Hutchinson High will play Stilwell-Blue Valley at 1 p-m this Saturday at Emporia State University’s Welch Stadium in the Class 5-A state championship football game.

Salthawk fans will have two opportunities in Hutchinson to send off the team. There will be a community pep rally for the team at 7 p-m Friday in the Salthawk Activity Center.

During the pep rally, there will be music, the dance and cheer squads will perform and the team will be introduced.

Then at 7:15 a-m, Saturday, fans are asked to line 17th Avenue from Cleveland to Severance to see the team buses off.

Tickets to Saturday’s game cost 7-dollars for adults and 6-dollars for K-12 students. There will be no advanced sales of tickets, and only Kansas State High School Activities Association passes will be accepted for admission. Gates will open at 11 a-m, Saturday at ESU.

Hutch will be the “visitor” team for the championship game. Salthawk fans are asked to sit on the east side (the side opposite the multi-tiered press box) of Welch Stadium. Emporia State University is located at 1200 Commercial Street in Emporia.

Hutch High, 10-2, has won six state football championships and holds the record for most consecutive state championships.

This is the Salthawks’ eighth appearance in the state championship game in nine years.