There's plenty for local football teams to play for when West Yosemite League play begins Friday.

Other than Milk Cans, Dog Bowls, and Rawhides, there's pride, league championships and playoff seeding implications on the line over the next two months.

After three or four games, WYL teams are looking to get out of the gate early in the WYL with victories.

Lemoore will travel to the Neighbor Bowl to face Hanford West while Hanford hits the road to take on Redwood. Defending WYL champion El Diamante will also take on Mt. Whitney while Golden West (0-3) plays in a nonleague matchup against Delano.

Here's a look at games between WYL teams on tap for this week.

Lemoore at Hanford West

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Neighbor Bowl.

Last season: Lemoore defeated Hanford West 38-31.

Hanford West head coach Daryl Beck won't let his Huskies take Lemoore for granted, despite the Tigers' 0-3 record so far.

"They have played three tough opponents and come up short," Beck said. "We have to be prepared for a war this week."

The Tigers had chances late to win two of their first games against Hoover (Fresno) and traditional power Sanger.

Those losses go along with their Week 2 loss at Tulare Union, a team currently with a 23-game winning streak.

The Tigers haven't had much success on the offensive side of the ball, scoring just 34 points through three games.

The defense has kept Lemoore in games until late despite giving up 80 points.

"WYL play brings a fresh start for us," Ball said. "We have a clean slate."

For Hanford West, the Huskies (2-2) opened the season with shutout victories against Granite Hills (56-0) and Mission Oak of Tulare (58-0) before losing two games to better opposition (Delano and Dinuba).

Last season, Hanford West had early success against lower competition, starting the year 3-1.

The Huskies then finished with seven straight losses to go winless in the WYL.

"We started the season strong," Beck said. "We had opportunities to beat a very good Dinuba team and then last week we were embarrassed by a very good Delano team.

"We have to regroup this week and get focused going into the always tough WYL."

Anthony Hicks has helped lead the run game for Hanford West.

Through four games, he's rushed for 372 yards with four touchdowns while averaging 10.9 yards per carry.

Tyrone Truman has added three more touchdowns with 111 yards on 10 carries with Cody Skaggs gaining 174 yards on 32 carries.

This can be the chance for the Huskies to make a splash in the WYL standings and jump from out of the cellar.

It's also a chance for Lemoore to turn around its season.

Hanford at Redwood

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Mineral King Bowl

Last season: Hanford defeated Redwood 41-7.

It's been a tough two weeks for the Hanford Bullpups.

In the second game of the season, the Bullpups traveled to Oakhurst, giving up a lead in the fourth quarter en route to a 42-30 loss to Yosemite.

Last week, Hanford rallied from a 21-3 deficit in the third quarter against Madera to have a chance to tie the game in the final seconds only to lose 24-17.

Hanford head coach Josh Young said he feels his team's best football is ahead of them.

"We've been working really hard to fix the mistakes we've made over the past three week," Young said. "We need to learn how to play at a higher level than we have over the past couple of weeks."

And now, Hanford (1-2) will have to face long-time WYL rivals, Redwood.

The Rangers come in with an 0-3 record, including defeats to Central Section Division I teams Centennial (Bakersfield) and Buchanan (Clovis) as well as out-of-section power Atascadero.

Those teams are a combined 9-1.

Through three games, Rangers quarterback Joaquin Murillo is averaging 186.7 yards per contest, with four touchdowns.

Receiver KC Pearce has 14 catches for 385 yards (128.3 per game) with three touchdowns.

Pearce averages 27.5 yards per catch.

Hanford's Jared Loewen and Dijon Foster have had the most success on the ground.

Loewen led the Bullpups with 223 rushing yards on 47 carries with one touchdown.

Foster had rushed for 201 yards on 26 carries with an average of 7.7 yards per carry.

Brandon Hudgins has caught 14 passes for 159 yards and Brayden Sanchez has caught five for 127 yards, including two touchdowns.

"The game against Redwood is going to be a good one," Young said. "They have played a very tough preseason; their record isn't an indication of how good they are."

El Diamante vs.

Mt. Whitney

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Community Stadium

Last season: El Diamante defeated Mt. Whitney 54-13.

The Miners start defense of their WYL title Friday against the Pioneers.

El Diamante comes in with an 18-game winning streak in the WYL, dating back to Oct. 6, 2006 when Lemoore knocked off the Miners 21-13 in Visalia.

Since then, El Diamante has tallied two WYL titles and two trips to Central Section championship games, winning in 2007 and finishing runner-up to Tulare Union last season to finish the season 11-2.

The Miners are 2-1 in 2009 and are coming of a 41-27 loss to Central (Fresno) last week.

Running back Aaron Sing has rushed for 302 yards and six touchdowns on 57 carries in the Miners' three games.

Quarterback Josh Lorentzen is 44-of-68 for 555 yards. He's thrown four touchdowns and three interceptions.

Mt. Whitney comes in 2-1 after wins at Tulare Western (38-28) and Monache of Porterville (41-40).

Last week, the Pioneers lost to Tulare Union 69-33.

Mt. Whitney quarterback Tanner Mendonca is averaging 277 yards passing per game with 10 touchdowns and two interceptions.

His main targets have been Chris Smith (11 catches, 298 yards, 5 TDs) and Titus Grayson (21 catches, 238 yards, 2 TDs).

(Oct. 1, 2009)