WE MADE IT! High school football kicks off around the state of Michigan Thursday night, and MSR will bring a loaded two nights of action as teams begin their quest to reach Ford Field and State Championship Weekend.
We’ll have 14 games to check out live and on-demand, plus recaps, columns, rankings and more in the week that follows to help get caught up on everything that happened across west Michigan, and the entire state.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at all of the action that you’ll be able to catch live on MSR this weekend!
THURSDAY NIGHT:
ROCKFORD vs CASS TECH
The Rockford Rams open with one of the most difficult stretches of schedule in the state, as they will see Muskegon and Grandville in weeks two and three following a cross-state showdown vs. one of the state’s perennial powers – Detroit Cass Tech.
The Rams are loaded and feature what may be the top offensive line that coach Brent Cummings has had in his six-year career as the Rams head coach, add in a lot of excitement around junior QB Brayden Daniels, and a a stout defense aided in well over 100 varsity players – and the Rams seem to have all the ingredients for a special 2024 run.
Cass Tech will be every bit of a match to the Rams, coming off a 7-4 season last year and a loss to eventual state champ Southfield A&T in the playoffs, coach Marvin Rushing’s team will be hungry – and has the talent to back up their hopes. They are led by the top junior in the state of Michigan, and a 4-star recruit with offers from nearly every major power 4 program, Corey Sadler Jr. Sadler does his best work on the defensive side of the ball as the state’s top defensive back, but he will play both ways and will be a weapon all over the field on offense. Add in a heralded group of freshman that will be adding to returners – Led by the team’s QB, Donald Tabron II – Who holds NINE D1 offers, including Michigan, MSU and Penn State, before ever playing a single high school snap.
OTSEGO vs COOPERSVILLE
Coopersville opens what is sure to be an exciting season for coach Ed Kaman’s team as they move to the new Rivers Cities Alliance with a home contest against Otsego. It will be a special night, as Coopersville also will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Coopersville football this season in the week one opener. The Broncos again look to be one of the most physical teams in the area, led by the return of future Western Michigan Bronco offensive lineman J.J. Hirdes to anchor their line in 2024.
Otsego welcomes in a new coach in 2024 in Damien Ross after the team put together a 3-6 record in 2023, they will look to pull the upset win on the road and start the new era of Bulldogs football in style.
SAGINAW vs FREELAND
Freeland is one of the most consistent programs in the state of Michigan for coach Kevin Townsend, last year they fell in a round-two playoff heartbreaker 21-20 vs. Goodrich and will look to make another deep run, as they’ve become accustomed to over the past nearly two decades under Townsend. The Falcons will debuting a new QB, as they resolve a battle for that spot from camp and will lean on Jake Metvia to again be a star this year on both sides of the ball.
Saginaw United is one of the most interesting week one stories in the state, as they celebrate the start of a new era, as the old Saginaw High has merged with Arthur Hill for 2024, and the new United school gets to open the new era on MSR for coach James King. They will have an incredibly difficult schedule, playing the likes of Davison and Grand Blanc in conference play, so the perennial championship contender Falcons will be a strong early test prepping for that conference slate.
NEWAYGO vs KENT CITY
Legendary head coach Ralph Munger begins season number two at Newaygo this season, after a 3-6 record last year, the Lions will look for their first playoff berth since 2020 this year. Blake Kerr will lead the offense at QB this year, and with four returning offensive lineman to lean on, the Lions could see a big jump offensively this year, and hope to start off doing so with a home game in week one.
Kent City will come to town to take on the Lions in this one, coach Zach Gropp led the Eagles to a 7-3 mark in 2023 and will be a team looking to build on that, and advance even deeper into the postseason.
This will be an old-school affair as the flexbone triple option attack from Newaygo, as coach Munger also featured so prominently at Rockford for all those years, will take on the full-house power-T attack of the Eagles. Don’t blink because this game could be over in a hurry as each team will look to control the clock and impose their respective will’s.
HOUGHTON LAKE vs CENTRAL MONTCALM
Central Montcalm features an impressive 21 of 22 returning starters in 2024, and that experience will be leaned on right away as they take on a Houghton Lake team that matched their 5-5 record in 2023. The Hornets hope that this is the year for them to earn their first playoff win since 2009, and they will lean on the entire returning starting line and a mix of returning leading rushers to dominate this game up-front and on the ground.
Houghton Lake under Ryan Sersaw in his first year as head coach last year went from 1-8 in 2022 to 5-5 in 2023, and will hope to match that type of growth in year two. They will play in the Highland Conference and are a division 7 school taking on D6 Central Montcalm, so this for sure will be a good test for them on the road trying to match the senior-laden Hornets.
FHC vs REETHS PUFFER
Another great week-one matchup between two of last year’s standout teams in West Michigan, each looking to replace a lot in 2024. For the Rangers of Forest Hills Central, they will look to replace key contributors across the field this year (along with replacing long-time head coach Tim Rogers – who retired a champion) from the 2023 state title squad. The key here though is that former long-time O Line coach and new HC Dave Fortino is keeping the physical and tough DNA within the program, so expect the new-look Rangers to be like the old Rangers with a powerful run game and stout defense right off the bat.
Reeths Puffer have been building an impressive program under coach Cody Kater, they also have a lot of key pieces to replace from their 7-3 2023 team, and will have a very difficult schedule throughout conference and non-con play this year. They do return several pieces along the line on both sides of the ball, so expect for the Rockets to also impose their force up front in this game, which will be a physical all-around affair.
EAST KENTWOOD vs HARTLAND
East Kentwood will be one of the most fascinating teams in all of west Michigan this year as they welcome in four-time state champion head coach Tyrone Spencer from Detroit MLK this year. Additionally he brings highly-touted transfer QB Kayd Coffman in to run what could be a dangerous East Kentwood attack, they will look to make an offensive splash with all of their weapons in a week one home opener on MSR vs Hartland.
The Eagles of Hartland fell to EK 35-10m last year before a 3-6 season, they will look for different results for head coach Thomas Stevenson this time around as they make the Thursday night trip to Kentwood. Hartland features a spread offense of their own that can attack you in a variety of different ways, but this could be an up-and-down the field type game if both offenses get rolling.
MANTON vs GLEN LAKE
The Michigan Sports Radio debut of Manton football will also be live on Thursday night. The Rangers fell to Glen Lake last season in a season opener before a 1-8 season, but they welcome in a new head coach Josh Merchant this year, who will look to turn things around, starting with his debut in this home opener.
Glen Lake went 5-5 a season ago, and opened hot with a 3-1 record in the first three weeks, they will look for more of the same, as they try to match their week one 34-18 win that they took against Manton last season.
FOREST HILLS NORTHERN vs KENOWA HILLS
Lastly on Friday night, a really interesting game will kick off a new era at Kenowa Hills as the Knights host Forest Hills Northern. The Huskies and coach Eddie Ostipow, who now enters his sixth season, went 6-4 last year OK-White and now transition to the incredibly tough OK-Green. Adding in non-conference games, they will play two state champions, a district champion, and several other tough playoff game winners last year. The Huskies will debut a new QB after a battle for the spot in camp, and likely lean on the run game and returning leading rusher Colton Sawyer in this one.
It’s a new era for their opponent as Kenowa Hills not just begins play as a member of the new Rivers Cities Alliance, but also will welcome in past state champion head coach Don Fellows to lead the Knights in 2024 and beyond. The Knights could be an explosive team right off the bat in this game, with Fellows’ standout sophomore QB son, Grayson, taking the reigns of the offense this year that has quite a few speedy options as weapons around him.
FRIDAY NIGHT:
GRANDVILLE vs PICKERINGTON NORTH (OH)
The Grandville Bulldogs hope that 2024 might be the year that they can put the pieces all together, returning starters across the field, including 3* standout running back Jayden Terry, who enters his third season starring in coach Eric Stiegel’s T offense. The Bulldogs also welcome in a new defensive coordinator in K.C. Zenner this year, who’s aggressive new-look defense will have a heck of a week one test on the road – nearly six hours away.
The ‘Dawgs travel to Pickerington, Ohio – Where the Pickerington North Panthers will play host to the ‘Dawgs. North features nearly 15 future division one players, including future Wisconsin QB Jarin Mock, Kentucky WR Preston Bowman and Ohio RB Michael Taylor on the offensive side of the ball and five future D1 players in the defensive secondary on the other side of the ball alone. This game features an early kick-off, so be set to tune in at 5:30 for a 6:00 kick-off in this star-studded cross-border battle.
GR CATHOLIC CENTRAL vs LAKE CENTRAL (IN)
The reigning D5 state champion Cougars of Catholic Central also play a week one test against an outside-of-the-state opponent. Lake Central Indiana will be coming to town, after already having notched a win in a contest last week against Munster (IN). The Indiana school put together a 5-6 schedule last season, playing a very difficult schedule.
Coach Todd Kolster’s Cougars will have a lot to replace, including finding what they hope to be a new version of their dynamic QB/RB duo they rode to a state title last year. It will be interesting to see who wins the position battles from camp across the field and what the system on both sides of the ball look like, as after a little bit more physical approach in 2023, we’ll get to see if the Cougars air it out more again in ‘24, starting with this home test.
SOUTH CHRISTIAN vs GR CHRISTIAN
Danny Brown’s South Christian Sailors came one play away from back-to-back state titles last year, and will be armed once again with now-senior QB Carson Vis, who broke records in his heroic effort in the state title game last year. The Sailors will have a lot of weapons around him to replace, and we’ll get our first look at what the Sailors look like in this one – surely we can expect a very explosive offense led by Vis in their spread attack to be at the forefront, starting with this game.
S.C. takes on long-time rival GR Christian to open the year, the Eagles struggled to a 1-8 record last season. They fell in week one to South Christian in a high-flying affair 66-42, we’ll see if coach Riley and Sundberg deliver a more physical approach to a retooled Eagles 2024 group, or if they will again engage in a shootout with a Sailors team that is always ready to score points.
ZEELAND WEST vs MUSKEGON
The Friday big-time showdowns continue at historic Hackley Stadium in Muskegon. Last year this week one battle would have been a conference game, but even with the OK Conference divisions altered, Muskegon and Zeeland West will still give us another thriller this year right off the bat. The reigning D2 champ Big Reds will have to replace a lot, including all three members of their dangerous triple-option back field from the title team. This will be our first look at their solution to those losses, as they welcome in former North Muskegon QB James Young via transfer. Young is more of a traditional pass-first QB, and could signal a different looking Muskegon offense, as they may lean towards a bit more balance or even a pass-first spread approach rather than their traditional pistol triple-option run game.
On the other hand, we know exactly what John Shilito’s team will look like. Zeeland West will be physical as ever and run the power T on offense. Last year, they came a play away from making a trip to the D3 state title game, despite a ton of injuries across the field. They will be a strong team this year with key returners like RB/S Trey Sloothaak back to lead the way on what is year-in-year out maybe west Michigan’s most consistent and physical program.
COMSTOCK PARK vs TRI-COUNTY
Comstock Park put together a 5-5 record that opened with a high scoring loss to Tri-County 56-35 in 2023. Coach Samuels’ team will have to replace a lot of their key skill players from 2023, but experience up front on both sides of the ball will lead them, they will very likely look to open trying to show off some of that physicality up front in this one.
Tri-County rode the big week one win of Comstock Park to a 7-3 overall mark in 2023, head coach Phil Butler lost a lot of pieces as well from the 2023 team, including a three-year starter at QB in Owen Behrenwald. We’ll see who fills the many vacancies for the always-strong Vikings and what type of approach they will take, replacing pieces in what has been a power spread and power pistol offense the last few seasons.
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We cannot wait to get this season underway with two loaded nights of action on Michigan Sports Radio! But, our coverage doesn’t stop after live broadcast coverage – be sure to check in over the weekend with recaps of our games and other big matchups across the area, columns highlighting some of the biggest takeaways from each week’s action, and rankings, results, standings, preview articles, a preview show with our Lou Gamelin, and much, much more!
