Girard, South Range prepare for battle of unbeatens
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For one year, South Range's football team stewed over a pair of disappointing losses to Northeast 8 Conference (NE8) rivals.
In 2025, the Raiders, who had won 40 straight games against conference foes across nearly six years, had their streak snapped in a stunningly one-sided, 34-0 loss to Poland. A week later, they suffered a 56-35 defeat to Girard at home, marking the first time they had ever lost to the Indians.
The first bit of revenge came last week, when South Range dominated Poland in a 47-7 win. Afterward, Raiders head coach Dave Rach said that their shutout loss to the Bulldogs, in which he said they "ran away, tuck and tail," had been on his team's mind "for a year straight."
Things are not much different with regard to this Friday's chance at revenge at Girard.
"I don't think we've been shy about saying [we've been thinking about beating Girard]," Rach said. "I think anytime someone gets the better of you, you go back to the drawing board. You're trying to find ways to correct that moving forward to make sure that you don't feel that way again.
"We felt sick after this game last year, and not to say that we let them get away, because they handled their business, but we made a lot of mistakes in the game that I think really prevented us from having a really serious chance down the stretch. ... Our guys have spent an entire year preparing for it and trying to get ourselves right, physically in the weight room and otherwise."
Until last season, South Range had won each of its seven meetings with Girard since they each joined the NE8. Across seven games, including a playoff matchup in 2024, the Raiders won by an average margin of 27 points.
The script flipped in 2025, though, with the Indians not only defeating South Range in Beaver Township, but also dethroning the Raiders as league champions after beating fellow title contenders Poland and Hubbard late in the season.
Now, it is Girard that is defending a conference win streak and championship.
Entering Friday's game at Arrowhead Stadium, the Indians have won their last nine games against NE8 teams, including a one-point win vs. Poland in last year's Division V regional semifinal. Girard's last loss to a league opponent was, coincidentally, to South Range on Nov. 8, 2024.
Despite last year's result, this year's NE8 title implications, the flawless records of both teams and the Indians' win streak, longtime Girard head coach Pat Pearson downplayed the long-term significance of Friday's meeting.
"I know it's going to sound like a coaching cliché, but it's really just a Week 7 game," Pearson said. "It's going to be a great game and certainly can lead to a lot of things down the road for both programs, but nothing's won and lost on Friday night. One team's going to be 7-0. One team's going to be 6-1. It is what it is. You got to take the game for the game. If you start looking beyond that or all that other stuff, you can kind of get lost up in it. So, for us, we're just focusing on us and going out there and trying to reach our full potential, make our community proud and go play Girard football."
Rach, who is 39-8 since becoming the Raiders coach before the 2023 season, was less hesitant about acknowledging the stakes of the highly anticipated game.
"I think both teams going in undefeated makes it unique," Rach said. "It definitely has a championship feel to it even though it's only Week 7, and I know both teams are going to have work to do still after this week."
Neither coach had reservations about their expectations for the atmosphere of the game, however. Much like the pair of Girard-Poland games a year ago, Arrowhead Stadium will host Friday's matchup.
"You got two very proud and strong communities coming together here. I think it's going to be electric," Pearson said. "I think it's going to be one of those games that you remember your whole life. Arrowhead Stadium will be rocking, and I know they'll bring a great crowd too, and we're just excited to be a part of a game like that."
Going into Friday, only one of the teams' 12 combined games has been decided by fewer than 20 points, with South Range winning by an average of 37 points, while Girard, despite a 41-35 win at Garaway two weeks ago, has won its six games by an average of 33 points.
Neither coach believes that the relative lack of close games, though, will be much of a factor when the teams take the turf in Girard.
"Maybe there's some added comfort had we been in a tighter game previously and been in some really big moments down the stretch. Maybe you'd feel a little bit better about it. I don't think about it a whole lot," Rach said. "I think when you look at both teams ... neither of these programs and none of these kids are strangers to big moments and to big athletic situations. I think our guys understand what's required in a tight ball game. Both programs have been perennial playoff teams and understand what it takes to win down the stretch and are excited to go try to do that on Friday night."
"I think, for the most part, we're pretty process-oriented in our approach," Pearson said. "We try to get better every practice, every workout, every game, win or lose. ... Don't get me wrong: A game like Garaway was a great game, back and forth, great environment. I was really proud of how our kids stuck together and played hard. So that can help you, but when the lights come on, and you got two championship programs going at it, the kids are gonna go play ball. I don't know how many atmospheres will prepare you for what's about to happen Friday night."