Ask any sports writer that’s been in either Gaylord or Petoskey dating back decades, all of them can agree on one thing.
One of the true pleasures of the job is getting the chance to cover the Petoskey vs. Gaylord football game and the battle for the Jaycees Traveling Trophy.
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It’s an absolute treat of the profession being on the sidelines, up in the press box or interacting with members of the winning side afterwards.
I can personally attest to two decades worth of the rivalry, while Gaylord sports writer Dylan Jespersen is woking on his own collection of classics in the series.
A lot of years, we’ll team up for coverage, which is exactly what we’ll do for the 48th Jaycees Trophy matchup on Friday, Oct. 2 at Northmen Stadium in Petoskey.
Petoskey’s Lukas Nemec (left) and Gaylord’s Wyatt Metzger have had their battles over recent seasons and will compete once again for the Jaycees Traveling Trophy on Friday, Oct. 2 in Petoskey.
Homecoming night in Petoskey is one we’ll both want to take in, as the home Northmen try to take back the trophy after a 19-13 Gaylord win a year ago.
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Petoskey still owns the all-time trophy series, which began in 1978, with a 25-23 advantage.
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Here’s what we like about each team in 2026, where each will need to step up and our picks for Friday night.
What’s impressed you most about Gaylord?
Kochanny: For a young Gaylord team with a lot of new players in key spots, the Blue Devils’ resiliency has been impressive.
Scoring 28-unanswered to take the win over Escanaba in Week 2, then having to come back from down six to begin the fourth quarter in Week 4 against Alpena on the road, that’s not easy to do.
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Gaylord was a comeback team a year ago, so that’s one thing these young Blue Devils must have picked up on. That’s also a dangerous team to play, especially in games that’ll likely to be close, like rivalries.
Like a year ago, Gaylord has shown a lot of resiliency while being down in games or after mistakes. They’ll try to avoid both those things when Friday night kicks off another rivalry meeting with Petoskey.
Jespersen: When Gaylord’s playing clean football, they’re tough to stop.
Quarterback Calvin Cosby is a real threat running and passing, and the defense can be overwhelming.
They also found something in the running game last week with senior Kieran Beach, something that could be what takes their offense from decent to really good in the second half of the season.
What’s impressed you most about Petoskey?
Kochanny: The Northmen had some key pieces back on defense with Jace Shaw, Braden Fralick and Stuart Borowski, but it takes all 11 to play good football.
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I’ve been impressed with the entire 11 on that side of the ball. They needed to replace five players alone in the back seven and they’ve looked great.
Trent Wcisel and Brady Kanine has been strong at corner and James Holt, Michael Harrington and Hunter Cronk have made plays at linebacker.
Giving up just 10 points a game, it’s been easy to highlight the Northmen defense this season week-after-week.
Braden Fralick (2) and the rest of the Petoskey defense has been swarming and created turnovers this season, something that could be key Friday night in a rivalry meeting with Gaylord.
Jespersen: Gaylord and Petoskey are both 3-2, but the Northmen have looked better in their two losses (Coopersville, Cadillac) than the Blue Devils did in theirs (North Branch, Cadillac).
The biggest difference, in my eyes, is the experienced playmakers on the Northmen side, never allowing mistakes to completely take them out of games while capitalizing when they have athletic advantages.
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Petoskey always seems to have the better passing attack, and quarterback Lukas Nemec will certainly be one of the Blue Devils’ priorities when they’re on defense.
Where do you see vulnerability in the Blue Devils?
Jespersen: Having a young roster has its upsides, but it also has its downsides.
When Gaylord has looked its worst, it hasn’t been from an inability to move the ball or to get stops.
Penalties and turnovers were mainly to blame in both losses, and making sure those don’t compound has been the Blue Devils’ largest concern through five weeks.
Beating Petoskey is always tough, so they can’t afford to beat themselves this week if they want a chance to win.
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Where do you see vulnerability in the Northmen?
Kochanny: As steady as Petoskey’s defense has been, the offense has had some up and down performances.
Quarterback Lukas Nemec has looked good each week, but he needs some help moving the ball.
At the moment, it feels like Petoskey’s a bit too reliant on big plays to score and needs to grind out some drives. In these tough games later in the season, sustaining drives and finishing them wins games.
They’ve been great about taking care of the ball and penalties haven’t been an issue. Not being able to finish with points in the redzone hurt the Northmen in both losses this season it’ll be huge Friday night.
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Prediction?
Kochanny: With both teams on the cusp of the Division 3 postseason at the moment, a loss could potentially knock one of these two out, even if they finish with just three losses.
I’ve felt it from the start of the season and I still feel now that this is a really good Petoskey football team, though. They don’t beat themselves and the defense brings the right energy every game.
If they can finish drives throughout the second half against Gaylord, the defense will do what it does and it’s an easy pick for me. The Northmen will Fight Harder Longer. Petoskey 27, Gaylord 13
Jespersen: Two weeks ago, this would’ve been an easy decision to pick Petoskey. Gaylord’s season was on the brink of collapse after a 28-0 loss to Cadillac, and Petoskey looked like the favorite in the BNC. Now, picking this game doesn’t seem as easy.
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The margin for error for Gaylord is thinner than it is for Petoskey. One turnover could be enough to swing things in this rivalry matchup, and that usually isn’t the game script that benefits a young team on the road.
However, if Gaylord can stay out of its own way, there’s no reason to believe they can’t pull off a Jaycee’s Trophy game upset. Gaylord 22, Petoskey 20
Reach Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com and follow him on X @DrewKochanny and Instagram @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey’s Kochanny, Gaylord’s Jespersen break down Jaycees Trophy rivalry ahead
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