Who will be the teams to beat? What stars will shine? Will there be any surprise success stories?

The questions will start to get some answers Friday night in the opening week of the high school football season. Twenty-six District 9 teams get their seasons under way. Overall, there are 15 games, 14 of them scheduled for Friday night.

At first glance, the big guns around the district are Clarion, Curwensville and Coudersport in Class A, much like last year. In Class AA, Brockway tries to defend its title in what looks to be a wide-open field. Class AAA, as usual, will come down to Clearfield and Bradford.

Those two District 9 League rivals square off in their annual season-opening tilt scheduled this year at the Bison Sports Complex. The Bisons and Owls will contend with DuBois to win the league title this year and obviously this game, one of the marquee matchups of the week, will go a long way in determining the league championship.

In the Allegheny Mountain League, Curwensville hosts Coudersport in a rematch of last year’s AML Championship game and Class A playoff semifinal. Coudersport won both games.

In the milestone department, Curwensville senior running back Nick Sipes needs just 24 yards to reach 4,000 for his career. The 4,000-yard club is exclusive, with just three other backs achieving the milestone. With a healthy year, Sipes should catch the district’s all-time leader Aaron Cantafio of Brockway.

Here’s a closer look at this week’s schedule:

OWLS VISIT BISONS IN KEY D-9 LEAGUE GAME — The Owls had their first losing season since 1998 while the Bisons are coming off a district championship season. The Owls, led by quarterback Ben Walter, running backs Taylor O’Brien and Nick Johnson, and receiver Tommy Morris should be better this year. The Bisons bring back senior quarterback Andrew Janocko, who threw for a district-high 1,682 yards last year.

The rest of the D-9 League is playing a non-conference schedule.

AML BATTLE OF THE TITANS — Coudersport beat Curwensville twice last year in a span of three weeks -- 41-13 in the AML title game and 28-26 in the Class A semifinals -- on its way to a berth in the PIAA Western Finals only to lose to Duquesne and finish 13-1. Do the Falcons have enough back to deal with the Nick Sipes-led Tide?

Quarterback Boomer Wetzel passed for 1,274 yards, 16 touchdowns and owned the highest QB rating in the district while Sam Decker had 1,313 total yards of offense and scored 17 touchdowns. They’re both back and will lead the Falcons in their attempt to repeat titles in the AML and Class A.

Sipes, who has 3,976 career yards rushing, is coming off an off-season knee surgery and things sound optimistic that he’ll be as at least as good as last year when he rushed for a district-best 1,857 yards and 30 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Shawn Sopic returns for his fourth year as a starter and will play a major role in leading the Tide.

In other AML games Friday, Ridgway hosts Smethport, Brockway hosts Cameron County in what will be Rovers veteran coach Ray Reckner’s final season on the sideline, Johnsonburg hosts Port Allegany and Sheffield treks to Kane. Saturday night in St. Marys, Otto-Eldred visits Elk County Catholic.

CLARION HEAVY FAVORITE IN KSAC — The Clarion Bobcats and head coach Larry Wiser are heavy favorites to win the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference as a preseason coaches poll indicated. Friday night in Foxburg, the Bobcats will be an even heavier favorite to beat the Falcons. Last year, Clarion walloped A-C Valley, 71-0.

In the two other KSAC games, it’s not even close to an expected rout. Moniteau visits Clarion-Limestone and Redbank Valley hosts Karns City. Both games could go down to the wire.

NON-CONFERENCE SLATE — Of the five non-conference games, only one features two District 9 teams. St. Marys hosts Karns City in what could be an interesting game. Last year, the Gremlins slipped by the Dutch 19-14. Both teams lost considerable talent to graduation. In other matchups, DuBois hosts Central Mountain, Punxsutawney travels to Bellefonte and Union treks to Cambridge Springs trying to shake a 30-game losing streak.