The Warsaw offense, shown last week in the opener, will need to control the clock Friday night against an explosive East Noble squad (File photo by Amanda Farrell)

The heat has been turned up, literally, this week on area prep football teams.

The openers are in the books and squads have returned to make adjustments in the heat and humidity of late August.

For Warsaw and Wawasee, which both opened with wins last Friday night, the heat will really be on this Friday night.

The Tigers load up the buses to make the trip to Kendallville to face an explosive East Noble team. The Knights check in at No. 7 in this week’s Class 4-A poll after flattening Fort Wayne Northrop 43-14 last Friday night.

The Warriors, who presented new coach Josh Ekovich with a win in their opener, travel to downtown South Bend to face St. Joseph. The Indians, who are ranked No. 8 in Class 4-A , boast a gorgeous facility at Father Bly Field, including field turf.

Triton looks to start its season at 2-0 for new coach John Johns.

Tippecanoe Valley and Whitko both look for bounce back efforts after losses.

Here is a closer look at games Friday night.

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

Two contrasting styles.

Such will be the case when the Tigers meets the Knights for the first-time ever on the gridiron.

“I’m absolutely excited to play them,” said Warsaw coach Phil Jensen. “We picked them up because they are good and will get us ready for the NLC. We’ll see what we got Friday.

“We want to play our style, pound it and control the clock. They will want to go go go. They want to run the ball, but with a fast tempo of spread and no huddle.”

Warsaw handled Columbia City 33-14 at home in the opener. Star tailback Tristan McClone rushed for 217 yards on 38 carries and  three scores.

“We’ve focused on our mental focus and approach,” Jensen said. “I saw a lot of good things last wee. We just need to stay in the moment and finish.”

East Noble went 7-3 last year, losing to Concord 38-35 in a first-round sectional shootout. The Knights are led by star receiver Grey Fox, who had 76 catches for 1,117 yards in 2012 and tailback Brandon Mable.

Warsaw will be without tight end Austin Perdieu. The junior broke his collarbone in the opener and will be out for the season.

Wawasee (1-0) at South Bend St. Joseph (1-0), 7:30 p.m.

The Josh Ekovich era began with a bang in Syracuse last week.

The Warriors will face a much tougher test in week two.

St. Joe, which was a Class 3-A state runner-up in both 2010 and 2011, brings a big challenge for Wawasee. The Indians, who edged Chesterton 22-17 with a late touchdown in their opener, won 35-7 at Wawasee in 2012.

“We need to play our best this week,” said Ekovich. “St. Joe is a good football team with a big offensive line. They have an athletic and skilled quarterback and are well coached.”

St. Joe, which went 7-5 a year ago, is led by senior quarterback Mike Monserez. The 6-6, 210-pounder was 20-28 for 288 yards in the opener. He threw for 2,400 yards and 21 touchdowns as a junior.

“We just have to play sound defense, be smart and read our keys,” Ekovich said. “Finishing plays and working on the little things is our focus this week.”

The trio of running back Taj Smith and receivers Eric Mossey and Denton Gillis are also key for the Indians.

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

The Vikings hope to follow the same script from last season.

Valley faces Bremen Friday night after losing a tough opener for the second straight year to a strong Culver Academy team.

“Our kids were upset in the right way after the loss Friday night,” said Valley coach Jeff Shriver of the 36-28 loss at CMA. “I thought we started to respond in the right way in the second half of that game and the kids have responded well this week in practice.”

Turnovers were the key culprit to Valley’s demise in week one. The Vikings had four turnovers, including an interception returned for a touchdown.

“CMA is really good and we didn’t take care of the football,” said Shriver. “We had the four turnovers, including two fumbles in the red zone, and they had a special teams score too. But, we played good defense in the second half. I thought Garrett Bell did a good job for us too.”

Bremen opened the season with a 34-13 loss to Plymouth. The Lions, who lost 21-7 to Valley last year, return 16 starters from a 6-4 team. Keys for the Lions are senior quarterback Kai Slough and running back Erin Knepper.

“Bremen has a lot of experience, Slough is a good quarterback and I’m impressed with their two running backs,” Shriver said. “We’re really stressing effort, intensity and being a physical team this week.”

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

Confidence should be high for the Trojans.

Triton looks to make it a 2-0 start against a Northfield team that is struggling.

The Trojans, who finished 1-9 last season, used a big start to top Caston 25-13 in the opener of the John Johns’ era last Friday night.

“We gave them a day to enjoy it because it’s important to enjoy it,” said Johns of the win. “It’s a confidence building factor and the way any program wants to start the season.

“I was ecstatic for our kids. They have responded and bought in to what we want them to do. Winning is justification of their hard work.”

Northfield has a new coach too in Brandon Baker. The Norsemen, who lost their opener 39-13 to Bluffton, had just one senior back from last year’s 4-7 team.

“They look strong and solid on tape,” said Johns of Northfield. “Coach Baker is a good coach and they have a blue collar team like we do. It will be a game where you buckle up the chinstraps and bang heads.”

Johns said the focus this week is on blocking and tackling an trying to build depth and conditioning. The Trojans dressed 21 players last week and Johns hopes to have 23-24 in uniform Friday night.

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

The focus is on self-improvement for the Wildcats.

“It’s more about working on what we need to do to get better,” said first-year Whitko coach Josh Mohr. “It’s back to fundamentals and fixing the little things we need to.”

Whitko lost 42-20 at Wawasee in week one. The Eagles dropped a 33-14 final at Warsaw. Ethan Nicodemus rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries and Tanner Hughes had 79 yards on 18 rushes for the Wildcats in their opener. City quarterback Travis Herbst hit on touchdown tosses of 61 and 57 yards to Justin Bachelder for almost all of the Eagles’ offense versus Warsaw.

“I thought our effort was good and we really fought for it in the second half last week,” Mohr said. “I don’t think the score was indicative of the game.”

“No. 1 this week for us is ball security. Our offensive line needs to be more aggressive and we need to be in the right spots on defense. We can see progress and that’s our goal. To get better every week.”

Friday Games
Northern Lakes Conference
Warsaw (1-0) at East Noble (1-0), 7 p.m.
Wawasee (1-0) at South Bend St. Joseph (1-0), 7:30 p.m.
Elkhart Central (1-0) at Goshen (0-1), 7:30 p.m.
Elkhart Memorial (0-1) at Concord (1-0), 7:30 p.m.
Culver Academy (1-0) at NorthWood (1-0), 7:30 p.m.
South Bend Riley (0-1) at Northridge (1-0), 7 p.m.
Rochester (1-0) at Plymouth (1-0), 7:30 p.m.

Northern State Conference
Jimtown (0-1) at Glenn (0-1), 7:30 p.m.
Bremen (0-1) at Tippecanoe Valley (0-1), 7:30 p.m.
Culver (0-1) at South Central (0-1), 7:30 p.m.
North Judson (1-0) at Knox (0-1), 8 p.m.
Northfield (0-1) at Triton (1-0), 7 p.m.

Northern Indiana Conference
Mishawaka (0-1) at Crown Point (1-0), 7:30 p.m.
Mishawaka Marian (1-0) at New Prairie (1-0), 8 p.m.
Portage at Penn (1-0), 7:30 p.m.
South Bend Adams (0-1) at South Bend Clay (0-1), 7 p.m.
South Bend Washington (0-1) at Michigan City (1-0), 8 p.m.

Northeast Corner Conference
Angola (1-0) at Leo (1-0), 7 p.m.
Central Noble (0-1) at Churubusco (1-0), 7 p.m.
Fremont (0-1) at Lakeland (1-0), 7 p.m.
Prairie Heights (0-1) at Fairfield (1-0), 7 p.m.
West Noble (0-1) at Eastside (1-0), 7 p.m.