Previews of Week VIII area high school football games
By Ken DeLaat, N3 Sports Newaygo at Reed City 80-0? In these days of running clocks how does a team score 80 points? The Coyote offense is hard to stop, to say the least. 80 might seem like an aberration the reality is, this team is averaging 52 points a game. That’s about a couple of touchdowns a quarter….every quarter,....all season long. The Lions are a good team. A solid team that has gotten better since the season began. A whole lot better. Minus a few mistakes in the Kent City opener or the perplexity of the loss to the Warriors they could already be sitting playoff bound as are the ‘Yotes. Then there is the rivalry that spawned in 2012 when a Lion team that had been whipped in their first CSAA matchup with Reed City went to one of the most challenging venues in the region and ended the Coyotes perfect season. They stunned a team that had handled them easily the first go-round. They did it to them at their place and on their turf and it stung the Coyote faithful. Since then Reed City has a 4-1 edge. Their program has produced winners and they will be playing beyond the regular season for the ninth straight time. This one would be huge for the Newaygo team. A playoff spot assured by virtue of a win over the undefeated Coyotes on their home field in front of their very vocal fans? Oh and a share of the conference crown tossed in as well? Yeah, how big would that be? If the Lions ever needed to execute a near perfect game plan, this would be the time. Reed City has the ability and talent to exploit any weaknesses and they thrive on causing opponents to make mistakes. It looks to be a cool crisp football kind of night with no strong indication of rain. Perhaps the Lion passing game can find a little magic and the defense can create a couple of turnovers.The Lions will likely need to get on the board early and not allow their hosts to jump ahead because the Coyotes are well acquainted with how to hold a lead. They’ve had lots and lots of practice. Grant at Big Rapids A lot of teams might have a bit of a hangover coming off an emotional game like the Tigers loss last week to their rivals from the north. Coach Geraghty’s team likely shook that one off before the next practice and will be ready to do battle in Big Rapids. Both schools need this one to have a shot at post season play and Grant will be facing Kent City in a road finale while BR heads to Alma to take on a playoff bound Panther squad. The Cardinals can score a lot and quickly. Grant employs a ball control offense that grinds out yardage and keeps the opponent offense off the field. The Cardinal season has truly been up and down with a win-loss-win-loss run through seven games. They won last week so……. Fremont At Chippewa Hills This one could be a blowout or even a possible upset win for the Packers because that is how unpredictable the Warrior team has been this year. Their narrow wins over Grant and Newaygo notwithstanding their season has not been what they expected going in and they will likely end a 7 season streak of post season play. CH has pretty significant weaponry on offense led by the Lowery brothers Koron and Koronte and while the Packer defense has improved markedly the speed of the Warriors would be an overriding concern for the Fremont ‘D’. The Packers held their own against a Viking team that beat the Warriors and like we said earlier this is a better Packer team than the one that began the season. Fremont will need to capitalize on the Warrior tendency toward turnovers and untimely penalties to snare an upset and being on the road, a long road to Remus, doesn’t make the task any easier. Pine River at Holton The six teams in the Silver Division are knocking heads with the sextet from the ever tough Highland Conference and the Red Devils pick happens to be one of the league’s best, the Bucks. Both teams are 5-2 so the win is the ticket to the dance. Outside of their win over a 4-3 Manton team the Pine River victories have been against teams with a 2-25 record this season. Common opponents? Holton handled Evart quite easily during their win in game 2 of the season. The following week the Bucks needed overtime to beat the same Wildcat team. The Devils are at home where they love to play and they have an eye on the prize after shaking off the loss to Kent City last week. This will be a good one to see, Beal City at Hesperia The Panthers will bring out their spirited but battered and bruised squad onto their home field to face the Aggies who are also having a down year with just a lone win. The Black Cats have had a really tough schedule and these last two weeks at home provide a pair of opportunities to end on an up note since after the 1-6 Ags the Shelby team visiting next week has yet to post win number one. This Panthers team has persevered through a difficult season and deserve support for putting in four full quarters of effort each game despite depleted numbers and too many losses. While Hesperia always turns out big for home games it would be great to see a huge following for the last two in this challenging season. Evart at White Cloud Same as above. The Cloud has been beset by the numbers game as well. They play hard but when you need to go the full 48 without a bit of a blow here and there, it wears a team down. Evart has won one game and they don’t generally score much but the Indians have been shut out four times and tend to be mistake-prone. Should they put mistakes aside they could have a shot here and getting that elusive #1. If not, the players on this team still deserve a lot of respect for enduring an often-punishing season and this is the final home game for the departing seniors. Come out and enjoy the game and besides, you’ll get to see one of the best halftime shows in the region. Tri County at Central Montcalm The Hornets are just trying to finish a dreadful season that culminated with an 80-0 loss last week to reed City. A Viking win would give them 4 on the season or the first time since 2010. TC should be able to get this one but never underestimate a team coming off a bad beating. They can surprise anyone taking them too lightly. Other Games: Lake City at Kent City The cream of the Silver meets the top dog in the Highland. Two teams that know how to score, know how to defend, and know how to win. One comes out undefeated but both have already got their tickets to the dance. Manton at Morley Stanwood A freakish season opening win over a strong Johannesburg-Lewiston team aside the Ranger wins haven’t been against any teams with more than a single win and their offense has sputtered a bit against tough defenses, The Mohawks have a tough defense and a win gives them a 5th straight playoff appearance McBain at Lakeview The only team to score more than twice against the Ramblers was a Kingsley squad averaging 40 points a game. The Wildcats are a game group who came into the season with high expectations that have gone unmet. They have talent and play hard but McBain can lock up postseason with a win here.
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Kent City 46 Holton 0
The Eagles continue to fly as they blasted to a 19-0 first quarter lead enroute to a shutout victory over the Red Devils. “Not our best showing,” said Holton Coach Jack Nummerdor.” Kent City played a great game. (KC Coach)Bill (Crane), does a nice job with those kids and Gio Weeks is a good ball player. "We did a nice job slowing him down a bit, but then the Meeks kid and number 8 gashed us a bit.” Aaron Herron paced the running attack for Holton as he grinded out 80 yards against a solid Eagle defense. Kaleb Kitchka added 25 and Austin Hawkins contributed 22. Drew Trygstad hit on 3 passes for 69 yards with 2 of them finding the hands of Derek Pouch for 68 yards. Top tacklers were Herron (13), Kitschka (8), Colby Younts (6) who also recovered a fumble and Draven Wyant (5) including a tackled for a loss. The Devils, now 5-2, need one more win to guarantee a spot in the post season. “We will move on,” added Coach Nummerdor.”Leroy Pine River is on deck and we will fix the issues and come back to go 1-0 next week.” The Bucks are also 5-2 on the season. Morley Stanwood 35 Hesperia 6 A depleted Panther squad faced down the run oriented offense of Morley, a team with their eye on the playoffs. The Mohawks piled up 293 yards on the ground and held the Hesperia offense in check until Logan Balkema launched a scoring pass into the arms of Jacob Klemundt to get the Panthers on the board in the 4th quarter. “We started the game with 15 players, finished with 12,” said Panther Coach Doug Bolles. “Proud of my guys for never quitting and playing four quarters.” Balkema and Cameron Follett led the team in rushing with 24 yards apiece while Kaiden Robbins paced the defense with 9 tackles. Balkema and Connor VanBuskirk. The loss brings the Hesperia record to 1-6 on the season. The Black Cats return home to face the Aggies of Beal City, also sporting a 1-6 season mark. Lakeview 58 White Cloud 0 Injuries and illness had an already struggling Indian team trying to stop a Wildcat team that was celebrating home coming. Lakeview took the opening kick and returned to their own 40 yard line. The first play from scrimmage resulted in a 60 yard touchdown run. Adrian Rodriguez was 5 for 11 passing for 79 yards. Steven Holt had 3 receptions for 67 yards. Levi Graham had 1 catch for 10 yards and Donavan Stevens added 1 catch for 2 yards. Alek Degan, Steven Holt and Tyler Blackall had 3 tackles each. White Cloud (0-7) will host Evart in their home finale Friday. The Wildcats (1-6) have lost 6 straight since their season opening win over Fremont. Tri County 14 Fremont 12 The Vikings snapped a 3 game losing streak as they edged Fremont in the final home game of the season for the Packers. Newaygo 21 Grant 7 In this epic rivalry, the Battle of M-37, and Newaygo's Homecoming, tension was at a peak. In the first half, Newaygo scored first to go up 7-0 with 6:32 left in the first quarter. It stayed that way heading into the locker room at halftime. Grant quickly scored right out of the half, tying the game at 7 with 9:56 in the 3rd quarter. Newaygo wasn't deterred, however, and went up 14-7 with 3:39 left in the third off a pass from Swinehart to Jarrod Wismar, who made a fancy move to avoid the defenders and sped into the end zone. Newaygo sealed the deal in the 4th quarter, scoring off a short run to go up 21-7. Other CSAA games Reed City (7-0) 80 Central Montcalm (0-7) 0 Big Rapids (4-3) 58 Chippewa Hills (3-4) 22 The Panthers came out on fire, winning the first two sets over WC 25-22 and 25-11. Game 3, Hesperia lost 16-25. In Game 4, the Panthers fell short 22-25 followed by a 6-15 loss in game 5. Senior Alyssa Miller led the Panthers with 12 kills followed by Emily Bayle with 10 kills. Isabelle Rumsey and Ally Bayle added 7 and 6 kills to the Panther attack. Kyra Sayer and Aria Thomas had 17 and 15 assists respectively. Miller served up 13 points and with 2 aces, Ally and Emily Bayle both served 11 points each and 2 aces each. Rumsey served 5 points and 2 aces. Defensively, Rachel Romero led in blocks with 3. Ally and Emmy Bayle each had 2 blocks, Rumsey had 2 blocks, and Miller had 1 block on the night for the Panthers. Miller had 16 digs, E. Bayle 8 digs, and Thomas 6 digs. For White Cloud Isabel Karnes led the team with 24 points, followed by Olivia Bowman with 9. Bowman also led in kills with 17, followed by Alexis Strait with 10. Strait also helped drive the offense with 30 assists and led the team on defense with 27 digs, while Bowman chipped in 22. The win brings White Cloud's record to 22-4 "We look to improve that on Monday when we host Hart," said Coach Desirae Strait. " A huge thank you to our wonderful students section. They have been providing support to our team each and every game" The Panthers fall to 21-11 and 5-2 in the conference. Hesperia will be back at it on Saturday at Shelby on October 6th and then play their final home league match on Tuesday, October 9th at home in their "Senior Night" game against Lakeview. The Grant Tigers faced league foe the Fremont Packers in their Tuesday night match in Fremont. The Tigers made quick work on the night winning in three straight sets; 25-11, 25-17 25-13. Senior Olivia Keelean and Kylie Patton led the team with 11 kills each, Nicole Whan added 36 assists, Jill Arends chipped in 16 digs while Kirstyn Throop picked up 12 digs. Catherine Geers led the team in aces with 3 and Kylie Patton added 4 blocks on the night. A well balanced night for the team brings this season to 29-8-2 and undefeated in league play. The Tigers play again Thursday night at Jenison against Jenison, North Pointe Christian, and Portage Central starting at 5:00 Grant at Newaygo The Granddaddy of all regional rivalries this one is huge and not just for the annual bragging rights afforded the winner. This year as in many years there are steep playoff considerations at stake. 68 times the two teams have met on the field of battle since 1950. The record? 34 wins apiece. Newaygo won 4 in a row beginning with the 1950 game, then Grant peeled off a dozen straight victories before the Lions stopped the streak in ‘66 then dropped 4 more in a row. The Lions won every game played in the 90’s and the teams are 9-9 in the current century. The Lions have a quick strike capabilities on offense and can score in bunches while the Tigers employ a grinding run oriented game plan that frees up an effective passing game when needed. Both teams need this one to play beyond the season and neither has an easy road in the final two weeks. It’s homecoming for the Lions but you can usually toss out any home field advantage in this game since both stands will be jam packed. If the Lions offense gets hot and puts up some points early it might be a struggle for the Tigers but this game is always as unpredictable as weather in Michigan so….. Holton at Kent City How good are the Red Devils? We’re going to find out Friday when they make their first attempt at securing a spot in the playoffs. Standing in their way? An undefeated Eagle squad playing at home. I like the Devils a lot. They’re a good team and play with a lot of heart. They will need it in this one. Kent City is playoff bound and in addition to scoring a lot have the ability to shut down teams with a stifling defense. Holton will have to play mistake free and get a break or two to pull this one off but it’s high school football and the RD’s and their fans are believers. Tri County at Fremont The Vikes have lost 3 in a row to three teams either in the postseason or knocking at the door. They don’t generally score a lot of points but the Packer defense has struggled mightily all season. Fremont might get on the board a time or two despite facing a rugged TC defense but keeping the Vikings out of the endzone is going to be a concern here and will tell the tale of this matchup. Hesperia at Morley Stanwood The Mohawks are at home and need this to move within a game of playing a tenth time this season. The Panthers are a game group despite a thin cadre of competitors on the sidelines and the offense scored 3 times against a tough Kent City defense. No team except the Eagles have scored more than twice on the MS ‘D’. The Black Cats will have to jump early to compete here because the 'Hawks can wear down a team and the second half might be a long one for Hesperia. White Cloud at Lakeview The Wildcats are far better than their record and the Cloud just does not have the kind of weapons that allow them to keep up with a team like this on the road. Here’s hoping Coach Hance’s team can pull off an upset but, man, it will be a steep hill to climb. |
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