Opening week of high school football kicks off with rivalries and debuts
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Coaching debuts, backyard rivalries and a new era of Youngstown football highlight the opening week of the 2026 high school football season, which begins tonight and concludes on Saturday.
Locally, five games help kick off the season tonight. A full slate of games are scheduled on Friday. The opening week concludes Saturday with a matchup between McDonald and Valley Christian.
LaBrae opens its season tonight with a home game against Middlefield Cardinal in what will be the head coaching debut for Chris Marsco. During the offseason, the 31-year-old was tabbed to take over the Vikings' program following the resignation of Jon Elliot.
Cardinal is coached by Valley native Doug Velasquez, who served as the Lowellville head coach from 2016-2019.
The Huskies, who have lost opening week games against LaBrae in each of the last two years, are looking to snap a 17-game losing streak.
Warren John F. Kennedy and Garfield will meet for the eighth straight year when the Eagles and G-Men square off tonight in Garrettsville. The two schools are meeting in week 1 for the first time. Garfield has won five of the seven previous meetings.
Tonight's light schedule also features a Mahoning County versus Trumbull County matchup, as Jackson-Milton travels to Mathews.
Friday's schedule is highlighted by the 63rd meeting between Warren G. Harding and Canton McKinley. The on-again, off-again series between the two former All-American Conference rivals began in 1914.
Harding dominated McKinley during a stretch from 1957 through 1966 when WGH won nine of 10 meetings. From 1967 through 1981, the Bulldogs flipped the script, winning 13 of 15 games. Harding would win four straight against the Bulldogs from 2000 to 2003. Since the series resumed in 2017, the Bulldogs have won six straight over Harding, including a 43-25 victory a year ago. McKinley leads the overall series 38-23-1.
Niles and Howland will meet for the 52nd consecutive year when the Red Dragons and Tigers square off at Lombardo Field in Howland. Friday's game will feature the Niles coaching debut of Chris Kosiorek, who took over the program in April. Kosiorek is a Cardinal Mooney graduate who previously served as a head coach at Mechanicsburg, Crestwood and Gilmour Academy.
The Dragons-Tigers 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 eight meetings, each team has won four games.
Last year, Howland defeated Niles 10-8. Niles leads the series 27-24.
The Red Dragons are looking to snap a 17-game losing streak -- the longest losing streak in program history.
Brookfield and Hubbard will meet for the 86th time in a series which dates back to 1923.
A year ago, Trumbull County Player of the Year recipient Braydon Songer accounted for five touchdowns as the Eagles downed the Warriors 42-0.
Brookfield is hoping to snap a Hubbard 14-game winning streak in the series.
Overall, the Eagles own a 54-28-3 edge over the Warriors.
Ursuline will play its first game in nearly a year when the Irish travel to Columbus to take on St. Francis DeSales. Ursuline last played a game on Aug. 29 of last year before its final eight games were canceled, as the program faced allegations of hazing and misconduct.
Tony Stephens, who last year served as a running backs coach at Ursuline, will make his head coaching debut with the Irish. Stephens was also a longtime assistant coach at LaBrae.
Youngstown High School will play its first-ever game as the Defenders travel to Boardman. The Defenders -- a result of the consolidation of East and Chaney -- will be guided by Seth Antram, who last year coached at Chaney. Last year, Boardman beat Chaney 35-34 in three overtimes.
Something has to give when Newton Falls travels to Wellsville. Both teams went 0-10 in 2025. In fact, Newton Falls is looking to snap a 20-game losing streak, having gone 0-10 in each of the last two seasons. Wellsville is hoping to end a 15-game losing streak.
Girard is hopeful that 13 proves to be a lucky number, as the Indians -- fresh off their 10-0 regular season -- are looking to win their 13th straight regular season game. The Indians host Coventry.
McDonald, also 10-0 during the regular season a year ago, hopes to win its 12th straight regular season game when it plays Valley Christian. The Blue Devils and Eagles will meet Saturday at the Joe Lane Sports Complex in Mineral Ridge, which now serves at the Eagles' home field.
The regular season concludes Oct. 24, with the playoffs beginning the following week. This year, 336 schools statewide will qualify for the postseason. 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.