This isn't your father's District 10.

Heck, it isn't even your older brother's.

In the off-season, District 10 restructured. Gone are leagues and in are regions. Perhaps no football team benefited more from the overhaul than Fairview, Slippery Rock High School's opponent in the season opener at 7 p.m. Friday at Slippery Rock.

Always a borderline Class A school, the Tigers often had to play a schedule full of teams bigger than they were. This year, they get to pick on teams their own size.

"We're finally play teams our size," said Fairview coach Jerry Lightner. "We've always been one or two kids over. This is the first year we will play single-A teams."

But Lightner still wanted to keep a tough schedule. Enter Slippery Rock.

The Rockets advanced to the PIAA Western Final last year and are still Class AA in Region 3 of District 10.

Several key players are gone from that team. But several key players also return.

Lightner knows very little about Slippery Rock, only that the Rockets will be a great early test."We have a lot of question marks," the coach said. "But one question mark we don't have is Slippery Rock. They are a very, very good football team."Fairview only has 24 players on its roster, but those 24 are key contributors.Back is 1,000-yard rusher Myles Wayne, who blends size, speed and evasiveness to become a very lethal ball carrier.Also back is junior quarterback Kevin Stephenson, who split time with his brother last season behind center. Main receiving threat Chad Baccus, who was also the Tigers' third leading rusher, also returns to an offense that can be powerful or finesse.All that worries Slippery Rock coach Clyde Conti, who is still trying to iron out some kinks in his defense."What I've seen right now of them - anyone who wants to beat that team in Class A better be good," Conti said. "I wouldn't be surprised if Fairview eventually meets (Clarion-Limestone in the playoffs)."Conti is particularly wary of Wayne."That tailback will be one of the best, if not the best, back we'll see all year," Conti said.That's not good, because Conti is still very concerned about his defense."You better be able to play defense in a team sport," Conti said. "If you don't, you're going to be in trouble. We're still having some breakdowns and some sloppy tackling."Conti is also concerned about time. His team had precious little time in camp - only one full week of two-a-day practices."Everyone's been beating drums for us," Conti said. "We're going to start seven underclassmen. We're a young team, and they are a veteran team coming in."The polls are also beating Slippery Rock's drum. The Rockets are ranked 10th in the first Pennsylvania high school football rankings in Class AA.Both coaches, however, realize in the grand scheme of things, the game means very little when it comes to determining playoff berths.That still doesn't mean it is a throwaway game."We want to go down there and win," Lightner said. "We have nothing to lose."