JEFFERSON TWP — Welcome to the Land of the Unknown.

Blackhawk and Knoch will both be learning on the fly when their football teams meet for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Knoch Stadium.

The Class 4A programs are new members of the Northwest Nine. They haven't played each other since 2009.

“Playing an opener against a team you haven't seen does make it tough,” Knoch coach Mike King said. “We saw them in a scrimmage, but they didn't run any special teams.

“We have to be ready for just about anything Friday night.”

Both teams are coming off rough seasons. Knoch was 3-6 in 2015 while Blackhawk was 1-8 under first-year coach Joe Lamenza, who replaced the legendary Joe Hamilton at the helm of the Cougars.

Lamenza had been head coach at Mohawk for four years and previously served as an assistant coach at Beaver and Robert Morris University.

“Nobody coaches forever,” Lamenza said. “Somebody had to be the next guy after Coach Hamilton and I'm honored to be the guy to do that.

“The program had been down the past couple of years. I knew what I was walking into.”

Lamenza is counting on the versatile talent of senior quarterback Mike Savalisky to help bring the Cougars out of the doldrums.

“Mike had a good off-season and he's matured as a quarterback,” Lamenza said. “He showed a lot of savvy in our scrimmages.”

Standing only 5-foot-7 and weighing 130 pounds, Savalisky threw for 733 yards and four touchdowns last year. Blackhawk's top returning receiver, tight end Alex Desmond, is moving to running back.

“Alex is one of those kids who can do a lot of things,” Lamenza said. “We'll shift him around depending on our opponent and what we're doing in a particular game.”

While Blackhawk — which returns seven starters on both sides of the ball — scrimmaged Aliquippa and Seneca Valley, Knoch is coming off a solid scrimmage against Butler.

Quarterback Mac Christy has developed connections with receiver Dylan Plutyk and tight end Zac Boldy. Jayden Renfrew has become an all-purpose back.

“I like the way our offense is coming together,” King said. “After three solid weeks of practice, our kids are anxious to play. We need to perform well in critical situations.

“Mark Kroneberg is anchoring our line at defensive end and Mac Christy has been doing a good job at linebacker.”

King is expecting a good game Friday because “line play is the strength of both teams.”

Lamenza agreed.

“I think we'll be a little smaller than them up front,” the Blackhawk coach said. “That will be the challenge. Most games are won or lost at the line of scrimmage anyway.

“Knoch has physical athletes who come at you. We're going to have our hands full.”

King isn't expecting a walk in the park himself come Friday.

“Blackhawk likes to spread the field on you and do a lot of different things,” he said. “Like I said, we don't know much about them. We haven't seen them.

“We need to play a disciplined game and adjust as we need to.”

Blackhawk has won three of the four games played between the schools: 35-7 in 2009, 37-13 in 2008 and 20-0 in the 1992 WPIAL Class AA championship game. Knoch's lone win in the series was 21-7 in 1990.