WARSAW – Bragging rights. Pride. Trophies.

All of the above and more will be on the line Friday night for rivalry week on the local high school football scene.

The big clash comes in Kosciusko County as Warsaw welcomes in neighbor Wawasee. The Tigers have dropped four of the last five to the Warriors, including a 21-10 final in Syracuse a year ago.

Warsaw heads into the NLC matchup with two wins in a row, while Wawasee has lost four straight.

The “W” trophy, which began going to the winner in 1986, will be up for grabs at Fisher Field. Warsaw has gained possession of the coveted hardware 17 times since its inception 29 years ago. The Tigers lead the all-time series by a 28-17-1 count.

Whitko will welcome winless Manchester to South Whitley for a big night with Homecoming and Senior Night festivities on tap.

Following is a quick look at the local schedule on the prep gridiron.

Wawasee (2-4, 0-4) at Warsaw (3-3, 2-2), 7 p.m.

Phil Jensen says it’s about more than just the rivalry with the Warriors for his squad.

“We all know it’s big with the W trophy and all that, but bigger than that for us is that we need to continue to get better,” said the Warsaw coach. “We have to keep improving as we get closer to the playoffs.”

Warsaw clicked on all cylinders last week in handling host Goshen 35-7. The Tigers scored the final 28 points of the contest, forced four turnovers (while having none) and got a huge game from star receiver Riley Rhoades who had 13 catches for 214 yards.

“It was our best game of the season,” said Jensen. “Riley is big, strong and fast. He’s getting a lot of interest from a lot of colleges.”

“Wawasee is adjusting to their new offense and as they get more comfortable with it, the more dangerous they become. We have to focus on everyone on our defense doing their job. We need to take care of the ball and convert on opportunities to score points.”

The Warriors are coming off a much-improved performance despite a 29-20 home loss to undefeated and No. 2 ranked Plymouth.

“We simplified things last week and our guys did a good job with it,” said Wawasee coach Josh Ekovich.

“This is a big game for both teams and both communities. It’s about bragging rights.”

“Warsaw is doing a good job with their offense. They have dynamic playmakers like Rhodes and are not easy to stop. The biggest thing is that we need to be in good position on defense and make sure that we tackle well.”

Tippecanoe Valley (2-4, 2-2) at Rochester (2-4, 2-2), 7 p.m.

Darin Holsopple knows what to expect in his first exposure to Valley’s biggest rival.

“It’s going to be a hard-fought battle with no plays off and no gimmes,” said the first-year Valley coach. “I know that neither team is satisfied to be 2-4 right now. Both of us want a signature win. No one on either side will need any extra motivation for this game.”

The Vikings will look to build off a 36-27 comeback home win over Manchester last week. Alec Craig had a big game as the Valley quarterback accounted for four touchdowns.

“Alec made good decisions, got his confidence back and things got rolling for us in the second half last week,” noted Holsopple. “His receivers really helped him too.”

“It’s nice going into this game with some momentum and confidence like we have. Rochester will be physical and try to run the ball on us.”

Rochester, who lost their starting quarterback to an injury early in the season, lost 35-12 to Northfield a week ago.

The Zebras beat Valley 35-8 a year ago.

Manchester (0-6, 0-4) at Whitko (2-4, 1-3), 7 p.m.

Josh Mohr may not like the record, but he loves what he sees each week from his Whitko football team.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our guys,” said Whitko coach Mohr. “They have been resilient every week. Our record is not where we want it to be, but our guys have bounced back every week and come back to practice working to get better.”

“We know we are better than a 2-4 football team. We are like 11 points away from being 5-1. That’s high school sports. It’s a game of momentum.”

Last week was a real tough one for the Wildcats to swallow. Despite outgunning Southwood 411-161 in total yards, Whitko ended up on the short end of a 21-20 final mainly due to four fumbles.

“We did it to ourselves last week and our guys know that,” Mohr remarked. “Turnovers and a handful of plays are the difference in those close games. We’ve looked at the details of our turnovers and focused back on the little things to fix it.”

Whitko welcomes in a winless Manchester team that lost 36-27 at Tippecanoe Valley last week.

“Manchester is a young team, but they will be ready to play,” said Mohr. “They will be well coached. We just need to take care of the ball and continue to push forward.”

Whitko beat the Squires by a 42-7 count last season.

North Judson (5-1, 4-1) At Triton (1-5, 1-4), 7:30 p.m.

The Trojans will face another formidable foe.

The Bluejays are averaging 30 points-per-game, while Triton is scoring just under 10 points-per-outing. North Judson blanked West Central 58-0 last week.

“North Judson will bring a very spirited team in here Friday night and we can’t be intimidated,” said Triton coach Ron Brown. “We have to play aggressive, attack them and play assignment football. They are big, physical and have a speedy quarterback.”

Triton has lost five in a row since beating Caston in the opener. The Trojans dropped a 43-12 final at Winamac last week.

“Our focus is on getting better,” Brown stated. “We have moved people around this week. We’ve shuffled the deck a bunch.”

The Trojans have lost their five consecutive games to teams with a combined record of 20-10, including ranked teams Pioneer, LaVille and Winamac.