As far as early October games go, the Packers matchup at Rochester Century couldn’t be much bigger this Friday.

Each team has two wins and the battle for the No. 4 seed — and a first round playoff home game — in Section 1AAAAA could come down to the Panthers (2-3 overall, 2-2 Big Nine) and the Packers (2-3 overall, 2-2 Big Nine).

Century has wins over Mankato East and Albert Lea, so the Packers will probably have to win on Friday to have a chance to move up in the seedings.

“This is a big game for us,” Austin head coach Brett Vesel said. “We’re comparable teams and I think the kids know that if we play well in the next three games and things go right, we could possibly have a home playoff game.”

The Packers are coming off a 42-14 loss to Rochester Mayo that saw them struggle throughout much of the night on their homecoming.

“Last week was a bad week for us,” Vesel said. “I really enjoyed it, but it was hard on our kids. There was a lot of stuff going on during the week and we didn’t look very good on either side of the ball (against Mayo). We’re a lot more focused this week.”

The Panthers, who average 17.6 points and allow 31.4 points per game, will look to run early and often against the Packers, who score 20.6 points and allow 39.4 points per game.

Vesel likes the intensity he’s seen this week from his team and he thinks they’ll be ready to go on Friday.

“ I think we’ve had a good week of practice and hopefully we’ll come in and really give our best shot,” he said.