The high school football season begins in earnest Friday with 12 games featuring teams from the Treasure Valley. Saturday, Bishop Kelly debuts its renovated stadium at 1 p.m. with a showdown against Portland's Central Catholic (KGEM 1140 AM).

While 5A teams don't play for another week, Friday's schedule offers football fans a unique opportunity to catch some of the best small schools in action.

If you can't make it out to a game, be sure to check www.IdahoStatesman.com/VarsityExtra or click here every day for the latest high school news and analysis. And beginning next Monday, be sure to vote in our online poll here to choose our Game of the Week. The winner earns a preview in Friday's paper and will be featured in Saturday morning's game coverage.

Also, check this blog every day for news and notes, analysis, polls, links to interesting stories from state media, updates on former Treasure Valley high school stars making an impact elsewhere and much more.

Now, to the Friday's biggest games and the preseason state media poll, which you can find at the bottom of this blog entry.

The marquee 4A game pits Southern Idaho Conference power Mountain Home at home against Jerome at 7 p.m. Mountain Home is chomping at the bit to start the new season after missing out on a trip to the playoffs last year because of a tie-breaker.

Traditional 3A power Weiser will test its mettle on the road against 4A Emmett at 7 p.m. and 3A juggernaut Fruitland takes its show on the road to La Grande, Ore., for an 8 p.m. MDT kickoff (KSRV 1380 AM). If you're willing to make the drive, watching Fruitland is always worth the price of admission.

Nampa Christian, which advanced to the 2A state championship game last season, begins its quest to expand on that success with a 7 p.m. home game against Glenns Ferry. Parma, meanwhile, who is expected to pose the biggest challenge for Nampa Christian in the 2A Western Idaho Conference, hosts Baker City, Ore., at 7 p.m.

In the eight-man classification, 1A Division I power Council travels to Riggins for a 7 p.m. showdown with reigning 1A Division II state champion Salmon River. Also, 1A Division II Garden Valley will face a difficult early test when it visits up-and-coming 1A Division I Rimrock at 7 p.m.

BORAH'S NIELSEN, COLUMBIA'S WATSON WIN CAMEL'S BACK INVITATIONAL

Borah senior Nicole Nielsen, the back-to-back 5A girls state champion at 1,600 and 3,200 meters, got the high school cross country season off to a blazing start with a dominant victory Thursday afternoon at the Camel's Back Invitational.

Nielsen won in 19 minutes, 34.92 seconds, well ahead of Timberline senior and reigning 5A 400 state champion Sara Shields, who finished in 20:33.12.

On the boys side, Columbia senior and reigning 4A 3,200 state champion Barak Watson (16:05.39) pulled away for victory over Boise junior Eric Fitzpatrick (16:16.42), who is the reigning 5A 1,600 and 3,200 champion.

The Boise boys and girls cruised to the team titles. Results are at the bottom of this blog entry.

Be sure to check out our cross country preview in Saturday's paper and don't miss the Jimmy Driscoll Classic at Bishop Kelly on Saturday afternoon. The race will begin in time to finish on the track at halftime of BK's football opener against Central Catholic at 1 p.m.

IDAHO MEDIA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL POLL

Records are followed by points earned in the poll, and first-place votes are in parentheses.

5A
1. Highland 0-0 38 (4)
2. Lake City 0-0 24 (1)
3. Capital 0-0 22 (2)
4. Meridian 0-0 19 (2)
5. Coeur d’Alene 0-0 14 (1)
Others receiving votes: Mountain View 9, Eagle 7, Centennial 7, Vallivue 4, Idaho Falls 4, Lewiston 1, Post Falls 1.

4A
1. Blackfoot 1-0 37 (5)
2. Pocatello 0-0 31 (2)
3. Nampa 0-0 27 (2)
4. Minico 0-0 17 (1)
5. Bishop Kelly 0-0 14
Others receiving votes: Lakeland 8, Preston 7, Mountain Home 4, Bonneville 3, Jerome 1, Kuna 1.

3A
1. Shelley 0-0 48 (8)
2. Fruitland 0-0 42 (2)
3. Snake River 0-0 13
4. Timberlake 0-0 10
4. Kimberly 0-0 10
Others receiving votes: Weiser 9, Kellogg 8, American Falls 3, Bear Lake 3, Buhl 2, Sugar-Salem 2

2A
1. West Jefferson 0-0 44 (5)
2. Nampa Christian 0-0 33 (2)
3. Aberdeen 0-0 16 (2)
4. Firth 0-0 16
5. Soda Springs 0-0 12
Others receiving votes: Parma 12 (1), Kamiah 5, Declo 4, Grangeville 4, Malad 4.

1A Division I
1. Oakley 0-0 44 (8)
2. Troy 0-0 32 (1)
3. Council 0-0 26
4. Kendrick 0-0 16
5. Prairie 0-0 7
Others receiving votes: Hagerman 6, Genesee 5 (1), Rimrock 3, Deary 2, Raft River 2, Wallace 1, Challis 1.

1A Division II
1. Carey 0-0 40 (4)
2. Salmon River 0-0 37 (4)
3. Kootenai 0-0 25 (2)
4. Mackay 0-0 16
5. Dietrich 0-0 15
Others receiving votes: Garden Valley 12, Clark Fork 4, Richfield 1.

Poll members
Mark Nelke, Coeur d’Alene Press
Jesse Zentz, Idaho Statesman (Boise)
Bradley Guire, Times-News (Twin Falls)
Greg Lee, Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)
Will Love, Idaho Press Tribune (Nampa)
Dan Thompson, Idaho State Journal (Pocatello)
Ryan Collingwood, Morning News (Blackfoot)
Mark Jones, Standard Journal (Rexburg)
Paul Kingsbury, IdahoSports.com
Michael Lycklama, Post-Register (Idaho Falls)

CAMEL'S BACK INVITATIONAL RESULTS

Teams — 1. Boise 45, 2. Vallivue 58, 3. Kuna 88, 4. Timberline 93, 5. Borah 131, 6. Skyview 133, 7. Columbia 163, 8. Nampa 236.

Individuals — 1, Nicole Nielsen, Borah, 19:34.92. 2, Sara Shields, Timberline, 20:33.12. 3, Kate Jamboretz, Boise, 20:52.18. 4, Jordan Powell, Columbia, 21:04.36. 5, Elynn Smith, Vallivue, 21:28.24. 6, Caley Featherstone, Boise, 21:40.99. 7, Jacrei Echevarria, Kuna, 21:59.01. 8, Tenaly Smith, Vallivue, 22:00.49. 9, Hailey Bradshaw, Kuna, 22:15.73. 10, Kara Soucek, McCall Donnelly, 22:22.29.

Boys

Teams — 1. Boise 26, 2. Columbia 73, 3. Vallivue 82, 4. Kuna 101, 5. Skyview 114, 6. Timberline 122, 7. Nampa 169.

Individuals — 1, Barak Watson, Columbia, 16:05.39. 2, Eric Fitzpatrick, Boise, 16:16.42. 3, Max Hardy, Boise, 16:35.77. 4, Greg Montgomery, Boise, 16:37.39. 5, Lars Lunstrum, Columbia, 16:46.58. 6, John Robinson, Vallivue, 17:15.41. 7, Zach Burney, Columbia, 17:57.13. 8, Christian Kincaid, Boise, 18:08.87. 9, Kenton Freemuth, Boise, 18:17.00. 10, Kyle Shreeve, Kuna, 18:23.19.