Braves Football Confident Entering New Conference

GLADSTONE----The Gladstone High School football team has a lot of confidence entering the 2017 season, with experience on both sides of the ball, and a new league to play in. The Braves have left the Great Northern Conference for football, and will now play in the Mid Peninsula Conference.

That means no more Menominee, Kingsford, and Marquette on the schedule. Instead, the Braves welcome Iron Mountain, Ishpeming, and Manistique to the schedule.

"It's going to be a lot of new competition," Braves senior Trent Marenger said. "It's going to be a great experience, and some new challenges, for sure. They (opponents) think we're going into their conference because we're weaker, but we're going to sure them that we're tough. "

The Braves are in their second week of practice, and the players say that they're ready to improve on last year's 3-6 campaign.

"The first week went really good," Braves senior Alex Chouinard said. "We have a lot of guys out there, trying their best."

"Not too many injuries, so that's always a good thing," he continued. "We should have the best defense in the U.P., honestly. I like being in a new conference. They (opponents) don't know what they're in for."

"The team's looking good, and the kids are working really hard," Braves senior Jeff Stenson said. "We have a lot of seniors who are really good leaders, and a lot of our juniors are stepping up. Winning our conference is a team goal."

Gladstone opens its season on August 25th at Gwinn, and then plays three straight home games. You can hear all Braves games live on WGKL-FM (Kool 105.5).

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos, and watch video interviews with Gladstone players.