Marshfield enters essentially the second week of its football playoffs when the Pirates host Springfield on Friday.

Of course, the real playoffs don’t start for another two weeks. But if Marshfield loses to the Millers, the Pirates will, in all probability, miss the postseason.

After losing the Midwestern League opener to Churchill, Marshfield beat North Eugene two weeks ago, and then topped Willamette last week. Now, with one game to go after this week, Marshfield is tied with Churchill and Springfield for second place behind unbeaten Thurston. If Marshfield loses this week, the only way the Pirates could make the playoffs would be by beating Thurston next week and having Churchill lose to winless North Eugene.

Understandably, Marshfield coach Kent Wigle doesn’t want to find his team in that scenario.

“It’s a huge ballgame for us,” Wigle said.

Springfield is a potent team, even though star running back Dusty Jarvis is injured. In his place last week, Mike Travess rushed for 132 yards and three scores in Springfield’s 21-7 win over Churchill. Receiver Zady Navarro, an all-league defensive back last year, also is an offensive threat.

“They’ve got some big-play guys, and they’ve got 30 seniors,” Wigle said. “They’ve got a solid unit.”

He also said the Millers have shown resilience. The current seniors have been through four head coaches.

“It’s amazing they’ve hung in there,” Wigle said. “They’ve got to be a tight group.

“It’s going to be a struggle.”

Marshfield certainly has history on its side this week.

The Millers never have beaten the Pirates in Wigle’s two decades at Marshfield.

The Pirates also are coming off one of their best efforts of the season in their 47-12 win over Willamette.

Marshfield’s defense was solid, aside from one long touchdown run by Craig Loper.

“We had three interceptions,” Wigle said. “That’s the first game we’ve had more than one.”

The Pirates put lots of pressure on Willamette’s quarterback, including four sacks by Bo Cutting, which helped cause the turnovers.

One of the interceptions was returned for a touchdown by Levi Meline, the first defensive score the Pirates have had in a while.

“That sort of thing against a pretty good football team gives you confidence and gets you going and gives you momentum,” Wigle said.

The offense had a big night behind quarterback Kyle Tedder, who ran for three scores and threw for another.

Marshfield has persevered through numerous injuries. Center Jordan Chaplin and linebacker Chris Thomas won’t return from their injuries, Wigle said.

But as a positive result, “the other guys have got enough repetition that the guys we’ve moved up are playing pretty well,” Wigle said.

Meanwhile, Talo Silver and Geoff Van Pulliam continue to recover from injuries and should be available for more duty this week.

Friday’s game starts at 7 p.m. at Pete Susick Stadium.