Swami and his family took a rare Friday night road trip to Petoskey. The All-Knowing-One had seen Northmen Stadium from the outside, but going inside was quite the experience with a bowl shaped field, no obstacle seating, good lighting, mammoth locker rooms with a tunnel, and a gigantic scoreboard with all the bells and whistles. It is a far cry from the old Curtis Field. The All-Knowing-One remembers making those trips over there on the Alpena Catholic Central bus.

Memories are what life is about. Today’s football teams and athletes are making memories they can tell their grandkids about. Swami still has vivid images of those four years as if it happened today. Let’s see if the All-Knowing-One can fast forward to this week.

ALPENA (0-5) at GAYLORD (2-3) — Friday — 7 p.m. — The Wildcats take to the road again, hoping for a different result. Alpena faced Traverse City West one last time and lost 40-0.

The Wildcats were limited to 50 rushing yards, though quarterback Ryan Voltz connected on 11 pass attempts for 115 yards. Brady Niedzwiecki and Colt Gray were his main targets and accounted for 74 yards. Field position was at a rare premium, with the Titans taking advantage of good field position and Alpena struggled to get anything going.

Gaylord faced misfortune as special teams troubles led to a 22-0 loss to Cadillac. Any time you give the opposition scoring opportunities on your eight and 12-yard line, it puts you behind the eight ball in short order.

Running back Austin Vanderveer is the main running back, but quarterback Caleb Aungst does his share as well. Here is the big if in the equation for the Wildcats: if they get containment on the outside, it will make it easier on the interior defensive line. This might be a game the Wildcats can win. It might be a big if for them, and the Wildcats will have to play a picture-perfect game.

Swami Sez: Gaylord 21, Alpena 12.

ROGERS CITY (5-0) at ALCONA (2-3) — Friday — 7 p.m. — The Huron express kept the string of 16 shutout quarters intact. The Tigers are just looking for a win to get back on track.

The Tigers managed to work themselves back into a 32-20 half time score last week, but that hard work went for naught in the second half as Alcona did not have an answer for the 40-point spurt or Au Gres quarterback Mason VanSickle.

Alcona quarterback Garrett Somers, as he has done in previous games, put the Tigers on the board with a touchdown heave to Gavin Walker. Mike Basner ran through defenders bouncing outside for two scores and Alcona was within striking distance. VanSickle made sure the Tigers would not claw any closer with his arm.

The Hurons wasted little time on getting a lead and defense gave the offense more scoring opportunities. With the shutout of Posen, the Hurons have kept their opponents scoreless through four games.

Swami believes this might be the best test for the Hurons since Week 1.

Swami Sez: Rogers City 28, Alcona 16.

MIO (4-1) at ATLANTA (1-4) — Friday — 7 p.m. — Atlanta has very little to show for its season to this point. But last week against Pellston was encouraging as Atlanta had its best point production of the season. Quarterback TJ Currie led the offense to the Huskies first touchdown, hitting a wide-open Dakota Stevens. The Huskies running back Trace Juergens broke tackles on his way to the game tying touchdown. But it was the Hornets that scored the final points to snatch victory away from Atlanta.

Mio was a force against Whittemore-Prescott. Quarterback Austin Fox only completed seven passes, but three to Lewis Kuffel and Nathan Hurst found the end zone. It set up the rushing game led by Seth Spahn with 80 yards and two scores.

The defense of the Thunderbolts was a different story, Dallas Long had 12 unassisted tackles, in addition Spahn and Kuffel added eight stops.

The Huskies might have the signs of turning their season around, but it was against a rush-orientated Cardinal squad. In comes the high-flying Thunderbolts, who are capable of throwing lightning strikes from anywhere on the field.

Swami Sez: Mio 42, Atlanta 12.

ONAWAY (2-3) at HILLMAN (2-3) — Friday — 7 p.m. — This is definitely a turning point game; a win keeps you in the postseason hunt, a loss makes it much harder. By looking at the schedule of the Cardinals, Onaway should be counting on a win.

The Tigers used a rock-hard defense to turn away a two-point conversion to tie the game. The defense of Hale got a huge stop on a short field, causing Hillman to punt with 50 seconds remaining. The end result did not work out in Hale’s favor as the Tigers recovered the pigskin and walked away with a 22-20 win.

Hillman switched up the rushing attack, with a pass-heavy attack. Quarterback TJ Jones was a recipient of a touchdown pass from Trenton Taratuta and set the tone for the game. Jones came back with one of his own and a quick hitter by Sean Henigan completed a 22-8 halftime lead.

Onaway had its offense shut down by a stronger Gaylord St. Mary team. Swami says the Cardinals need to get a jump on the opposition to give them a chance for a win. The All-Knowing-One has seen Onaway play catch up, but sometimes the hole is too big and the mistakes just magnify themselves.

Swami Sez: Hillman 24, Onaway 8.