OILERS TO HOST CANADIAN POWERHOUSE IN SEPTEMBER
Put this one on your calendar, it’s going to be a good one.
On Sept. 8 the Mt. Pleasant High School football program will be hosting one of its most unique games in program history when the Oilers welcome in Canadian powerhouse St. Thomas More to Community Memorial Stadium.
Oiler head coach Jason Mcintyre has spent months searching for a week-three opponent after Cadillac bowed out because of conference obligations. As a collective whole most prep football teams in the state of Michigan are locked into the conference schedule by week three and those that aren’t sometimes have a hard time finding an opponent as is the case here.
“We lost our week three game due to (Cadillac’s) conference re-alignment,” said Mcintyre, who led the Oilers to the Saginaw Valley League North title and a record of 9-2 last fall. “I spent two and one-half months looking for an opponent and we found one in (St. Thomas More).”
Historically speaking, it will be Mt. Pleasant’s first-ever game against a prep Canadian team. The Knights have been the No. 1-ranked prep team in Canada in three of the last six years and have won five of the last eight Provincial Bowl titles. Moreover, they have also churned out 25 Canadian University of NCAA players in recent years.
Not to be outdone the Oilers have been very good in recent seasons as they have compiled a record of 42-9 in the past five seasons and have won three of the last five SVL North crowns. Mcintyre and company also have five-straight playoff appearances.
In terms of what form the game will be played, well, it will be by American rules. St. Thomas More annually plays one game in the United States against Midwest teams from Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. They last played in Michigan in 2019 and defeated Jenison 35-14.