TRAVERSE CITY -- Two in, one out.
Two of the three area football teams still alive in the state high school football playoffs will head to the Superior Dome in Marquette for regional final games.
Traverse City St. Francis (10-1) will get a busy weekend at the Dome under way on Friday night when it takes on Ishpeming (8-3) in a Division 7 contest. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
St. Francis school officials originally said the team would not play in the Dome because the long drive facing the Gladiators gave their Upper Peninsula opponent an advantage, so they were looking at more neutral sites.
But with the weather forecast calling for sloppy conditions, St. Francis will make the six-hour trip to the Northern Michigan University campus for a playoff game. It will be the Gladiators' 13th trip there since 1991.
"It was our hope to play at a neutral site," St. Francis head coach Josh Sellers said Monday. "We had a short list of facilities we wanted to play at, and to (Ishpeming coach Jeff Olson's) credit, they were willing to come down to St. Ignace.
"But after checking the weather forecast ... we just felt it would be better if we played in the dome."
Sellers said the team will "tweak tradition a little," however. The Gladiators plan to travel to Marquette on Thursday and spend the night there.
"We're going up early," Sellers said. "I'm not thrilled that our kids won't be in their own beds the night before the game, but hopefully it's in our best interests."
St. Francis practiced outdoors Monday and will also be outside on Thursday, but the team will practice inside on the artificial surface at the Just For Kicks facility today and Wednesday.
Central Lake (10-1) will face Crystal Falls Forest Park (10-1) at the Superior Dome at 11 a.m. Saturday in a Division 8 regional final.
That game will be one of three played inside on Saturday at Marquette.
In Division 6, Iron Mountain (10-1) plays Montague (8-3) at 2 p.m., followed by Division 4 contest between Coopersville (8-3) and Kingsford (8-3) at 5 p.m.
The lone area team to play outside this weekend is Frankfort (9-2). The Panthers take to the road to meet a very familiar foe in Beal City (9-2) in a Division 8 contest set for Friday at 7 p.m.
Frankfort coach/athletic director Matt Stapleton said the decision to go on Friday night was a simple one.
"Just stay in the same routine," Stapleton said after the Panthers beat Hillman in the district final.
While Frankfort will face a familiar opponent in the playoffs, St. Francis will be playing in a familiar place.
Central Lake, meanwhile, is doing its best to concentrate on football after the former all-state runner Ryan Shay collapsed and died Saturday morning during the Olympic Trials in New York City.
Funeral and visitation plans were announced Monday (see related story »).
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