High school football Friday night will once again be played under threat of rain.

The Watauga Pioneers will be playing their last regular season game at Jack Groce Stadium, as next year they'll be at the new high school. Its also senior night for the Pioneers. Watauga welcomes Hickory for a game that will decide third place in the Northwestern Conference. Both teams bring identical records into the contest: 5-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play and both will have one more game after this one. Watauga needs to win both games to finish third in the conference and get the No. 3 seed in the 4-A playoffs.

The Avery Vikings are at home Friday night, also senior night for the Vikings, hosting Mountain Heritage. The Cougars are 7-2 overall, 4-1 in Western Highlands conference play, while the Vikings come in at 4-5 overall, 2-3 in the league. Avery has come out on the short end of their last three games and would love to pull an upset at McDonald Stadium, with Alex Villanueva leading one of the region's top passing attacks. Villanueva is second in the Western Region at almost 1500 yards passing and 16 touchdowns this season. The Cougars only losses on the season are to conference foe Hendersonville, and non-conference opponent Asheville Erwin.

The Ashe Huskies are on the road to Yadkin County to take on the Forbush Falcons, after a short week. The Huskies just played Monday night after their game with Wilkes Central was postponed by the rain. The Huskies won that contest, taking out the Eagles 14-7, and bring a 4-5 overall record and a 3-3 conference mark into the game. Forbush has struggled all season. Their only win was the opening game of the season over North Surry, since then they've dropped seven in a row.