The next step to playing for a sectional championship.

That’s what awaits a trio of local high school football teams come Friday night.

Warsaw, along with NorthWood and Triton, will all play host to sectional semifinal matchups as the state tournament series rolls into week two.

The Tigers will entertain Chesterton in a Class 6-A Sectional 2 semifinal at Fisher Field. Both teams, like all Class 6-A squads statewide, were idle last week.

NorthWood will welcome No. 5 and undefeated Angola to Andrews Field for a Class 4-A Sectional 19 contest. The Panthers are 5-2 all-time versus Angola with all seven meetings coming in the postseason. NorthWood beat Angola 48-6 in their last meeting in 2014.

Triton plays host to Winamac in a Class 1-A Sectional 41 game and the second meeting of the two in the last three weeks. The Trojans, whose seven wins this fall equal the combined total of the past three seasons, won 36-19 at Winamac on Oct. 13.

Here is a quick look at local matchups Friday night

Chesterton (4-5) at Warsaw (5-4), 7:30 p.m.

How bad do you want it?

That’s the message that Warsaw coach Phil Jensen has been sending to his players in preparation for its meeting with Chesterton.

“For us, this was the best draw that we could get and we’ve been honest with our players about that,” said Jensen. “We are at home against an opponent with a record similar to ours.

“It’s about how much do you want to play for a sectional championship next week against either No. 4 Penn or No. 5 Valparaiso. That’s what it comes down to Friday night.”

Jensen is trying to keep things as normal as possible this week despite the fact that WCHS has fall break with no school on Thursday or Friday.

“It’s tough, but we are just trying to keep some normalcy this week for the kids as we prepare,” noted Jensen.

The Tigers should be a healthier bunch after several key players, including quarterback Tristan Larsh and receiver Zach Riley, were slowed by injuries two weeks ago in a loss at Concord.

“Our health is pretty good right now,” Jensen remarked. “All of our guys have been out at practice the last two days although we have not been out long with the weather conditions.”

Warsaw, which has only played Chesterton one time, is averaging 18 points and allowing 19 per game. The Trojans average 20 and give up 21. Chesterton was 2-0 before losing four straight. The Trojans won two of their final three games, including a 14-7 win over Merrillville Oct. 13. Brad Seiss, a former football standout at Warsaw, is the Merrillville head coach.

“They have a very good, very aggressive defense,” said Jensen of the Trojans, who play in the Duneland Athletic Conference. “They have really good special teams, especially when it comes to blocking kicks. They are an option team that gives you a lot of different looks. Their quarterback is a good athlete and their tailback is fast.”

Jensen is now tied with George Fisher for the most coaching wins in program history with 103 wins. Jensen is 103-84 in his 18th season at Warsaw in two stints (1996-2003, 2008-present). Fisher was 103-95-15 in 26 years from 1926-51.

“It comes down to who blinks first Friday night when the first mistake is made,” said Jensen. “We just need to take advantage of opportunities when we have them and put points on the board. Ball security in every phase of the game will also be very important.”

This will be just the second meeting between the Tigers and Trojans. Chesterton beat Warsaw 13-0 in a Class 5-A first-round sectional game back in 1995 in Warsaw.

The Warsaw-Chesterton winner will face No. 4 Penn (8-1) or No. 5 Valparaiso (8-1) in the sectional final Nov. 3. Penn plays at Valparaiso Friday night. The lone loss for the Kingsmen this season was a 12-7 final at Valparaiso back on Aug. 18 in the season opener.

A big item for the Penn-Valparaiso game is the resignation of Valparaiso coach Dave Coyle on Wednesday. Coyle, who was 28-31 in his sixth season in charge of the Vikings, was not at practice Monday. It was reported that numerous Valpo players walked out of practice last Thursday over an incident that occurred at the Valpo-Lake Central game on Oct. 13.

Angola (10-0) at NorthWood (7-3), 7 p.m.

Excitement.

That’s the buzzword around the Panthers this week as they welcome in the 10-0 Hornets.

“It’s excitement to play a great team, excitement that the weather is changing and excitement that it’s the end of October,” said fourth-year NorthWood coach Nate Andrews.

A pair of high-scoring offenses will square off in this one. NorthWood averages 32 points-per-game, while Angola checks in at 44 points-per-contest. The Hornets have scored 72 points and 64 points in wins over West Noble and Fairfield respectively this season.The NorthWood defense is allowing just 10 ppg. while the Hornets give up 12 ppg.

“They are very explosive,” said Andrews of Angola. “They have guys all over the place who can make plays for them. They are very balanced offensively.”

The Hornets are led by quarterback Chance Roddy. The 6-3 senior is also a standout baseball player at Angola.

NorthWood routed DeKalb 54-3 at home last week, while Angola topped Wawasee 38-7 at home. Roddy was 10-19 passing for 161 yards in the win. The Hornets rushed for 346 yards versus Wawasee with Chase Schnepf gaining 174 on seven carries and Jarrett Gibson picking up 99 on six rushes.

“We have to line up and communicate on defense against them, that will be a big key for us,” Andrews remarked. “We have to have each of our guys lock in as individuals and do their job. The keys will be to communicate pre-snap, lock in on our keys and maintain fits.”

“We have to limit their explosive plays and on offense we have to be good on first downs. Being able to run the football will be a huge factor too.”

NorthWood rushed for 525 yards in last week’s blowout of DeKalb with the trio of Brayton Yoder, Bronson Yoder and Landen Gessinger all topping the 100-yard mark.

Andrews downplays the notion that his team has an edge because of a tougher schedule playing in the NLC as opposed to the NECC.

“My argument is that their schedule sets them up for this game,” said Andrews. “They have played their fair share of good opponents this season.”

The combined record for NorthWood’s opponents this season is 43-54, while the foes for the Hornets are 42-58. The two teams have played four common opponents this fall with NorthWood beating DeKalb 54-3, Jimtown 31-0, Fairfield 42-0 and Wawasee 32-0. Angola has defeated DeKalb 30-7, Jimtown 31-14, Fairfield 64-7 and Wawasee 38-7.

The Panthers did have one huge downer last week. Senior Ethan Hochstetler injured his leg early in the game and is due to have surgery on it Thursday.

“Ethan is just a great kid, a program kid for us,” said Andrews. “He was on every special team for us and was one of our starting safeties.”

The Angola at NorthWood game is the WHME-TV (Channel 46) Game of the Week. It will be shown Friday night at 11 and again on Saturday at 9 a.m.

The winner of the NorthWood-Angola game will face either No. 12 Culver Academy (9-1) or No. 11 East Noble (8-2) in the sectional title game Nov. 3.

Winamac (4-6) at Triton (7-3), 7 p.m.

The Trojans are anxious to get that one step closer to a huge goal.

“We’re very anxious for Friday night,” said Triton coach Ron Brown. “We’ve talked to our kids all week that this is our biggest game of the year. Our only concern is Winamac. We are locked into playing them.”

“It’s all about Winamac. They are probably one of the hardest teams that we have played this season and a team that you can not take for granted at all. They are still the defending sectional champion until someone beats them and in my mind the favorite.”

Triton beat the Warriors 36-19 two weeks ago thanks to some impressive efforts defensively.

“I thought that we responded well in that first game,” Brown said. “We did not back down at all and we embraced the fight. We had some really good goal line stands and we played every play the way that we need to.”

Triton bolted to a 15-0 lead en route to the win at Winamac on Oct. 13. The Trojans passed for 194 yards and rushed for 177 in the win. Max Slusser led the way with 17 rushes for 120 yards and two touchdowns for Triton. Winamac rushed for 326 yards in the game, but only had 34 yards passing. The Trojans won despite having three turnovers in the contest.

Triton, whose last sectional championship came back in 2008, will be healthier this week. A trio of players, two-way lineman Billy Smith, star receiver Delano Shumpert and kicker Brandon Lenker, were injured in a car accident last Wednesday. Lenker did not play in last week’s 42-13 home rout of Caston, while Shumpert was limited in the game.

“Billy is not as sore as he was last week and Delano is feeling better,” said Brown. “Brandon is going through concussion protocol this week.”

Smith and Shumpert will both play Friday night, while Lenker’s status is still to be determined.

“My primary concern is that we step up on defense Friday night,” remarked Brown. “We need to limit their possessions and get our offense on the field. Winamac will want to grind it out. We also can’t turn the ball over.”

The Triton-Winamac winner advances to play either Culver (6-4) or LaVille (6-4) in the sectional final Nov. 3. Triton beat Culver 27-21 in overtime at Culver on Sept. 15 and defeated LaVille 22-14 in Bourbon on Aug. 25.