Region Sports Network Previews Key Week One Football Matchups

rsn-logoThe best time of the year in high school sports is here and the Region Sports Network has prepped fans across the area on some of tonight's key match-ups.

The Week One Game of the Week features two teams ranked in the RSN's preseason top five as No. 4 Munster pays a visit to "The Burial Grounds" at No. 3 Lake Central tonight. Denny Churilla says both Munster and Lake Central "bring a seasoned corps of playmakers to the table Friday and it will be up to inexperienced defenses to stop them." See full RSN preview on Munster-Lake Central match-up.

Another matchup of top ten teams pits No. 5 Lowell at No. 6 Crown Point, who will battle in the annual "Leather Helmet Game." Nathan Laird says "both defenses were stout last year (CP giving up 15.6 points per game and Lowell surrendering 16.3 per contest), so don’t expect to see a ton of points scored in this one." See full RSN preview here.

Valparaiso High School has one of the toughest tasks among all region teams this week as the Vikings try to avenge a 49-7 drubbing at the hands of Mishawaka Penn last year as they visit the Kingsmen tonight. Steve Wartman reports that Valpo has opened the season against Penn every year since 1997. See full RSN Preview here.

The excitement on the return of football season takes on a whole other meaning at Hanover Central tonight as the Wildcats will play a varsity football game under the lights for the first time since 1971, when the program began a more than 40-year hiatus in the sport. Nathan Laird compares their return to action tonight against Thea bowman Leadership Academy to the return of football in Houston, Texas in 2002 when the Texans upset the Dallas Cowboys in their first ever game. Laird says "the emotion and excitement" on their home field will carry Hanover Central tonight. See full RSN preview here.

The Highland Trojans are coming off a season in which they compiled the most wins they have in a decade, and look to continue that momentum into their opener at Lake Station tonight. Steve Wartman says "this kind of contest, with a two-class difference between the schools, is definitely of a measuring stick variety in week one. Much attention, certainly more than heading into recent seasons, will be on a Highland program that has been making significant strides the past two years since Trent Grider took over as head coach." See full RSN preview here.