There are a lot of questions to be answered this week for area high school football teams.

Among the queries Friday night:

How will a bruised and battered Tippecanoe Valley squad bounce back from a tough opener?

How well does Warsaw channel the emotions for what promises to be a fired-up Senior Night game on its brand new turf field?

What does the Wawasee defense do for an encore after a stellar showing last week in pitching a shutout?

How well does memory serve Whitko as it welcomes county rival Columbia City, who upset the Wildcats a year ago, to South Whitley?

Teams also definitely want to build momentum as conference openers await next week.

Here’s a quick look at the local docket for Friday night.

 

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

Another step in the progression of his team.

That’s how Warsaw coach Phil Jensen sees the matchup with the Knights. East Noble comes to Fisher Field after taking a  48-0 beatdown at the hands of Class 6-A No. 2 powerhouse Indianapolis Cathedral.

“This game is important, but what I want to see is how much we improve from week one to week two,” said Jensen. “East Noble played hard and battled last week. They just played a really, really good team. Some people say the favorite to win the Class 6-A state title this year.”

The Tigers used great defense, stellar special teams play and a solid ground game to win 30-7 at Columbia City in the opener. Warsaw scored on a kickoff return, a blocked punt and a safety and rushed for 225 yards.

“The thing is that we have to execute and score when we have opportunities,” noted Jensen of his spread offense. “That was our bug-a-boo last year, leaving points on the field. We did that last week.”

Warsaw was held scoreless in the first half at City as the Tigers committed a pair of turnovers and misfired on two field goal attempts.

“I was pleased with our run game. We’ve made a commitment to do that and City begged us to run the ball. We have to make the adjustments this week.”

Senior Night activities are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. prior to the contest.

East Noble beat the Tigers 34-23 last year in Kendallville.

West Noble (1-0) at Wawasee (1-0), 7:30 p.m.

It definitely should be a confident group of Warriors that welcome the neighboring Chargers to town.

“Confidence is a huge thing to kids these days and I definitely think that we got a boost last week,” said Wawasee coach Josh Ekovich. “I’ve also been proud of how the guys have come back to work this week in practice.”

Wawasee rode its defense to a 13-0 win over a speedy and athletic South Bend Washington team.

“Did I expect a shutout last week? No,” said Ekovich. “But I knew that our defense had the capability. They did a very good job.

“Our goal is to focus on getting better and to go 1-0 every week. We will have to be disciplined this week against West Noble this week with the offense (triple option, flex) that they run.”

Wawasee topped the Chargers 37-12 a year ago.

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

Darin Holsopple says that he loves the resiliency of his Valley team.

The second-year coach will get to find out tomorrow night just how resilient the Vikings are.

Valley comes off a 47-0 home loss to Culver Academy and will be missing a couple of players due to injury.

“Last week was tough,” admitted Holsopple. “We played poorly, but I like this team and it’s a long season. That was one game. We have to pull together and bounce back this week.

“It’s up to us (coaches) to lead the kids and put them in the best position mentally and physically to be successful. I think that we are on our way to doing that. I have no doubt that our kids will rally and play much better this Friday night.”

Valley will be without Shane Ellis and Dalton Prater for sure Friday night. Ellis is out indefinitely due to a knee injury and Prater is out at least this week due to a concussion suffered in the game versus CMA. Jose Rivera is questionable for Friday night.

“I want to see us absolutely come out and fight every play,” Holsopple said. “I want us to maintain our focus, keep our heads in the game and execute.”

Western topped the Vikings 21-14 in last season’s meeting.

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

This one has been circled on the calendars around South Whitley for a while.

The Wildcats look to avenge a 10-8 loss to the rival Eagles from a year ago. City went on to win just two games during the 2015 campaign.

“There’s not a lot that I have to say this week to get our guys excited for this game,” admitted first-year Whitko coach Jeff Sprunger, who was on the sidelines as an assistant for the Wildcats last year. “It’s one that our guys felt like we let slip through our hands last year.

“We need to make sure we keep our emotions in check and focus on getting better at what we do. One game does not make the season.”

Whitko ran wild last week in a 32-6 rout at Cambridge City Lincoln. The Wildcats rushed for 377 yards, including 175 and four touchdowns by star Garrett Elder, who has moved from quarterback to tailback this season.

“We ran the ball very well and had a nice balance with guys, which is what we are hoping to achieve,” noted Sprunger. “City executes what they do well and can move the ball. We have a lot of things to be ready for.”

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

Triton coach Ron Brown has a simple approach for his team come Friday night against a formidable foe.

“I just want to see us go out there and hit people,” said Brown. “I don’t care who we are playing. We are preparing each week to win. I saw a lot of guys out there last week for us who were very determined to win.”

The Trojans face a LaVille team that has prospered the last three years under Will Howstrawser. The Lancers, who are ranked No. 12 in Class 1-A, opened the season with a 63-16 blowout of West Central.

“”We have to focus on doing what we do and getting better at it,” Brown remarked. “We have to take advantage of the opportunities when we have them.”

LaVille beat Triton 56-0 a year ago.