It’s only the second week of Grand Meadow’s football season, but the Superlarks are about to play in a game that could have a big impact on the Southeast Conference Championship.

The No. 1 ranked Superlarks (1-0 overall, 1-0 SEC) are set to host No. 4 Spring Grove (2-0 overall, 2-0 SEC) in GM Friday at 7 p.m.

The winner of the game will have the inside track on the the SEC championship and top seed in the Section 1 playoffs.

“This is as big a game it gets in the conference,” GM head coach Gary Sloan said. “You hate to say that in week two, but it’s pretty much the truth. On the other hand, it can’t make or break your season.”

GM settled for a three-way tie in the SEC last season and it still walked away with a state title, but the Larks would like to win the conference outright this season. Lanseboro, which is ranked No. 9 in the state, could also play a role in who finishes on top this year.

This year’s contest has some unique challenges for the Larks. They’ve only played one game, while the Lions have played two contests, and they only have a short period of time to prepare SG’s new offense, which features a spread set and a lot of passing.

“They’ve completely changed their style of play. In past years they would line it up and run at you and now they’re throwing probably 80 percent of the time,” Sloan said. “[Playing them this early] is something we’re not used to. We typically play them late in the season and with them playing zero week and us not, we feel like we’re a little behind the eight ball.”

Last year, GM beat Spring Grove in the regular season and the playoffs. But this year will present a different challenge with the Lions’ new offense. Sloan felt good about the work his team had in Wednesday’s practice.

“We threw a lot at the kids today and we feel like we’ve got some pretty solid schemes,” Sloan said. “We’ve got to get pressure and we’ve got to make tackles when they complete passes.”