Coaching debuts, backyard rivalries and renewed rivalries highlight week one of the 2024 high school football season, which kicks off tonight with a slate of six games involving Mahoning Valley schools.

A full slate of games are scheduled for Friday.

The opening week will conclude Saturday when Youngstown East travels to Whetstone.

Warren G. Harding ushers in the Matt Richardson era when the Raiders travel to Canton to take on the McKinley Bulldogs.

During the off-season, Richardson replaced Steve Arnold as the Raiders’ head coach. Harding is one of five area schools which head into the 2024 season under new leadership.

The on-again, off-again rivalry between Harding and McKinley began in 1939. Tonight marks the 60th meeting between the former All-American Conference foes.

McKinley leads the series 36-22-1, including a 33-14 victory a year ago. Prior to last year’s meeting, the Bulldogs and Raiders played a three-game series from 2017-2019, with the ‘Dogs winning each of those contests

Tonight will mark the 50th meeting between Niles and Howland. The Red Dragons and Tigers have met every year since 1975, with tonight’s showdown taking place at Lombardo Field in Howland. The series has seen its share of streaks. Beginning in 1996, Niles won seven straight and 10 of 11. Howland then won nine of 11 beginning in 2007. However, over the past twelve years, each team has won six games. Niles leads the series 27-22.

A pair of parochial powerhouses will clash at Stambaugh Stadium when Ursuline plays host to Walsh Jesuit.

A year ago Ursuline went 13-1 en route to a trip to the Division III, Region 9 title game. Walsh Jesuit went 12-2, losing only to Akron Hoban in the regular season. The Warriors then advanced to the Division II, Region 5 championship before again falling to Hoban.

Ursuline has won 13 straight regular season games, the area’s longest active winning streak.

Warren John F. Kennedy will open its season with a road game at its 2024 home stadium.

The Eagles will again play their home games at Leopard Stadium in Liberty. However tonight JFK will be the visiting team when it plays Liberty.

The Eagles and Leopards meet for the first time in 47 years. The two teams last played in 1977, ending an 11-year stretch of games. During those meetings, JFK owned a 7-3-1 record against Liberty.

Friday’s slate of games features the 84th meeting between Hubbard and Brookfield, a series which dates back to 1923. The game, originally slated to be played at Brookfield, was moved to Hubbard to allow work to be completed at the Warriors’ new stadium.

Hubbard has won its last 12 meetings against Brookfield, but the two teams haven’t met since 2013. Hubbard leads the series 52-28-3.

South Range will host Springfield in what will be the 53rd meeting between the neighboring schools.

From 2015-2019 the Raiders and Tigers played five games, four of which were decided by a touchdown or less. Springfield won three of those games. The two teams didn’t meet in 2020 because of the shortened COVID schedule. South Range has since won three straight by an average margin of 26 points.

South Range leads the series 31-19-2.

Since 2020, West Branch has amassed a 44-7 record. During the same span, Canfield owns a 41-8 record including a Division III state title in 2022. The two powerhouses open the season against each other for a third straight year, this time in Beloit.

Canfield defeated West Branch on the road in 2022 by a score of 35-31. Last year the Cardinals won at home, 38-19. West Branch leads the series 23-10 with the bulk of the meetings taking place in the 1970s and 1980s.

This will mark the first time since 2000 that Canfield will enter a season without Mike Pavlansky at the helm. During the off-season Pavlansky stepped down, making room for Joe Ignazio to take over the Cardinals program.

During Pavlansky’s time on the sidelines, Canfield won seven league championships, made 13 playoff appearances, played in five regional title games, made two trips to the state finals and won a state championship.

Other area programs under new leadership include Lisbon, Leetonia and Champion.

Lisbon will be guided by Bill Meek, who has served as an assistant coach at eight different schools, but who will be making his head coaching debut in his 35rh year of coaching.

Leetonia welcomes back Matt Altomare, who spent the last four seasons at Lisbon. Altomare coached Leetonia for seven years beginning in 2007.

Leetonia is seeking its first win since 2021.

Champion will be under the leadership of Ken Parise, a Kennedy graduate who spent the bulk of his coaching career in Ashtabula County, where he is the third-winningest coach in county history.

The regular season ends Oct. 26, with the playoffs beginning the following week. A six-week tournament will conclude the first week of December with the crowning of seven state champions.

Last year, a record 28 area schools qualified for the playoffs. However, 2023 was the first time since 2014 that the Mahoning Valley was not represented in the state semifinals. It also marked the first time in five years that the area didn’t have a team playing in a state title game.