**ARTICLE BY NICK TUORI AND JOSH LONGSTRETH**
Photo courtesy of Lou Murray:
Check out his photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/45681226@N02/albums
Coopersville vs Hamilton
The Broncos were able to get back on the winning track last week, as they outlasted Unity Christian in a 56-31 victory. This week, they have a pivotal game in the playoff race, as they face Hamilton. The Hawkeyes have been able to get out to a 4-1 start, their best since 2016. The winner of this game will sit in a strong position to qualify for the postseason, and its expected that a close battle will take place. Last fall, Coopersville took home a 28-14 victory, its third straight against Hamilton.
South Christian vs Cedar Springs
The Sailors had another strong showing last week, blanking Ottawa Hills 49-0. South Christian’s offense has averaged 43 points per game this year. This week, they face Cedar Springs, who has won two of their last three games to move to a 2-3 record. The Red Hawks struggled against GR Catholic Central last week, but look to fare better against the Sailors. Cedar Springs has made six straight trips to the playoffs, and they are favorites in two of their remaining four contests. They may need to pull off this victory to keep their postseason dreams alive.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central vs Kenowa Hills
The Cougars exploded for 52 points in a win over Cedar Springs last week. This was the fourth straight win for GRCC after their season opening loss to Wilmette Loyola. Kenowa Hills is 2-3 on the year, battling Forest Hills Eastern to the brink last week in a 21-14 defeat. This is just the fifth meeting between the schools all time. GRCC holds a 3-1 series lead, with a 33-0 victory last fall. Kenowa Hills’ lone win over the Cougars came in the 1992 Class BB Regional Finals on their way to the Silverdome.
Grandville vs West Ottawa
The Bulldogs are fresh off a strong victory last Friday over rival Hudsonville. The 44-37 shutout win kept Grandville unbeaten in OK Red play. This week, they will look to keep pace with Rockford atop the league table when they take on West Ottawa. The Panthers defeated Jenison back in Week 4, but have struggled otherwise. Grandville has dominated the series as of late, with five straight victories over WO.
Rockford vs Grand Haven
Rams make third trip to lakeshore to face Grand Haven
For the third time in only six weeks Rockford will travel to the shores of Lake Michigan to play a football game where they will square off against Grand Haven on Friday, September 29. The Buccaneers are 1-4 on the season and are coming off of a 42-14 loss to East Kentwood last week. They are 0-3 in the OK Red so far with their only triumph coming in the nonconference portion of the schedule against Traverse City West 27-14. They previously fell to Muskegon Reeths-Puffer (41-13), Grandville (42-20) and Hudsonville (17-7) prior to the loss to East Kentwood.
Rockford will enter the contest with a mark of 5-0 overall and 3-0 in OK Red play. The Rams have beaten Muskegon (27-7), Muskegon Mona Shores (31-8), Jenison (49-12), Caledonia (42-16) and Holland West Ottawa (39-12). Rockford has an overwhelming lead in the all-time series between the two teams with a record of 35-4. Last year’s game was a forfeit as Grand Haven was hit with a multitude of injuries and opted to give the Rams a game that went into the books as a 2-0 Rockford win. The last meeting occurred in 2021 when Rockford won 28-6. The teams did not meet in 2020 due to the pandemic but 2019 was a tightly contested 19-14 Rockford win. The last Grand Haven win came in 2010 by the score of 26-23.
Despite their 1-4 record the Bucs have been competitive against both Grandville and Hudsonville for the majority of both games. They are coached by first-year head man Andrew Biedenbender. Biedenbender came over from Holland West Ottawa where he was the assistant head coach under Pat Collins for the previous two seasons. He was part of a major rebuild there as well that saw the Panthers climbing back towards respectability last year and narrowly missing the playoffs at 4-5 in 2022. The Bucs have amassed a record of 5-25 over the last four seasons. This is the first season for Biedenbender as a head coach as his previous coaching experience was as an assistant at Mount Pleasant and Owosso before moving to West Ottawa. Biedenbender played college football at Grand Valley where he was an offensive lineman. The Bucs are averaging 16.2 points a game while allowing 31.2.
Leading the way for Grand Haven is quarterback Xzavier Rodriguez, wide receiver/ cornerback Will Korenstra, running back/ middle linebacker Dean Mattson and tight end/defensive end Gus Abraham. Their roster will also feature plenty of underclassmen in their effort to build the numbers back up for football.
Rockford is led by fourth-year head coach Brent Cummings. Cummings has racked up an impressive record of 33-3 thus far and has led the Rams to three consecutive OK Red titles. Cummings was a long-time assistant to legendary Rockford coach Ralph Munger before assuming the reins in 2020. The Rams feature two-way standout Ryan Ahern, quarterback Drake Irwin, Wide receiver Cam Kruisenga and safety/ return man/ running back Isaac Poot. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 P.M.
Freeland vs Birch Run
The Freeland Falcons continue to roll on in the 2023 season. Last week, Freeland had another running clock on their opponent midway through the game in Alma. Offensively, the Falcons piled up nearly another 400 total yard performance and the defense had a score of their own. The Freeland ground game continues to dominate behind a big offensive line. That ground game is led by three-headed monster Sam Talaga, Ty Fournier, and Brayden Petre. Talaga leads the defense in tackles while defensive end, Ethan Fowler, leads a group that puts pressure on the opposing quarterback nearly every play. They’ll look to see if they can keep it up against a Birch Run team who is coming off a gritty week 5 win over John Glenn.
The Birch Run Panthers took a step back a couple weeks ago against perennial power Frankenmuth. But Birch Run bounced back behind a “what are you made of” performance over John Glenn last week. The Panthers offense couldn’t get much traction throughout but it was enough behind a defense that was stout all night. They will need their offense to get some things rolling this week against a Freeland team that has been one of the best in the state. They’ll head to Freelands turf this week to see if they can pull off a monumental upset.
Newaygo vs Reed City
It was a big week for the Newaygo Lions as they put together their best performance of the year last week over Grant. Newaygo is now riding some of their best momentum of the season by winning their last two of three. It wouldn’t come as early on, however, as the Lions trailed by a slim margin at the half. Now Newaygo will be faced with one of their biggest tests of the year. Facing a Reed City team that has dominated them the past three seasons.
Reed City was able to cruise in a win over Central Montcalm late, 42-20. It was a big win for a Coyotes team that had been coming off a tough loss to an impressive Big Rapids squad. Reed City seems to be finding their way a bit as they have now taken two of their last three. Another win this week could spell fear for the rest of the teams they face who don’t want to see a Coyotes group that is coming on late in the season. They’ll kick off from Newaygo this week in a 7:00 showdown with the Lions.
Tri-County vs Central Montcalm
The Tri-County Vikings have put together another impressive start to their season for two years in a row. They came in with the expecations and it has done nothing but come to fruition for Tri-County. Especially in the last three weeks by outscoring their opponents, 126-30. Last week, the Vikings were able to nearly put their game against Morley Stanwood away at the half by leading 30-0. This week they’ll need to do that against a feisty Central Montcalm team who is hungry for a win. The Vikings have taken the past two meetings with the Hornets.
It was a tough one to swallow last week for Central Montcalm. After sticking around with a solid Reed City team for a majority of the game, the Hornets ran out of gas late in the third quarter and could never get back in the game. The yardage disparity would be quite big in the end, but Central Montcalm had their shot all night. Costly turnovers would derail much of that. This week things will not get any easier for Montcalm as they take on a team that has shown they look the part of a contender. The two will square off with a 7:00 start time this Friday night.
Zeeland West vs Holland
The Zeeland West Dux have now put together a 5-0 start to their season. West was able to do the same last year as it’s now a program that expects hot starts to the year. This year? Things have been nothing but easy for the Dux. They have outscored their opponents at a 224-43 clip on the season. Their biggest test came last week against rival Zeeland East. West cruised throughout much of the game over the Chix, 36-13. It was another game where the Dux didn’t have to get cute on either side of the ball, dominating much of the game. This week they’ll have a chance to stay unbeaten as they take on a Holland Dutch team who is 0-5 on the year.
Things have not been easy to start the year for Holland. The Dutch have now been outscored by their opponents, 66-272. Granted, many of those teams have shown playoff caliber football for most of the year. This week will not be any easier is possibly facing the best team they have played all season. It would go a long way if the Dutch can find a way to push Zeeland West to their limits. It’s needed if Holland hopes to get their program on track in a hurry. They head to Zeeland to take on the Dux this Friday night.
Zeeland East vs Muskegon
It’s been one heck of a start to the season for Zeeland East. Starting 4-0 for the first time since 2017, the Chix have been making most weeks look easy. That would be a different story last week in facing rival Zeeland West. East was able to hang around for much of the first half before the Dux put together a scoring drive that took up nearly the entire third quarter. It tooks the sails out of the Chix and they could never recover the rest of the way. This week things won’t get any easier as they take on perennial power Muskegon who has now won three in a row. If East wants to show they can still have the season they want, they’ll need to show that this week.
It wasn’t a typical start for the Muskegon Big Reds in 2023. For the first time this century, Muskegon started their year off at 0-2. That would come against no regular opponents, however, in Rockford (5-0) and Warren De La Salle (3-2). Things have been much better to the Big Reds, especially in last weeks matchup with Reeths Puffer as the Muskegon offense would tally 430 yards of total offense on the night. This week they will be in for another test. Zeeland East has put together an impressive start that could give Muskegon fits in this one. This is a series that the Big Reds have been on top up for quite some time. They’ll welcome in the Dux this Friday night.
Comstock Park vs Hopkins
The Comstock Park Panthers were able to bounce back last week led by their offense. Comstock Park fell in a big matchup with Belding in week four, but the Panthers showed that they can get over things in a hurry. They would find themselves in a bit of a dog fight with Godwin Heights last week before putting together a big second half to grab a 35-26 win over the Wolverines. For an offense that is typically humming on all cylinders, they did just that again in week five. The defense will look to see if they can gain some confidence this week by taking on a Hopkins offense that has been shutout three times on the year.
For the Hopkins Vikings, it hasn’t been the start to the season they had hoped for in 2023. Outside of a win over aforementioned Godwin Heights, the Vikings haven’t been able to hang around in most games. Last week they got done early and often to Sparta and fell to the Spartans, 0-49. This week they will have another big test in front of them in a Comstock Park team where offense hasn’t been the issue this season. The schedule hasn’t been easy on Hopkins as all of their losses have come to teams that currently look like they’ll be in the playoffs. Their built for playing the tough teams, they’ll look to see if they can pay that off in week six when the Panthers come calling.
Gladwin vs Pinconning
The current team that is the defending State Champion in their division, still sits atop the rankings this season. The Gladwin Flying G’s have now rattled off 19-straight wins dating back to last season. This isn’t the same Gladwin team as last year as there have been many moving parts. But the scary thing is, they’re finding their way behind some previous leaders and players that are now stepping up in “their moment”. This is a team that continues to get better each week. That was shown last week in their win over Sanford Meridian. Gladwin, coming off a monumental comeback over Clare the following week, quickly disposed of the Mustangs as they carried a 27-0 lead into halftime. Jhace Massey put together another big week to help lead the Flying G’s. This week, they’ll have another great opportunity to jump up early by taking on a Pinconning team that sits at 2-3 on the year.
The Pinconning Spartans have been able to find their way at points in the season. Pinconning continues to improve their program. That would take a step in the opposite direction last week, however, in their loss to Beaverton. The Spartans have a defense that can help them stay in games. But with what they’re up against this week, they’ll need to be up to par on both sides of the ball. Gladwin has taken the last four games over Pinconning quite convincingly. The Jack Pine showdown will start at 7:00 this Friday night when the Spartans welcome in the G’s.
Clare vs Okemos
The Clare Pioneers did what they have done for much of the season last week. Bounce back from a tough loss and taking everything out on the team in front of them. Clare was able to ride behind a 28-0 first half over Harrison last week to cruise the rest of the way. The Pioneers dominated on both sides of the ball and showed that they aren’t slowing down despite any slight setbacks. They have now outscored their opponents 194-80 on the season. They’ll look to see if they can do the same to an Okemos team that has struggled all year.
It hasn’t been an ideal season for the Okemos Wolves. Okemos starts the season at 0-5 while being outscored 40-244 on the year. The offense and defense have not been able to be in line with each other for much of the season. It would go a long way if the Wolves can come out and compete this week. It could go an entirety for their program to be able to grab some momentum.They’ll need a quick start if they hope to compete with a very good Clare team. They head into Clare on Friday night for a showdown with the Pioneers.
