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For the community of Mineral Point the game this Friday is part of the Homecoming celebration.
For the Mineral Point football team it is much more than that. It is a battle of two undefeated teams and with this being week 8 of a nine week season it is huge for determining the SWAL champion and to determine the higher seed in the playoffs.
Add in the fact that it is also Hall of Fame night and legendary coach, teacher and principal Ted Evans will be inducted before an anticipated capacity crowd.
Whew!!! That is quite a lot to process for the community, to say the least.
For the football team it is business as usual, getting ready to face a very good football team and take another step toward their goals.
"The key to beating Fennimore will be to not make "mistakes," says coach Andy Palzkill. "Playing a clean game and making them earn their points will be very important. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win"
The 28-26 win over Cuba City last Friday gave the Pointers a post season berth which is a plus for the program.
"This is our fifth consecutive playoff appearance," Palzkill said. "In general, that is a good sign that the program is heading in the right direction. I feel we have solidified ourselves a quality football program and hopefully that will continue for years to come."
Last Friday at the Cuba Dome Pointer quarterback Ian Lindsey threw for three touchdowns and ran one in himself to lead the Pointers to the narrow win. Blaise Watters grabbed two of his scoring aerials and Liam Stumpf one.
The Pointers scored first but missed the extra point then trailed 7-6 after one when the Cubans scored and converted.
The Pointers pushed across two scores the second quarter and led 21-7 at the half.
After intermission the Cubans started to make things interesting and got a third quarter tally to make it 21-13.
It got more interesting in the final frame which ended up to be a shoot out. The Cubans got into the end zone with nine minutes left but missed the two point conversion and the score stood at 21-19.
The Pointers worked their magic again and led 28-19 before the Cubans scored again. They got into the end zone with two minutes left and kicked the extra point to trail 28-26.
The Pointers then held on for the win.
One of the keys to the win was keeping composure which the Pointers found a way to do.
"We faced a great deal of adversity against Cuba City," Palzkill said. "They are a good football program and they are always coached very well. Give credit to Cuba City for playing very hard and executing well. In the end, we were able to make enough plays to win the game."
The ability to pull out the close win could pay dividends for the Pointers, Palzkill feels.
"It is a game that we will learn a great deal from watching and fixing the things that we did not do well," he said. "I think it is a game that will prepare us for the playoffs and allow us to have confidence in close games moving forward."