Payback on Missiles' minds

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The Galena Pirates have a way of ruining Milledgeville's fun. On Friday, the Missiles get a chance to do some spoiling of their own. The Pirates, Class 1A's defending champion and the Associated Press' top-ranked team, visits Floyd Daub Field with a lot on the line. First, there's the battle for first place in the NUIC Upstate against the third-ranked Missiles, with both teams 5-0 overall and 4-0 in conference. Galena also will put three long winning streaks - 25 straight regular-season games, 20 in conference, 19 overall - on the line. "This game means a lot to us, just because of who they are," Milledgeville lineman Drew Davidson said. "They expect to win every game they play, but we want to walk out of here with a win." Milledgeville has a long history with the Pirates, most of it ending in tears. Galena has knocked the Missiles out of the playoffs three times, including the 1A semifinals in 1999 and last year's second round. For added insult, the Pirates' unheralded basketball team upset Milledgeville's state-ranked squad in the first round of February's Class 1A regionals. "We're totally concentrating on this game," Missiles quarterback Kirk Engelkens added. "This is a game that we want to still be talking about in 20 years." Galena handed the Missiles two of their three losses in 2007. The Pirates' 24-20 win in Week 6 was by far the closest of their 14 wins, but they knocked Milledgeville out 27-0 in the playoffs. "We always play pretty solid against them," Davidson said. "They always make a big play here and there, get really good field position, and that's the game." Engelkens was present the last time the Missiles knocked off Galena in football. Like this year, the Pirates were defending 1A state champs in 2004, when they visited Milledgeville. Engelkens watched from the crow's nest with his mother, Jody, as his brother, Kal, quarterbacked the Missiles to a 24-13 upset. "I remember everything about that game," Kirk said of that Saturday afternoon win. "We just came out and played so tough." According to Engelkens, Milledgeville has yet to display the toughness needed to accomplish the Missiles' lofty goals in Gary Hartje's 30th and final year as head coach. The team nearly got caught looking ahead last Friday, when it squeaked past Aquin 36-32 at Freeport. "We were really lucky to win that game," Engelkens said. "We've been playing pretty terrible for a while now. Hopefully this is the week we really get serious about being the kind of team we know we can be. "We just need to start having fun again," he continued. "It was really nice of Coach Hartje to stick around for us. We're going to try to do something special for him, and that starts Friday."