MARINETTE — The 118th rendition of the M&M game will play out in Menominee on Friday.
Marinette was firing on all cylinders with a week one shellacking of Clintonville. Now, the Marines look to carry that momentum and confidence into the annual rivalry game.
The rivalry has not been kind to the Marines in recent years.
Menominee has dominated the last two decades to surge ahead in the all-time series at 59-51-7.
The Maroons are riding a streak of five consecutive wins in the M&M game with most of those victories coming in blowout fashion.
Menominee is coming off an 11-3 campaign that saw them reach the State championship game while Marinette has totaled 11 wins over its last six seasons combined.
But don’t bring all that history into the Marinette locker room.
“Our kids are champing at the bit,” Marinette coach Nate Anderson said. “Yes, they have dominated recently. That’s what history will tell you, but that’s what I love about this group of kids, they don’t look at that stuff. This is a different team. They know it. We know it. The vibe in the locker room is really good right now. You can throw all that out the window. It’s a clean slate for them, and that’s the way they approach it.”
“We as coaches really like this team,” Anderson continued. “There’s just something special and something different about this team. Just the way they interact with each other and take care of each other and support each other. That camaraderie that they have, we have not seen in other teams.”
As always no extra motivation is needed during M&M week.
“It ramps up a little more,” Anderson said. “You have a little more pep in your step during M&M week with a little more energy. The kids want to play well in front of everyone, so the effort and preparation are going to be there in practice. It will come down to being disciplined. They can score in a hurry so we’ve got to control that a little bit and make them drive the ball. They’ve got a different quarterback in there, but he’s a heck of an athlete. If we make them march down the field, keep that big play from happening, I really like our chances.”
Anderson has said that these Marines are the fastest squad he has coached in his tenure, and that explosive ability was on full display during a 46-6 season-opening win over Clintonville.
Marinette racked up 472 yards of offense with numerous big-yardage plays against the Truckers, with junior quarterback Chase MacGregor accounting for 263 yards and four touchdowns.
“Obviously we are playing a lot better team this week,” Anderson said. “They’re a very good team, there’s no doubt about it. They’re coming off a State runner-up season, and they could have easily won that championship game, but I feel the best I’ve felt going into this game as far as matchups.
“They’ve got some great athletes, but we’ve got some great athletes too, so I feel good about that. The big thing is going to be the trenches. They’ve got some nice physical lineman that are quick, physical and aggressive.”
In addition to the battle in the trenches, Anderson stressed the ability to win one-on-one situations in space.
“We’re going to get one-on-one situations,” he said. “That’s just what they do with their offense, and that’s what it comes down to, who’s going to make those winning plays in one-on-one situations. They’ve got some nice skill guys, but we do too this year so we will see how it plays out. I know it’s going to be a good game, and we are going to get great effort from both teams.”
The 118th M&M game kicks off at 7 p.m. at Walton Blesch Field in Menominee.
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