Win or lose, Ed Conto loves the atmosphere.

Conto's Karns City football team, coming off a 10-2 season that ended in the PIAA quarterfinals, travels to WPIAL 5A Armstrong Friday night to kick off the 2017 season.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Armstrong defeated the Gremlins, 35-22, in last year's opener at Karns City.

“There's going to be a good crowd and the fences are right along the sidelines there (at the old Kittanning High School field), so the fans are right on top of you,” Conto said.

“Our kids are going to experience what it's like to play at a tough place right away and that's a good thing. There aren't a lot of bleachers there, so people will be standing all over the place.”

The River Hawks will bring a strong offensive line and a versatile quarterback in senior Dawson Porter, who missed all of last year with an injury.

“Ford City and Kittanning always had a strong lineman or two when they were separate schools,” Conto said. “Now that they're merged, they will always be strong up front.”

Armstrong coach Frank Fabian described Porter as “a dual threat who can make plays with his feet as well as his arm.”

“Karns City always brings it. They play hard, they run to the ball and their defense gives you fits in preparation because they give you so many multiple looks,” Fabian added.

Sophomore Anthony Kamenski will start at quarterback for the Gremlins. Sebastian Troutman looks to be the team's top ball carrier earlier.

Armstrong returns only three starters offensively and graduated WPIAL record-setting running back Zane Dudek. He rushed for 2,955 yards last year and is now at Yale.

“We're basically starting over offensively,” Fabian said. “But we're platying a regular game and I like that atmosphere better than a scrimmage.”

Conto agreed.

“We're going to make a lot of mistakes,” Conto said. “We did in last year's opener. If they're hustling mistakes, we'll learn from them. If they're character mistakes because we're not going hard, that won't be tolerated.”

[naviga:h3]Yough at Freeport

6 p.m., Friday[/naviga:h3]

The Yellowjackets have joined the Week Zero regular season schedule, having a bye next week due to Vincentian dropping its football program.

“We know we're in for a challenge,” Freeport coach John Gaillot said. “Yough has a huge, physical line.”

The Cougars will come at the Yellowjackets with linemen standing 6-foot-5, 310 pounds, 6-4, 330 and 6-4, 280.

“We run a pro-style offese and a base defense,” second-year Yough coach Scott Wood said. “We definitely want to bring it to teams physically.”

Yough returns a 1,000-yard running back in Dustin Shoaf as well. The Cougars have seven starters returning on both sides of the ball.

Both teams are coming off 4-5 seasons,.

“We've improved every day, but we have a long way to go yet,” Gaillot said of Freeport. We'll see where we're at Friday. Once we're in game mode, we'll have a better idea of what we need to fix.”

The Yellowjackets are experienced at the skill positions, bringing back quarterback Austin Romanchak, running back Conor Selinger and a number of receivers.

[naviga:h3]Mars at Hampton

7:30 p.m., Friday[/naviga:h3]

Last year, the season-opening game between the Planets and Talbots set the tone for both teams.

The Planets won, 28-0, and went on to post a successful 8-3 season. On the other hand, Hampton's loss was the beginning of a 0-10 campaign.

“Hampton should have won a few games last year, but that didn't happen,” said Mars coach Scott Heinauer. “(Talbot coach) Jacque DeMatteo will have his players ready to go.”

Junior Tyler Kowalkowski and sophomore Drew Schlegel have been competing in camp for Mars' starting quarterback spot.

“They've both done well and both will probably see playing time Friday,” said Heinauer. “We expect Hampton's defensive line and linebackers to play well and we are concerned with that. We need to make sure our guys up front are on assignment with their blocks. This early in the season, that's a concern for everybody.”

The Talbots return Ross Andersson, a three-year starter at quarterback.

Alex Bianco, a 2016 All-Allegheny Nine Conference pick at running back, graduated. Wide receiver Tyler Steedle will move to the backfield and should split carries with senior Vinny Schmitt.

[naviga:h3]C.W. North Catholic at Quaker Valley

7 p.m., Friday[/naviga:h3]

Patrick O'Shea will make his head-coaching debut against a Quakers team that was recently dealt a dose of instability.

Less than a week before the start of camp, veteran head coach John Tortorea chose to resign due to parental interference. Jerry Veshio is now in charge of the Quakers, who finished 5-4 overall last year, but placed fifth out of seven teams in Class 3A's Beaver Valley Conference with a 2-4 effort.

Veshio was last a head football coach in the mid-1980s.

The Trojans have three candidates at quarterback — seniors Ryan Maziarz and Jack Cassidy and sophomore Zach Rocco. All should see playing time against the Quakers.

[naviga:h3]Imani Christian at Union/A-C Valley

7 p.m., Friday[/naviga:h3]

The Falcon Knights are looking for a fast start after a 2-7 campaign last year. Senior quarterback Lucas Bowser, a three-year starter at the position, will lead the way. He will also start at defensive end.

Imani Christian went 4-6 in 2016, but looks to climb the ladder in the WPIAL's tough Class A Eastern Conference, which includes powerhouses Clairton and Jeannette.

Senior wide receivers Asante Watkins and Sam Fairley, a Division I prospect, will provide quarterback Tawan Wesley with reliable options in the passing game.

The game will be played in Rimersburg.

[naviga:h3]Slippery Rock at Reynolds

7 p.m., Friday[/naviga:h3]

The Rockets enter the season with a pair of quarterbacks who should see some time in junior Jake Shaffer and sophomore Vito Pilosi.

They will be tasked with replacing last year's starting quarterback, Bailey Mertens.

The fortunes of both these teams have changed since they met in the season opener last season.

The Raiders won, 13-7, and started 3-1, but lost five of their last six, including a 41-21 loss to Iroquis in the District 10 playoffs.

The Rockets started 1-5, but won three of their last five games, including a 28-0 playoff win over Mercyhurst Prep.

Reynolds lost most of its offense to graduation and returns just four starters on that side of the ball.

Slippery Rock, meanwhile, has four of its five starters on the offensive line back and a three-headed monster at running back in Kaleb Kamerer, Hunter Prementine and last year's leading rusher, Seth Slater.

[naviga:h3]Grove City at General McLane

7 p.m., Friday[/naviga:h3]

This was the game that launched the Eagles last season.

Coming off three wins in two season, Grove City stunned the Lancers, rallying for behind in the second half for a 34-28 victory.

The Eagles then rolled off eight more wins before a loss in the regular season finale against Meadville and again to the Bulldogs in the District 10 title game.

Grove City will have a new quarterback this season in junior Brady Callihan, who was the backup to Kameron Patterson last season.

All Patterson did in his four-year career was pass for 5,886 yards and 64 touchdowns.

Callihan, though, has a wealth of weapons around him, starting with junior wide receiver Logan Lutz and senior running back Trey Adams.

General McLane had a so-so season last year, going 5-5. The Lancers did average 33.1 points per game on offense, but lost its quarterback and top two rushers to graduation.

Six starters return to a defensive unit that struggled at times, coughing up 30 or more points in five games.