Irwin County's Will Stephens (10) eyes a receiver in a 2016 game. The Indians will kick off the regular season at home Friday against Berrien.

TIFTON — Irwin County is where they need to be, according to head coach Buddy Nobles.

“I was hoping we’d be where we’re at,” he said.

The regular season starts this week for Georgia High School Association teams and the Indians will do their part by hosting Berrien Friday night in a 7:30 p.m. game.

The Indians will have to crack a visiting Berrien team that perked ears two weeks ago in a 34-0 scrimmage victory over Valwood.

Valwood, a Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) powerhouse, played in the Class AAA semifinals — the league’s largest classification. The Valiants have been in the semifinals or deeper in six out of the last seven GISA seasons, with two state titles.

“We’ll have to see what’s going on,” said Nobles.

Berrien is expected to line up two quarterbacks, Monteo Brooks and Tucker Karvonen. Nobles described both halves of the duo as being “active.”

Brooks had 107 rushing yards and two touchdowns against Valwood, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

Nobles has also heard numbers are up in Nashville under second-year head coach Bill Cribb.

Despite fears, Irwin has seemed to have Berrien’s number in recent years. The Indians have won the last three years, including last year’s game by a 42-7 score. They lead the overall series, 29-15, which dates back to 1954 when Berrien High opened its doors.

Berrien has not played in two weeks, having earned just one scrimmage. By virtue of not playing spring football, the Indians had two warm-up contests.

Irwin split its scrimmage games. The Indians took a 21-0 victory over Pierce County, but admittedly struggled against Monroe. The score overall ended in Irwin’s favor, 19-14, but in the varsity portion of the contest, Monroe was on top, 14-13.

“A lot of mental mistakes on offense,” said Nobles. “We have to shore some things up.”

Though disappointed at times with his own team’s play, Nobles was quick to compliment Monroe.

“Monroe should be a playoff team,” he said.

In both scrimmages, Nobles was impressed with his B-team.

“Very impressed with our junior varsity team,” he said. “The JVs played well both times.”

Against Pierce, D.J. Lundy led the team’s rushers with 52 yards on 11 carries with a single touchdown. Quarterback Will Stephens completed 9-of-14 attempts for 116 yards and two scores, one to Steven Thomas and another to Marlon Jackson.

Irwin will face another of its neighbors next week; they will host Fitzgerald in one of the state’s hottest rivalry games. Berrien will also go the neighborly route, welcoming Lanier County to Raymond Jones Memorial Stadium.