By Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

With only nine guaranteed opportunities to play every football game of the season matters.

With district play beginning on Friday for every class but 4A the games start to count this week.

District openers dominate the area schedule in week three as the regular season moves toward being a third of the way done.

Here are five things to watch for during area week three contests featuring area teams.

UNI-Dome Preview

West High plans to play its final game of the season at the UNI-Dome in November for the second straight season.

Before third-ranked West High (2-0) can think about a postseason return to the UNI-Dome and the state semifinals the Trojans face a stiff test on Friday in a regular season indoor meeting with No. 8 Cedar Falls (2-0).

West High edged the Tigers 17-10 last season and went onto a 4A runner-up finish, ending its season at the Dome for the first time since 1999.

In its first return to the UNI-Dome since a 23-10 loss to West Des Moines Dowling in the 4A title game last fall West High faces a Cedar Falls squad that has outscored its first two opponents 120-14.

With only four Eastern Iowa teams currently ranked in the top 10 in Class 4A, Friday’s showdown could shape up as a potential playoff preview.

Little-Cy Hawk Showdown

Who holds the Cy-Hawk trophy won’t be settled until sometime Saturday afternoon but the Little Cy-Hawk trophy will be raised by either City High or Ames on Friday night.

City High (1-1) and Ames (1-1) will battle for the Little-Cy Hawk trophy on the eve of the in-state showdown between Iowa and Iowa State for the fourth time on Friday at Ames Stadium.

Ames holds a 2-1 edge in the series that began in 2014 after winning a 30-27 overtime thriller at Bates Field last season.

The road team has won all three contests with City High winning the only game in Ames 26-10 in 2015.

Three games into the series the key for City High has been slowing the Little Cyclones’ aerial attack.

Ames has averaged better than 258 yards passing its two wins over City High and threw for just 89 yards in its only loss to the Little Hawks.

Back on Track

Two games into the season Regina finds itself in unchartered territory.

Regina started a season with back-to-back losses for the first time since 2002, falling to Class 3A top-four teams Xavier (23-6) and Solon (33-0) in consecutive weeks.

The Regals open district play on Friday at home against Wapello (1-1) in need of a bounce back performance.

Regina put up 48 points and 397 yards of offense against Wapello last season and will look to jump start a running game that is averaging 118 yards per game through two weeks.

More from Moore

Darius Moore impressed in his Clear Creek Amana debut last week snagging eight passes for 108 yards in a loss to Independence.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Sioux City West transfer will try to build on that performance on Friday when Clear Creek Amana (0-2) travels to Dubuque to face Dubuque Wahlert (0-2) at the Rock Bowl.

First-year quarterback Ethan Postler threw for 91 yards in the season opener but the return of Moore helped the Clippers put up 251 yards through the air last week.

Opponents have completed 57 percent of their passes and averaged 161 yards per game against Dubuque Wahlert this season.

Shutdown Spartans

Two games into the season the Solon defense has yet to allow a point.

Class 3A top-ranked Solon (3-0) will attempt to stretch their shutout streak to three straight when they travel to Keokuk (0-2) on Friday.

Solon held Keokuk to 130 total yards in a 42-0 win last season at Spartan Stadium its first of three shutouts on the year.

The Spartans would equal that shutout total on Friday if it holds Keokuk scoreless for the first time this season.

The Chiefs averaged 144 total yards and 10.5 points per game in losses to Central Lee and Chariton.