The Friday night lights are shining a little brighter in Redmond.

Redmond High is 7-0 and looking to make the state football playoffs for the first time since 2007 — the last year the Panthers posted a winning record — and Ridgeview’s first-year program is 5-2 and in line to host a Class 4A play-in game.

Through the first seven games of the 2012 season, the Panthers have posted more wins than they did the previous three years combined. The Ravens have a shot at the state postseason despite competing with zero seniors on their roster. Both teams came up with signature victories on Friday. Redmond held off age-old rival Bend High 47-41 in overtime, and Ridgeview blew out Crook County 40-8 for the 4A Special District 1 league title.

“This is huge,” said Panther linebacker Brock Lash, who preserved Redmond’s victory Friday by batting down a fourth-and-goal pass near the end zone. “It was senior night, it keeps us undefeated and it was against Bend High.”

While both programs were expected to be solid if not spectacular this fall, few if any predicted the two Redmond schools would be a combined 12-2 with two weeks left in the regular season. Redmond High was coming off its second consecutive three-win season, and Ridgeview was rolling out a new program made up entirely of underclassmen. But under the guidance of new head coaches Nathan Stanley and Andy Codding, the two Redmond schools have thrived. (Both coaches were assistants last year at RHS under Dan Elliott, who moved from Redmond High to Ridgeview this summer to become the Ravens’ head wrestling coach.)

“It all starts with him,” Redmond High lineman Sumner Saulsbury said earlier in the season about Stanley. “He sets the tone for everything we do.”

The Panthers, who moved from the 6A classification to 5A this year with the addition of Ridgeview, have improved in every statistical way imaginable compared with last year. After giving up 26.9 points per game a year ago, Redmond is now allowing just 16 points a contest in 2012. The Panthers’ offense is also scoring at a much higher rate this fall, averaging 44.9 points a game, more than double the 18.2 points they scored per game in 2011.

At Ridgeview, Codding has not only set the foundation for a strong initial season, but also built the beginnings of what looks to be a very competitive 4A program this year and next. (The Oregon School Activities Association will reorganize after the 2013-14 school year, making it anyone’s guess as to where Ridgeview or anyone else will be placed.) The Ravens have scored the fourth-most points in all of 4A this season (280) in large part because of a rushing attack that is averaging 338.7 yards per game. Boomer Fleming (135 yards per game), Reece Rollins (87.1) and Wesley Johns (53.8) all are rushing for more than 50 yards a game for Ridgeview.

“He’s a great coach, a great guy,” Ravens quarterback Jacob Johnson said about Codding, who before his one-year stint as an assistant at Redmond High was the head coach at The Dalles Wahtonka. “He’s strict at the right times, keeps everyone going. He definitely knows what he’s doing.”

Redmond and Ridgeview both have two regular season games remaining before their playoff fates will be determined. The Panthers face Mountain View on Friday and can clinch their first football league title since winning the old Class 4A IMC in 2001. Redmond’s final game before the postseason is a nonleague road contest at Portland’s Roosevelt High.

The Ravens, abandoned by the OSAA along with Crook County in the two-team Special District 1, close out the regular season with away games at Portland’s Cleveland High and Summit.

LOOKING BACK

Athlete of the week: Mountain View’s John Carroll caught seven passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns Friday in leading the Cougars to a 50-12 romp over host Summit. Two of Carroll’s three scores went for more than 50 yards.

Game of the week: Redmond High stayed undefeated in football Friday with 47-41 overtime victory against longtime rival Bend High. Panther quarterback Andrew Leeland passed for 202 yards and three touchdowns, and Trevor Genz rushed for 111 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries. Redmond trailed 18-13 late in the second quarter, but Ty George intercepted Bend quarterback Jonah Koski with six seconds left in the first half, setting up a last-second touchdown that sparked the Panthers and gave them a 21-18 lead at half. The final three minutes of regulation saw two lead changes, a successsful hook-and-lateral play on fourth and 14, and a controversial catch that appeared to be an interception.

LOOKING AHEAD

Contests of the week:

Tuesday

Bend at Summit girls soccer, 4 p.m.: The Lava Bears can claim a share of the Intermountain Conference title with a road win against the Storm. The two teams, both ranked in the top five by the OSAA, were tied 0-0 at halftime in their earlier meeting this season before Summit rolled to a 3-1 victory.

Thursday

Summit at Bend volleyball, 6:30 p.m.: The No. 4 and 5 teams in the OSAA’s Class 5A rankings at the end of last weekend play against one another for the second time this season. The Storm swept the Lava Bears in three games earlier this year.

Friday

Redmond at Mountain View football, 7 p.m.: The undefeated Panthers face arguably their toughest test of the season in the reigning 5A state champion Cougars. Mountain View is 4-3 this year, but has won three of its last four. Redmond can clinch the Intermountain Conference with the win.