The first three weeks of the season have been an emotional rollercoaster. The offense has established that it is going to run the ball. The defense has shown extended stretches of brilliance.
The North Central High School football team?
Lawrence North?
Yes.

“I do see a lot of similarities,” North Central coach Keith Shelton said while preparing to host the Wildcats at 7 p.m. Friday. "They’ve been doing their style of football longer than we have but it’ll be interesting and exciting since we’re going to try to do the same things: Establish the run, pass when we want to. There’s no question they’re physical and come right at you.
“It’s going to be a good game for us and the fans.”

North Central (1-2) opened the season with a promising 21-7 loss to Pike coming off a 1-9 season that began by surrendering 52 points to the Red Devils. The Panthers then upset Lawrence Central before suffering a disappointing 31-0 loss to Ben Davis. Lawrence North (1-2) opened the season with a 16-8 loss to Lawrence Central, beat Louisville Trinity, which had won seven of the past eight large-school state titles in Kentucky, and lost to Warren Central, 49-20.

The neighboring rivals’ similarities extend to their series on the field with four of the past six games between the teams being decided by six points or fewer with each winning three.

“We’re trying to establish consistency,” Shelton said. “I feel like we played well a majority of the first two games (but) we didn’t play up to expectations against Ben Davis. We’ll apply what we learned to Lawrence North. We have a lot of work we still need to do (but) I’m pleased with the boys’ effort. They’re doing exactly what we want them to do. We’ll continue to preach execution and physical play.”

LAWRENCE NORTH (1-2) at NORTH CENTRAL (1-2)
When: 7 p.m. Friday.
Last year: Lawrence North, 35-21.
Last 10 years: Lawrence North leads, 8-5.
Lawrence North’s key players: QB Will Nolden (20-of-43, 224 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs), RB Trae Heeter (272 rushing yards, 3 TDs; 75 receiving yards, 1 TD), RB Jaren Scott (103 rushing yards, 1 TD), LB Phil Schwenk (51 tackles), DB Kory Stamps (36 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 INT), LB Vince Coach (32 tackles, 1 sack), LB Rasheem McDowell (26 tackles).
North Central’s key players: QB Derek Thiems (18-of-38, 176 yards, 3 INTs), RB Miles Clark (270 rushing yards, 2 TDs), WR Justin Boone (76 receiving yards), LB Nathan Geist (22 tackles), LB Deven Rampersaud (21 tackles), DE Andrew East (14 tackles) DE Jules Williams (14 tackles).
What to watch for: Despite last week’s disappointing result, North Central has taken a huge step forward this year. Lawrence North has been hard to figure out with a loss to Lawrence Central, a victory over Kentucky power Louisville Trinity then another loss to Warren Central. Both teams rely heavily on running the ball so expect a physical battle that will be intensified by the rivalry.