Coaching debuts, backyard rivalries and stadium upgrades take center stage this weekend with the kickoff of the 2025 high school football season.

Locally, the season begins tonight with five games involving schools from the Mahoning Valley. A full slate of area games are scheduled for Friday.

The opening week will conclude Saturday when Youngstown East travels to Whetstone and Sebring plays host to Kennedy Catholic (Pa.) in 8-man action.

A new era begins tonight for both Liberty and Campbell as the Leopards travel to John Knapick Field to take on the Red Devils.

Liberty will be under the guidance of Dom Prologo, who previously served as the head coach at Warren JFK from 2020-2022. Prologo went 32-8 at JFK while leading the Eagles to a pair of state championship games.

Meanwhile, Campbell is now led by rookie head coach David Porch.

Overall, 13 area schools made coaching changes during the off-season. Porch is one of 10 who are first-year head coaches.

Brian Shaner will make his Jackson-Milton coaching debut tonight as the Blue Jays host Mathews. Shaner spent the past six years at Mineral Ridge, where he led the Rams to four playoff appearances. Shaner also served as a head coach at Youngstown East and Niles.

Tonight will mark the 51st meeting between Niles and Howland. The Red Dragons and Tigers have met every year since 1975, with tonight’s backyard rivalry taking place at Bo Rein Stadium in Niles.

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 13 years, the Tigers own a slim 7-6 advantage.

Last year, Howland defeated Niles 28-0. Both teams are looking to bounce back from 1-9 seasons. Niles leads the overall series 27-23.

Friday’s schedule is highlighted by the 61st meeting between Warren G. Harding and Canton McKinley. The on-again, off-again series between the two former All-American Conference rivals began in 1939.

McKinley leads the series 37-22-1, including a 26-19 victory a year ago. McKinley has won the last five meetings. Harding last defeated the Bulldogs in 2003.

A pair of Division III state powerhouses will meet at Harding Stadium in Steubenville when Ursuline takes on the Big Red. Steubenville has won 11 of the 16 meetings between the two schools, including five straight from 2014-2017 (the schools met twice in 2015). However, Ursuline won the most recent meeting, 36-28, in 2023.

Brookfield and Hubbard will meet for the 85th time in a series which dates back to 1923. This year there will be a new twist to the old rivalry, as Brookfield will host its first-ever game on turf.

One year after debuting its new stadium, Brookfield made an upgrade in the form of a $1.1 million project which featured the installation of artificial turf.

Brookfield is hoping to snap a Hubbard 13-game winning streak in the series.

Overall, the Eagles own a 53-28-3 edge over the Warriors.

The other Mahoning Valley school playing on newly-installed turf — West Branch — will have to wait a week to debut its new surface. Next week, the Warriors host New Philadelphia, but not before they pay a visit to Canfield.

The Warriors and Cardinals are opening the season against each other for the fourth straight year. Canfield defeated West Branch in 2022 and 2023 before the Warriors gained revenge last year with a 27-7 win over the Cardinals.

West Branch leads the series 24-10 with the bulk of the meetings taking place in the 1970s and 1980s.

West Branch enters the season having won its last 19 regular season games. It’s the longest active regular season winning streak among all schools in the Mahoning Valley.

Oddly enough, the longest current overall winning streak in Trumbull County belongs to Champion, which finished its 2024 season with a 1-9 record. Champion’s lone win last year was a season-ending victory at Newton Falls. All other Trumbull County schools either lost in the playoffs or were defeated in the final game of the regular season.

Tonight, the Golden Flashes travel to McDonald where the Blue Devils will kick off their 100th year of football.

McDonald owns an overall record of 612-283-32. The Blue Devils’ rich history includes 32 conference titles, 16 undefeated seasons and 20 playoff appearances.

Andy Hake returns to his alma mater tonight when Mineral Ridge hosts Pymatuning Valley. Hake takes over the Rams program after spending four years at Valley Christian, where he posted a 28-14 record. Prior to his time at VC, Hake coached at Western Reserve, where he compiled a 104-25 record, including seven league titles and nine playoff appearances.

The regular season concludes Oct. 25, with the playoffs beginning the following week. This year, 336 schools statewide will qualify for the post-season, compared to 448 a year ago. The top 12 schools in each region will advance to week 11, with the top four schools in each region earning a first-round bye.

The season will conclude the first week of December with the crowning of seven state champions.