-- Space normally reserved for attracting shoppers to sales, listing business hours or announcing worship services has been shared in the past few weeks with a message rarely seen in the city at this time of year.

The Red Raiders (6-3) make their first appearance in the postseason at 7 p.m. today when they play host to Harbor Beach (5-4) in a Division 6 district showdown. Make no mistake: An entire town will be watching.

"I think they're definitely pumped up and ready for this," said Stacie Stauffer of Marlette whose daughter, Ashley, is a cheerleader. "It's our time. And I think that's how the community feels about this: It's our time."

For the Red Raiders, it's about time. Marlette's first playoff appearance ends a drought that just six years ago included one of the longest losing streaks in state history - 37 games from 1995 to 1999 - which only has fueled the community's excitement.

"I have been around the program now for 10 years (as part of the coaching staff)," said Denny Lester, a 1996 Marlette graduate who is in his fourth year as the Red Raiders' coach. "It's very satisfying because over the years, whether it's justified or not, we've taken a lot of crap here. It's nice to kind of turn the page."

The Red Raiders' playoff berth is just part of the story at Marlette, which is enjoying a banner fall season in athletics. Boys teams in soccer and cross country won league championships, while the girls basketball team is sitting atop the Greater Thumb Conference East Division.

"You know, it seems like we always have one team that's having success," said Lorri Glidden, who's been with the school district for 28 years, the past eight as the Red Raiders' athletic director. "But I can't remember having success with so many teams. It's been awesome the last couple of weeks. The spirit here is tremendous."

The success of the football team has generated plenty of buzz around town and standing-room-only crowds at home games. Glidden expects nothing less for tonight and said extra bleachers will be brought in, as well as "beefed up" security.

"Everybody's talking about going to the football game," said Linda Wilson of Columbiaville, who has owned Country Crate on Main Street for 24 years. "They'll go get cold and love it."

The city's support hasn't been lost on the players, who before practice Tuesday recalled games this season against Sandusky and Ubly in which enormous home crowds greeted them with cheers outside their locker room after victories.

As the team left last week for Peck, needing a victory in the season finale to secure a spot in the postseason, fans honked horns on the way out of town and stopped along cross streets to wave and show their support. After the Red Raiders' 41-6 victory, a police escort accompanied the team's bus through town.

"It's been great with the town's reaction to it," said Rich Warner, a senior center playing his third season on varsity. "Everybody gets excited about coming to the football games now. In years past, there just hasn't been a bunch of people in the stands. It's great to see the stands packed and the excitement the town feels for the football program."

Teammate Derek Hall, a senior wide receiver, said, "(Lester) talked about it before, how the town and the school and everybody is hungry to have a good team. Now that we finally have one, it's evident. You walk around, and everyone is coming up to shake your hand. It's comforting to see everyone behind us."

A group of cheerleaders and parents, with the help of the girls basketball team, went downtown Wednesday afternoon armed with plenty of paint and spirit. They decorated storefront windows with messages painted in thick red and white strokes, adding to an atmosphere already brimming with anticipation.

"Oh yeah, everyone's excited about it," said Kirk Hines, 45, of Marlette who has two sons in the school district and a third who's a recent graduate. "We were out walking Sunday night after they (found out) who they were playing, and everyone would stop and ask, 'Did you hear who we're playing?' It's kind of nice.

This is cache, read story here