What to look for in the first week of the high school football season.

The 2018 high school football season kicks off on Friday night with a lot of area teams squaring off.

The first night features four matchups between Merced County teams, including the Westside War between Los Banos and Dos Palos at Bill Hume Stadium in Dos Palos. The Tigers haven’t lost to the Broncos since 2010.

It makes for an interesting season opener when you face your rivals right out of the gate. The Dos Palos players said they’ve been looking forward to this game ever since they found out they were opening the season against the Tigers.

“As far as I can recall, I don’t think we’ve played Dos Palos in the first game before,” said Los Banos coach Dustin Caropreso. “We might have played them in the second or third game, but not the first. I think it add a little bit to it.”

Other Merced County battles tonight include El Capitan at Pacheco, Hilmar at Delhi and Livingston at Le Grand.

Buhach Colony, Merced face early tests

Two of the tougher schedules of area teams belong to Buhach Colony and Merced. The Thunder will open at home against Gregori on Friday night. The Jaguars are coming off an 11-1 season a year ago.

Buhach Colony will follow with games against Tracy and Edison of Stockton the next two weeks. The Thunder will find out how good they are right away.

Merced hits the road on Friday night to face Del Campo. The Cougars are coming off of a 12-1 season in which they reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinals.

This will be the fourth time the two teams have played in three years. Del Campo holds a 2-1 edge, including a 41-14 win over the Bears at Veterans Stadium last year. Merced’s 41-32 win came in the second round of the playoffs in 2016.

The Bears follow up their game at Del Campo with games against Gregori and Downey. Merced’s first three opponents had a combined record of 31-5 last year.

Coaching debuts

Two coaches will be pacing the sideline as the head coach for the first time at their current school.

Rick Martinez takes over for longtime Golden Valley coach Dennis Stubbs. Martinez had a lot of success at Le Grand where he was the head coach for 12 seasons. Martinez led the Bulldogs to four consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section championships from 2010-2013, including an appearance in the state championship in 2011.

Stubbs has stayed on Martinez’s staff as the defensive coordinator. Martinez has also brought in his former offensive coordinator at Le Grand in Raul Alvarez to run the offense.

The other coach making his debut is Mariposa’s Robert Stitt, who is the interim coach after Ryan Oliphant had to step down for health reasons. Stitt has been coaching at Mariposa for 25 years.

The Grizzlies open the season at Minarets.