The second season.

A fresh start.

A brand new opportunity.

However you want to spin it, it’s playoff time for prep football teams come Friday night.

The start of the state tournament series kicks-off for teams in Class 1-A through Class 5-A. Class 6-A teams, which includes Warsaw, have the week off before opening play on Oct. 27.

The Tigers, who finished strong with three wins in their final four games, will host Chesterton in a playoff opener. Warsaw, sitting at 5-4, entertains the Trojans, who are 4-5, at 7:30 p.m. at Fisher Field on Oct. 27. The winner of that contest will face No. 5 Penn (8-1) or No. 6 Valparaiso (8-1) in the sectional final on Nov. 3.

Wawasee will board the bus and try and pull off an upset at Angola. The Warriors, who won their final two games after a six-game losing streak, face the No. 5 Hornets in a Class 4-A first-round matchup in a loaded sectional. Wawasee sits at 3-6, while Angola is perfect at 9-0. The Wawasee-Angola winner plays the winner of NorthWood vs. DeKalb.

NorthWood, which made its way to the state title game a year ago, hosts DeKalb in another Class 4-A game in Sectional 19. It will be the first-ever meeting between the pair on the gridiron with the Panthers sitting at 6-3 and the Barons at 3-6.  The Class 4-A Sectional 19 field includes a pair of undefeated teams in No. 4 Northridge and No. 5 Angola, along with No. 11 East Noble and NorthWood and Culver Academy, who are tied for No. 12.

Tippecanoe Valley goes on the road to tangle with Peru in a Class 3-A tilt. The Vikings are 2-7 with the Tigers at 4-5. The winner meets the winner of the Jimtown (4-5) versus Maconaquah (2-7).

Triton looks in good shape to make some serious noise in the postseason. The Trojans host Caston in a Class 1-A matchup. Triton is 6-3, while the Comets are 1-8 and losers of eight straight games. Triton beat Caston 50-13 in Bourbon on Sept. 13. The winner will face either South Central (4-5) or Winamac (5-4).

Here’s a quick look at local sectional openers Friday night.

Wawasee (3-6) at Angola (9-0), 7 p.m.

The Warriors will look to avoid being stung by a Hornets team that has lit up the scoreboard all season long.

Angola enters play Friday night averaging better than 44 points-per-game. The Hornets put 72 points up on West Noble and scored 64 versus Fairfield. Angola’s margin of victory per game is a staggering 32 points-per-outing.

“Angola is just a darn solid football team,” said Wawasee coach Mike Eshbach. “They have skill guys who are really good, a solid running back and a veteran quarterback. They have plenty of experience too and that’s invaluable.

“We just need to try and keep their offense off the field as much as we can. Time of possession. First downs and sustaining drives will all be important to us.”

Eshbach, who came to Wawasee this season after spending the past nine seasons at NECC member school Eastside, says that matching up the level of play in the NECC to the NLC is not truly comparable.

“It’s really an unfair comparison to make,” said Eshbach of the NLC to the NECC. “They have not seen the type of competition that the NLC provides, but NLC schools are a lot bigger than the schools in the NECC. Angola is the biggest school in the NECC. All I know is that they have a very good football team.”

Angola’s closest game thus far was a 41-35 win at Leo back in week two. The Hornets’ lowest scoring output this fall was in a 24-6 win over Garrett two weeks ago.

DeKalb (3-6)  at NorthWood (6-3), 7 p.m.

Nate Andrews believes that his talented team has found its form of late.

That could spell bad news for the rest of a very tough sectional field.

“I think that we have rounded into shape the last few weeks and know who we are,” said Andrews. “We want to be physical, establish the run and play sound and physical defense.”

Andrews, who guided the Panthers to a 14-1 finish a year ago, is always stoked to play, but none more so than in October.

“This is always a special time,” said Andrews. “The leaves are prettier and I love the crispness in the air. There’s also the excitement of playing DeKalb for the first time ever and I love that. I expect it to be a great matchup. We don’t change our approach, but our guys understand that everything ramps up about three notches now.”

“I think that DeKalb would be like your typical middle of the pack NLC team. They remind me of Wawasee.”

The Barons started the season 0-5 before winning three of their final four games in the Northeast 8 Conference.

NorthWood pasted Plymouth 30-6 last week in Nappanee as Bronson Yoder had a big game sharing quarterback duties with Landen Gessinger in the Wildcat formation. Yoder threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another score.

“Bronson just leads us in so many ways,” noted Andrews of the junior, who missed the first two games of the season after having wrist surgery.

The Panthers already have a pair of 1,000-yard rushers. Senior Gessinger has 1,031 yards on the ground on 145 carries and classmate Brayton Yoder has 1,001 yards on 116 totes of the pigskin.

Tippecanoe Valley (2-7) at Peru (4-5), 7:30 p.m.

The Vikings hope a fresh start is just what the doctor ordered for a team that has had its share of adversity this season.

“Our kids have been through a lot and we do need this fresh start,” said Valley assistant coach Jeff Shriver. “This is an opportunity. Everyone is 0-0 now. We just need to go in with the right attitude.”

“Peru is very physical. They are old school in that they want to run the football and chew up the clock. They run hard and are a senior dominated team. Our defense has to get off the field and that’s been an issue for us the last few games.”

Valley, which saw first-year head coach Steve Moriarty suspended for the Wabash game two weeks ago, has not won a playoff game in the last four years. Moriarty, who was suspended for throwing two crates of water bottles, one of which richoted and hit a Valley player during halftime of the game at Rochester Sept. 29,  is back now on the sidelines with former head coach Shriver in charge until season’s end.

“We need to take advantage of every scoring opportunity,” noted Shriver. “We need a good start, but a good finish is also really important Friday night. But the most important thing for us is to be consistent.”

Peru will run the ball and then run the ball some more. The Tigers are averaging 347 yards per game on the ground. Senior Jordan Rader leads the way with 236 carries for 1,319 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Valley lost 40-14 to North Miami last week, while Peru dropped a 21-6 final to Rochester.

Caston (1-8) at Triton (6-3), 7 p.m.

The Triton football team has plenty of motivation as the second season arrives.

The Trojans sit in a good place as they begin a bid for just the third sectional title in program history and the first since 2008.

“I think that we’re in a nice place to be right now, but we can’t get complacent,” said third-year coach Ron Brown. “If we do, our season will be over. We have to stay hungry. We’ve reached one of our goals (winning six regular-season games), but we still have another one that’s out there. I think that our seniors and juniors are locked in on that.”

Triton boasts the best record among the eight teams in their sectional, which has just three teams with winning records this fall. The Trojans are a perfect 5-0 versus other teams in the field, including a 50-13 beatdown of Friday night foe Caston back on Sept. 1 in Bourbon.

“Beating a team twice is tough and I’ve been saying all year that Caston could nip someone,” noted Brown. “I just don’t want it to be us. I feel like our team is coming together, but now it’s do it or we look back and say what could have been.”

“If you look at the ratings, we are not the favorite in our sectional. LaVille is ranked ahead of us. I think that’s a nice motivator for our kids.”

Triton beat LaVille 22-14 during the regular season. The pair would not meet until the sectional final. The Trojans also topped Culver 27-21 in overtime, North Judson 36-8 and Winamac 36-19. Winamac is the defending sectional champion.

Triton, which was out of school all this week for Fall Break, has already won more games this season than the previous two years combined.

Triton quarterback Bo Snyder fired four touchdown passes in the first game versus Caston. Delano Shumpert and Drew Stichter each had a pair of touchdown receptions in the dominating win for the Trojans.