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Former Pirates have been practicing diligently in preparation for the Peck/Kingston Alumni Football Game this Friday evening in Kingston. Kick-off is at 8 p.m.

The full-pads, full-contact clash will be used as a fund-raiser for both programs, but also for several grown men to relive their glory days on the gridiron.

Rob Pouch, the young varsity football coach at Peck, who has only been in the area for two years, helped get the game established. The plan now is to suit up again next year, too, with Kingston coming to Peck.

"It's something we've been contemplating for awhile," said Pouch. "The only setback was if we would have enough equipment, but it's worked out. I had told the guys that we have 35-40 sets of equipment, when we get that many (signed up), that will probably be it."

Pouch said there are about 35 players on the roster with a wide range of ages.

"We've got three or four guys that have just graduated this past year and we have a couple of father-son combos (Dwight Bartle/Brian Bartle; and Steve Warren/Andy Warren). I've been working on the roster and we have some guys from 1975. It goes back a few years," Pouch noted. The oldest player on the roster is Tom Lorkowski, an All-State tackle who graduated in 1975.

The anticipation of being in an actual game again, and playing a school with plenty of great tradition like Kingston, has the former Pirates hyped up.

Pouch, who is not directly coaching the team, commented, "They're excited, they practice hard. They're all fired up...and they say it's going real well. They're excited to put the pads on one more time."

Tim Sheridan, who played for Peck in the mid Ô70s, is coaching the team and has sons Mike and Brian playing.

"Our goal is to have a good time and keep everybody healthy," said Sheridan. "That's our goal, but everybody is pretty competitive. Some of these guys haven't hit in 10 or 15 years, but it's surprising how well some of them can still play."

Sheridan added that he is impressed with the number of alumni interested in playing.

"It's amazing to me to see so many guys. We have a couple of guys that travel over three hours, each way, to practice. We have one guy that's traveling as far away as Virginia - Chuck Mifsud - and he's been here to a practice."

While this is the first alumni game that Peck will be involved in, Kingston has brought back former players the last two summers to play squads from Mayville. Mayville has opted out this summer, but the Cardinals were looking to continue.

Mike Rea, who will be entering his 29th season as the Cardinals' varsity coach, said he enjoyed the alumni games with Mayville and is looking forward to this one on Friday night with Peck. Kingston will have about 30-31 players, down a little from the past two seasons.

"It should be fun. One of the highlights of my career at Kingston is seeing these old guys coming back." He added that a good crowd would make it a great monetary success, noting that the program has netted $4,000 the last two years. "As tight as the budgets are around Michigan, creating these funds is nice for both schools. I know it'll be a fun time, too."

A good crowd would guarantee a nice financial benefit for both programs. Sandusky and Cros-Lex, both much bigger schools than Peck and Kingston, have established an alumni football game the last two years and netted $5,000each, the first year, through participation fees and the gate.

Peck has charged its alumni players $30 apiece to play. The fee covers the rental of equipment and pads from the school. Admission for the general public this Friday night is $5.

"This has potential to be a great fund-raiser for both programs," explained Pouch. "With money being tight in schools these days, this is a great opportunity.

"This is also a good lead-in to our football season, too. Practice starts in a couple of weeks. This is a good time of the year," he added.

Rea noted that players on both teams will each receive a commemorative T-shirt and, at a later date, each squad will get a plaque, adorned with a team photo.

There will be some significance, too, in the game coming back to Peck next summer. Peck had never had home night games until the current football field switched on new lights in 2000. Most Pirate home games were played on Saturday afternoons.

"There's a lot of guys that have never had a game under the lights at home," Pouch noted, "and they want to do that."

Peck Pirates Alumni Football Team Roster

Luke Audet; John Bader; Kerry Bannister; Brian Bartle; Dwight Bartle; Charles Bennett; Jason Carnat; Mike Carson; Ben Cook; Mark Davidson;

Brandon Favell; Jason Favell; Les Ferguson; Matt Hall; Dale Hendra; Steve Hill; Louis Lofton; Tom Lorkowski; Jason McCanham; Chuck Mifsud;

Ted Miller; Paul Mylnarski; Shane Nowicki; Michael Pries; Lon Schell; Brian Sheridan; Jimmy Sheridan; Mike Sheridan; Andrew Taylor; Scott Thomas; Troy VanConant; Andy Warren; Steve Warren; Brad Withey.