Football Preview Week VII

Every referee's lament "Do a good job and nobody notices; make a mistake and the finger pointing begins.”

By Ken DeLaat, N3 Sports

Newaygo (1-3, 2-4) at Chippewa Hills (1-3, 3-3)
A toss up. Both teams have beaten Grant and each have won games over one of the two weaker teams from the Silver. Both were swamped by Reed City and BR. The Lions lost to TC and Chip Hills will more than likely do so next week.
It’s in Warrior territory so there’s that. They are also the only team since week 1 to put it in the endzone 3 times against the Cardinals. I don’t see either team running away with this one and have to give a slight edge to the Lions if it’s close late in the game. Unless they continue to be plagued with the  crucial turnovers and penalties that have been their bane this season.. 

Montague (1-2, 2-4) at Fremont (0-3, 2-4)
A season that had fans optimistic early on has not gone as expected for the Pack. They nipped a pretty fair D7 team on the road for one win. They also beat Grant, but so has everyone else of late. The O’s and Cards ran wild on the defense and while they played a tough game with Oakridge, turnovers and mistakes hurt their chances in that one. 
Not to sound too pessimistic but this might be the last good shot at hanging W #3 on the season with Whitehall and Manistee road games left after Friday

White Cloud (0-1, 4-2) at Morley Stanwood (0-3, 0-6)
Last year the Indians snapped a 13 game losing streak to the Mohawks. Chances are better than average that they will make that 2 in a row in that rivalry. While the Cloud hasn’t matched up well with some of the stronger teams, Coach Trice has done a good job with his squad and they have taken care of business in the games they have been expected to win.
This is a game they are expected to win.

Grant (0-4, 1-5) at Central Montcalm (1-3, 2-4)
The Tigers are struggling. They haven’t won a game since their season opener win over a Kelloggsville team that has yet to come even remotely close to winning a game. Moreover they haven’t entered a fourth quarter yet with even much of a chance to win.
This week they go to the hive and face the Hornets. CP isn’t Big Rapids to be sure but they ain’t Kelloggsville either. The Tigers need a couple more of those big plays they’ve scored on this season and hope the game stays close enough to give them a shot in the 4th..

Mason County Central (2-2, 3-3) at Hesperia (0-3, 1-5)
The Spartans have lost 3 games to teams with a winning record
They have won 3 games against teams that don’t have a winning record.
Hesperia is 1-5.
The Panther offense has scored one TD in each of the last 5 games and struggled to keep the other teams out of the endzone.
There’s a winnable game left on the Panther schedule…but this isn’t it.

Hart (2-1, 5-1) at Holton (0-3, 0-6)
The Red Devils have been outscored 308-30. Even if they had combined all their scoring for the season into one game they still would have fallen short in each of their matchups. The Pirates have beaten everyone but the undefeated conference champ-to-be Norsemen.
No contest. Hart moves closer to punching the playoff ticket they were denied last year.

Tri County (4-0, 6-0) at Big Rapids (5-0, 5-1)
Should be a dandy. Coach Butler has an exlosive team and will matchup with a Cardinal squad that likes to take control early and hold off opponents late in the game. Both teams have marched through their conference schedule to get here and ths one's for the crown.
Interesting item: Since 2015 the games between the Vikes and Cards have been dicided by one score or less. 4 times the margin was by 2 or 1.
Best game in the region Friday night and a tough call. The Cardinals have home field advantage but I'm going with the Vikings.
​By a touchdown or less. 
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