The Catholic Conference season begins Friday night and one couldn’t ask for a better opener than No. 3 Xaverian at No. 2 Catholic Memorial.

These two state powers have staged many epic battles over the past few years and last year was one of those classics. Xaverian had just taken a 38-35 lead with 56 seconds left only to watch the Knights march down the field and win the game 41-38 when Lasean Sharp threw a halfback option TD pass to Michael Hegarty with no time left on the clock.

“This has turned into the Xaverian-Everett rivalry,” said Catholic Memorial coach John DiBiaso, who spent 25 years as head coach at Everett before coming to CM in 2018. “The schools are close in location, the games are always competitive and it always has title implications. These games have been great for the fans.”

Xaverian coach Al Fornaro echoes many of DiBiaso’s sentiments when it comes to talking about Catholic Memorial.

“The only thing we can control is winning the Catholic Conference title and this is a game we have to win to do that,” Fornaro said. “I drove it one day and the schools are three miles apart give or take a tenth of a mile or so. Many of these young men know each other from the different offseason camps and programs.”

Catholic Memorial (3-1) is clicking on all cylinders offensively, having surpassed the 50-point mark in back-to-back wins over Leominster (56-28) and New Bedford (51-0). Transfer Kise Flannery has stepped right in at quarterback and he’s been blessed with a slew of talented running backs, wide receivers and a big offensive line.

“Kise won the respect of the kids right away,” DiBiaso said. “He is a dual threat, he can run the ball and throw the ball. We had a good quarterback last year (Peter Bourque, who transferred to Tabor) and we are fortunate to have a good one this year as well.”

Xaverian (3-1) rebounded nicely from a loss at Springfield Central with a solid 28-20 win over Central Catholic. Vincent Busa has stepped in at running back and filled a much-needed void, while sophomore quarterback Will Wood has given the Hawks quality play. How effective Xaverian is at moving the sticks could very well dictate the outcome.

“We have to play the old keepaway game,” Fornaro said. “We certainly have to limit the amount of times they have the ball because they have a lot of big-plays guys over there. The armory is certainly stacked over there.”

Catholic Memorial-Xaverian isn’t the only big game in the Catholic Conference on Friday. Upstart Malden Catholic gets a chance to see how far it’s come when they host undefeated BC High.

There are plenty of key league matchups going on, the top ones being Scituate at Hanover, Tewksbury at Billerica, Latin Academy at Tech Boston and Triton at Lynnfield. A nice nonleague battle pits West Bridgewater at Fairhaven.

The ISL has a nice trio of games on tap for Friday afternoon led by Belmont Hill at BB&N. Undefeated Tabor hosts a talented St. Sebastian’s squad and Milton Academy visits Governor’s Academy.

The second annual Salute to Service football game will take place at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy Friday night as North Quincy hosts Pembroke. This event recognizes members of North Quincy High School from past, present, and future military service.

The pre-game ceremony will showcase custom-made game jerseys bearing the names of the North Quincy alumni who were lost in various wars and members who were captured and kept as POWs. Additionally, there will be a presentation of the game ball by the members of Rolling Thunder, an organization that represents the 83,000 missing military members.

Saturday’s limited high school schedule (four games) is headlined by Catholic Conference power and top-ranked St. John’s Prep visiting St. John’s (Shrewsbury) for a noon kickoff. Fresh off its first win of the season, Brockton seeks to make it two straight against MVC competition when Andover pays a visit.