Cheektowaga will be returning to a familiar place when they take to New Era Field on Friday night. The Warriors have won three of the last four Section VI Class B titles and will look to make that four for five Friday night.

The Warriors sport a record of 8-1. Their opponent Friday is Pioneer (9-0), the team responsible for their lone loss.

“This year is going to be especially difficult,” said Cheektowaga head coach Mike Fatta. “I don't know that we've had a tougher task.”

Cheektowaga’s defense allowed 33 points to the Panthers in a 33-14 loss last month. The Warriors have only allowed 21 points in their other eight games combined.

“We’ve got to play four quarters of hard football,” said Warriors quarterback Keshone Beal. “We kind of gave up in the last game and we don’t need to do that this time. We’ve got to keep playing, fighting, and when things don’t go our way, we’ve got to fight.

While Cheektowaga is defined by their tough defense, their offense is still nothing to scoff at. The Warriors averaged 32.6 points per game this season led by Beal’s 31 total touchdowns.

For the Panthers, everything runs through the legs of running back Mike Rigerman. The senior has put up an astonishing 2,081 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns through nine games this season.

Rigerman’s success is thanks to a whole team effort according to Panthers head coach Jim Duprey. Duprey knows that while his team was able to pull of one victory over the Warriors this season, getting a second is no guarantee.

“We can’t ever make mistakes and we have to control the ball better,” said Duprey on his squad’s keys to the game. “If we’re not better, we can’t beat them again.”

The Warriors and Panthers kick off at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. Full coverage of the game can be found on Spectrum News.