Welcome to the season’s first edition of 4 Downs, where each week we will be taking a look at the four biggest stories/takeaways from each week of the high school football season here on West Michigan and Michigan Sports Radio! Week one featured plenty to discuss with big-time cross-state and even cross-border matchups that helped to set the seen where classic and new contenders are sitting as the young season gets underway.
1st Down: New-Look Reigning State Champs Finalists Putting the Pieces Together
We begin with a look at some of the teams that went all the way last season and played at Ford Field – Keeping a focus on Muskegon and South Christian. Forest Hills Central and Catholic Central (who we’ll talk about a little bit more in a second) also earned week one wins – FHC kicked off a new era with new players and a new coach in the sideline (Dave Fortino) with a classic FHC performance, winning 21-10 over Reeths Puffer. FHC appeared to be able to replicate a lot of their classic Tim Rogers era style of play in the win with a dominant run game and stout defense, we’ll have to keep an eye on FHC in this category of champs putting the pieces together – But they got off to a great start vs. a very good Rockets start.
South Christian pulled out a 42-27 win over GR Christian, a strong result for a very new look South Christian team. The Sailors even trailed at points in the first half, but they were able to ride terrific play out of Carson Vis on offense to put up enough points to earn a comfortable win. It’s the defensive side of the ball, where the Sailors are making whole-sale replacements from last year’s state runner-up team that there may still be some work to be done, but surely we can expect this young group to come together under coach Danny Brown – keep an eye in the Sailors to take this strong second-half pull-away performance as a momentum boost down the stretch.
Lastly here, there’s the reigning state finalist (and champion) that has the most to put together after week one, as Muskegon fell on their home field to Zeeland West 28-13, new Big Reds QB James Young threw for 150 yards on 13 of 18 passing in the contest. And that is where the biggest question still lies, as Muskegon will have to figure out a way to find their typical level of offensive performance – There was a lot of talk about a possible pass-heavy or, at least, more balanced offense, and with 18 pass attempts and 1 TD through the air, that is more balance than what we see a lot of years out of the pistol option Big Reds. But, will the speed and skill on the ground from the likes of Keon Drummer and Michael Piggee Jr. wind up carrying the day more going forward?
The Dux also will very likely have one of the best defenses in the area, so it’s all relative, and why it’s fun to speculate early – before we know how the pieces will come together – But, the Big Reds will continue to be intriguing as their ceiling (as always) is a state championship finish – even if they look a little different in how they try to make it back to Ford Field.
2nd Down: Classic West Michigan Programs Ready for a Classic Deep Run?
On the other side of the coin is a look at some classic west Michigan powerhouse programs that are looking to get back into a true state title mix this year again, that made week one statements that they may be ready to do just that: Rockford and Zeeland West.
We’ll talk about the Dux here first again, because coach John Shilito’s power T and terrific defensive team made the biggest statement of all, in terms of a west-side vs. west-side contest last weekend. In particular, Trey Sloothaak had a big first game of the year in his new added role as the team’s QB along with leading the secondary at safety, he scored and put together other explosive plays with his legs to move the ball in chunks and show that he may help the offense find another gear.
The Dux were a play away from going to Ford Field last year, despite having a team that battled many injuries all over the field, this could be a return to a Dux team that made so many trips to Ford Field under Shilito throughout the last decade.
The Rams of Rockford earned maybe the most impressive cross-state win of week one, as they fended off Cass Tech and their roster filled to the brim of power 4 college talent, including Freshman QB Donald Tabron II (who already held Michigan and Michigan State offers before playing a snap of high school football). The Rams won 30-23, despite some mistakes on special teams and offense as new QB Brayden Daniels and new RB Isaac Poot settled into their new roles on the offensive side of the ball.
The Rams strength this year is going to be up front on offense and all over on the defensive side of the ball, making this team a bit of a throwback to the Rams teams that captured state titles and made Ford Field appearances in the 2000’s for Ralph Munger. The Rams now will go and play Muskegon and Grandville over the next couple of weeks, if they flex their muscle in those games – that Rams would come out of the first third of the season as a clear contender to make a deep run that could finish in Detroit on Thanksgiving weekend.
3rd Down: West Michigan Matches Head-to-Head with Out-Of-State Powers
Three west Michigan programs scheduled elite out-of-state powerhouses the first week of the year, and despite a 1-2 record in those games – West Michigan showed that they could match-up with some big-time talent from football hotbed regions – as both of the aforementioned losses were by one score.
One of those losses was Grandville, who made a near six-hour trip to outside of Columbus, OH to take on Pickerington North – a state title threat in Ohio this year that has nearly 15 players with division one college offers. The Bulldogs rallied from an early 3rd quarter three-score deficit to lead with 30 seconds to go, before The Panthers would rally to score kick a 31-yard winning field goal as time expired. Grandville scored 51 points in the loss, with junior RB Jayden Terry finding the end zone five times (national top-10 ranked team St. Edward only scored 28 vs. the stout P.N. defense when the two played a week ago in Ohio week 1).
West Catholic took on another Ohio stalwart in Cincinnati Elder, the Falcons would fall 20-13 in a one-score road trip loss of their own. The game was tied at 13 after 3 quarters before Elder would earn the winning tally in the fourth, for a West Catholic squad installing a new QB and a few other key players, it was a truly impressive close loss vs. a team that is stacked with as much talent for a school it’s size in the country.
And then there’s Catholic Central, who flexed some muscle over Lake Central of Indiana in a game at the ‘CAT’ in Grand Rapids, winning 17-10 over a school that is five times larger than Catholic Central, with over 3,000 students. Kamall Hillard put in an explosive 95 yard kickoff return TD that wound up being the difference.
This type of weekend proves some of the progress the Grand Rapids and West Michigan era has made in level of football programs across divisions and styles, as all three schools played in one-score contests against some of the regions most talented schools – that would frankly match any program in Michigan.
4th Down: Michigan Sports Radio’s Week One Coverage Leads the Way
A Shameless plug for all of the work that everyone at MSR put in over the past few weeks (and months) to help make this first week of previews, recaps, and live coverage such a success. From the team previews we released to begin the week on every single team across West Michigan and beyond, to podcasts, Coaches Shows, the MSR Preview Show, new graphics, stories and more – MSR was proud to help get everyone ready for the season all week long with a ton of content.
And, we followed that up with 14 lives games from all over the state (and the country – not to brag, CT and I on the GAME NIGHT crew found out way to Ohio with the Grandville Bulldogs). We thank everyone that tuned in, and can’t wait to do it all again – as we get ready for another week of huge matchups like Muskegon/Rockford, Grandville/Davison, Coopersville/West Catholic, and many more!
