Courtesy Photo The 2023 Alpena High School football team includes John Kurowski, Braeden Schaedig, Joe Schuh, Jake Zann, Carlos Calzadilla, Kaleb Donajkowski, Carter Stark, Brady Chapman, John Eaton, Cole Herman, Nathan Southard, Gabriel Ratz, Hunter Cohoon, Elyja Chism, Owen Kocan, Joe Sheridan, Easton Srebnik, Jack Krawczak, Eric Eades, Mikai Maychen, Alex Corwin, Vince MacArthur, Brady Carlson, Trenton Stephenson, Austin Poirer, Chris Wherry, Owen Barnhardt and Oliver Duthler.

ALPENA — In the midst of homecoming week, the Alpena High football team hopes to come out with a little more pep in its step tonight and cap a fun-filled week of activities with a win.

Alpena returns home for the first time in three weeks and hosts Sault Ste. Marie at 7 p.m. tonight at Park Family Field at Wildcat Stadium in a Big North Conference contest.

Alpena (1-5) hasn’t won since its season opener, but after a good week of practice and with a week of excitement, the Wildcats want to reverse their fortunes.

“Sometimes it’s a distraction, but this week doesn’t seem to be like that at all,” Alpena coach Eric Mitchell said. “A lot of our guys were involved, it’s actually been pretty fun. We’re excited and it puts a little bit of prep in the step. They’ve had a fun week.”

The festivities started Sunday night with a pair of powder puff games, including a football game where many of Alpena’s players served as coaches.

“They had a blast. It was pretty fun talking with Jake (Zann) and Kaleb (Donajkowski) and the seniors,” Mitchell said. “They had a great time coaching it and the girls had fun.”

Now the Wildcats turn their attention to the Blue Devils (4-2) who are attempting to win two of their last three games to secure a playoff spot for the first time since 2020.

In its first season as part of the expanded Big North Conference, Sault is 1-2 with three straight conference games remaining, starting with tonight.

The Blue Devils have been solid on both sides of the ball, averaging 26.6 points per game offensively and allowing less than 10 points a game to opponents. In each of their four wins, the Blue Devils have scored at least 21 points.

Senior quarterback Callen Campbell has completed 39-of 74 passes for six touchdowns against three interceptions. The two-way star also shines as a defensive end for Sault and has committed to play at Northwestern on the defensive line.

In the backfield, the Blue Devils have spread the ball well as four players have at least 200 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Senior Ryver Reckeghem leads Sault with 343 yards and three touchdowns on 62 carries. Kaydin Lujan has 320 yards and five touchdowns on 49 carries and Cale Bell and Campbell each have two rushing scores and 208 rushing yards.

Senior Cam Labadie has been Sault’s top receiving target with 238 yards and three scores on just 10 catches.

“They run single-wing like they have as long as I’ve been here. Their quarterback is strong,” Mitchell said. “They show you where the ball’s going, so we need to rely on our reads rather than what we see in the backfield.

Stopping the Blue Devils starts with tackling, an area of play that has been Alpena’s Achilles heel over the last several weeks. Mitchell said in the first half of last week’s game against Gaylord alone, Alpena missed nearly five dozen tackles.

“Starting every day of practice, we work on tackling and it’s about finishing the play; when somebody’s wrapped up, bringing them to the ground. We have guys there, we just need to finish tackles,” Mitchell said.

Tonight’s game marks the first of three straight home games for the Wildcats to end the year and Mitchell hopes his team can end the year on a high note. Alpena hosts Escanaba next week and St. Johns to end the season.

“Obviously we’re back in the home stretch. We see three very winnable football games,” Mitchell said. “But we need to play well, we need to tackle and we need to be physical every single play.”