While it may be hard to believe that high school football season is here, the Northwestern Tigers are ready to get started. After almost three weeks of battling each other through practices and working their way through two scrimmages, Northwestern opens the season at home against Notre Dame (Green Pond) Friday night.

The Tigers faced a physical Tamaqua team in their final scrimmage last week, which should have them ready for what they may face from the Crusaders, who finished last season at 5-5 overall.

"They will be a good week one opponent for us," said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. "Our guys have been waiting a few months to get back out on the field, have fun, make plays, and have the score count for real."

Last season, Northwestern beat Notre Dame 33-27, in a game that was somewhat of a turning point for the Tigers. The win put them at 3-2 and they would go 4-1 the rest of the way en route to the Eastern Conference Championship.

One of the difficult things about going up against a team in the first couple weeks of the season is that you don't have a lot to go on. Snyder got his hands on video of Notre Dame's scrimmages, but that doesn't always tell the full story of what a team is going to try to do once the season starts. Notre Dame could be particularly surprising, since they've got a new offensive coordinator and have changed their defensive scheme since the Tigers last saw them in 2013.

"They have a new offensive coordinator and are playing a 30-front defense which is different from what they had last year," said Snyder after reviewing Notre Dame's scrimmages. "Playing them the first game will be a challenge because we don't have a lot of film of their new schemes, just scrims, which don't have much game-situation type drives."

Notre Dame has gone through some lean times and is a combined 13-37 in coach Chuck Muller's five seasons, but times are changing for the Crusaders. Senior running back Kyle Arlington transferred from Bethlehem Catholic and could be a huge upgrade for the Notre Dame offense. The biggest question mark is just how good the offensive line is going to be for him to run behind.

"They showed some nice things in the scrimmages we saw on film," said Snyder. "They have a few good athletes that made a few plays for them."

As for Northwestern (9-3 overall, 7-3 Colonial League), the Tigers come into the season with a heavy target on their backs. There are plenty of weapons on both offense and defense, but nobody is going to hand anything to the Tigers and their testing begins early with Notre Dame.

The game will be played Friday night at Northwestern, beginning at 7 p.m.