We have a week in the books, and have plenty to takeaway from a wild first week of high school football in west Michigan, so let’s dive right into four of the biggest results and stories from a first weekend what featured plenty of big-time matchups.
1st DOWN: Grandville’s Grand Start
I’m going to be openly biased here and start with the game I called on GAME NIGHT on Michigan Sports Radio Thursday night, as the Big Reds of Muskegon traveled to Grandville for a week one classic at Bulldog Stadium. It would be the Dawgs prevailing 44-40 in a game that featured, despite the high score, a lot of stretches of great defensive play mixed by plenty of explosive strikes from either side.
Grandville led 23-20 at the break, but a 96 yard kick return to open the half from Arquez Petty put the ‘Reds ahead, and each teamwould struggle offensively for the rest of the third quarter. After taking the ball on a short field after a strong defensive possesion, Grandville would strike ona. 40-yard 3rd and 10 TD run from DJ Hardiman to take a lead they ultimately would not relent. Jayden Terry went for 272 yardd and 3 TD (incl. a 56 and 86 yard TD rush), as he led a statement come-from-behind win for the Dawgs.
The main takeaways for me, one a gutsy win from a Grandville team that has plenty of expectations on them this year, and a tough schedule to boot. And two, Muskegon is going to be fine, the Big Reds looked like the Big Reds again with an option-run-first attack with senior QB Lamar Bradford, they are going to score a lot of points and do it on the ground in classic Muskegon style – They will be in the mix for the OK-Green title (who all started 0-1, by the way.
2nd DOWN: Runner-Up Redemption
One of the most intriguing games of the week featured the 2024 D1 and D2 runners up in a head-to-head neighborhood rivalry battle with Byron Center (D2) and Hudsonville (D1) facing off. Both teams had plenty to replace, but also some core pieces and coaching staff returning this year. And with the tough schedule for each to come, getting off to a hot start would be key in either side building momentum and getting a big win for playoff points when it is all said and done.
The Eagles edged the Bulldogs 27-21 in a game that featured a Bulldog comeback down the stretch fought off by the Eagles and maybe a few more explosive plays than expected on the offensive side for two teams that each defended as the core of their march to Ford Field a year ago. Brady VanLaecke especially was able to use his mobility as a gunsligner to make some big plays down field happen. The DNA might be slightly different in terms of how the Eagles win this year, but they’ve already shown that the DNA of gutting out wins they had all last year remains.
3rd DOWN: A Short-Lived Homecoming
Let’s just stick in the OK-Red a bit longer, where Rockford welcomed their former OC and former QB Kyle Short and his Saline team to ‘The Ted’ on Thursday. It would be Saline and future Miami (OH) QB Tommy Carr that would prevail in a game that featured the Rams struggle with some turnovers.
I think the first story here is Saline, they have a highly touted family legacy QB, a future Georgia TE and a coach that is one of the best at offensive playcalling in the state in Kyle Short – This is a team that is 100% built to contend with the likes of Cass Tech on the east side to make a trip to Detroit on Thanksgiving weekend. For Rockford, I think we can make more of a judgement after they take on Muskegon this Friday night. Both of those 0-1 teams will be hungry to avoid getting in an 0-2 hole before their loaded conference schedules… 0-2 with thr OK-Green and OK-Red on the horizon isn’t a fun place to be when it comes to needing to find 4-5 wins for the playoffs.
4th DOWN: Wildcat Winners
Northview’s unbeaten regular season in 2024 one of the biggest stories of the season campaign. After graduating their QB and other key weapons around the field there were some questions on if coach Ryan Oshnock’s team would be able to fully roll that momentum over – they answered those questions. Trailing 21-6 at one point vs highly touted West Catholic, the Wildcats would rally for a 32-21 win.
Even though it is a D2 vs D5 win, we know the level of talent and size that the Falcons have, this is a big statement for a Wildcats team that within the OK-Black may be starting to develop some of the same thoughts of an unbeaten – or very close to it – regular season, where this time they might actually get a home playoff game out of it (they fell to eventually D2 state runners-up Byron Center last year in the district semis.
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What a terrific week to open the season, and week two with matchups like Rockford/Muskegon, Grandville/Cass Tech, and many more marquee games is only going to get better! Stay tuned all week as we will have daily content previewing the coming week of action on MSR, all leading up to our 15+ live games on Friday night and recaps and video highlights of the biggest matchups to follow!
