Football Preview; Week VII

Mystery Ref: Proud of the fact that he and his crew have yet to require a police escort post-game

By Ken DeLaat, N3 Sports

Big Rapids (4-0, 5-1) at Newaygo (3-1, 5-1)
Interesting matchup. The Cardinals are ranked 9th in D5 with one loss. When the 3rd ranked D4 Red Wolves of Paw Paw (Gotta love that name. A town named after a river that was named after a fruit) showed up for the BR opener they were able to contain the Cards high octane offense and go south with a win.
The Cardinals have been dominant  since that opener, including a big win over the aforementioned Coyotes in their own sandbox and crushing a pretty fair Viking team last week,
also on the road.
Newaygo is ranked 9th in D5 with their sole loss coming in Coyote land when the 6th ranked D5 Reed City squad put on a clinic when it comes to effective line play and ran away from thr Lions.
Newaygo can put up points and they will have to in this one. While the Cardinals are stingy on defense the offense employed by Coach Munger and his staff mixes up the formations enough to open up big play possibilities. Possibilities that need to turn into points if the hosts hope to stay with the high flying Redbirds.

Grant (0-3, 2-4) at Reed City (3-1, 4-2)
Happy to see the Tigers notch a badly needed win last week. It’s been a rough year for Coach Lowry’s squad. 
Well, it doesn’t get any easier this week. A trip to Coyote Country is always a challenge and Reed City is coming off a loss to the #1 Fighting Irish of Pontiac Notre Dame and will be looking to resume their winning ways.
It may not be pretty and it may be over sooner than later, but the Tigers will take the field, try to get a few breaks, minimize mistakes and hope for a few Coyote turnovers.

Fremont (1-3, 2-4) at Montague (2-2, 2-4)
Fremont continues with its homecoming tour of other schools in a matchup with a reeling Montague squad. Our Packer Prognosticator favors an upset here. I wouldn’t have given the Pack much of a shot in this one a few weeks ago after the Wildcats beat Oakridge then cleaned up on OV, but there have been 3 straight losses since. Admittedly those were three pretty tough teams who are all going to be playing a 10th game but while the Orioles simply outscored Montague, Whitehall and North Muskegon effectively shut down the Wildcat offense.
The Packers can, and likely will, score some points but the defense will need to contain Montague if they’re to capture a rare WMC win. Our PP knows this team better than I so we’ll defer despite a couple of his early season picks that were sent wide of the uprights.

White Cloud (0-2, 1-5) at Kent City (1-1, 3-3)
The Eagles need a  win to stay in the playoff picture and there is a clear path to the post season with 3 games ahead facing teams who have struggled to win. Those three begin with the Cloud who really have a hard time stopping their opponents from scoring. Coach Trice’s team can’t afford mistakes and will have to score early and often if they want to hang around for 4 quarters.

Hesperia (0-3, 2-4) at Mason County Central (3-1, 5-1)
The Spartans are a really good team who need a W to clinch the WMC Rivers crown. MCC beat Ludington early on and knocked off Ravenna in a tough Division showdown.
The Panthers haven’t stopped anyone from scoring since Holton limped into town in week 2, but they have some offensive weaponry. Trouble is, if they fall behind early the Spartan defense will take over the game. And playing in Scottville is no picnic.

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