Are we ready for the playoffs?

The nine-week regular season is over and high school football sectionals begin Friday night with three local teams seeing action in the Class 3A, Sectional 18 field and one in the Class 2A, Sectional 26 tourney.

NorthWood visits Lakeland and West Noble hosts Rochester in 3A. Fairfield journeys to Prairie Heights in 2A.

NorthWood has a couple long streaks on the line.

The Panthers have faced Lakeland nine times and never lost.

The other is that the Panthers have never lost a first-round sectional contest since the state went to the current five-class, all-inclusive tournament format for the 1985 season.

The last time NorthWood dropped an opening round playoff game was in 1974 with a 21-14 loss to Blackford.

“We have been worried about ourselves this week in practice,” first-year NorthWood coach Scott Hoover said. “That is all we can control. We need to be ready to play with the enthusiasm it takes to win a sectional game.”

The Panthers have an overall playoff record of 77-26 including 16 sectional, 10 regional and five semistate crowns and a 3A state championship.

Class 3A, Sectional 18

NorthWood (5-4) at Lakeland (7-2)

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.

Series record: NorthWood, 9-0

Last meeting: NorthWood, 48-7 in 2005

Lakeland shared the Northeast Corner Conference title with Fairfield and Churubusco.

Laker wins are over Prairie Heights 50-6, Fremont 69-7, Central Noble 35-13, Angola 22-0, West Noble 45-9, Eastside 55-0 and Fairfield 28-6. Losses were to South Bend St. Joseph’s 16-15 and Churubusco 12-7.

“Lakeland is a team which puts up some points and has a strong defense,” Hoover said. “They have some weapons. They have a good quarterback (6-2, 198, senior Dakatoh Baldridge), a good fullback (5-9, 192, senior Chris Smith) and a couple good receivers (6-2, 185, senior Kole Heller and 5-11, 172, senior Cameron Moore)

“Lakeland runs an offense similar to what we saw from Culver Military this season and one Northridge used to run. So we are familiar with it.”

Smith leads the Lakers in rushing with 786 yards on 108 carries, followed by Baldridge 478 on 110. Baldridge is 49-of-97 passing for 912 yards. He has 12 touchdowns and three interceptions. Heller has caught 25 passes for 451 yards and Moore 17 for 279.

“Our defense needs to be ready to take away the big plays,” Hoover said. “Lakeland has done a nice job on big plays and have completed a lot of fades. We must make plays. We forced three fumbles versus Plymouth (last week) and didn’t recover one.”

The Panthers are a running team with 1,661 of the team’s 2,364 total yards on the ground.

Leading rushers are 5-10 (183) sophomore Coy Brown with 562 yards on 87 carries (6.3) and 5-10 (160) senior Christian Diemer 365 on 74 (4.7).

Six-one (196) senior quarterback Brant Nine is 64-of-120 passing for 703 yards. He has two TDs and five interceptions.

Top receivers are 5-9 (153) junior Derek Yoder 19 catches for 280 yards, 6-0 (150) Aaron Rhoade 13 for 142 and 5-11 (182) junior John Sittler nine for 145.

Leaders for NorthWood’s “Black Crunch” defense are 5-10 (190) senior Tony Miranda 56 tackles, Diemer 55, 5-9 (166) senior David Zeltwanger 48, Sittler 47, Brown and 6-0 (220) junior Brad Troyer both 42.

If NorthWood wins, the Panthers would either host Tippecanoe Valley or visit South Bend St. Joseph’s in a sectional semifinal.

Rochester (7-2) at West Noble (2-7)

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.

Series record: First meeting

The Rochester Zebras have wins over Peru 38-0, Wabash 40-0, Northfield 37-0, Southwood 31-7, Manchester 10-0, Tippecanoe Valley 40-0 and Whitko 44-0. Losses are to Plymouth 42-7 and North Miami 16-7.

“Rochester has a lot of seniors. I think they start nine on each side of the ball,” West Noble coach Monte Mawhorter said.

“The offense they run is mostly out of the I formation or the winged T. Some times they go into shotgun or spread the field. But mainly they run a lot of dives and sweeps.

“On defense, they run a 4-4. They don’t do a lot of blitzing so you are not going to catch them out of position.”

West Noble closed out the season by winning two of its final three games.

“We need to limit our turnovers and be satisfied with three or four yards at a time,” Mawhorter said.

Five-eight (155) senior Luke Hardesty leads the Chargers in scoring with eight touchdowns.

Five-nine (165) sophomore Michael San Miguel is expected to return this week after missing the regular season with a broken leg.

“He started for us last year,” Mawhorter said. “He will not start Friday, but will see some playing time.”

If the Chargers win, they would visit either Jimtown or Mishawaka Marian in Week 2.

Class 2A, Sectional 26

Fairfield (7-2) at Prairie Heights (0-9)

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.

Series record: Fairfield, 15-5

Last meeting: Fairfield, 63-0 in Week 2

Besides Fairfield, the Prairie Heights Panthers have lost to Lakeland 50-6, Churubusco 53-20, Central Noble 54-34, Caston 14-0, Fremont 13-7, Angola 42-14, West Noble 20-0 and Eastside 13-7.

Despite having already played the Panthers, Falcon coach Bob Miller isn’t sure what to expect.

“We have five tapes on them and have not seen the same offense twice,” the coach said. “When we played them they used a winged T and the next week they were in a pro I. Two weeks ago against Angola they ran a winged T with offset backs, the next week they had double tight ends and last week used a shotgun spread.

“It’s going to be a challenge for our kids. What it all comes down to is playing gap responsibility and being aggressive.”

Fairfield has a solid running attack with 1,822 yards on 287 carries (6.3 average). Top ground gainers are 5-11 (160) junior Darin Hochstetler 752 on 103 (7.3) and 5-11 (195) senior Micah Noble 567 on 89 (6.4).

Six-two (180) junior Chase Pinion took over the reigns of the Falcon offense 6-4 (180) senior Justin Scott sustained a season-ending knee injury.

Pinion is 12-of-41 passing (47.6 percent) for 381 yards. He has six touchdowns and five interceptions.

The leading receiver is 6-2 (170) junior Tanner Foust with 21 catches for 665 yards (31.7) and a noteworthy 15 TDs.

“Prairie Heights has changed to a 3-5 defense,” Miller said. “When we played them they didn’t blitz very much. Now they are bringing at least two linebackers on each play. Our offensive line needs to keep their heads up and communicate.”

On defense, Noble is the leading tackler with 36 solos and 75 assists, followed by 6-1 (160) sophomore Brad Newcomer 16 and 44, 6-0 (200) senior Doug Beiler 21 and 24 and Hochstetler 17 and 27.

Five-seven (133) junior Derek Vogelzang leads the team with four interceptions. Foust, Newcomer and Noble each have two.

If Fairfield wins, the Falcons would host either Central Noble or Whitko on Oct. 30.