This game has a way of serving as a kick in the stomach to Coast Guard Academy football coach Bill George … long before it’s even time to think about it.

“Right now I’m worried about Merchant Marine’s blitzes,” said George, who is also the Bears’ offensive line coach. “… I wake up Thursday morning (last week prior to a matchup against WPI). I wake up Friday morning. I wake up with that feeling: have we done right (thinking about Merchant Marine too soon)? You have that worry in your stomach.

“We did things right because we played well against WPI. The assistant coaches did a great job focusing on WPI for two weeks.”

Now it’s time.

Coast Guard, 6-3 overall, 4-2 in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference, will play rival Merchant Marine (7-2, 5-1) at noon Saturday in Kings Point, N.Y. The 47th meeting between the two federal service academies, a matchup which began in 1949, will be broadcast by ESPN3.

It has been played annually since 1981 for the Secretaries’ Cup, with Coast Guard representing the Department of Homeland Security and Merchant Marine representing the Department of Transportation. Merchant Marine holds a 25-12 lead in the competition for the Cup and a 32-14 lead overall.

Coast Guard hasn’t won at the Kings Point campus since 1996, a victory which propelled the Bears into the NCAA Division III tournament.

“We recruit against each other,” George said. “It’s a football rivalry. I don’t have any dislike for them, but are you going to be buddies with each other when you’re playing this big football game? Is it different than talking to someone on the street about the Red Sox or Yankees?”

“We need a win. That’s it, really,” said Coast Guard defensive tackle and senior captain Jack Brandt, who along with fellow captain Chip Crowley will play his final game Saturday. “… We want to make it special. It hasn’t really hit me yet (that it’s his last game). I’d rather it not hit me. I’d rather focus on what’s going on right now.”

The Bears, who will wear new, red, white and blue uniforms with the Coast Guard motto “Semper Paratus” emblazoned on the back, will be trying to add to what is already their best win total since going 8-2 and winning the NEFC Bogan Division title in 2007. With the 24-10 victory over WPI, Coast Guard has already clinched its first winning season since 2012.

Merchant Marine, meanwhile, which uses the run-based triple-option offense, can win a share of the NEWMAC championship with a win over Coast Guard and keep alive hopes of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Mariners, winners of four straight, would tie for the league title with the winner of the MIT-Springfield game.

Coast Guard, with a victory, would finish in a three-way tie for second place.

The Coast Guard defense has allowed just 23 total points over the last three games and more than 13 points just once in the last five games, allowing just 11.6 points per game during that span. The offense is led by junior quarterback Ryan Jones, who finished 30-for-37 against WPI for 251 yards, two touchdowns and a two-point conversion as the Bears led start to finish. Jones earned NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Now, it’s just about finishing the turnaround that these Coast Guard seniors, 13 of them, including Brandt and Crowley, have started. Coast Guard was 3-7 last year, with six straight losses to finish the season, including a 48-23 loss to Merchant Marine in New London.

“It started at the end of last season,” said Crowley, the affable wide receiver, whose parents, Jon and Carolyn, actually moved from San Marino, Calif., to Mystic to watch Chip and younger brother Pat play for the Bears. “How we left last year left a bad taste in peoples’ mouths. The whole team was ready to make some structural changes.”

“It’s everybody,” said Brandt, who hails from Marlton, N.J. “Losing is awful. Everyone on our team hates losing. We walk on the field every week and believe that we are a better team. … We’re just doing it.”

The other seniors: offensive linemen Hudson Dunaway, Nick Szep, Bill Boardman and Riley Sansone, kicker Cole Austin (who tied the program record last week with his 12th field goal of the season), defensive tackles Tommy Jones and Nate Harvey, linebackers Titus Creamer, Jake Behne (leads the Bears in tackles with 85) and Luke Wilson and long snapper Clark Nelson.

“You hear coaches all across the country say there’s no substitute for leadership,” George said. “Here (at a military academy), you hear it all over the place. But it’s more than just leadership, it’s leadership in difficult times. … These guys are serious and passionate.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com