It’s been a year of firsts for the Napa High football team’s next opponent, and the Indians don’t want to be part of another.

Four weeks ago, Laguna Creek defeated Nevada Union-Grass Valley for the first time in nine tries, 13-7, on the Cardinals’ muddy field in Elk Grove.

Last week, Laguna Creek notched its first football playoff victory in 14 years of existence, pulling away in the second half for a 48-25 rout of four-year-old crosstown foe Monterey Trail.

On Friday night at Napa Memorial Stadium, the Cardinals (8-3 overall) will try for their first win over Napa (10-1 overall), though the teams have met only once before.

In the first round of the 2005 playoffs, the Indians held off visiting Laguna Creek, 49-41. But both teams had different head coaches and entirely different rosters back then, and football coaches are not history buffs when it comes to game-planning. They live in the moment, and Napa offensive line coach Bob Herlocker said the Indians will have their hands full on both sides of the ball.

“Laguna Creek is big and extremely fast, and very aggressive,” he said after Tuesday’s practice. “We haven’t seen a lot of speed like they possess, so it’ll be interesting how we adapt to the way they come after us. You can’t coach speed in practice.”

Asked if the Cardinals’ quickness is similar to that of Merced, which handed Napa its only loss in Week 2, Herlocker said it’s pretty close.

“Though, boy,” he added, “if they’re as fast as Merced, they’ll give us fits.

“Like we told the kids today, it’s not going to get any easier in the playoffs. Each week gets harder because the talent gets better as you go through the playoffs, and the reason is that the teams that are still playing are better than most other teams.”

Laguna Creek is led by 6-foot-3, 200-pound quarterback/linebacker Chris Jackson. The senior is 77-of-155 passing for 1,353 yards and 14 touchdowns with just seven interceptions. He’s also rushed 68 times for 322 yards and seven scores — including 13 totes for a season-high 113 yards and three TDs in last week’s win.

On defense, Jackson is third on the team with 67 tackles, behind 6-foot, 220-pound linebacker D.J. Hill (117 tackles) and 6-0, 225-pound lineman Sean Nill (104), who has a team-high five sacks.

Jackson prefers to throw to 6-3 senior wide receiver KJ Daniels (36 catches, 671 yards, eight TDs) and 5-8, 175-pound senior tailback Keenen Williams (16 catches, 398 yards, three TDs). Williams leads the Cardinals’ rushers with 1,328 yards at 6.8 yards a pop, and 13 TDs.

Nill’s father, Mark, is in his third year as Laguna Creek’s head coach and is assisted by another son, Ryan, who was on the 2005 squad that lost to Napa.

The Indians will counter the Cardinals’ quickness with experienced offensive linemen who each have five to six playoff wins under their belts.

They pave the way for hard-running juniors Logan Hess (1,355 yards, 6.9 per carry, 20 TDs) and Charles Boyett (940 yards, 6.1 per carry, 14 TDs) and senior quarterback Clinton Gorsuch (48-of-85 passing, 799 yards, 10 TDs, three interceptions).

Vacaville head coach Mike Papadopoulos, whose team lost 33-14 to Laguna Creek in Week 2, said the Indians’ offensive linemen are “much more athletic and disciplined” than their Cardinal counterparts.

“Napa’s O-Line moves and makes adjustments very well,” he said.

The Indians’ defense — led by linebackers Michael Ruffino, who is on the brink of a 100-tackle season, and Juan Martinez and lineman David Smith and Scott Dinov — hasn’t shut down too many teams but made plays when necessary.

If Napa wins, it will host on Dec. 5 the winner of Friday’s game between Nevada Union and host Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove being played at Monterey Trail High School. A chance to beat Nevada Union, which the Indians haven’t done since 1991 when Herlocker was their head coach, would be enticing. But Herlocker lives in the moment, and the Cardinals are enough to worry about for now.

“We’ll meet a pretty good foe this week,” he said. “Hopefully we’ve got enough to give them a good battle. If I had to pick somebody, I’d pick us, the way our kids play.”

Laguna Creek at Napa High

Friday, 7:30 p.m., Memorial Stadium

Radio: KVON, 1440 AM, 7 p.m.