The area is guaranteed to have at least one high school football team in the State Finals come Nov. 24.

But, it could be a pair of local squads that make the trip south.

The trio of Concord, Mishawaka and Mishawaka Marian all play in semi state games Friday night for a spot in the state championship contests Nov. 24 in Indianapolis.

Concord (11-2) hosts Mishawaka (10-3) at 7 p.m. Friday in the Class 4-A northern semi state game in Dunlap. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Minutemen and the Cavemen, who did scrimmage versus one another prior to the season.

Concord, champions of the Northern Lakes Conference, has won six in a row. The Minutemen are 3-0 all-time in semi state games, beating Fort Wayne Dwenger twice (21-12 in 1984 and 48-21 in 2006) and Plymouth (35-14 in 1998).

Mishawaka, coached by NorthWood High School graduate Bart Curtis, has won eight straight games. The Cavemen lost their only previous semi state contest, falling to rival Penn 41-0 in 1991.

The Concord-Mishawaka game can be seen on WHME-TV (Channel 46) on tape-delayed at 11 p.m. Friday and again at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

The Concord-Mishawaka winner plays the Indianapolis Cathedral-Columbus East winner in the Class 4-A state championship game Nov. 24 at 3:30 p.m. in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy.

Marian (10-3) plays at Hamilton Heights (12-1) Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the Class 3-A northern semi state game. That winner faces the winner of the Indianapolis Chatard-Gibson Southern contest in the Class 3-A state title tilt Nov. 24 at noon at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Following are the semi state pairings. All games are Friday night unless otherwise noted.

Class 5-A
8 p.m.: Merrillville (11-2) at Fort Wayne Snider (13-0)
7 p.m.: Lawrence Central (13-0) at Center Grove (12-1)

Class 4-A
7 p.m.: Mishawaka (10-3) at Concord (11-2)
8 p.m.: Indianapolis Cathedral (8-5) at Columbus East (13-0)

Class 3-A
7:30 p.m.: Mishawaka Marian (10-3) at Hamilton Heights (12-1)
5:30 p.m. Saturday: Indianapolis Chatard (11-2) at Gibson Southern (11-2)

Class 2-A
7:30 p.m.: Fort Wayne Luers (9-4) at Andrean (11-2)
8 p.m.: Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter (13-0) at Evansville Mater Dei (11-2)

Class 1-A
7 p.m.: Lafayette Central Catholic (12-1) at Sheridan (9-4)
7:30 p.m.: Indianapolis Scecina (10-3) at Linton-Stockton (13-0)