GREENFIELD — The heart of the high school football season is upon us.

After each area team played its three independent games, league play kicks off this Friday. In the Intercounty North, Athol travels to Turners to take on Franklin Tech, Greenfield looks to build on the momentum gained after a strong showing against Frontier when it goes on the road to face Ware and Palmer heads to the Woodward Complex to square off with Mahar.

Down in the Intercounty South, Frontier is aiming for its first win of the season when it hosts Commerce on Friday. Lee goes on the road to face Easthampton while Belchertown heads to the Berkshires to face Hoosac Valley.

The Athol-Franklin Tech game is the one to keep an eye on in the Intercounty North.

The Eagles enter the game with a 3-0 record and it hasn’t been particularly close, having outscored their opponents 124-19. Tech will have an angry Bear squad heading over on Friday, however, as Athol looks to show its 42-7 loss to Lee last Friday was an aberration. The two teams are plenty familiar with one another, having practiced against each other this summer.

The tilt on Friday will have a long way to determining the Intercounty North winner. Ware, the winner of the league each of the last three years, is 2-1 so far with a close win over Easthampton (14-12), a loss to Narragansett (41-7) and a win over Drury (28-0) but lost many of its starters from a season ago. While it’s Ware’s to lose until they do, the league crown seems more up for grabs than it has these last few years.

Athol and Tech are two of those teams with the chance to dethrone the champs, and a win on Friday will be critical to doing so.

It’ll also play a big role in trying to reach the state postseason. The Bears and the Eagles both made the MIAA Div. 8 playoffs last fall, but three games into this season and both are sitting on the outside looking in.

The MIAA released its second iteration of its power rankings on Tuesday, with none of the Intercounty North squads in the top 16 (with the top 16 ranked teams making the postseason).

Palmer (3-0) is the highest ranked at No. 23, Mahar (2-1) comes in at No. 27, Athol is ranked No. 30, Franklin Tech is ranked No. 32 and Greenfield sits at No. 45. The rankings are subject to change but don’t expect much of a jump next week as none of the winning teams on Friday will have taken down a high ranked squad.

The rankings aren’t much better in the Intercounty South. In Div. 8, Lee (3-0) would be the lone playoff team if the season ended today as it’s ranked No. 10. Hoosac (2-1) is ranked No. 21 while Frontier (0-3) comes in at No. 48.

In Div. 7, Easthampton (0-3) is ranked No. 33 while Commerce (0-3) is ranked No. 36. In Div. 5, Belchertown (0-3) is ranked No. 36. Based on these initial rankings, it’ll take some strong outings in league play to move up the board and secure a spot in the postseason.

That raised the question: How many western Mass. schools would be in the playoffs if the season ended today?

Springfield Central (2-1) is the top ranked team in Div. 1, Westfield (1-2) is ranked No. 14 in Div. 3, East Longmeadow (2-1) is ranked No. 16 in Div. 4 and aforementioned Lee would be in the Div. 8 field.

Four is a low and surprising number. Springfield Central made it to the quarterfinals last year, Westfield reached the Div. 3 semifinals while Hoosac reached the Div. 8 semifinals, showing that against the best teams in the state in their respective divisions, the western Mass. schools can hold their own.

With a long way to go, here’s to hoping western Mass. schools get the chance to showcase themselves in the playoffs at the end of the season.