Friday night football as we know it is back, packed with fans, bands, cheerleaders and open snack bars.

It’s a quick turnaround from a quirky five-week spring campaign centering around coronavirus and health and safety protocols. Teams played limited schedules, some more than others because of positive tests and contact tracing leading to games getting cancelled.

For now, a normal 11-week regular season is on the horizon starting on Friday. Here’s a glance at some interesting pre-league showdowns ahead for area teams:

Green’s gauntlet

With state championship aspirations, Manteca wants to be prepared to make that deep postseason run.

Head coach Mark Varnum has set the Buffaloes up against four teams that combined for a 14-4 record in the spring. Their final tune-up before the start of Valley Oak League play will be at Turlock (5-0) on Sept. 10.

Manteca starts off with Downey this week looking to avenge a frustrating overtime loss from 2019. The Buffs’ first three contests will be at Guss Schmiedt Field, with Patterson and Cosumnes Oaks of Elk Grove to follow.

“We know we have to test ourselves,” Varmum said. “Early on we’re going against bigger, super athletic teams. If we want to get to where we want to be, that’s how we have to play. That’s the kind of athletes we’re going to see if we’re lucky enough to get to NorCal and state title games. The VOL is tough enough, so hopefully we can get rolling by those last three games and defend our VOL title.”

The closing stretch may be more daunting than the start: at Central Catholic, home against Kimball and at Oakdale. Since joining the VOL, Central Catholic is 6-0 against Manteca, and Kimball put a scare into the Buffs in a high-scoring defeat last spring.

And the Buffs, of course, have an historic rivalry with Oakdale, which replaces cross-town foe East Union as their Week 10 opponent. Manteca, Oakdale and Central Catholic split the 2019 league title.

 “The Manteca-Oakdale rivalry is something special no matter if it’s at our place or their place,” Varnum said. “Hopefully it will be with the VOL title on that line. That’s how it should be.”

Week 1 tests for EU, Sierra

East Union and Sierra open on the road this week against schools from the best small-school league in the state, the Trans-Valley League.

East Union heads to Division IV-AA state champion Ripon, while the Timberwolves take on a rising Hughson team that went 5-0 in the spring and ended with an eye-opening win over Kimball.

It gets more interesting for the two Manteca squads beyond Week Zero, with the Lancers tangling with Windsor of Sonoma County and Sierra squaring off with Acalanes out of Lafayette. Both games will be in town, and Sierra’s home opener was moved to Saturday, Aug. 28 to give the visiting Dons a reprieve from that Friday night rush-hour traffic.

“Acalanes is a total unknown for us, but I know they’ve traditionally been a very good program,” Sierra coach Chris Johnson said. The Dons went 14-4 the past two seasons.

Both Windsor and Acalanes play in competitive leagues. First-year East Union coach Mike Kuhnlenz had his schedule already set when hired, but one conflict opened up the possibility to face Windsor.

“It’s tough to be so late in the game to try and find an opponent, and luckily we were able to get someone to come to us,” Kuhnlenz said. “Windsor just got a really amazing coach (Paul Cronin) from Cardinal Newman so they’ll definitely be dialed in. That’s going to be a tough game for our home opener.”

East Nic takes on Almond City

Travis Barker turned East Nicolaus into a small-school power in his six seasons as head coach, claiming five Northern Section titles and the Division VI-

That doesn’t mean the Spartans from Yuba County are down and out, warns Ripon Christian coach Phil Grams. He’d know. That’s because East Nic hired a good friend of his in Kramer Hagan, who was Grams’ offensive coordinator during his successful stint with Capital Christian. Joining Hagan at East Nicolaus is Matt Cook, Grams’ former defensive coordinator.

The band gets back together next Friday, Aug. 27 at RC. The two schools previously met in 2016, with the Spartans winning, 46-7.

“I know those guys real well,” Grams said. “It’s going to be an interesting game because I love those guys but at the same time I want to beat them. They (inherited) a very good program.”

The following week, East Nicolaus will welcome Ripon Christian’s neighboring rival in what will be a showdown between former state champs. Ripon ventures to East Nic on Sept. 3, beefing up an already-tough schedule that features East Union and Mother Lode monsters Sonora and Calaveras.

Battle of I-5 rivalry revival

The Battle of I-5 rivalry is returning and under new management.

Lathrop and Weston Ranch are Manteca Unified schools that have not faced off since the former left the VOL for the Western Athletic League in 2018. Lathrop won the previous matchup 36-18 in 2017.

The name and perpetual trophy of the rivalry series was created by former Weston Ranch coach Seth Davis in 2013. Ron Wayman was a lower-level coach at the time and is now in charge of the program at the Ranch.

“I’m excited that we get to play Lathrop again,” Wayman said.

The game takes place Sept. 3 at Lathrop’s Bennie Gatto Field. Weston Ranch leads the all-time series 5-4, winning the first five with the Spartans taking the rest.

“Any rivalry game is fun,” first-year Lathrop coach Ryan Teicheira said. “You’re going to try and lay your best game against them and the kids have talked about it — we still have the trophy in the locker room right now. It’ll be fun to be part of a rivalry game that early in the season. It’s kind of a good way to set the tone for the kids going into our league play.”

ZERO WEEK SCHEDULE

Friday’s games

East Union at Ripon, 7:30 p.m.

Downey at Manteca, 7 p.m.

Sierra at Hughson, 7 p.m.

Weston Ranch at Grace Davis (Gregori), 7 p.m.

Lathrop at Tokay, 7:15 p.m.

Ripon Christian at Galt, 7:30 p.m.