NILES, Mich. -- Week five of Under the Lights is here, and it feels like the season is flying by! This week, we've got another all-Michigan battle as the Niles Vikings take on the Paw Paw Red Wolves, two teams with a goal of winning the Wolverine Conference.
"I don't think anybody chooses to be 0-2," said Niles head coach Scot Shaw.
Wise words from Niles head coach Scot Shaw, whose Vikings have not had the desired start to the 2026 season.
But Shaw, a local coaching veteran and MHSFCA Hall of Famer, has started 0-2 before in his career, and knows just how to turn this ship around, ahead of his team's first Wolverine Conference game.
"You pick up the intensity that maybe you were lacking before, we've had the best three days of practice this week that we've had in the last two years, this week was good, so our kids realize that they're not where they want to be, and I don't have to preach a lot about what our culture is and all that because it's been engrained," said Shaw.
Shaw is hoping this stretch of superb practices translates into a win against Paw Paw.
He says the mental mistakes he's seen from Niles in the first two weeks can't happen Friday if his team wants to end the night victorious.
"Our lack of execution, and mistakes that we've made in coverage, mistakes that we've made in blocking, mistakes that we've made within the reaches of the game, letting things happen to us, instead of going out and making it ourselves," said Shaw.
Motivation though, is not an issue.
Senior right guard Jacob Kehoe has been dreaming about his matchup on offense and is beyond ready to get between the white lines.
"That nose guard, big, hefty dude, he's got my number and we're going to kick his butt all night, between me, and the center, and the other guard, he's just going to be on the ground all night," said Kehoe.
Coach Shaw and the rest of the Vikings know their season isn't over just because of their disappointing start, but the group knows Friday's game carries significant weight.
"We haven't lost the season yet so 7 games left to go, we go 7-2, that's basically playoff running so looking at our conference now, we still have a chance to win the conference so that's what keeping everybody motivated, and we don't like to lose so being able to win would spike some good emotions up."
The Red Wolves and the Vikings will kick off from Vikings Stadium Friday at 7 p.m.