Greg Botta doesn't expect to see too many empty seats around Franklin Regional's Panthers Stadium Friday night.

The Franklin Regional and Plum football programs open the first week of high school football season by continuing a longtime rivalry. The non-conference contest is slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

"Oh, this is a big rivalry," said Botta, who enters his 17th season as coach. "It's a cordial rivalry, but you know it's going to be an intense game.

"This is an intense rivalry that has gone on long before I arrived here. For these kids, this is a rivalry that started [as youth league players]. The fans all know it's a big game and it's going to be a great night."

Before Franklin Regional dropped to Class AAA, the two teams were Class AAAA foes in the Quad South and Quad East conferences. The Panthers, who have won five of the past seven meetings, captured last season's contest, 33-20. Plum's last victory over Franklin Regional came in 2007, a 6-3 win.

"We watched their scrimmages against Upper St. Clair and Knoch, and they seemed to do very well against those teams," Mustangs coach Frank Sacco said. "I know they lost a lot of seniors last year, but from reading the newspapers they're expected to finish second in their section. If that's the case, and they're in a good section, then we expect a tough game."

Plum qualified for the WPIAL playoffs last season following a 2-3 run in the Big East Conference and finished the year 3-7.

"Obviously, we want to get the win but we also want to keep getting better," said Sacco, who enters his second year as head coach. "As a program, we want to keep moving in a positive direction. We made the playoffs last year and we want to keep pushing toward that direction."

Franklin Regional lost in the second round of the Class AAA playoffs and finished 8-3 after a 4-1 run in the Greater Allegheny Conference.

"We still don't know about this team yet," Botta said. "I think we did well in our scrimmage against Upper St. Clair. Our defense did well most of the time, but we're still looking to improve on offense.

"I kind of wish we still had another week [to prepare]. Our offensive line is still working things out with some new guys."

Botta is eager to see how well the Panthers' offense performs with first-year starting quarterback Chris Little, a 5-foot-9, 165-pound senior, as well as newcomer Dane Brown, a 5-7, 175-pound sophomore tailback.

"I also want to see the progress of our offensive line and our defense," Botta said. "We have a brand new defense and our defensive coordinator, Rich Johns, has been doing a good job getting our defense ready."

Sacco also is ready to see how his key offensive starters respond to the start of the regular season.

"[Wide receiver] Ryan Garrity has had a tremendous camp and I'm looking forward to seeing him this week," Sacco said. "[Quarterback] Chris Zdinak keeps improving and competed about 70 percent of his passes in the scrimmages. We're going to be putting more on his shoulders this year.

"Then you have Demetrius Wellington, who has a lot of talent, and is going to handle more of the load offensively at tailback. He's had some really nice runs so far."

Still, both coaches understand the importance of starting the season in the right direction.

"You work hard [during the summer] to come out and start the year on the right foot," Sacco said. "If you come out on the other end of the stick, you know you have eight or nine more games to go and can work on what you need for those games."

Botta agrees but also believes the non-conference games are only tune-up tests in preparation for conference play, which begins in Week Three for both teams.

"Starting off with a win and getting your momentum is a big plus," Botta said. "You want to win because of the rivalry, but you also want to focus on getting ready for that first conference game.

"You want to see that improvement over the first couple of weeks because it's those conference games that are so important."

• Who: Plum at Franklin Regional.

• When: 7 p.m. Friday.

• Where: Panthers Stadium, Murrysville.

• The skinny: Non-conference game is between two long-time eastern suburb rivals.

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