JOHN DAY – Grant Union is preparing to kick off the fall sports season.

The Prospector football team will take on Ontario in its first game of the season at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5. It will be the first meeting between Ontario and Grant Union in several seasons.

Grant Union coach Monty Nash said he thinks his team can hold its own against 4A Ontario.

“It should be a good game,” Nash said. “We can’t go in there thinking ‘Oh, we’re playing a bigger school.’ We have to play it like any other game.”

Grant Union has been climbing the Eastern Oregon League ladder in recent years. The team was 2-3 in 2005, 3-2 in 2006 and 4-1 in 2007.

The Pros’ only league loss in 2007 was to Vale, and the Vikings finished in second place in the state last season. Grant Union was bounced from the playoffs by Rainier during a close 23-14 game last season.

Grant Union is returning several players this season, including running backs Tyler Martin and Jimmy Cook. Cook ran for more than 1,000 yards last season and averaged more than nine yards a carry.

The football team won’t be the only Grant Union team hitting the field this week. The soccer team will head to La Grande Saturday.

The soccer team is returning a large number of seniors this season. Coach Ken Purnell said the varsity team could be exclusively seniors this season, but a few underclassmen may break into the roster.

The Pros finished 10-2 in Special District 5 play last season before losing their first round playoff game to Santiam Christian 2-0.