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EBEN -- Though the game is mostly about roughhousing and smashing into each other, the eight-player football game can be a delicate balance.
Even among the small schools that play the sport rather than 11-player football, Superior Central High School is one of the lower enrollment schools, listed with 114 students among four grades on the Michigan High School Athletic Association website, www.mhsaa.com.
It places the Cougars in the sport's smaller of two divisions, Division 2, for postseason purposes.
So head coach Todd Spranger is excited to have his SC boys back playing varsity ball for the second straight year after the Cougars went JV-only his first year in 2024.
"We have 15 players," he said in a phone interview on Thursday before SC opened its season at Stephenson on Friday night. "That's 15 for the whole program. We don't have a JV team.
"So you have to be lucky enough not to have very many injuries, but that's the same predicament most eight-man programs have to deal with.
"I'm just happy we were able to schedule a number of teams close to us. Not just to cut down on travel, though that's nice, but it also creates rivalry games and gets everybody in those communities excited about what we're doing.
"It's good for the communities to have rivalries like that."
The Cougars get next-door neighbors Mid Peninsula, Rapid River and Munising on their schedule. In fact, Rapid River shows up twice in Week 4 and at the end in Week 9.
It's part of what goes into playing in the East Division of the Great Lakes Eight conference that only has five teams. Surrounding leagues, including the GL8's nine-team West Division, have so many teams that nonconference games can be hard to come by.
While the Cougars went 3-6 last year, only one of those victories came on the field, a 40-30 triumph at home vs. Ironwood, with the other two wins coming by way of forfeits.
"I'm looking to build our boys together as a team," Spranger said. "I always go in with a game plan to win."
He added that SC lost just four seniors to graduation, adding in valuable experience from last season.
Speaking of experience, senior Will Spranger returns at quarterback, as do starting running backs Aidan Korpi and Gavin Vining, also seniors.
"We likely will be mostly a running team, but I think we'll learn a lot for our first game," the coach said. "We'll see what works best."
Senior Eli Valima also returns as a hybrid receiver-tight end-offensive tackle, much the same way that junior Hunter Baker will be employed.
On the line the coach has installed senior center Isaac Latvala, senior guard Simon Kempker and junior guard Levi Kempainen.
On defense, Coach Spranger has filled out a lineup including Latvala, Kempker and Kempainen on the line, with all the rest of the starters filling out dual linebacker and cornerback roles.
They include, but aren't really limited to, Vining, Will Spranger, junior Conor McDonnald, and sophomores Jerry Kulik and Syrus Karvinen.
On special teams, the coach is looking at his son, Will Spranger, as kicker and punter, and likely Korpi and-or Vining to return kicks.
Story contents based on a telephone interview with Superior Central head football coach Todd Spranger. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.