As we near the halfway mark of the season, the football scene in the San Fernando Valley is red-hot. The West Valley is in the spotlight this week, with a few intriguing matchups that should set teams up for big second-half expectations. The Game of the Week is a Valley Mission matchup that could shake up everything we think will happen in 2026 for the defending Valley Mission champs. Here are the intriguing matchups happening around the Valley that you won’t want to miss this Friday night:

La Salle Lancers (3-1) at #13 Taft Toreadors – 7 pm, Taft High School

The Toreadors are off to a promising start this season. Coming off a blowout road win at Channel Islands, they will look to put up consecutive victories over southern section opponents when the Lancers visit. The Toreadors shook off a slow start to defeat the Raiders last week. They’ll need to play better if they want to beat a tough La Salle team looking to keep its momentum after a 41-0 blowout win over St. Gens last week. The key to this game will be whether the Taft front seven can contain La Salle’s biggest weapon, running back Denzel Carter, who is averaging 151 yards per game on the ground and has 10 total touchdowns on the year.

#10 Chatsworth Chancellors (2-1) at Sylmar Spartans (1-2) – 7 pm, Sylmar High School

The Chancellors put a second-half beating on Arleta last week and will hit the road to take on a Sylmar squad looking to rebound from a close setback at Poly. The Spartans have played well defensively in their last two games against Poly and Arroyo, but the task gets tougher against a rugged Chatsworth offensive line that ground up Arleta’s defense with a rushing attack that put up 294 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Fairfax Lions (2-2) at #17 Granada Hills Highlanders (2-2) – 7 pm, Granada Hills High School

An interesting city matchup takes place Friday night in Granada Hills between the Lions and Highlanders. This game is a rematch of last season’s non-league matchup, which Granada won 35-25. This game almost serves as a Division I playoff eliminator for the loser, even though the Highlanders could still find themselves in that bracket because of the tough second-half league schedule. More importantly, a third loss also puts you in a precarious position if you hope to host playoff games in the postseason. This game will be decided by the GHC front seven, who will have their hands full trying to stop Fairfax’s senior running back Tru Warrior Casas, who has 951 yards rushing through the Lions’ first four games.

#11 Birmingham Patriots (0-3) at Burbank Bulldogs (2-2) – 7 pm, Burbank High School

The Patriots have yet to put up a victory this season, but we all know their schedule is tougher than anyone else’s outside the Marine League programs in the city section. This week will be no different when the Pats hit the road to take on Burbank. Birmingham has an excellent chance to win here, given that we have seen the Patriots steadily improve week over week. If the Patriots can go on the road and handle business, it could signal a team begining to do what we have come to expect for the better part of the last decade: rounding into shape just in time to defend their crown in the West Valley as reigning champions.

VST Game of the Week

#7 Kennedy Cougars (4-0) at Van Nuys Wolves (3-1) – 7 pm, Van Nuys High School

Coming into the season, the conversation at VST was whether any Valley Mission teams were ready to contend with Troy Cassidy’s rugged bunch. One team that seemed earmarked to take on the challenge was the Van Nuys Wolves. Despite graduating a lot of talent from a program that won 18 regular-season games over the last two years, it still felt like the remaining talent was good enough to compete for a league title. They’ve struggled at times, especially with injuries to key players, but the Wolves have remained more than competent. Does that mean they are ready to take on a monumental task with how well Kennedy is playing? We shall see. I think this one might be more competitive than we think.