By Ken DeLaat, N3 Sports Three conference games including the first WMC games for Fremont (Lakes Div.) and Holton (Rivers Div.) There are no ties so the Newaygo/Morley game will get one of them off the schneid. The Cloud beat the Panthers on their home turf last year and Coach Fehler’s team would love to return the favor. Tigers and Vikes each vying for conference win #2. Ludington (2-0) at Fremont (2-0) I love seeing Coach Hudson’s team coming out with a couple of early W’s. It’s been a long time since the Fremont Faithful had much to cheer about and last week the student section found it easy to maintain their enthusiasm from opening kick to the final gun. Now things are getting serious and the decision to move to the WMC comes home to roost with a powerful Ludington team coming to town. The Oriole line play has been more than solid and they have Chase Hackert at QB, a player who can not only pile on rushing yards but toss a few strikes to his receivers. The O’s have a number of options in their backfield and will look to keep the Packer D guessing. Dirheimer has been a workhorse in the backfield but the Ludington coaching staff have watched film and stopping him will be a priority QB DeKuiper began to air it out a bit more in last week’s win and the Packer passing will need to be effective to help the ground game. The much improved Fremont defense that has come up big in the two wins will be called on to contain a team that has put 92 points on the board already this season. No small task. 2-0 is a good start. A conference win over a probable title contender would be huge. Go Pack. Newaygo (0-2) at Morley Stanwood (0-2) The best shot the Lions have at a win over the next few weeks is probably this matchup with Morley. The ‘Hawks have been outscored 72-7 in their 2 games, but then again the Newaygo offense has yet to see an endzone while the defense has yielded 57 points so a shootout is not likely While Kent City and Big Rapids provide tough tests for any team the Lions have to find a way to keep their defense from spending so much time on the field. And that starts with making a few more first downs than they have in their first two contests. Tri County (2-0) at Grant (1-1) The Tigers picked up a conference win when Chip Hills came to town last week. The Vikings are not CH. Coach Butler’s team avenged their only regular season loss last week when they simply outscored perennial powerhouse Reed City and served notice that other contenders for the conference title will need to deal with TC. The Vikes look pretty strong in this early part of the season and the win over the ‘Yotes will boost their confidence moving forward. The Tiger defense is going to have their work cut out for them because TC’s high octane offense can pile up points given the opportunity. But Grant also possesses some firepower on offense with Obenauf able to put up yardage in the air and on the ground. Interesting test for both teams and this game should give Tiger fans a good glimpse of the season ahead. Hesperia (1-1) at White Cloud (1-1) From the old NCAA through the WWAC and finally in the CSAA these two teams have been in the same conference since at least 1951. 72 times they have met with the Panthers up 40-32 in the series. Friday for the first time they renew their rivalry but the game will not affect the league records of either team. Hesperia has been impressive thus far. Gleason has been effective in guiding the offense while Bolles and McKinnon have been solid on both sides of the ball. Silverthorn and McGowen are a one two punch on the Cloud offense. Coach Gorman will have his team ready to play and they’re on home turf but this Panther team are believers and there are a number of players who want to leave last season’s disappointment behind. And they could use some serious momentum heading into WMC play next week. Ravenna (1-1) at Holton (0-2) The Bulldogs looked really, really good in taking down state ranked Montague last week and falling a point short of beating the #1 D8 team from Beal City in their opener. The Devs have been outscored 103-0 which points to having more problems than they have players it seems. Holton graduated a lot of talent last year and their current personnel, while playing their hearts out, are unlikely to match the level of play they will be facing on the field Friday. The RD’s will need a lot of breaks to stay with the Dawgs.
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