TRAVERSE CITY -- A local rival and the two-time defending state champions.
Two state powers from one of the best conferences in the state and a state semifinalist.
Two Grand Rapids-area squads and a pair of teams that are contenders in the tough Saginaw Valley Conference.
Rugged non-conference football dates await Traverse City St. Francis, West and Central.
St. Francis opens its season at Suttons Bay -- one of its two losses last season en route to the Division 7 state final -- before facing two-time Division 6 state champion Saginaw Nouvel at Thirlby Field.
After that, St. Francis begins Lake Michigan Conference play. The Gladiators have not lost a league game since 2002.
"Going into our league we always have a good idea of where we stand and the things we need to work on because of the competition we play the first two weeks," St. Francis athletic director Tom Hardy said.
St. Francis is in the final season of a four-year contract with Nouvel. Even though the Gladiators are 1-2 versus Nouvel, Hardy expects to face the Panthers for years to come.
"I expect the relationship to continue," Hardy said. "I anticipate them wanting to continue it and we want to continue it.
"It's a great relationship for us to play another Catholic school -- and one of the best programs in the state."
St. Francis will face Suttons Bay for a second straight season. It's the middle of a six-year rotation for the opener that also includes Kingsley and Benzie Central.
The Gladiators, who played Kingsley for one year before the rotation, were 2-1 against the Stags. St. Francis, which has never lost to Benzie, will play a home-and-home with the Huskies in 2009 and 2010.
Hardy said he would like to extend the two-year rotation with Suttons Bay, Kingsley and Benzie Central. But another school might have to get involved since all three opponents are now in the Northwest Conference.
Traverse City West is playing four non-conference teams with a history of making the playoffs more often than not.
"We're in a rebuilding year and we've got a very tough schedule," Titans athletic director Patti Tibaldi said. "The expectation of the team has to be to be the best, you play the best."
The Titans might be playing the best on opening night as Hudsonville comes to Thirlby for an Aug. 28 game. The Eagles were 10-2 last year and are one of the pre-season favorites to win it all.
With six wins needed to secure a playoff berth, scheduling can sometimes be a problem for winning programs. Hudsonville had to schedule one game against an Illinois school this year -- the week after it plays West. The Titans had to play a team from Indiana last season to fill out its schedule.
"We have to beg people to play us," Tibaldi said.
And the Titans are not alone.
"It's causing major problems around the state," Tibaldi said. "Who's Hudsonville going to play? Who's Muskegon going to play? Nobody wants to play them."
West likely won't play Hudsonville after its two-year contract runs out next week. The same goes for the 300-mile trip to Kingsford, due to travel costs.
Tibaldi said there's a good chance the series with Grandville will continue. The two teams have played the last three years and meet in week two this campaign.
"We've had a good relationship with them," Tibaldi said.
The week six matchup with Flint Carman-Ainsworth starts a two-year deal that awaits resolution of the Big Nine Conference's fate. The Titans and Cavaliers will meet again next year if Carman-Ainsworth's league responsibilities allow it.
For Traverse City Central, this fall will be the first time since 1980 that Escanaba won't be on the schedule.
"In this day and age, it didn't make a lot of sense," Trojans coach Tom Passinault said of the 500-mile round trip to the Upper Peninsula. "We found a team that was less than half the distance."
Instead of opening with the Eskymos, Central will host Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in next week's season-opener at Thirlby Field.
The non-conference schedule consists of two Grand Rapids area schools in Forest Hills and Grand Haven, as well as Bay City's Western and Central.
"Any time you play OK Conference schools or Saginaw Valley schools, who are traditionally the closest Class A conferences to Traverse City, you're playing perennial football powerhouse leagues," TC Central athletic director Cody Inglis said. "Coach Passinault has the Traverse City tradition back on track. I know his goal is to play the best and see what comes out."
Last year, Central lost to Forest Hills Central (17-7), Bay City Western (14-10) and Bay City Central (28-21).
The Trojans have locked in the same schedule for 2009, except for Bay City Central. Inglis is actively looking to fill the open date as soon as possible.
"You really want to get something done during the season," Inglis said. "A lot of schools wait and hold a date to see how much success a team has. But for us, we look for a good, competitive game. The sooner I can get it filled, the better I'll feel. If we have another successful season, all of a sudden some schools say they don't want anything to do with TC Central."
Staff writers James Cook, Mike Eckert and Mark Urban contributed to the report.
TOUGH SLEDDING
TC WEST
Flint Carman-Ainsworth -- Big Nine foe was only 2-7 last year, but has made postseason in 4 of last 6 years, including 3 playoff wins.
Grandville -- Had an off year at 3-6 last season, but made postseason the previous four years. Has beaten TC West in 4 straight, including a 2003 playoff matchup.
Kingsford -- Perennial playoff team has been in postseason every year since 2000, winning 11 playoff games in that span. The 2007 Division 4 semifinalist lost 29-15 to West last year.
Hudsonville -- Powerhouse has won 10 or more games in 4 of the last 5 seasons and made playoffs every year since 2002.
TC CENTRAL
Grand Haven -- The Buccaneers finished 5-4 in 2007 for back-to-back winning seasons. The series renews a former Lake Michigan Conference rivalry with the Trojans that ran from 1971-1984.
Bay City Central -- Last year, the Wolves finished 6-2 in the Saginaw Valley Association and shared the league title with three other schools. BC Central hasnt had a losing record since 2000 and was 8-3 overall last year.
Bay City Western -- The Warriors were 5-4 last year but only a couple seasons removed from a state semifinalist appearance in 2005.
G.R. Forest Hills Central -- The Rangers havent made the playoffs since 1999. Last season, they had their first winning campaign in eight years with a 5-4 record.
TC ST. FRANCIS
Suttons Bay -- The Norsemen have qualified for the playoffs each of the last eight seasons, culminating with a Division 6 runner-up finish in 2004. Suttons Bay was thumped by the Glads in 1997 (39-6) and 1998 (53-6), but defeated St. Francis 38-20 in the first game of the 2007 season.
aginaw Nouvel -- Independent won the last two Division 6 state championships, edging Blissfield 12-7 in last seasons finale and Inkster 28-14 for the 2006 crown. Saginaw Nouvel hasnt had a losing season since 1998, which was also the last time the Panthers missed the playoffs. Novel topped St. Francis (34-12 and 29-13) in the first two years of the series, but the Gladiators topped Novel 35-14 in Saginaw during Week 2 last season.
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