OBSERVER File Photo In this OBSERVER file photo, Dunkirk’s Christian Oritz (30) takes a hand off in their 20-6 loss to Maritime last Friday night.

Following their 20-6 loss at the hands of the Maritime-Charter Commodores, the Dunkirk Marauders will now enter week three without a couple of their established leaders.

Senior Earl Stewart and Junior Gavin Cave will both miss Dunkirk’s Friday evening showdown with the Lakeshore Eagles. Cave was injured during the Martime game last Friday, while Stewart was injured during a team practice this week, and is not expected to return for the Marauders this season, leaving two gaping holes in an already depleted Marauder starting lineup. This leaves Dunkirk coach Mike Sarratori to lean more heavily on his younger guys.

“They’re both big losses, but we were already starting several sophomores, and this will give a couple younger kids a opportunity. We’ll be a little younger this week,” Sarratori said.

As for what the Marauders will be missing in Stewart, in addition to his leadership, his pure ability will leave a large hole.

“He could break one at any time. He’s a senior, a leader, and a great athlete,” Sarratori said.

The pressure on offense will fall more heavily on both quarterback Phil Messina and running back Chris Ortiz. For Messina, the Marauders need someone to step up and provide leadership within the huddle.

“He definitely has to step up. He’ll be taking a bigger leadership role, with two of our captains hurt,” Sarratori said.

Meanwhile, Ortiz of course will “get his touches,” according to Sarratori, but the offense has to be less one dimensional to be effective, especially with the loss of Stewart. This puts even more pressure on Messina to be successful.

“We know we have to do other things to get back to the next level. With the youth, we’re trying to make sure we give ourselves a great chance to win every game,” Sarratori said.

Coming into Karl Hoeppner Field are the Lakeshore Eagles, who like the Marauders, enter with a win and a loss to show for the season thus far. The Eagles bring to the table a spread offense, with athletic wide receivers and an accurate passer in quarterback Mike Neary.

“We played against them in summer league, they are very talented at receiver and quarterback. They like to spread ball around and do have a couple seniors that are good size and pretty aggressive. It’ll be a tough game,” Sarratori said.

Despite the injuries, the Marauders face a task they are able to handle if they can play above their age.

“We have to not play our age, and play like the veteran team instead. We certainly can’t play like a bunch of sophomores. If we eliminate mistakes and stay healthy, it’ll be a very good game,” Sarratori said.

One other factor that bit the Marauders last week was the weather. With gusts of wind all but killing the passing game for most of the first half, the Marauders were forced to stick to the ground and go for unfavorable fourth downs, as punting was nearly impossible. Fortunately, they should expect a beautiful, warm night with a light breeze.

The Eagles take on the Marauders at 7:30 p.m.