LAKEVILLE - It's a football night in Lakeville! LaVille is off to a 2-0 start and returns to Hoosier North Athletic Conference play with a rivalry game against Pioneer. The Panthers come into week three with a 2-0 overall record and are in a three-way tie for second with LaVille and Knox at 1-0 in the HNAC Standings.  North Judson-San Pierre leads the conference with a 2-0 record. "The week of practice has gone really well up to this point.," Lancer coach Jeff Kaiser said as his team prepared for Pioneer.  "Guys have been physical and aggressive on both sides of the ball. Defensively I was impressed with how we were able to contain #2 and keep him from taking over the game. Offensively we were able to find success when we needed it and made the big play (against Triton)." The HNAC grind continues with LHS in the second consecutive week of five straight against conference opposition."The HNAC is going to be extremely competitive week in and week out as always," explained Kaiser.  "Keys to beat the Panthers this week are that we must play physical and get after them early and often.  We must play with an edge and expose their youth." NOTING: The Lancers – are coming off a 22-16 victory over Class 1A #11 Triton in the home-opener . . . were led in rushing by junior Cody Allen with 140 yards and three rushing touchdowns against Triton  . . . moved up a spot in the Associated Press Weekly Football Poll to #8 following the 2-0 start . . . have won 12 consecutive regular season games dating back to Oct. 15, 2021 in a win over HNAC foe Culver Community, which continues to be among the state leaders for consecutive regular season victories . . . are led in rushing by Allen with 310 yards and five touchdowns . . . are led in passing by senior Lucas Plummer's 6-of-12 for 92 yards, 0 TDs, 0 Ints . . . are led in receiving by senior Michael Good, senior Jonah Skiles, and junior Collin Czarnecki . . . have several players at the top of the defense - sophomore Braedyn Foster, senior Jonathan Neese, Good, and sophomore Xzavian Lafave . . .  trail the series 8-2 v. Pioneer . . . lost seven straight in the series with the Panthers, but have won the last two games . . . last defeated Pioneer at Lancer Field, 41-0, in the IHSAA Sectional Championship on November 5, 2021. The Panthers - are coming off a 38-0 victory over HNAC rival Winamac . . . compiled 359 yards rushing and six touchdowns on the ground v. the Warriors . . . were led by senior Rylahn Tolozo and sophomore Micah Rans against Winamac . . . running back Tolozo bounced around for 171 rushing yards and two touchdowns . . . quarterback Rans found his running legs, sprinting for 103 yards on five carries and three TDs . . . Tolozo leads the running game with 339 yards, four touchdowns, and has started the 2023 season off with back-to-back 100+ games . . . have a trio of sophomores that lead the defense - Eli Guffey, Juan Solano, and Noah VanMeter - and are always around the ball . . . are 5-1 in games played at Lancer Field . . . head coach Adam Berry is 7-2 in games played against LaVille since the 2016 season.  QUOTING:  "Pioneer offensively brings a very strong running game that has many options that allow for multiple guys to touch the ball.  Key Players we need to stop are FB #15 Rylahn Toloza who is averaging 169 yards a game and the QB #2 Micah Rans who just came off a 105 yard rushing performance last week. They have scored 60 points the last 5 quarters so we must slow them down!Defensively Pioneer is very aggressive and flies around wanting to disrupt things at the line of scrimmage.  I have been impressed with #3 Eli Guffy at his OLB spot and #17 Tyler Zellers from the MLB spot. Pioneer sits at 2-0 like us and believes what they are doing.  Being a very young team they sure don't show it on film. We must play disciplined football for 48 minutes and defend our turf." – Jeff Kaiser, LaVille head football coach G A M E D A Y WHO: 1A #11 Pioneer (2-0) at 2A #8 LaVille (2-0) WHERE: Lancer Field, Lakeville, IN. WHEN: Friday, September 1, 2023 TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET COACHES: Adam Berry (77-16 in eighth season at Pioneer); Jeff Kaiser (2-0 in first season at LaVille) LAST OUTING: Pioneer defeated Winamac, 38-0. LaVille defeated Triton 22-16 ALL-TIME SERIES: Pioneer leads LaVille, 8-2 LAST MEETING: LaVille def. Pioneer, 47-8, Sept. 2, 2022. BROADCAST/LIVE STREAM: The LaVille game can be viewed and heard on LVH1/IHSAA Champions Network - https://www.ihsaatv.org/LHSLancers/?B=587148. Keep up to date during the game via Twitter @LVAthletics and continue to follow all things LaVille athletics, at www.lavillelancers.com Gameday Preview Provided by Scot Shearer