With six teams being eliminated last weekend during the start of the NJSIAA playoffs, only two local schools remain in the hunt for state championships. Both will be in action Friday night. Hopewell Valley continues its run in South Jersey Group III when it hosts a sectional semifinal game, while Notre Dame begins play in Non-Public B South when it welcomes St. John Vianney for a first-round game. Here is a closer look at each matchup. 4-Seneca (7-3) at 1-Hopewell Valley (10-0), South Group III, semifinal, 6 p.m. Hopewell looks to advance to the sectional final for the second title in three years. The Bulldogs can become the first 11-game winner in school history (10 has been done twice previously). The last Mercer County school to accomplish that feat was Nottingham in 2012. To achieve that, Hopewell must beat an opponent for the second time this season for the second straight week. The Bulldogs got past eighth-seeded Nottingham in the first round, 45-14, after previously beating the Northstars on Sept. 20. They also defeated Seneca during the regular season on Oct. 4, 35-12. That was another game where Hopewell pulled away in the second half from what was a one-score game at halftime. Milan Desai passed for 212 yards with one passing and one rushing touchdown, while Ben DeCore rushed for 189 yards and two touchdowns. The Bulldogs also played well on defense with three sacks as a team and an interception by Cooper Briehler. The biggest difference for Hopewell’s offense is it no longer has standout wide receiver Justin Klotz, who caught a touchdown in that game. Desai’s three 200-plus-yard passing games came before Klotz left the team in early October, so it’s fair to wonder if the loss of the 6-foot-3 weapon comes back to bite Hopewell at some point in the playoffs. Still, Hopewell has had other players step up and continues to feature a balanced attack with Gavin Lewis leading a strong offensive line. DeCore, Dylan Yasher, Johnny Ellis, Lucas Hemmer, Owen Lengle and Luke Caldwell all had at least one catch in the first-round win over Nottingham. Seneca, meanwhile, has won three of four since that regular season loss to Hopewell including a 13-10 win over fifth-seeded Timber Creek in the first round. Anthony Tirico had a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jamar Warthen in the fourth quarter to get the Golden Eagles over the hump. That matchup was a defensive struggle where both teams turned the ball over four times. Seneca, which allows 15.8 points per game, did a nice job of limiting Timber Creek to only seven passing yards. Seneca should be better equipped to slow Hopewell down this time, especially with Klotz no longer in the lineup. But the bottom line is the Bulldogs have scored at least five touchdowns in every game but one, and they are the clear favorite in this game with their depth in all three phases. 10-St. John Vianney at 7-Notre Dame (6-4), Non-Public B, first round, 6 p.m. It was somewhat surprising to see Notre Dame get a home playoff game from the non-public committee given how it finished the regular season with losses in two of the last three games against Nottingham and Pennington. But the Irish do have signature wins over Paul VI and Allentown. They won that Allentown game two weeks ago despite playing backup quarterback Dillon White, who might be under center again in this game. They will need to again set the tone on the ground with their physical offensive line and create balance (two passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, 187 rushing yards vs. Allentown). St. John Vianney is on a four-game winning streak and has knocked off teams like Holmdel, the No. 3 seed in SJ III, and most recently St. Joseph of Metuchen, the No. 7 seed in Non-Public A. The Lancers have been potent offensively with at least 30 points in nine of their 10 games and the ability to both pass and run the ball, but their rushing attack is particularly dominant led by Abdul Turay, who has a whopping 1,904 yards and 31 touchdowns on the ground. Defensively, St. John Vianney has 21 sacks and 15 takeaways but has gotten into shootouts in a tough schedule, allowing 22.2 points per game. Unless Notre Dame quarterback Julian Matera and running back Jayden Davis can get healthy in time, the Irish will need big games from players like White, running back Jeylon Billups, wide receiver Wyatt Moore, tight end/defensive end Will Renda and linebacker Cam Bailey.