The stadium lights will shine bright come Friday night as the ball is teed up for opening week action of the 2017 edition of the prep football season.

There are plenty of storylines on the local scene as week one kicks-off on area gridirons.

Warsaw welcomes in Columbia City for Senior Night festivities at Fisher Field. The Tigers will honor the members of the Class of 2018 prior to the kickoff.

A pair of new coaches will debut Friday night as Wawasee hosts Lakeland and Tippecanoe Valley travels to Bremen. Mike Eshbach is in charge of the Warriors, while Valley grad Stephen Moriarty takes over in Akron.

Triton will play host to South Newton and hopes to build on a strong finish from a season ago. The Trojans will look to reverse recent history and shoot for its first winning since 2009.

NorthWood, fresh off a state runner-up finish a year ago, welcomes Jimtown to Andrews Field in the matchup of two of  the most successful programs in Elkhart County. The pair of programs have combined for five state titles (four by Jimtown) and another eight runner-up finishes, including six by the Panthers.

The NorthWood-Jimtown clash will be shown by Channel 46 (WHME-TV) Friday at 11 p.m. and again Saturday at 9 a.m. Channel 46 will also show the Elkhart Memorial at Elkhart Central game this weekend. The pair will play Saturday night at Rice Field in Elkhart. The game will be shown Saturday at 11 p.m. and again Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

Following is a quick look at area openers. Final records from the 2016 season are in parentheses.

Columbia City (3-7) at Warsaw (6-5), 7 p.m.

Phil Jensen wants to see how his team responds.

“We’ve talked a lot this week about controlling the controllable,” noted Jensen. “I want to see how our guys respond to stuff. The scrimmage was not a good mental exercise for us, but it was a good learning tool. We will see how they respond from that. I will be pleased if we learned from it.”

The Tigers will feature speedy Tristan Larsh now at quarterback with strong running back Will McGarvey, who topped 1,000 yards in 2016, expected to handle the load in the running game.

“I just want Tristan to go out there and relax, have fun and take care of the football,” said Jensen of his senior, who played receiver a year ago.

“I think that the line of scrimmage play will be big. Turnovers and special teams play are always big things in an opener. City has a couple of nice athletes and a quarterback with a good arm.

“I think that it should be a good first game matchup.”

Warsaw used a big second half, sparked by special team plays, to beat Columbia City 30-7 a year ago. The Tigers, who have won four of the last five meetings with the Eagles, scored all 30 points in the final half in 2016.

Lakeland (4-5) at Wawasee (4-6), 7 p.m.

The Warriors welcome in the Lakers for the first game under Eshbach and also the first contest on its new turf field.

“We want to make sure that we do what we want to do,” said Eshbach. “We’re looking for consistency from one play to the next and one series to the next. We want to mix things up and play at a faster pace.”

Eshbach, who spent the last nine years at Eastside High School, has implemented a new 4-3 defense and a very multifaceted offensive scheme.

“It’s been an adjustment for the kids, but they are working hard and doing everything that we ask of them,” Eshbach remarked. “We want to be balanced on offense, but we will run a lot of stuff that you would see on Saturdays. It’s real important that on defense we fly to the football.”

Eschbach plans to play a pair of quarterbacks in junior Aaron Evans and sophomore Evan Eshbach.

Wawasee did not face Lakeland last season.

Jimtown (7-5) at NorthWood (14-1), 7 p.m.

NorthWood starts its season fresh off a 14-win campaign a year ago and ranked No. 1 in Class 4-A.

The Panthers will look to forge a new identity this fall after rolling through the regular season and the postseason all the way to the State Finals in 2016 thanks to an explosive offense.

NorthWood hands the quarterback duties over to senior Landon Gessinger, who did a little bit of everything on offense a year ago. The Panthers will rely on key returnees like Brayton Yoder, DeAndre Smart and Payton Bear.

The Panthers will be missing a key performer Friday night. Junior running back Bronson Yoder, who totaled 20 touchdowns last year, had wrist surgery last week.

NorthWood entertains a Jimtown team that went 7-5 a year ago. The Jimmies lost several key players, including standout tailback Kenny Kerrn and quarterback Sam Pawlak.

The Panthers beat the Jimmies 46-30 last season. NorthWood led 22-0 before Jimtown rallied to a 30-22 lead only to see the Panthers then score three touchdowns late to secure the win. Jimtown leads the all-time series 13-9, but has lost four in a row to NorthWood. Jimtown’s last win at Andrews Field was a 13-10 decision in 2009.

Tippecanoe Valley (3-7) at Bremen (8-4), 7:30 p.m.

The Vikings have heard Moriarty preach a couple of points time and time again since he took over.

The new coach and former Valley player and assistant coach expects to see both Friday night.

“We never want to get outhit and no one will be in better shape than we are and I think that we will see those two things Friday night,” said Moriarty. “We have preached both of those things since Day 1.”

Valley, which has won just a total of 11 games the past four seasons, will face a stiff test. Bremen has had eight straight winning seasons and has won sectional titles three of the past four years.

“We need to make sure we know our assignments and are fundamentally sound,” said Moriarty.

Tanner Trippiedi will get the starting nod at quarterback for Valley, replacing three-year starter Alec Craig.

Valley did not play Bremen a year ago.

South Newton (1-9) at Triton (2-9), 7:30 p.m.

The Trojan program is looking to take a big step forward this season.

“It’s time for our guys to prove it,” said third-year coach Ron Brown. “We’re not young anymore and the biggest difference is the grit of these kids.

“I would say that we are anxious and focused for Friday night. I want to see us hit and execute our plays.”

Triton boasts a strong group of returnees, led by junior quarterback James “Bo” Snyder. The Trojans, who finished strong a year ago by advancing to the sectional final, also will rely on tailback Max Slusser and receiver Drew Stichter as big keys.

The Trojans did not play South Newton in 2016.