,” May said when asked how much of his coaching philosophy he developed from Moriarity. "(But) it’s Hamilton Southeastern and Carmel. Sectional championship. There’s so much riding on this game it’s not hard to want to win. He’ll come out and try to beat us, too. (And) I know, when the game’s over, we’ll shake hands.

“The friendship will always be there.”

Moriarity took over at Lakeland — his first head coaching job — in May’s freshman season, and May moved into the starting lineup in the defensive backfield as a sophomore. May decided as a freshman at Manchester College to pursue a coaching career and after graduation contacted Moriarity, who was coaching Bloomington South.

May began as the defensive backfield coach in 1991, eventually becoming defensive coordinator, and was a member of the staff when Bloomington South won the 1993 5A state title and finished as the runner-up in 1997. He spent two seasons as the head coach at Garrett before coming to Southeastern as an assistant in 2000.

“You always try to get (a former player) on staff,” Moriarity said. “You know how they are, and they know what the program’s like, so it’s a win-win situation. He was very dedicated, hard-working and a good football player. I’ve always felt the guys that worked really hard to be successful will be good coaches.”

May learned the 50 defense Southeastern runs from Moriarity at Lakeland and Bloomington South. Moriarity has recently made several tweaks to the scheme, but it remains similar, and the teams are 1-2 in Class 5A in scoring defense, Southeastern allowing 6.4 points per game, Carmel 8.4.

“Our defense has been good all year,” Moriarity said. "When you look back at what we’ve done defensively all year, it’s been pretty impressive, and that’s how you win football games.

“They’re very good on defense,” he added. “There’s no question. They’re probably the best defensive team that we will have faced this year, and it’s going to be a ballgame. That’s what you would expect — a hard-fought defensive struggle.”

When Southeastern beat Carmel 17-7 in the sectional championship game in 2005, May, the Royals’ defensive coordinator, said he could have drawn up Moriarity’s playbook. Moriarity has since altered the look of the offense with more shotgun formations and zone blocking, though the philosophies remain similar. Carmel is 20-3 in the postseason since Moriarity was hired, with two of those losses coming in the state championship game and the other to Southeastern.

“I loved playing and working for him,” May said. “In Bloomington, he gave me a lot of responsibility to run the defense, working in the weight room, running his camps. When I left Bloomington to go to Garrett, he was a big factor in telling me I was ready.”

When May and Moriarity were coaching together at Bloomington South, they regularly attended high school basketball and Indiana University football games. With a family now, May doesn’t get together with Moriarity as often, despite living in adjoining towns, but he still works at Moriarity’s camp and they hold a 50 defense clinic every offseason.

“The relationships you get from having guys play and coach for you, it’s really special,” Moriarity said. "I don’t know how to explain it. There’s a respect that’s really, really special. I think of (May) as a friend. He still calls me coach. I’ll probably always be his coach, and that’s OK.

“I’ve been very proud of him with what he’s been able to do with that program,” he added. “Every game but one, I want him to win. He’s going to do everything he can to win, and I’m going to do everything I can to win.”