Triton coach Ron Brown will look to guide his team to a conference win at Culver Friday night (File photo by James Costello)

Come halftime of Friday night’s prep football schedule, area teams will be exactly at the midpoint of the 2017 regular season slate.

Hard to believe, but it’s week five of the nine-game regular-season already.

The football draw for postseason play, looking ahead, is set for Sunday, Oct. 1 at noon in Indianapolis. Sectional game are Oct. 20, 27 and Nov. 3 for teams in Class 1-A through 5-A and on Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 for Class 6-A programs. Regionals are Nov. 10, with semistates Nov. 17 and the six State Finals games on Nov. 24-25 at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The area scene has an appetizing share of conference clashes for this Friday night.

Warsaw welcomes in an undefeated Northridge team for Homecoming at Fisher Field. The Class 4-A No. 8 ranked Raiders are 4-0 and coming off a huge league win at Plymouth last week. Northridge is one of two unbeatens in NLC play. Concord leads the NLC standings at 3-0 with the Raiders sitting at 2-0.

Wawasee looks to snap a three-game losing streak with a huge conference challenge at NorthWood. The Class 4-A No. 4 Panthers beat Goshen 19-10last week, while the Warriors lost to Concord 51-29.

Triton looks to bounce back from its first loss as the Trojans travel down to Culver for a big conference game.

Tippecanoe Valley meets up with rival Whitko in South Whitley with both teams still looking for that first win of the season.

Here’s a quick look at the local docket for Friday night.

Warsaw coach Phil Jensen won his 100th game at WCHS last Friday night (Photo courtesy of Jeff Hamstra)

Northridge (4-0, 2-0) at Warsaw (2-2, 1-1), 7 p.m.

Phil Jensen likes the fact that his team controls its own destiny in the Northern Lakes Conference.

Now, with the toughest part of the league schedule still remaining, the Tigers need to take care of business starting with a tough Northridge team.

“We still control our own destiny in the NLC with Northridge beating Plymouth last week,” noted Warsaw coach Jensen. “It’s not often that you can say that after losing your first conference game (a 42-7 loss to Plymouth two weeks ago).”

Warsaw won at Elkhart Memorial last week thanks to two bigs plays and a bend-but-don’t-break effort on defense. Northridge stunned Plymouth 12-0 as the Rockies had seven turnovers.

“Northridge is a very physical team and very fundamentally sound,” said Jensen. “There’s nothing fancy about what they do, but they do it well. They will keep grinding and they will hit you.

“Our focus has been good this week. Winning always helps things. It’s easier to go back and point out and look at mistakes after a win.”

Northridge is off to just its third 4-0 start in program history. The Raiders best all-time start was at 6-0 back in 1975. Their shutout over Plymouth last week was their first over the Rockies since 1988.

Conner Graber, who rushed for 104 yards on 22 carries in the win over Plymouth, leads the Raiders with five touchdowns. Northridge has allowed just 36 points in its first four wins.

Warsaw, which still has NLC games left versus both Concord and NorthWood, beat the Raiders 34-2 a year ago.

Wawasee (1-3, 0-2) at NorthWood (3-1, 1-1), 7 p.m.

The Warriors are in the midst of a brutal stretch of their schedule.

There’s no let up this week as a trip to Andrews Field in Nappanee awaits.

“This is a stretch of games with no breaks that’s for sure,” said first-year Wawasee coach Mike Eshbach. “But we have to worry about getting better each week. That has to be our focus. We’re making progress.”

The Panthers have allowed just 25 points on the season and rank sixth in the state in points allowed per game.

Wawasee is averaging 27 points-per-game, but has also allowed 38 points-per-outing. The Warriors were outscored 51-29 by Concord last week.

“I sound like a broken record, but we have to stop the run and be able to run the ball,” Eshbach said. “This game is not complicated. We need to sustain drives and not make mistakes against NorthWood. We need to stop the run and control their quarterback.

“We’re going to play to win no matter what. Our kids are playing hard and will not quit.”

Wawasee quarterback Aaron Evans is a question mark for Friday night. Evans, who threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score last week, suffered a lower leg injury versus Concord. The Warriors lost sophomore starting quarterback Evan Eshbach earlier in the season due to a season-ending elbow injury.

“We’re optimistic, but not sure at this point,” said Eshbach about his quarterback.

The trio of quarterback Landen Gessinger, receiver DeAndre Smart and tailback Brayton Yoder have each scored four touchdowns to lead the Panthers.

NorthWood outscored Wawasee 53-30 last year.

Tippecanoe Valley (0-4, 0-1) at Whitko (0-4, 0-1), 7 p.m.

Stephen Moriarty is ready to get his first coaching win.

He knows his players are more than ready to celebrate that first W of the campaign.

“Our kids are hungry, very focused this week and sick of losing,” noted Moriarty. “This game always means a lot to Valley. We know that we will get Whitko’s best and we plan to give them our best. It’s always one of the most challenging places for us to play (at Whitko).”

Valley has been outscored 143-48 through the first four games, while Whitko has been outscored 189-20.

“We’ve played four good teams and hopefully this is the week that the hard work by our players pays off,” Moriarty noted. “Whitko has been hurt by turnovers and giving up big plays, the same as we have. I think that the teams are comparable.

“We just need to focus on taking care of the football and not allowing the big plays on defense.”

Whitko beat the Vikings 44-20 last season.

Triton (3-1, 2-0) at Culver (3-1, 1-1), 7 p.m.

Something will have to give in this one.

The Trojans, off to a 3-1 start, have piled up 152 points through their first four games.

The Cavaliers, also sitting at 3-1, have allowed just 27 points on the season.

“This is definitely a game of polar opposites,” said Triton coach Ron Brown. “Culver is a power team and they have a stout defensive line.

“Culver is ranked ahead of us (in our Class 1-A sectional) and this is a conference game. We have a lot of motivation this week to play well.”

Triton lost to rival Bremen 35-10 last week, while Culver blanked West Central 48-0. The Trojans will be playing their first road game this week.

Knox and Pioneer lead the Hoosier North Athletic Conference standings at 3-0 with Triton next at 2-0.

“Our kids did not take it (the loss to Bremen) well at all,” noted Brown. “They are hungry and want to take a step forward this week.”

Culver topped Trition 40-26 in last year’s meeting.