It will be the night before Halloween and all the through the city, a special rivalry playoff game should generate all sorts of electricity.

That might be some corny poetry, but there is no better way to describe what should be a treat of a football game the night before mass trick or treating takes place on Halloween.

Walled Lake Northern and Walled Lake Western played a dandy of a game during the regular season in Week 6, and more could be in store when the teams have a rematch in a first-round Division 2 state playoff game at 7 p.m. on Friday at Western.

The rivalry rematch was voted this week’s “Game of the Week” on MIPrepZone.com/Oakland, generating 6,707 votes to outlast Friday’s game between Novi and West Bloomfield, which had 5,570 votes.

“No matter who you play in the playoffs, they are almost always competitive games,” said veteran Western head coach Mike Zdebski, who can qualify as an expert on that subject given he has won two state titles as head coach and coached in countless big playoff games.

The first meeting on Oct. 2 was a classic, with Western prevailing by a score of 34-31 thanks to a 35-yard field goal in the final minute by John Camilleri.

It looked for the longest time that it wouldn’t come down to such a dramatic ending since Western jumped out to a 31-10 lead in the third quarter.

But Northern roared back, scoring three consecutive touchdowns and tying the game at 31-31 with 6:51 remaining.

Despite that surge by Northern and how it likely gave the Knights added belief that they can knock off Western, Zdebski said he’s more worried how well his team corrects mistakes from that game.

“We are just more focused on the things we did incorrectly and taking care of those things,” Zdebski said. “If we just take care of what we need to do then we are a pretty good team.”

Western enters 9-0 and other than a season-opening win at Lowell (42-0) and the game against Northern, the Warriors have won all their games by double-digits.

The Warriors have a prolific offense led by senior quarterback Kyle Thomas that has produced an average of 42.8 points a game this season.

Scoring is also usually never an issue for Northern, which is averaging 34.8 points a contest and has a pair of explosive backfield players in A.J. Chuchla and Miller Carlock.

Northern (6-3) enters with some momentum as well, having won at Traverse City West in its regular-season finale to clinch an automatic spot in the playoffs and earn a rematch against a city rival it nearly beat earlier this season.

This is Northern’s third playoff appearance in four years after not previously making the playoffs in its history since the program was formed in 2003.

The winner will advance to meet the winner between Farmington Hills Harrison and Birmingham Groves in a district final next week.

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