News Photo by James Andersen
Alpena football players get instructions during a lineman drill during a recent practice.
ALPENA — The Alpena High School football’s conference schedule will take on heightened significance this season.
The Big North Conference is up to seven teams this season as mainstays Alpena, Petoskey, Cadillac, and Gaylord are now joined by Marquette, Escanaba and Sault Ste. Marie.
The additions were announced last fall after original members Traverse City West and Traverse City Central left the conference for the Saginaw Valley League after the 2021 season.
All three Upper Peninsula schools have been regulars on Alpena schedule in recent years.
“I like it and they’re teams that we’re familiar with, that’s another part that’s really nice,” Alpena coach Eric Mitchell said. “It’s not like we have a conference that’s brand new and we don’t know anybody. Rather than having four of us, having seven teams is great. It makes our schedule a heck of a lot easier because six games are automatic.”
Alpena’s conference slate begins in week 2 on the road against Marquette and then continues in weeks 4-8 against Cadillac, Petoskey, Gaylord, Sault Ste. Marie and Escanaba.
Alpena went 0-3 in BNC play last season, but has scored wins over Sault, Marquette, and Escanaba in recent seasons. From 2011-19, Escanaba served as the season-opening game for Alpena.
“Having (Sault), Marquette and Escanaba in makes our conference more competitive. Our middle three games — Cadillac, Petoskey and Gaylord — it’s going to be the black and blue division. These are going to be hard-fought games…it’s going to be a grind.”
Big North Conference play began in 1997 with eight of Northern Michigan’s biggest schools split into two divisions — Traverse City West, Traverse City Central, Alpena and Cadillac in one division and Gaylord, Petoskey, Cheboygan and Sault in the other.
Cheboygan and Sault left the conference in 2004.
Ogemaw Heights joined the BNC in 2011 and left in 2017.
Regardless of the opponent or how many conference games there are, the Wildcats are focused on finishing as high in the conference as they can.
“The goal going into every season should be to win the conference and that’s the goal every single team in the conference should have,” Senior John Kurowski said. “The object is to win and that just makes those games much more important.”
