Groton (5-1) has not played an official game in three weeks. It squared off in an exhibition game last week against Schuylerville, and received a forfeit one week earlier against Thomas Edison. Will that give B-G (5-2) the competitive edge heading into tonight’s Class D playoff opener? “I really think that both teams are pretty evenly matched,” said B-G coach Tim Mattingly. “We’ll do our stuff, and see what happens.”

Groton is not the same club that beat B-G two years ago in the Class D playoffs. It lost to Oxford, 28-20, in week two, and in the game against Schuylerville, the final score reported was an outrageous 67-7 loss for the Indians. “We’re not looking at their game last week,” Mattingly said. “They have a quick running back, a quarterback who can throw, and good receivers. Defensively, they are physical with aggressive linebackers.”

The Bobcats’ number one key will be to re-establish running back Jake Mazzarella. Mazzarella was averaging over 170 yards rushing per game the first six weeks, but was held to 30 yards and a season-low 10 carries against Windsor. “The bottom line is that we have to establish Jacob and the running game,” Mattingly said. “We’ll mix it up on offense, but we’ll need to be successful running the ball if we want to win this game.”

Greene (5-2) at Norwich (4-3), Friday, 7 p.m.