Football Preview Week IX

Final week of the regular season with playoff positions on the line for some while others look to end the season on a high note. The Lions, Packers, Panthers and Vikes  finish on the road while the Tigers and Devils will serve as hosts.

Newaygo (5-3) at Saranac (2-6)
Three of the 8 Central Michigan Conference teams will be in the playoffs.
Saranac isn’t one of them.
The team from western Ionia County is coming off a 52-28 win over Potterville. Impressive, except the28 points the 0-7 Vikings put on the board against Saranac in the game were 7 more than the 21 they produced in their first 6 games.
The Lions need this to grab a guaranteed spot in the postseason and barring a letdown after the emotional win over Reed City combined with fatigue from the hour and a half bus ride and a sudden metamorphosis by a Saranac defense that has yielded over 300 points they should be watching TV this Sunday to see who they play in their 10th game. 

Kent City (6-2) at Grant (6-2)
Both teams are already in the postseason and this could be an intriguing matchup with each looking to build some momentum heading into game 10. The Eagles can score a lot of points against teams that lack a strong defense but their ‘O’ can sputter a bit when facing the likes of the undefeated Cards of OV or the steamrolling ‘Hawks of Morley.
Add Grant to those two in terms of defensive ability. Of their 8 previous opponents only one made more than a single trip into the endzone.
The Eagles were on their way to the playoffs last year when they dispatched the Tigers in the regular season finale. This is only the 4th home game for Grant and they have delivered big time for their fans avenging a loss from last season in each of the first three.
A win Friday would make it four.

Fremont (0-8) at Lakeview (3-5)
The Packers are hoping to get off the schneid and maybe build a little mo for next year and this is a very winnable game. The Wildcats aren’t pushovers by any means and earlier this season they gave a strong Morley team all they could handle, but…
If the Pack can keep it close and not yield those early big play scores that have plagued them all season they could halt the bleeding at 13 games and give the outgoing seniors an early graduation gift.
If not, it’s almost basketball season.

Tri County (3-5) at Holton (1-7)
The Vikes have had an up and down season but they are a good football team and almost took down the Gold champion Hornets last week. The Red Devils have had a tough season to say the least. They have been undermanned all year and the injury bug seems to linger over this squad. Holton gives up a lot of points and TC has the type of offense that can strike quickly.

Hesperia (2-6) at Shelby (1-7)
The Tigers beat Hart last week. It was their first win since a season ending squeaker over a winless Panther team 2 years ago the only other win in the  past 46 games for the Pirate program.
Coach Bolle’s team hasn’t scored since September but those three losses came against two conference champs (OV, MS) and Silver runner-up Kent City. If Balkema can find Majerski for some big plays and the D keeps the Tigers in check the Panthers can finish with a W.