It is hard to believe that the high school football season has already hit the three-quarter mark of its 2019 season.

Three of our teams, Brandywine, Cassopolis and Edwardsburg, remain undefeated, while Dowagiac has won back-to-back games to improve to 2-1.

Buchanan and Niles are still in search of their first wins of the season.

This Friday night basically marks the midway point of the season. It is time for teams to start making their move to shore up runs at division or conference championships. A win on Friday night would also give the Bobcats, Rangers and Eddies four wins, leaving them two short of earning automatic qualifying spots in the final year of that format. All three teams will be heavily favored going into those contests.

The most entertaining game on the schedule this week is Paw Paw coming to Dowagiac for a key Wolverine Conference contest. Paw Paw is undefeated on the season and pounded its first three opponents.

Dowagiac has shown steady improvement under the direction of new head coach Randy Brooks. The Chieftains will need to continue to improve if it wants to beat Paw Paw at Chris Taylor-Alumni Field. A win could also clear the way for Dowagiac to go 8-1 on the season.

Of course, there are still plenty of challenges left on the schedule, like a game against Vicksburg, but a victory this week would set the Chieftains up nicely.

The race is on between Buchanan and Niles to see which team will break into the victory column first. The Bucks are inching closer to a win, while the Vikings continue to struggle to stop their opponents.

Over the past couple of seasons, even though Niles was not racking up a lot of victories, it could always count on its defense to keep them in games. That does not seem to be the case this season as the Vikings have allowed 42 or more points in each of its first three games.

Buchanan travels to perennial powerhouse Constantine this week, while Niles hosts Mattawan, a team that has lost back-to-back games.

I am hoping that both teams can find a way to get into the win column so that the rest of the season can be a lot more fun for these two schools.

Niles is also the official start of homecoming season. The remaining schools will follow nearly one per week.

Homecoming is always a great time to get out and see a game. Not only do you get to cheer on your favorite school, but you might run into a familiar face or two that has come back to help celebrate homecoming.

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com