We have reached the third week of the high school football season and it’s time to start separating the contenders from the pretenders.

In a contender vs. contender contest this week, Marysville-Pilchuck (2-0 in the Western Conference North Division) travels to Mount Vernon (1-0 league, 2-0 overall). The winner remains unbeaten, but the loser won’t become a pretender by virtue of its first loss.

That game is the exception this week. Most games pit pretenders against contenders or pretenders against other pretenders.

Cascade, Stanwood, Snohomish, Monroe, Mountlake Terrace, Meadowdale and Lynnwood either win or start 0-3 and start looking to next year.

Mariner, Shorewood, Everett, Oak Harbor and Edmonds-Woodway have split their first two games and will go one way or the other.

Lake Stevens, Arlington, Shorecrest, Jackson and Kamiak are, like M-P and Mount Vernon, undefeated and, all but Lake Stevens – which does not play this week – can enhance their contender status with victories.

Winless teams play unbeaten teams in three games. Meadowdale and Lynnwood are heavy underdogs to Kamiak and Jackson. But Snohomish has a shot against Arlington.

Winless teams play once-beaten teams in two games, but the odds favor 1-1 Oak Harbor and Edmonds-Woodway against Monroe and Mountlake Terrace.

Two winless teams, Cascade and Stanwood, play each other, so one will get its first win, but the loser will have faint hope of any postseason action.

In the only game matching two 1-1 teams, Mariner faces Shorewood. Since they both trail three 2-0 teams, at least two of whom are likely to win this week, this is a must-win game for both teams.

In the only game between a 1-1 team and a 2-0 team, Everett hosts Shorecrest. Although its win over Meadowdale was somewhat unexpected, Everett will be the first real test for Shorecrest, which was winless last year. Everett had a strong rebound last week from an expected season-opening loss to Edmonds-Woodway and should put an end to Shorecrest’s surprising start.

Here’s a closer look at some of the matchups:

Kickoff: 7:30 tonight at Arlington High School.

Records: Snohomish is 0-1 in the Wesco North, 0-2 overall. Arlington is 2-0, 2-0.

Last year: Did not play.

Players to watch: Snohomish quarterback John Knutsen scored a fourth-quarter touchdown in last week’s 14-7 loss to Lake Stevens.

Arlington’s John Boitano returned a recovered fumble 56 yards for a touchdown, ran 1 yard for a TD and caught a 26-yard pass from quarterback Kevin McCormack to set up a third touchdown in last week’s 21-0 victory over Cascade.

Breaking down the game: After falling behind by two touchdowns, Snohomish had a valiant fourth-quarter effort come up short against Lake Stevens. The week before, the Panthers just missed a potential game-winning field goal in a one-point loss to South Kitsap. Every team’s goal is to be strong in the fourth quarter, but Snohomish needs to do a better job in the first three quarters so its fourth-quarter efforts don’t continue to go unrewarded.

Arlington is an opportunistic and big-play outfit. Two weeks ago the Eagles got a game-saving pass interception against Oak Harbor. Last week they sat back and let Cascade shoot itself in the foot, then turned their balanced offense loose to wrap up the game in the fourth quarter. Arlington must guard against complacency facing a foe that can ill afford a second league loss and an 0-3 start.

Little-known fact: Both teams reached the postseason last year.

Pick: Snohomish 24-21.

Kickoff: 7:30 tonight at Stanwood High School.

Records: Both teams are 0-2 overall and in the Wesco North.

Last year: Did not play.

Players to watch: Cascade back Andrew McGuire led two Bruins drives into Arlington territory last week.

Stanwood back Jake Heringstad threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Nicholas in last week’s 35-8 loss to Oak Harbor.

Breaking down the game: Cascade has been its own worst enemy so far. The Bruins have gotten off to fast starts in their first two contests only to be foiled by turnovers and penalties, which have left them playing catchup. Cascade must clean up its act to stop its current seven-game losing streak and be competitive in the tough North Division.

Stanwood has problems on defense. The Spartans have given up 80 points in two games. Cascade is not going to provide any easy solutions, either.

Little-known fact: Last year was Cascade’s first losing season in a decade.

Pick: Cascade 35-28.

Kickoff: 7:30 tonight at Mount Vernon High School.

Records: M-P is 2-0 overall and in the Wesco North. Mount Vernon is 1-0, 2-0.

Last year: Did not play.

Players to watch: M-P’s Sebastian Jones blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown and caught a TD pass from Ryan Swobody in last week’s 42-13 victory over Monroe.

Tim Lehr returned a punt 49 yards for the game-winning touchdown in Mount Vernon’s 14-7 victory over Burlington-Edison last week.

Breaking down the game: The proverbial rock hits the hard place as the M-P offense, which has scored 87 points in two games, clashes with the Mount Vernon defense, which has allowed just 13. M-P has speed to the outside and, for the first time in years, a productive passing game.

Mount Vernon, which is playing its first home game of the season and its first Friday night game after two Saturday contests, will attempt to keep the ball away from the M-P offense with its power running game. But the Bulldogs can throw, too.

Little-known fact: Swobody was an honorable mention all-Wesco 4A quarterback last year.

Pick: Mount Vernon 35-21.

Kickoff: 7:30 tonight at Shoreline Stadium.

Records: Both teams are 1-1 overall and in the Wesco South.

Last year: Shorewood 14-12.

Players to watch: Mariner back Markee Broussard had 172 all-purpose yards last week against Mountlake Terrace.

Shorewood back Seth Setterberg rushed 21 times for 135 yards against Jackson.

Breaking down the game: The winner puts itself in the postseason picture. Mariner had 232 yards rushing last week and picked off four passes. Shorewood gave up a last-minute, game-winning touchdown pass to Jackson. Could be two teams going in opposite directions.

Little-known fact: Mariner can equal its win total of last year with victory.

Pick: Mariner 21-14.

Kickoff: 7:30 tonight at Everett Memorial Stadium.

Records: Shorecrest is 2-0 overall and in the Wesco South. Everett is 1-1, 1-1.

Last year: Did not play.

Players to watch: Shorecrest’s Eric Duenas scored three TDs in last week’s win over Lynnwood.

Everett backs T.J. Gaffney (132 yards) and Lee Smith (124) combined for 256 yards rushing against Meadowdale.

Breaking down the game: Everett amassed 317 yards rushing against Meadowdale. Shorecrest yielded 240 to Lynnwood. Do the math.

Little-known fact: Shorecrest’s 2-0 start comes on the heels of a winless (0-9) 2000 season.

Pick: Everett 28-7.

Wesco: Edmonds-Woodway vs. Mountlake Terrace at Edmonds Stadium, 5 p.m.; Oak Harbor vs. Monroe at Monroe Stadium, Meadowdale vs. Kamiak at Goddard Stadium, 7:30 p.m.; Jackson vs. Lynnwood at Edmonds Stadium, 8 p.m.

North Cascades: Granite Falls at Mount Baker, Sultan at Nooksack Valley, South Whidbey at Lakewood, Blaine at Meridian, 7:30 p.m.

Kingco 4A: Bothell at Eastlake, 7:30 p.m.

Non-conference: Lynden Christian at Elma, 5 p.m.; Charles Wright at Coupeville, 6 p.m.; Darrington at Friday Harbor, 7 p.m.; King’s at La Conner, 7:30 p.m.

Non-conference: Snohomish sophs at Orcas Island, Concrete at Life Christian, 1 p.m.; Cascade Christian vs. Archbishop Murphy at Everett Memorial Stadium, 7 p.m.