It’s that time of year again.

Halloween tends to draw out vampires, ghosts and zombies, but that’s nothing to be afraid of compared to some of the Butler County area football teams participating in the WPIAL playoffs on Friday.

Seneca Valley (8-1) is in the midst of it’s most successful campaign in recent memory and the Raiders have the tools to make this postseason an unforgettable one.

Jordan Brown, the school’s all-time leading passer, is enough to make opposing coaches shudder. The versatile Jon Dorogy is a threat to pick up big chunks of yardage on any given play — whether it be as a rusher or receiver — and tight end R.J. McCauley provides a red-zone target many quarterbacks can only dream of.

Oh yeah, there’s also Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy champion Forrest Barnes to keep in mind. Defensive coordinators might as well call it the Nightmare at NexTier Stadium.

The Raiders are far from the only area team to strike fear in their opponents, though.

Mars (8-1) has proven difficult to beat and the Planets have as good a chance as any to make a run to Heinz Field for the district championship.

The defense is stout and the offense has the ability to pound would-be tacklers into submission.

Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the Planets, though, is to think running back Josh Schultheis is just a sophomore and guys like quarterback Owen Nearhoof and running back Jason Lozzi will be back next year, too. … Yikes.

Knoch (7-2) has been the only team to find a way to defeat the Planets, and did so in impressive fashion with a 21-0 victory in Week 7. With memories of last year’s run to Heinz Field still fresh, the Knights are a terrifying matchup for a higher seed who earned the right to play a conference’s fourth-place team.

Led by seniors Ben Tackett, Mike Cunningham and Dakota Bruggeman with plenty of postseason experience, I expect Knoch to be like the bad guy in a horror film — hard to kill.

The senior leadership of Freeport (7-2) could make the Yellowjackets a tough out in the playoffs, as well.

Do-everything quarterback Brendan Lynch can go the distance at any moment and running back Mike Teorsky supplies a another legitimate home-run threat to the outside.

Beaver Falls is a tough draw in the first round and Hurricane Sandy might flood the ’Jackets out of home-field advantage, so this game should be a true trick-or-treat scenario for fans on both sides of the field.

The last time Butler (4-5) made the playoffs, its current seniors were mere preschoolers. ... Talk about a rise from the dead.

The Tornado have already exceeded the expectations of most, but that doesn’t mean Butler will go away quietly against a strong Mt. Lebanon team.

Butler boasts a sturdy defense, which could keep the Tornado in striking distance and a team playing with nothing to lose can ignite fear in any favorite.

Butler makes five out of six teams in the area to make the WPIAL playoffs. Nine of 11 are postseason bound when including squads from District 9 and 10.

Regardless of how the Tornado fare on Friday, one thing is for certain: The quality of football around here is just plain scary.