MHSAA Football - Pre District Preview
Now is the time. The playoffs have arrived and this Halloween will be a trick or treat for all the teams. It’s time to play to the best they can and through all the bumps and bruises that have accumulated over the past nine games. In my playoff column, I will be looking at four games from four different divisions as well as trying to stay within my normal regions. Two games are from the south western part of the state though. Let’s look at the slate of games for this week.
Division 2 – Southwest Michigan
Portage Northern (6-3) vs. Portage Central (7-1) (Halloween, 7pm)
It took back to back wins over Battle Creek Central and Benton Harbor for Portage Northern to make the playoffs. Now they get to face their cross town rival in the first round for the fourth time. In last week’s 36-12 win over Benton Harbor, quarterback Thomas Sheppard completed three of his four passes for 42 yards and a touchdown and ran twice for seven and a score.  Daryn Snow grabbed two passes for 37 yards and caught the TD. Eric Coley was the leading running back with 13 runs for 114 yards and a touchdown. Grant McNally scored as well on five runs for 29 yards.
Portage Central is also back in the playoffs. They were able to beat St. Joseph 21-14 on a touchdown with less than a minute remaining in the game last week. Quarterback Sam VerMeulen found Patrick Rohs for a 54 yard scoring strike to secure the win. VerMuelen completed six of his 10 passes for 120 yards. When he toted the rock, he gained 45 yards and scored a touchdown on 11 carries. Rohs finished with two catches for 69 yards. Leading the rushing attack was Brandon Sturgeon with 16 carries for 142 yards. Paul Lewis ran 13 times for 43 yards and a touchdown. The matchup between Northern and Central has happened 53 times with Central holding a commanding lead in the series 34-19.
Division 5 – Saginaw/Genesee County
Flint Powers (6-3) at Birch Run (7-2) (Saturday November 1, 7pm)
Powers is quite an interesting team. Coached by the legendary Bob Buckel, they compete very well in the Saginaw Valley League. The school has about 550 students, but plays teams like Saginaw Heritage and Davison who are both around 1,500 students and win on a regular basis. In their 20-33 loss to Flint Carmen-Ainsworth last week, they were able to stay with C-A, but every time they scored, they gave up a score. Quarterback Noah Sargent completed six of his nine passes for 94 yards. Isaiah Leavy gained 58 yards on two catches. John Andrysiak was the leading rusher for Powers with 11 carries for 64 yards and three scores. Now that they will be playing schools far closer to their size, it will be interesting to see how they compete.
Birch Run is having a great season after stumbling for the past few years. They won a share of the Tri Valley Conference East Division crown for the first time since 2006. Last week, they played Michigan Lutheran Seminary and lost a hard hitting game 20-27. Quarterback Austin Clark completed five of his six passes for 113 yards, a score, and an interception. Joe Okopien caught three of them for 109 yards and a touchdown. The running game never got going but was led by Will Periard who ran 16 times for 19 yards. Justin Elliott rushed six times for 22 yards and a score. The Panthers will need to get both the ground and air game going if they are going to be Flint Powers.
Division 8 – Detroit/Thumb
Sterling Heights Parkway Christian (6-3) at Harbor Beach (9-0) (Halloween, 7pm)
Sterling Heights Parkway Christian is a relatively new school. They started playing football in 2006 and have made the playoffs six times. I noticed while looking at their roster that they have a lot of young players and only three seniors. SHPC may be young, but they do seem to have some size. This week, they get the second ranked team in Division 8. In their 28-18 win over Bath last week, quarterback Ricardo Marble completed four of his 12 passes for 46 yards. Jackson Allen was a favorite target with two catches for 19 yards while also running four times for 36 more. Leading the rushing attack was Montana Essian with 21 carries for 100 yards and a score. It will be interesting to see them go against Harbor Beach.
Harbor Beach has just been rolling teams off the field. They have three shutouts on the season and the most points they gave up in a game was seven. For the season, the defense has given up a total of 37 points. Last week, they beat up on Unionville-Sebewaing 48-0. Devin Lemanski scored a pair of first quarter touchdowns while Austin Seltz had a pair in the second. Harbor Beach is a good pick to reach the Division 8 championship game this year.
Division 6 – Southwestern Michigan
Niles Brandywine (8-1) at Watervliet (8-1) (Halloween, 7pm)
This has the makings of an excellent game in the area. Both teams sit with only one loss and are hoping to make a deep run in the playoffs. The Bobcats are led by four year starter Andrew Duckett who is 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds. For the season, he has completed 50 of 91 passes for 946 yards and 17 scores while also picking up 894 rushing yards on 75 carries and 10 additional touchdowns. Last week, Niles Brandywine smoked Three Oaks River Valley 62-6. Duckett completed five of his nine passes for 92 yards and ran six times for 63 and a score. Marty Ward Jr. rushed six times for 93 yards and a score. He has over 2,850 career rushing yards. The one-two punch of Duckett and Ward is going to be tough to defend.
Watervliet also had a good season. They won back to back conference championships and their third in four years. They also had a big win to end the season, beating Lawton 35-7. Quarterback Blake Kiekenapp set a school record with 472 passing yards, completing 25 of 35 and connecting on three touchdowns. Tyler Loomis caught nine passes for 136 yards and a score. Kyler Kiekenapp caught six for 176 and a score. Garrison Muth caught four for 89 and a score while also rushing for 91 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts. Division 6 is going to be tough with a lot of very good teams, including four time defending state champions Ithaca.
