BRITT — When Matt Dillon looked at the revamped schedule for his St. Edmond football team in the offseason, this was the date circled on his calendar.

Dillon and the unbeaten Gaels travel north Friday night to take on defending Class A state champion West Hancock.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

While the ninth-ranked Eagles (2-1 overall, 1-0 in A, District 2) graduated plenty from last year, they have become quite the perennial playoff contender over the years. And this is season is no different.

Led by returning 1,000-yard rusher Cole Kelly, West Hancock has rebounded from a Week 1 loss to Garner-Hayfield/Ventura to post back-to-back victories over Forest City and Bishop Garrigan.

“No doubt, this is a big one,” Dillon said. “As soon as I saw our schedule, I knew this would be a great test for our football team. I’m excited, the kids are excited and the coaching staff is excited about it.

“We need to line it up, play and find out where we are at.”

Kelly is well on his way to another big season, racking up 564 yards on 81 carries with seven touchdowns. A year ago, the Eagles led the entire state with 5,312 yards rushing as a team and 74 scores.

In a 35-0 win over the Golden Bears last week, West Hancock ran the ball 39 times for 354 yards and attempted just one pass. Kelly rushed for 303 of those yards and had all four offensive touchdowns.

“We can’t let Kelly get loose for long runs,” Dillon said. “He did against Garrigan and that was the difference. He’s a big, strong kid and we’ve got to make sure to wrap him up.”

Senior Cayson Barnes has attempted just 19 passes, completing seven for 82 yards.

It has been a much different story for St. Edmond (3-0, 1-0), which features a balanced attack led by senior quarterback Drew Schaeffer, who is fourth in the state with a 193.8 quarterback rating.

Schaeffer has thrown for 751 yards with eight passing touchdowns and two more on the ground, helping the Gaels rack up 144 points this season. He leads Class A in passing yards and is second in total yards with 791.

Three players have over 100 yards receiving led by Parker Oswald’s 10 receptions for 246 yards.

Kase Baker has caught four passes for 197 with three TDs and Anthony Lacina has 160 yards and two scores. On the ground, St. Edmond has rushed for 814 yards with Tyler Rossmanith posting a team-high 304 and two scores.

Baker has 221 and three TDs and Sean Flattery 213 with three scores.

St. Edmond’s offense enters the week ranked second in the state with 1,565 total yards and is sixth averaging almost 27 yards per reception.

“There is a no better way to measure where you are as a team than playing the defending state champions,” Dillon said. “We’re ready to go.”

Game Notes: Thornton Aljets is first in Class A and fifth in the state with 1,135 kickoff yards. … Aljets’ 11 made extra-points ranked third in Class A. … Parker Oswald is fifth in Class A in receiving yards. … St. Edmond’s 144 points scored are already more than last year, when they had 119 in nine games. … The 144 points are the most to start a season since 2014 when they scored 110 and reached the state semifinals. … Schaeffer has 1,494 career yards passing with 16 touchdowns. … Baker has 902 yards rushing and 494 yards receiving in his career with 18 offensive TDs. … West Hancock has six consecutive seasons of at least five wins. … The Eagles are 46-14 since the 2015 season. … Cole Kelly has 2,595 yards and 34 touchdowns in his career.