After two consecutive road losses to begin the season, the Manitowoc County Mariners begin a stretch of five of the next seven games at home.
They’ll host The Brown County Blackjacks at Ron Rubick Field in Manitowoc Saturday afternoon in their 2024 Northern Lights Football League home opener.
The Mariners are licking their wounds following road losses to the Madison Mad Dawgs and Fox River Raiders. Team President Marcos Alfaro says they are still trying to find their team identity.
“We had a big turnover this year. We are trying to get these guys to gel together as a team,” he explained. “We’ve seen flashes of what we can be as a team, and I think the first two games on the road kind of helped in that respect. The pressure of being at home wasn’t there, and now we come home looking to prove that we’re better than that, and they (the games) were nothing more than a stepping stone for us.”
Alfaro says it won’t be easy against a Blackjack team that comes to Rubick, also hungry for a win.
“We are looking to go into the bye week with a victory,” he said. “We talk about being the biggest play is always the next one, and that the biggest game is the net on the schedule. We are approaching this game with that type of mentality.”
Kickoff is at 3:00 p.m. Saturday (May 18th).
