What amounts to a three-game run to the playoffs begins on Friday night for the St. Edmond football team.

The Gaels host GTRA for Homecoming inside Dodger Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

St. Edmond (3-2 overall, 3-0 in the district) currently shares the eight-player, District 1 lead with the Titans (5-0, 3-0) and Kingsley-Pierson (5-1, 4-0) after head coach Matt Dillon’s squad received a forfeit victory last week from Siouxland Christian.

The Gaels have also knocked off league foes Newell-Fonda and Remsen St. Mary’s by a combined score of 100-28 around losses to Glidden-Ralston and top-ranked Bishop Garrigan.

Having extra time off was beneficial for St. Edmond, as senior Jakob Koopman was able to recover from an injury sustained in the loss to the Golden Bears. Freshman Maddox Shirbroun, who was also hurt, is out for the season with a leg injury.

“The kids are itching to get back out there,” Dillon said. “It was nice to have the extra time off, but we need to see if what we worked on is going to translate to the field.”

The district champion, runner-up and third-place programs all automatically qualify for the eight-player playoffs, and two at-large selections complete the field. A win in any of the final three games will send the Gaels to the postseason for a second consecutive season.

“Just like the Major League Baseball (wild card) playoffs, we have a three-game season ahead of us,” Dillon said. “We know what we need to do to get where we want to be.”

St. Edmond hosts Harris-Lake Park (1-4, 0-3) next week before finishing up at Kingsley-Pierson (5-1, 4-0) on Oct. 17.

GTRA has reeled off convincing wins over West Bend-Mallard, Remsen St. Mary’s, Newell-Fonda and North Union, also earning a forfeit vs. Siouxland Christian.

The Titans feature one of the top quarteback-wide receiver combinations in eight-player in Teagan Hanson and Jaxson Schnell. Hanson has thrown for 1,222 yards with 18 touchdowns. Schnell has caught 25 passes for 525 and nine TDs.

Hanson, who has completed 65 of 104 attempts, has also rushed for 193 yards and four touchdowns. Kenny Ness leads the ground unit with 214 yards and five total TDs.

“This is as talented of an offense as there is in all of eight-player when it comes to throwing the football,” Dillon said. “Hanson is incredible, and he has three really good wide receivers to throw to.”

This will be the fifth meeting all-time between St. Edmond and GTRA, as the series is tied at 2-2. The Titans won last year (54-46 in double overtime) and in 2021, with the Gaels claiming victories in 2022 and ’23.