GAYLORD – A share of the Ski Valley Conference championship is on the line Friday as Gaylord St. Mary welcomes in Pellston for our Sports Overtime Game of the Week.
Both teams enter Friday’s contest with identical 3-0 records and are 2-0 in Ski Valley play.
After going 8-2 a year ago and reaching the playoffs for the first time in program history, Pellston has looked impressive through three games in 2020, while St. Mary is finding similar success in its second season of 8-player football.
Friday’s meeting is a rematch of a 2019 8-player Division 1 pre-regional that saw St. Mary roll 48-6.
“I’ve been dreaming about this night ever since we lost that round in the Week 10 playoffs,” Pellston senior David Jamroz said. “It’s been on my mind ever since then and I just want to get back on the field.”
Pellston has been clicking on both sides of the ball through three games, averaging 61 points while shutting out its last two opponents. Friday’s matchup will provide the Hornets their biggest test to date and more likely than not until the playoffs.
“From an offensive standpoint, we’ve held the ball well. Defensively, we’ve kept teams in check,” Pellston coach Jack Carter said. “We haven’t had any real big passes go. We’ve done a lot of the little things right. Hopefully we can just put four quarters of that together on Friday.”
St. Mary owns a 31-7-2 record against Pellston, lasting falling to the Hornets in 2012.
“I think our defense is what it’s going to take,” St. Mary senior Conrad Norte said. “We’ve got a good coach. Coach (Kevin) O’Connell is great at game planning, he’s always watching film getting us prepared for big games like this.”
Following Friday’s game, St. Mary closes out Ski Valley play at home against Bellaire next Friday while Pellston plays host to Hillman.
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