The lid-lifter for the 2015 high school football season last Friday night was a smashing success on the local level for the most part.

Four of the five local teams covered by IFN posted wins to begin the campaign.

Week two will see much bigger challenges on the horizon for several squads, including Warsaw on the road at East Noble and Triton, who will host LaVille.

Warsaw and Wawasee, who plays at West Noble, will have to focus on the task at hand as each have huge NLC openers next week. The Tigers host Plymouth and the Warriors host Northridge in week three.

Following is a quick look at local games Friday night.

Warsaw (1-0) at East Noble (1-0), 7 p.m.

Phil Jensen expects his team to be in for quite the tussle this week.

“Our first focus this week has been on getting better because East Noble is really good,” said Warsaw coach Jensen. “We need to take that next step. We have to be ready to meet the challenge at their place from the start Friday night.”

Jensen also believes the Knights will remember a trip to Warsaw a year ago where the host Tigers erased a 17-0 deficit for a dramatic 25-24 win.

“They will be out for us,” Jensen stated. “They will remember last year and want to prove something.”

Warsaw opened impressively at home by dominating Columbia City 27-3. East Noble won 34-18 at  Hammond Morton on Saturday.

The Tigers did a lot of things well in the opener as sophomore Will McGarvey rushed for 91 yards and three touchdowns and junior quarterback Michael Jensen was 13-25 for 151 yards. The Warsaw defense allowed just a total of 152 yards.

“All in all, we were ready to play last week and had lots of good learning opportunities,” remarked Jensen. “Our defense was physical and tackled well. I was very pleased with them.”

East Noble, which finished 7-4 last year, returns a lot this fall in both lines.

“They have a big, strong physical offensive line and a good quarterback,” said Jensen. “Our defense will be challenged for sure.”

This will just be the third meeting between the two. East Noble beat Warsaw 49-14 in Keqdallville in 2013.

Wawasee (1-0) at West Noble (0-1), 7 p.m.

Josh Ekovich saw his Wawasee team play with an edge in their home and season opener.

It’s a trend he wants to see more of this week as the Warriors trek to Ligonier.

“The biggest thing I noticed from our guys last week was how hard they were hitting for an opener and that they had an edge to them,” said Ekovich. “That’s something I want to see carry over to this week for us.”

Wawasee blasted West Noble 48-6 a year ago. The Chargers opened the season with a … loss to …, while the Warriors rushed for 278 yards in a 21-7 win over Griffith.

“Every year is different and West Noble will be a challenge,” Ekovich remarked. “The have some speed and skill guys. The biggest thing I think is that they have a lot of two-way players, more than we do.”

“The thing is that we’ve simplified our passing game (the Warriors had no passing yards in the opener), but added some wrinkles. I felt like we dominated the game last week. We just had some breakdowns with the changes we have made and shot ourselves in the foot with penalties.”

Quarterback Tyler Smith rushed for 97 yards and three scores in the opener for the Warriors.

Whitko (1-0) at Columbia City (0-1), 7 p.m.

A county rivalry game is sure to have the Wildcats stoked this week.

“This game is a little more emotional in that we are so close to Columbia City and it’s a county rivalry,” said Whitko coach Josh Mohr. “We know that we have to be ready to play. You can throw the records out. Coach Fox will have them ready to go.”

Whitko rolled past Cambridge City Lincoln 49-6 a week ago, while the Eagles were dominated in a 27-3 loss at Warsaw. City whipped Whitko 43-20 in South Whitley in 2014.

“The thing is that we made improvements from the scrimmage to week one and that’s what I wanted to see,” Mohr said. “Our line played really well and it all starts with them. We got a good effort from everyone last week.”

Quarterback Garrett Elder was a beast for the Wildcats with eight carries for 170 yards and four scores in the opener. The Wildcats rushed for 431 yards in a dominate opener.

“Garrett played really well and has made good strides from last year,” Mohr said. “His leadership is a big thing. But it’s a team thing. The key for us is our blocking up front.

“I want us to control the line on both sides of the ball Friday night. Ball security and turnovers are always important and we need to limit our mental mistakes.”

Western (0-1) at Tippecanoe Valley (0-1), 7:30 p.m.

The Vikings will look to play a “cleaner” game this week in the home opener.

“You could tell last week that we had not been at it long,” said Valley coach Darin Holsopple, who was hired in July. “We had some things like missed blocks and taking bad angles on plays. It’s stuff we need to clean up.

“It’s just going to take some time and some reps. A lot of it just comes down to us and getting our techniques better.”

The Vikings did rally from an early deficit to fall just 27-19 at Culver Academy.

“There were a lot of positives last week,” said Holsopple. “We had guys ready to make plays and the moment was not too big for anyone. I like the fight and tenacity that we showed.”

“I thought that (Rigo) Butler really cemented himself as a receiver for us. He had an incredible second half. Alec Craig showed a lot of poise in the second half.”

Quarterback Alec Craig passed for 227 yards and two scores and Rigo Butler had six catches for 129 yards and a touchdown in the opener for Valley.

Valley hosts a Western team that lost 38-29 to Frankfort in its opener. The Panthers were 3-8 a year ago.

“We just need to establish a run game and make sure we contain their quarterback and fullback,” noted Holsopple.

LaVille (1-0) at Triton (1-0), 7 p.m.

The challenge this week is a big one for the Trojans.

“LaVille is the sectional favorite and they are turning into a perennial power,” noted first-year Triton coach Ron Brown. “They have speed and athletes at all their skill positions.”

Triton was impressive in its opener after a poor start. The Trojans roared back in the final half to top Caston 26-20 behind the 1-2 punch of Jordan Anderson and Jeremy Jones. The Lancers, who beat Triton 31-0 and 15-0 (playoffs) last year, beat West Central 33-7 in their opener.

“The thing we are worried about is controlling what we can control, being competitive and getting better,” noted Brown. “We’ve preached that to these kids and then let the chips fall where they fall.”

Brown believes that there is much more to his offense than just Jones and Anderson.

“We have other guys who are capable too,” he said. “As the season goes, you will see other guys make big plays for us.”

“This week we need to take care of the ball and try to keep their offense off the field.”

LaVille, which finished at 8-4 a year ago for their first winning season since 2003, is ranked No. 10 in Class 1-A.