West Virginia’s David Long and Iowa State’s David Montgomery have quite a bit in common. They are both among the best at what they do in the Big 12 and beyond. Both made the conference’s preseason all-conference team this year. Both are among the favorites of the Pro Football Focus national stats and evaluations. Both might be in the NFL a year from now, and if not then, then likely a year later.

And both are from Cincinnati.

“He actually went to the opposing school,” Montgomery told 247Sports. “He was our rival in high school.”

Long is a year ahead of Montgomery, but Long’s Winton Woods High only played Montgomery’s Mount Healthy High once when they were on the fast track to college. It was the second round of the 2013 Division II state playoffs. Mount Healthy was the No. 2 seed in its quadrant. Winton Woods was the No. 3.

“I slammed him on his head,” Long said. “You should go back and look.”

We did. It's the first play here:

Long was a junior. Montgomery, then a quarterback, was a sophomore. They are both hyper competitive, and they both remember the play.

“I wasn’t paying attention to him,” Montgomery said. “I was looking down the field, and he grabbed me and threw me to the ground. It was horrible. He did me pretty bad.”

Long remembered it was a playaction pass and the fake froze him for a moment. He quickly recovered and briefly roamed but realized Montgomery was out of options and running out of time.

“I went in, and he tried to run away, and I grabbed him and just tossed him over my shoulder and onto his head,” Montgomery said. “It was over from there.”

Montgomery’s team won, 13-10, and would lose in the next round to the eventual state champion.

“It still eats me alive,” Long said. “That’s why I like when we beat them now.”

Give Long a moral victory, though. To this day, Montgomery is revered for breaking tackles.

“That’s what people say, but I kind of just play,” he said. “Whatever happens happens is my idea.”

He finished with 1,146 yards and 11 touchdowns and had six 100-yard games last year, but he also caught 36 passes for 296 yards. On the way to first team all-Big 12 and first-team PFF all-America honors, Montgomery forced 109 missed tackles (83 on the ground and 26 as a receiver). No FBS player has had as many since PFF started keeping the stat in 2014.

“I was watching ESPN’s top 25 games the other night, and he was playing against Iowa and making everybody miss,” Long said. “Other then when he’s playing us, I like watching him play.”

On the days when Iowa State isn’t playing WVU, Montgomery enjoys watching Long. His old foe missed the first four games last season and was nevertheless a PFF second-team all-American. Long also continued to strengthen his reputation for being difficult to block.

“He was a ridiculous athlete in high school, and he still is now,” Montgomery said. “He’s very hard to block. I wish I could tell you why. He has a low center of gravity, he’s very physical and he has that Cincinnati mentality.”