As the high school football season reaches its halfway point, teams are beginning to get ready for their conference slates, having gotten their non-conference games out of the way.On Friday night (7) at Manning Field, a pair of teams looking to get a big Northeastern Conference win will lock horns. English, which had the unenviable task of playing No. 1 Everett last week, and Marblehead, which upset a hot Revere team, look to start the back half of the season with a win.”Marblehead has had a good year and Doug (Chernovetz) has done a nice job with them in getting kids out,” English coach Gary Molea said. “We’re kind of back in with the teams that we know we can play with. Our kids just need to get back on the field.”The Bulldogs (1-4, 1-3 NEC) have played well at times this season but have struggled to put points on the scoreboard on a consistent basis. Last week against the Crimson Tide, the English defense allowed only 325 yards in total offense but was constantly fighting an uphill battle in field position as Everett had a pair of 41-yard touchdown drives and a 58-yard scoring march en route to a 37-0 halftime lead.”Having watched the film and played a great team like Everett, if we can get the kind of effort that we did from some of our kids, I’d be pretty happy,” Molea said. “We had a lot of kids that played well physically and we had a good second half.”Marblehead has been like several of the NEC’s teams this season – stellar one week and then hard to figure out the next. After beating Salem 26-7 in one of the early-season surprises, the Magicians came out the next week and did not play well in a 41-12 loss to Classical.Last week, however, the good Marblehead team made its return. After trailing early in the first quarter, the Magicians responded with a healthy dose of Mike Sahagian, who ran for 180 yards and a touchdown.But it was the third unit – the special teams – that got the job done in the end. Late in the fourth quarter, Revere was clinging to a 12-7 lead and was forced to punt. But the kick was blocked. Jamie Welch scooped up the ball and returned it 35 yards for the game-winning touchdown.Last season, these two played one of the more exciting games of the season. Justin Young’s touchdown pass to Brian Bingham in the final minute of play was enough to give the Bulldogs the win.Molea will modify his quarterback system this week. Instead of Young and Jesse Fowler swapping on every play, each signal caller will now get a complete series under center.”I think that it will let them get some confidence and get in rhythm,” Molea said.Revere at SalemAt Bertram Field in Salem (7), the Patriots (3-2) look to bounce back from a heartbreaking 13-12 loss to Marblehead last Friday while the Witches continued to be a puzzling team, losing 3-0 to Winthrop on a last-second field goal despite having several good chances to score.Gloucester at PeabodyAt Lee Field (7), the NEC North-leading Fishermen (5-0, 4-0 NEC) look to keep on trucking following their hard-fought win over Swampscott last week. Tailback Andrew Fulford and fullback Anthony Enderle helped pace an attack that had 209 rushing yards against the Big Blue.For Peabody, it was another game where the Tanners fought for all four quarters but had nothing to show for the effort at Hurd Stadium in a 13-6 loss to Beverly.Beverly at DanversAt Dr. Deering Stadium in Danvers (7), it’s a matchup of one team trying to get the ship righted and another looking to get a winning streak started. The Panthers (2-3) broke a three-game losing streak last week with a 13-6 win over Peabody thanks to two Greg Pierce touchdown runs.Danvers, meanwhile, hung with Lynn Classical for a half, trailing only 15-7 at the break, but ran out of gas in a 32-7 loss to the Rams. The Falcons were outgained 473-116 in the game and allowed a 96-yard touchdown run to Cameron Smith.