Marengo football coach Paul Forsythe wondered this week if, given Friday’s opponent, he should remain a little tight-lipped around athletic director Nate Wright.

Wright scheduled the game against Canton, where his brother, Nick, is head coach and their father, Chuck, is an offensive assistant.

“He said, ‘When you’re talking to me, I kind of feel like you have a mic on,’ " Nate Wright said. “And I said, ‘I don’t think you understand how badly I don’t want to lose to my brother and my dad. That’s not how this works.’ "

The Little Giants visit Marengo at 7 p.m. Friday at Rod Poppe Fields for a nonconference football game between two 0-1 teams. It is likely the first time that the Wright family has ever cheered against each other.

“It’ll be a unique night for all of us to have that type of rivalry going on within the family,” Chuck Wright said. “We’re usually all rooting for each other. I can’t even get my grandsons (Chaz and Tucker) to root for us.”

The idea to schedule the teams came when Nick called his older brother last spring to ask about Wilmington, which was Marengo’s first-week opponent. The Little Giants needed a Week 2 game.

Nate informed Nick that Wilmington was playing Johnsburg in Week 2, but that the Indians needed a game, and everything progressed from there.

“It’ll be neat,” Nick Wright said. “I’ve been going up there since he’s been there, watching basketball games (Nate is Marengo’s head boys coach) and things like that. It’ll be nice to have that connection and I told him he better feed us on the way home.”

No problem. Nate Wright plans to send the players and coaches well-fed for their 3-hour bus ride home.

Chuck Wright grew up in Canton and played football at Eastern Illinois University under head coach Darrell Mudra and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan. He played quarterback with Jeff Christensen, who later wound up in the NFL and now runs Throw It Deep Academy, which trains young quarterbacks.

Chuck was a walk-on at EIU, but got on the field later in his career. He returned to Canton and bought his father’s auto parts store. Later, Chuck became a teacher and coach at Canton. He worked under former coach Steve Graves, who came to Huntley as football coach from 2005-2009. Chuck then took over as the Little Giants head coach when Graves left.

Nate Wright lost one of his kidneys in high school and stopped playing football. He went to Knox College in Galesburg and played golf and basketball.

Nick and their brother, Matt, both played wide receiver at Monmouth College. Nick caught passes from Alex Tanney, who gained Internet fame as the “trick shot quarterback” by making videos of incredibly accurate football passes.

Matt is actually older than Nick, but started college later, after going to welding school. Matt played wide receiver with Alex Tanney and later with Mitch Tanney, Alex’s brother.

Matt was an assistant coach at Austin Peay and now is offensive coordinator at NCAA Division III Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.

“It’s really kind of an honor,” Chuck said of his sons following him into coaching. “I’m really proud that they decided to do those things. They’ve had a lot of influences in their lives besides me that guided them that way. But us being involved in athletics of some sort guided them in that direction.”

Nick Wright coached at Class 1A Havana for three seasons before taking a teaching and the football coaching job at Canton in 2019, just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Nick Wright had his father help him when he could at Havana. Now, in the same town, they are together every day.

“It’s awesome,” Nick said. “We’re kind of the same person, very opinionated and alike in our way. He’s more of an old-school guy and brings that aspect.”

Chuck works with the offensive line and quarterbacks, while Nick calls the offensive plays.

Nate Wright will get a chance to see his parents, Chuck and Deb, along with his brother Friday night in a different situation than normal. Next year, they will do it all over again with Marengo as the visiting team.

“I’m excited for it,” Nate Wright said. “Nick has never been here for a football game. It’ll be nice for them to see the atmosphere at Rod Poppe Fields. I’m going to try to stay away from the Canton sideline (during the game) as much as I can.”