Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — Are you ready for some football?

All nine local varsity teams will be in action over the next two days as the new high school season kicks off.

And that includes a couple of big all-local showdowns on Saturday, as the H-DNL teams look to establish some early momentum and bragging rights.

The action gets under way with four local teams playing on Friday night, including three here on the North Coast.

Defending Little 4 champion McKinleyville opens at home against Kelseyville (JVs at 5 p.m., varsity at 7:30 p.m.), while Fortuna hosts University Prep at Husky Field (JVs at 5 p.m., varsity at 7:30 p.m.).

Farther south, the Cubs will host Fort Bragg at South Fork High in a varsity matchup at 7 p.m.

Defending Big 5 champion Del Norte, meanwhile, will open on the road at Lower Lake with the JVs scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity at 7:30 p.m.

That game will be broadcast live on KPOD 79.9 FM and through DelNorteSports.com.

A busy weekend of action continues on Saturday with five more local varsity teams in action.

Ferndale host Fall River (JVs at 11:30 a.m. and varsity at 2 p.m.), while later in the afternoon St. Bernard’s will host Hoopa in a game that was switched from Hoopa because of the smoke and wildfires in the area.

The JVs kick off at 1 p.m., followed by the varsity teams at 3:30 p.m.

And rounding out the weekend action, Eureka and Arcata will renew their rivalry in a showdown at McKinleyville High, with the JVs playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity game set for 7:30 p.m.