No matter how prepared you are for anything, there is always a chance that it might not come out the way you planned. Such was the case with Swami. With an early start to his column, he figured that it would be ready by Wednesday. Surprise, surprise, it is Thursday and he still doesn’t have it done because of the cancellation of a game the All-Knowing-One had picked for his column. Luckily, he all his facts and figures to plug it into place.

Sometimes that happens with football teams too, especially if a coach comes up a different scheme and there is a rush to get it in the playbook.

Let’s see if changing things up works for Swami this week:

TRAVERSE CITY CENTRAL (5-1) at ALPENA (1-5) — Friday — 7 p.m. — For the Wildcats coming off a dramatic win over Gaylord, they might have an advantage. But the All-Knowing-One knows the Trojans can wrap up their final Big North Conference title with a win, so that is enough of an incentive.

Kadyn Budnik’s touchdown last week and Sam Cook’s 21-yard boot broke a nearly two-year winless drought. The Wildcat defense also had a hand in the win, limiting Gaylord to only 95 yards of total offense. Swami says the Wildcats will need to have perfect game to derail the Trojan express.

Traverse City stayed in the Big North hunt with a shutout win over Cadillac.

The Wildcats will have to take a page out the Vikings defensive play book, and limit Josh Burnham. Wide receiver Dante Williams has done the yeoman’s job of rushing as he had six carries for 91 yards and a score. The difficulty for the Wildcat defense is a trio running backs in Carson Bourdo, Reed Seabase and Michael Booher as their speed has been known to break long runs. The large Trojan offensive line will make it difficult to penetrate into the backfield.

Swami says Alpena will need all the adrenaline of homecoming to carry over to the field if they are to pull the upset.

Swami Sez: Traverse City Central 44, Alpena 14.

HILLMAN (3-3) at POSEN (1-5) — Friday — 7 p.m. — It took a while for Posen to garner its first win, but they did it in grand style. The Vikings took advantage of field position, turnovers and scoring opportunities to rout Charlton Heston 60-12. Meanwhile the Tigers extended their winning streak to two games with a 56-14 win over Onaway.

Hillman quarterback A.J. Jones put the Tigers in motion when he was flushed out of the pocket and ran for 34 yards. Jones then found Sean Henigan in the corner of the end zone. Owen Moulton bulldozed his way into the end zone too, setting Hillman well on its way to the easy win in the first quarter.

Quarterback Jack Romel led the Viking offense early and often, with the rushing game of Ethan Soik, Ethan Romel. The Viking defense led by Cole Krajniak, Eli Chojnacki and Logan Timm controlled the offensive schemes of the Cardinals.

On the Hillman side, the Tigers — with the exception of the Au Gres game — had been within striking distance of more wins. Back-to-back wins have the Tigers set up for a possible winning season if Hillman plays with the same intensity as the last two games.

Swami Sez: Hillman 30, Posen 8.

HALE (2-4) at MIO (5-1) — Friday — 7 p.m. — On paper this game appears to favor Mio. Hale’s two straight losses are not an indication of how they played.

The Eagles were involved in a shootout against North Star League leader Au Gres, only to fall short 58-50. Hale’s quarterback Robert Rosebrugh had a fantastic night against Au Gres, rushing 34 times for 237 yards and three touchdowns, then completed 11 of 17 attempts for another 132 yards, with a pair of scores. Swami in one way or another, Rosebrugh accounted for three quarters of the Eagles total points. Jeff Guoan was on the receiving end of two touchdowns. Then on the defensive side Rosebrugh was in the right place for 10 tackles and an interception. 

Mio continued to improve after going winless last season, downing Atlanta 49-32. Austin Fox had another outstanding night at quarterback firing four touchdowns, two to Lewis Kuffel and Brandon Wiltse and Nathan Hurst pulled in one each. Dallas Long kept the Huskies defense from completely concentrating on the pass, gaining large chunks of yardage carrying the pigskin 10 times for 150 yards for two more scores. While Hurst added another 132 yards to push the Thunderbolts over 300 rushing yards.

Swami says this game will be hard to pick, as both teams are equal in both passing and rushing categories. He says the real difference is going to be who will be better on defense. 

Swami Sez: Mio 24, Hale 0.

ALCONA (2-4) at WHITTEMORE-PRESCOTT (2-4) — Friday — 7 p.m. — Both teams are desperate for a win. Either offense is capable of putting points on the board.

One would have to say the play of Alcona freshman Garrett Somers is beyond expectations of what Swami had thought, as seen in his rushing and passing statistics. There was no doubt Mike Basner was going to bowl defenses over on the ground.  The Somers to Gavin Walker connection has the ability to put points on the board. Swami believes there is a few correctable errors that the Tigers have work out in order to be a team that could finish on the winning side of the ledger.

Whittemore-Prescott has relied on rushing to win. The Cardinals have used no less than five running backs to lug the football. With the weather pattern rolling in, the All-Knowing-One doesn’t expect the ball to be in the air. Rushing maybe at a premium as well, Swami feels the winner will be the team that has the fewest turnovers. 

Swami Sez: Alcona 18, Whittemore-Prescott 14.

CENTRAL LAKE (2-4) at ONAWAY (2-4) — Friday — 7 p.m. — The Trojans and Cardinals have had their moments, but not in a good way. Onaway has struggled in facets of the game. The Cardinals are young across the offensive line, starting a freshman and two sophomores, so they are still learning. The Cardinals offense centers around half back Hudson Decker.

Central Lake is basically the same, starting a lone senior, the majority of the Trojans’ team is made up of sophomores. Quarterback Gavin Miller is the leading the team in tackles on the defensive side. Miller in turn can throw with the best of them with his favor two receivers being Garrison Barrett and Jamal Cebulski. Drayton Evans and Brayden Steenwyk have been the two mainstays in the backfield and are leaders on defense.

Swami says this will be a battle of the youth. For now, both teams are in the learning stage, with the school of hard knocks leading the way.

Swami Sez:  Central Lake 30, Onaway 18.