Conference play beings in some leagues this week, while other traditional rivals clash in final non-conference games before the chase for their league begins. Here’s a lok at all the action you can catch LIVE on MSR Friday nught!
WEST CATHOLIC vs SOUTH CHRISTIAN
Maybe the premier matchup of the day features a pair of rivals that have given some great battles over the years, as each have proven to be year-in-year out state title contenders over the past decade-plus. West Catholic got bac on the right track after falling late to Northview week one as they dominated Coopersville 31-0.
South was on the other side of the shutout coin as they failed to light up the scoreboard in 21-0 defeat at home against EGR. We’ll see if they can get back on track vs Grady Augustyn and the tough Falcons before they have to start the equally hard OK-Gold slate next week.
GR CATHOLIC CENTRAL vs JACKSON LUMEN CHRISTI
Speaking of traditional powers, how about this matchup. Lumen Christi lost week one to a top Chicago-area private school before getting back on track vs Notre Dame Prep last week. The reigning D6 state champions are favorites to do it again this season.
But, they will see a Catholic Central team now 2-0 on the year with a pair of dominant wins over out-of-state powers in their pocket that has begun to emerge as a D5 title favorite. This should be a fun clash between two teams with Ford Field already emerging as a a goal.
FOREST HILLS NORTHER vs FOREST HILLS CENTRAL
It’s a non-con, cross-town rivalry in Forest Hills on MSR Friday night. Northern comes in 0-2 and looking to turn things around for Coach Ostipow after falling to Kenowa Hills and Jenison to start the year. FHC and 2nd year coach Dave Fortino sit at 1-1 and are licking their wounds a bit after a 41-0 loss to Portage Central – maybe the state’s most impressive team through two weeks.
ZEELAND WEST vs WHITEHALL
The Dux survived a miracle vs West Ottawa, with a viral hail-Mary clip, surely everyone has seen by now to move to 2-0 in the state title defense season. They’ll have another showdown with Whitehall, who they beat 60-43 in a shootout last year in week three. The Vikings are 1-1 on the season coming into this one, as they fell to Unity Christian week one and bounced back vs Orchard View last Friday.
ROCKFORD vs GRAND HAVEN
The Rams travel the lakeshore Friday night to open the OK-Red slate vs the Buccaneers, with both sides sitting at 1-1 after the non-con. Rockford bounced back from their Saline opening loss to overcome a 3 score halftime deficit to beat Muskegon, grand Haven opened with a Stevensville-Lakeshore win and then fell to TC West last weekend.
This could be an important year for Grand Haven under now 3rd year head coach Andrew Biedenbender, as they look to climb back toward a playoff berth. The Rams are looking for some critical momentum before a three week stretch where they will see the rest of the conference’s elite in one stretch – East Kentwood week 4, then Grandville and Hudsonville to follow.
GRANDVILLE vs WEST OTTAWA
Speaking of the OK-Red, let’s stay there with another clash on the lakeshore as the 1-1 Bulldogs, fresh off their OT heartbreaker vs #1 Cass Tech travel to West Ottawa – fresh off their hail-Mary heartbreaker vs Zeeland West. The Bulldogs have been rolling on the ground compiling over 393 yards per game on the ground to open the season, and will look to continue that trend this week – All led by senior Jayden Terry, who has already found the end zone 6 times this season and compiled 235 yards per game on the ground alone.
The Panthers appear to be one of the better unit’s that coach Collins has had in his tenure at WO, despite the 0-2 record, those losses were by a total of 7 points, and junior QB Abel Anaya has been slinging the ball and the duo of he and Allegan transfer RB Jeremiah Edwards-Tate have proven to be a dangerous option duo on the ground.
HUDSONVILLE vs CALEDONIA
In the Red for one more game, where our top team in the MSR Power Poll, Hudsonville is taking on Caledonia who is off to a strong 2-0 start for new coach Whitney Bell, scoring 36 points per game. This one features a lot of good weapons and a very good QB battle between Hudsonville’s Brady VanLaecke and Caledonia junior Bryce Backus.
FREELAND vs SWAN VALLEY
Freeland is off to another start that has put them in state title conversations, winning their opening two games by a combined 95-0. Coach Townsend’s group will travel to Saginaw Swan Valley Friday to take on the 1-1 Vikings, who are coming off a hard fought 21-14 loss to another title contender in Frankenmuth. This will be a solid litmus test for the Falcons seeing a team on the road that played one of their closest rivals tough in a lower-scoring battle a week ago.
COOPERSVILLE vs LOWELL
Coopersville is off to an 0-2 start on the season as they are breaking in highly talented freshman QB Champ Kelly and looking to rebound especially from a 34-0 loss to West Catholic last week. Lowell has been one of the area’s most impressive teams to start the year, scoring over 40 points in both of their wins so far – against EGR and Mattawan.
SPARTA vs NORTHVIEW
A battle of 2-0 teams at Sparta high school. Northview put together a comeback win over West Catholic and gutted out a 2 point win Vicksburg last week to open the year strong and follow up their unbeaten regular season a year ago. Sparta opened with a 28-0 win over Wyoming and then gutted out a 36-35 thrilled of their own over Wayland in week two.
CENTRAL MONTCALM vs LAKEVIEW
It’s 2-0 vs 0-2 at KOS Field at Lakeview HS Friday in a CSAA-White conference opener. Central Montcalm disposed of Houghton Lake and a playoff rematch opponent in Newaygo to open the season. Lakeview fell to Mason County Central and Saugatuck in the first to weeks, especially struggling on offense, getting shut out week one and scoring 6 last week.
GRANT vs TRI-COUNTY
2-0 Tri-County appears to be fully back to their winning ways in 2025 with wins over Ovid-Elsie and Sanford Meridian to open the campaign. They will welcome 1-1 Grant to town on Friday, who bounced back from a week one loss with a 35-0 shutout W vs Hesperia last week. This game opens CSAA-Red play for both teams.
NEWAYGO vs BIG RAPIDS
Newaygo is looking to get rolling after an 0-2 start and playoff rematch loss to Central Montcalm last week. It will be a tough test for them to get into the win column in their conference opener, as they travel to 2-0 Big Rapids, who’s tough defense surrendered only 7 points in each of their first two games, while they took down Paw Paw and Fruitport.
MANTON vs McBAIN
It has been a tale of two weeks for Manton so far this year, opening the year with a 44-0 win over Vestaburg before having the script flipped on them and falling 35-0 to Beal City last week. They’ll try to recreate something closer to week one as they take on McBain, who is also 1-1. They lost by 7 week one to Edwardsburg and won big over LeRoy Pine River last week.
