Richmond varsity football coach Nick Persell and his Spartans are looking forward to Friday night. The reason: another showdown with Missouri River Valley Conference-East Division rival Lafayette County of Higginsville. “That’s been a matchup in the last … five or six years that … (has) been pretty hotly contested and no love lost between the two towns or the two football programs, for sure,” Persell said Tuesday on the team’s practice field. “And it’s one that we circle on our schedule. I know it’s one they circle on theirs. … There’s always a lot building up to it … – both teams usually play well … in the first four nonconference games, and then, it’s usually a battle come Week 5 every year. … I know our kids are excited about it; they’ve been talking about it since the preseason, waiting for this matchup.” That matchup will begin at 7 p.m. at Higginsville. Lafayette County (3-1) enters said matchup fresh off a 42-21 road victory over Aurora. Richmond (31) enters it fresh off a…