Woodward, Okla. — In case you missed it - this is the opening week of high school football season.

Yes, after all the off-season work, fall practice (in summer weather of course) and some tuneup scrimmages, the Friday Night Lights are here.

Or, in some cases, Thursday Night Lights.

That’s certainly true in Harper County where Class B Laverne, ranked No. 1 in the state in at least one poll, takes the short trip west tonight to face Class C Buffalo, coming off a 3-7 campaign.

The last time Laverne took a No. 1 ranking into a matchup with Buffalo, the Tigers ended up with a loss.

They will be looking to avoid a repeat this year and the Tigers are loaded with big, strong players and hopes of another eventual long run into the playoffs.

Buffalo struggled last year, but the Bison have an experienced quarterback in Levi Gray to direct their pass-happy offense.

Factor in the natural rivalry and this could be an interesting matchup.

Statewide, other games of note tonight include the battle for Norman between Norman High and Norman North, and a big Class 4A battle in Oklahoma with Douglass at McGuinness. Both teams are in virtually everyone’s top 5 and McGuinness is a future opponent for the Boomers.

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Rivalry talk around here usually turns to Clinton, Guymon or Elk City, but in recent decades El Reno has appeared on the schedule more often.

On Friday, the Boomers and El Reno will meet for the 27th consecutive time, longer than anyone else on the Boomer schedule.

Woodward has played Elk City, Clinton and Guymon more times over history, but those series have been interrupted for various reasons. For instance, the Boomers and Elk City didn’t play in 1988 and 1989 or 2000-2001 and the Boomers have played Clinton only twice since 1999. Guymon wasn’t on the schedule for a good part of the 1990s.

Through the past 26 meetings, El Reno has the advantage, primarily due to Woodward winning only 2 of the last 10 contests.

This year’s matchup is a key one, extremely important for a veteran Boomer team looking for a strong start.

Woodward is looking to snap a streak of 8 consecutive losses (not all to El Reno) on opening night and is also looking for its first winning season since 2001.

Victories over El Reno have been important to the Boomers over the years.

In 1981, before the series began an annual occurrence, Milt Bassett’s Boomers upset then No. 1-ranked El Reno, 21-13 signalling Woodward’s return as a Class 5A force.

In 1985, the Boomers upset El Reno 14-7 in overtime and went on to win the district championship - the school’s last district title.

In 1996, the Boomers used a 41-7 win over El Reno as the catalyst to an 8-game winning streak and surge to the state semifinals.

In 2007, a 22-7 victory over the Indians was key to the Boomers breaking a 5-year absence from the playoffs.

El Reno, of course, can point to significant successes as well, most notably a 12-7 victory in 1994, the lone blemish during the Boomers’ state championship season.

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Opening night brings some of the state’s top rivalries including the 100th meeting between Broken Bow and Idabel, the two best-known programs in southeast Oklahoma.

Also on tap are Clinton-Weatherford, the Moore War between Westmoore and Moore. There is a third school in Southmoore now, but that doesn’t diminish things all that much.

By the way, current Woodward coach Justin Jones was part of the Moore War during his time as a player and coach at Westmoore and current Moore coach Scott Myers was the Boomers head coach from 2005-2007.

Other well-known openers include Guymon against Dalhart, Texas and Altus against Vernon, Texas. One state game is between two annual national powers as Tulsa Union goes to Evangel Christian, a powerhouse in Louisiana.

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Bob Barry is known as the voice of the Oklahoma Sooners and at one time was the voice of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Over the past 50 years his football seasons have been spent calling the games for one of the two state programs.

But the famed announcer, who is retiring after this season, also has some ties out this way.

For a number of years, Bob Barry did the play by play for the Classic Bowl All-Star game held each year at Boomer Stadium. He was also the headliner for a golf tournament during Classic Bowl and a speaker at the banquet several times.

His presence during the early years helped the Classic Bowl gain a foothold to grow into the multi-sport event it is now.

Johnny McMahan is managing editor of the Woodward News.