They've ripped out the 65-year-old bleachers at the Thomas Park football field in Marion and replaced them with new seats that are sturdier and hold a few more people.

Just in time.

The Marion Indians, fresh off a 70-7 conquest of Mount Pleasant, will be hosting the top-ranked Decorah Vikings Friday night in the Class 3A game of the week -- and maybe the game of the year.

The Indians jumped to No. 4 in the Des Moines Register poll this week and are ranked No. 5 by the Associated Press as they head into the big contest.

Come early if you want one of those new seats. "It will definitely be an overflow crowd," Marion Coach Tony Perkins predicted Tuesday.

"The atmosphere is going to be phenomenal. It's going to be crazy," said senior Ethen Herren. "It's going to be a football game that everybody is going to want to watch."

They're not finished with the renovation project at Thomas Park, although the new bleachers have been installed. They plan to build new locker rooms, new restrooms and a new concession stand as part of the overall project, but for now the old park will put on a bow-tie and welcome a crowd that's expected to top 4,000.

"It will be great," said tailback Trev Biery. "We're ready, we're excited. I can't wait."

Perkins expects an old-fashioned smash-mouth football game between two physical clubs that love to run the football. Marion completed only two passes in its 70-7 conquest of Mount Pleasant and Decorah completed three passes in a 35-7 verdict over Waverly-Shell Rock last Friday.

"It's really a game between two teams that what you see is what you're going to get," Perkins remarked. "Neither one of them is going to come out and try to pull the wool over your eyes and run trick plays.

"It's going to be straight, in your face, one-on-one football. Your big man against my big man. That's exactly what I like."

Zach Borens, Marion's biggest man at 6-foot-8 and 345 pounds, rolled his ankle against Mount Pleasant and did not practice Monday or Tuesday, but he promised to be 100 percent for Friday's game.

Decorah features Josey Jewell, a 6-2, 207-pound all-state linebacker and fullback. He wears uniform No. 42 and will be a big key Friday.

"We have to control Josey Jewell," Perkins said. "We're not going to stop him. He's too good. But we need to slow down Josey. And we have to make sure we use our big line and control the line of scrimmage."

Biery rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries against Mount Pleasant. Colton Mowry ran for 80 yards on 12 tries with two TDs, and Tyler Gunderson gained 51 yards on four carries with two scores.

None of the Indians had a chance for glossy stats against Mount Pleasant. The entire second half was played with a continuous clock after Marion exploded for 44 points in the second quarter.

"That second quarter was crazy," Herren said.

The Indians are glad to be ranked in the polls this week, but nobody on the team seems to be making a big deal out of it.

"We know about it, but we don't really look at it and don't really care," Biery said. "We know we're going to play No. 1, so that's all that matters."

Marion and Decorah are not in the same district, but they're in the same class and the same side of the state. One of them will be saddled with an early season loss Friday, but it won't hurt their shot at making the playoffs.

Perkins said this is the hardest-working team he's ever had at Marion. He's confident they're ready for a supreme test from Decorah.

"This is the measuring stick that they've been waiting for," he said. "A lot of people have called and said it would be nice to have them (Decorah) later on in the season. I don't agree.

"We want to see what we've got right now and what we need to fix. And so it's better to play the No. 1-ranked team early so you can fix those things and hopefully it will help you down the road."