After nearly a couple weeks of practice, area high school football teams will get to see how far they’ve progressed this Friday as schools hit the field for their first scrimmages.

Over at Little Cypress-Mauriceville, the Battlin’ Bears will be seeking their third straight playoff appearance after going 5-6 last season and a solid 4-2 in District 10-4A Division I to snare the third-place playoff spot.

The Bears, led by coach Randy Crouch, will be looking to net the school’s first playoff win since 1997.

The Bears return five starters on offense and five on defense as they look to battle Jasper, Huffman, Bridge City, Cleveland, Splendora and Silsbee for the 10-4A title.

The Bears’ first scrimmage will be at Port Neches-Groves Friday and they will then host Orangefield Aug. 20.

LC-M will open its 2015 campaign on the road at West Orange-Stark Aug. 28 and will start District 10-4A Division I play Sept. 25 at home against Silsbee.

The West Orange-Stark Mustangs will look to continue their momentum for coach Cornel Thompson after reaching the pinnacle last year — the Class 4A Division II State Championship Game.

The Mustangs finished 13-3 last year and won yet another crown by claiming the District 9-4A Division II title.

WO-S has made the playoffs the last 11 years and have won 10 out of the last 11 district titles.

The Mustangs will be looking for some young athletes to step up this year with just one returning starter on offense and four on defense.

The Mustangs will host Nederland in their first scrimmage Friday and will visit Vidor Aug. 20.

WO-S will open their season at home Aug. 28 against LC-M and will start 9-4A Division II play Oct. 9 with a road trip to Liberty.

The Bridge City Cardinals should be fired up as first-year head coach and Cardinal alum Dwayne DuBois takes over the program after leading Hardin-Jefferson to a 19-7 record and a trip to the third round of the playoffs the last two years.

The Cardinals, who made the playoffs four straight years (2009-2012), have went 4-16 overall and 2-10 in district action the last two seasons.

DuBois inherits a young team but one that got valuable experience last year as the Cardinals played a ton of sophomores and juniors a year ago.

The Cardinals have a scrimmage set for Friday at Buna. The Cardinals are looking to get into a scrimmage Aug. 20 as well.

The Cardinals will open the season Aug. 28 at Kirbyville and will start District 10-4A Division I play Sept. 25 at home against Cleveland.

The Orangefield Bobcats will look to continue their rise.

The Bobcats will be seeking their third straight playoff appearance. Orangefield picked up its first playoff win since 2003 last season when the Bobcats defeated Houston Kashmere in the bidistrict round.

Coach Josh Smalley will welcome back four offensive starters and five defensive starters back from last year’s 7-5 competitive squad.

The Bobcats will play host to Vidor in a scrimmage Friday and will scrimmage at LC-M on Aug. 20.

The Bobcats will open the season at home Aug. 28 at home against Buna and will crank up District 9-4A Division II action Oct. 9 by hosting Hardin-Jefferson.

The Vidor Pirates will be itching to get back into the postseason again.

The Pirates made the playoffs three out of four years from 2009-2012 but could not punch their ticket the last two years, going a combined 7-13 overall and 4-10 in 22-5A play.

Vidor will travel to Orangefield for a scrimmage Friday and will host WO-S in a scrimmage Aug. 20.

The Pirates will open their season Aug. 28 at home against Panama City (Fla.) Bay City and will start District 22-5A action Sept. 25 at Nederland