NILES — The Niles football team has a date with destiny Friday afternoon.

The Vikings have been hard at work preparing to take on the Martians of Goodrich Friday in the MHSAA Division 4 State Championship Game at Ford Field. The game starts at 12:30 p.m. and will air on Fanduel Sports Detroit.

The team practiced at the Edwardsburg Fieldhouse Monday and at Notre Dame’s Loftus Sports Center Wednesday to get a better feel for Ford Field’s indoor environment. The Vikings will leave for Ford Field at 5 p.m. tonight.

Head Coach Scot Shaw and his Vikings are aiming to finish the season on the highest of notes.

“We’ve been saying that the goal every week was to earn another Monday and now we can’t say that. We’re out of Mondays,” he said. “Regardless of how it turns out, we’re done, so we want to get this last one and I’m sure they do too, but we’re going in with the thought that we can get it done.”

Like the Vikings, the Goodrich Martians are 12-1 and riding a 12-game winning streak following a 22-0 setback against Frankenmuth in Week 1. The Martians average 41.1 points per game on offense and give up just 10.4 points on defense. Quarterback Tanner Mazich has completed 48 of 62 passes for 931 yards, 11 touchdowns and two interceptions. His favorite target is Central Michigan commit Max Macklem, who has caught 26 passes for 583 yards and six touchdowns. Their leading rusher is Chase Burnett, who has rushed for 1,340 yards and 22 touchdowns on 198 carries. Slot back Jakoby Lagat is a threat to run and catch, with 584 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns and 11 catches for 157 yards and three touchdowns.

The offense has had success behind a starting offensive line that averages 250 pounds.

“They remind me a lot of Paw Paw,” Shaw said. “They run a slightly different offense but it’s kind of the same type of thing in a phone booth for the most part. Defensively, they’re quick and they get to the ball but you can never really tell on film. They look very, very good up front… You play against schemes and not people. We say that all the time that we’re playing against this scheme of defense or this scheme of offense and we’ll take care of the people along the way. We haven’t really seen anybody this year, that we had to really game plan around as an individual. I don’t think they have that either but we’ll give it a go.”

Friday’s game will be the culmination of four years of growth and development within the Vikings program. The Vikings were 5-4 in Shaw’s first year as coach, with several of this year’s key players earning playing time as freshman.

“I think their belief and their buy-in to our culture and their confidence and their attitude,” Shaw said. “They want to prove to people that they are capable of winning and capable of being good and they’ve done that. I think once they hit it, the light switch turned and they really believed. They’re very confident but not too confident.”

The Vikings’ success on the field has energized the greater Niles community. Shop windows and marquees throughout the area feature messages wishing the team and players good luck. For Shaw and the Vikings, the support the team has received throughout the season has not gone unnoticed.

“It’s been great,” he said. “They treated us like kings and we owe a lot of people a debt of gratitude for supporting us the way they have. We owe it to ourselves but also to other people to get this mission completed. I think we’re hungry for it and I think the community is too and it’s something that nobody here will ever forget.”