HS Football Preview: Week VIII

Mystery Ref once again chosen to work the playoffs

By Ken DeLaat, N3 Sports

Whitehall (4-0, 7-0) at Fremont (1-3, 4-3)
As I’ve said before I like this Fremont team. They are a resilient group of athletes who have put to bed the years of frustration felt by the Packer faithful during some struggling seasons.
This fall they have won four games which equals the number of wins collected from 2015-2021. Two of their losses came against teams who will be playing a game 10 and while the loss to Montague surprised me it shows the depth of the talent in the WMC.
The good news is that Friday after four straight road games they will play in front of their fans on their home field.
The bad news is they will face  a Whitehall team that has had a monster season. The Vikings, ranked #1 in the state in Division 4 won their first two against other current top ten teams. Then they proceeded to mow through the next five games on their schedule by a combined score of  264-20 including a decisive win over a really good Oakridge team.
The chances of the Packers pulling an upset are long indeed. Even scoring on the stifling Whitehall defense won’t come easy. Coach Hudson and his assistants will need to be creative if they are to keep the  offense on the field as long as possible. On defense they can only hope that a team that has minimized turnovers all season stumbles a bit and makes a few.
At any rate a truly steep hill to climb here. But this team has a great deal of heart and if they play like they have all season the numbers on the scoreboard are not likely to affect the effort put forth on the field right up to the final gun. 
Win or lose, these guys go the distance.


Newaygo (1-4, 2-5) at Central Montcalm (1-4, 2-5)
The Hornets haven’t done much this season. They won their opener against a Morley team that can’t find the endzone and then last week they ran away from a Grant team that can’t seem to keep people out of the endzone
The Lions have two wins over the same teams CM has beaten. They lost by 13 last week to a young Chip Hills team that has come on strong as the season has progressed. In their other losses the score was far from being what one might call close.
Toss up game. The Hornets have the home field but it hasn’t been much of an advantage this year. The Lions have a tendency to allow penalties to slow their momentum so minimizing them would be a huge plus.
So would a Bazzette pick or two with a couple of Harkness tosses to Long and Wells.

White Cloud (1-1, 5-2) at Lakeview (1-1, 3-4)
The Cloud has a chance to make it 4 in a row and punch their playoff ticket with a win but before making plans for a game 10 they need to take care of business on the road against the Wildcats. This one doesn’t look to be easy. White Cloud has 5 wins but their opponents have a combined record of just 3-32. 
Coach Gorman’s team shouldn’t have trouble scoring with Silverthorn, McGowen and Reuther while Compeau seems able to catch the ball on both sides of the line but if this one is still close in the 4th it could spell trouble for the visitors.

Tri County (4-1, 6-1)  at Chippewa Hills (2-3, 3-4)
The Vikings can wrap up what looks to be a three way share of the Gold crown here.
But watch out. The Warriors youth movement is beginning to pay off as they have collected 3 wins in their last 4 games with underclassmen at all their skilled positions, Not saying TC shouldn’t be able to take this one home but this isn’t the easy mark on the schedule it might have looked like in the early part of the season..

Grant (1-1, 1-6) at Reed City (4-1, 6-1)
The Yotes are looking to wrap up their likely to be ⅓ share of the Gold crown and unless the dominating linemen of Reed City have all opted for early graduation,,,
They will do so.

Hesperia (0-4, 1-6) at Hart (3-1, 5-2)
The Panthers season has not gone as well as expected and the Pirates need a win to make it into the postseason.
And the game is in Pirate territory


Holton forfeited to North Muskegon

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