The final week of the regular season is already here – as yet another year has flown by. And we’ve been proud to be your go-to once again this year on MSR for not just live games and replays, but a host of other content every day of the week – And now it will only ramp up for the postseason!
Here’s a look at all of the games you can find Friday (and Thursday) on MSR!
THURSDAY | ZEELAND WEST (7-1) vs WEST CATHOLIC (6-2)
A rare late-week Thursday match-up with two games being at Zeeland Stadium this weekend – and this big non-con clash being moved to Thursday – giving each team an extra day on the back-end to prepare for their playoff openers. West Catholic went unbeaten and won the OK-White title this year, with Zeeland West finishing a game back in the OK-Gold, their lone loss coming to conference champion Unity Christian.
Both of these teams feature high-powered run games and stout defenses. The Dux defense gave up a season-high 43 vs Whitehall in week 3, but otherwise they have never allowed more than 22. West Catholic similarly played a week 3 shootout where they surrendered a season-high 41 vs South Christian; The Falcons have otherwise never allowed more than 25 and have surrendered 14 or less in three of their last four contests.
Watch for QB play to be the difference in an otherwise physical and run-dominant game, coach Shillito may break the T to go to alternate looks, including a shotgun T that that the Dux have used this year to highlight their standout senior Trey Sloothaak. Coach Grove and West Catholic will lean on junior Grady Augustyn, who will have a wide variety of weapons to hit – his accuracy in the short-mid passing game could be the key to keeping the stout Dux ‘D’ off balance and unable to load the box vs. the Wes Catholic power spread.
COOPERSVILLE (5-3) vs CEDAR SPRINGS (7-1)
A game that may prove to be an impromptu inaugural conference championship game in the River Cities Alliance. Along with Lowell, these two each come in with a single loss in the league, and the winner will be able to guarantee at least a piece of the title.
Coopersville comes in this game in the midst of a surprising two game slide, falling to D4 title contender Big Rapids 24-7 last week in a non-conference game after dropping their lone conference game to Kenowa Hills the week before. Cedar Springs, on the other hand, is rolling down the stretch, having won three straight after their lone loss to Lowell and scoring north of 50 points in two of those wins.
Cedar Springs will look to establish their power T offense and control the ball and the clock against a Coopersville team tat often will try to do the same in the run game. Expect a tough run game and defense led game with both teams looking to avoid mistakes and make the most of long possessions. But, the Coopersville pass game could be the difference, QB Beau Harris has thrown more TD passes than any QB in school history this year and with an assortment of targets like Brooks Hadden, the Broncos pass game may be the key to break the game early or force a comeback if the Red hawks and their dominant offense that has scored 32+ points in 5 of their 7 wins.
GRANDVILLE (4-4) vs CALEDONIA (4-4)
Grandville and Caledonia have given us some classic games in the past several years, notably Grandville’s 38-34 win last year at Caledonia, where the Dawgs scored the winning TD with less than 10 seconds remaining. This year, the game could have high stakes for Caledonia, who comes in on the outside-looking-in of the D2 playoff picture. Even with a win it may be tough for the Scots to make the playoffs at 5-4 – But, they NEED to win this game to have any type of chance. The Bulldogs are safe for the D1 playoffs, even with a loss – given their tough schedule.
Expect points in this one, both defenses have struggled at points this year vs. other high-powered offenses and these offenses have shown an ability to score quite a few points of their own against most teams. Grandville’s T offense has been chugging along at over 37 points per game scored and had a classic 38-3 win last week vs. WO in which they didn’t break many long plays, but consistently controlled the ball and scored every time they drove.
Caledonia’s offense has sputtered a bit during a 3-game losing streak, scoring 20 or less in each game – But senior QB Brody Betser, operating what is way more of a 4-wide pass heavy spread this year is the type of QB and system that could give the Bulldogs secondary fits with explosive plays.
FREELAND (7-1) vs CADILLAC (4-4)
Freeland dropped their first game of the year last Friday vs. rival Frankenmuth in a Tri-Valley Red Conference title game, 21-20. The Falcons will look to turn things around and get back to their former rhythm that demolished all other opponents through the first 7 weeks.
Cadillac will close an up-and-down regular season that currently puts them at 4-4 on their home field, the Vikings find themselves in a position that win-or-lose they will likely be set to make the D3 playoffs, but this could be a huge win for seeding and momentum heading into the postseason for a team that missed the playoffs a year ago and is fighting to build back to their success of the past several season, that included a trip to the finals in 2020 and another district title in 2021.
Want to learn more about the Falcons and this game? Check out Lou Gamelin’s show with coach Townsend from Tuesday night in the On-Demand section of the Listen Live page!
CENTRAL MONTCALM (7-1) vs HART (4-4)
A sixth straight win, in dominant fashion over White Cloud, finished a perfect conference season and a CSAA-White league title for Central Montcalm. Coach Cripe’s team now turn their attention to a trip to Hart to finish the regular season before they begin their playoff march.
The Pirates roll into the final game at 4-4 for coach Joe Tanis, they are going to have an uphill battle to make the playoffs – even with a win this week. But, winning this game to get to 5-4 and hoping for some other chaos around D6 is their only chance, so expect to see the best shot out of the Pirates who have won two straight, putting up their two bets offensive performances of the year in those two games.
EAST GRAND RAPIDS (5-3) vs FOREST HILLS CENTRAL (6-2)
Forest Hills Central hosts a really interesting week 9 game between a couple of team that could see each other again shortly in the D3 playoffs. EGR came up with a statement win over Catholic Central, gutting out a 31-28 win over the Cougars last Friday. FHC moved to 6-2 for Coach Fortino’s bunch with a 35-12 win over Wyoming.
Both of these team’s have been known for their defense in the past few seasons, and the same is true this year again – But an X-Factor may be the EGR offense behind senior QB Carson Thornton. The Pioneers have scored 30+ in their last three games (all wins). In fact it’s pretty simple, when EGR scores 30+ they have won every time, every time they have failed to reach that plateau, they lost the game. We’ll see if an FHC defense that has only allowed 30+ once all year (43, Unity Christian) can keep the Pioneers under that threshold.
GR CATHOLIC CENTRAL (5-3) vs SOUTH CHRISTIAN (4-4)
A Game that has been played for the OK-Gold conference championship multiple times in the past few years has a little different meaning as a non-conference clash between a pair of teams that each finished outside of the top two (or tied for second) in their respective conferences this year.
Catholic Central has dropped two straight – to EGR and Northview – and fell out of conention for the OK-Black title in the process. It’s been a Jekyll and Hyde type season for the Cougars who have had some big offenses performances and blowout wins, and some tough losses where the offense even failed to score a TD twice (Notre Dame and Northview). As CC preps for the D5 playoffs where they will likely have a district final battle with West Catholic looming, we’ll see if they can get freshman QB Odin Spencer rolling just in time for CC to bounce back and begin another title run.
Speaking of Jekyll and Hyde seasons, South Christian started the year 4-0, the reigning D4 runners-up are now 4-4 after dropping 4 straight OK-Gold games to close their league season. South Christian is still a team that we all know can put it together around QB Carson Vis, and win-or-lose they should still be safe to make the postseason, but may be looking at a rematch vs. Unity Christian right away to begin the playoffs. If South is going to win this run and begin a run, their offense is going to have to get back on track. In their four wins the Sailor offense scored 41+ in all games, they have not scored more than 21 in the losses.
ROCKFORD (6-2) vs EAST KENTWOOD (5-3)
Rockford has gotten things back on track and look more like the team we saw at the start of season as a title threat, before their two losses to Jenison and Hudsonville that ended another OK-Red title chase for them. They look to close strong, traveling to East Kentwood – where coach Spencer’s Falcons are now 5-3 and ready for a playoff run of their own.
The Rams offense has been able to answer some of their earlier questions, establishing especially a powerful run game with senior back Isaac Poot. The Rams not scored 40 points all year until week 7, they now have done it back-to-back weeks. If they are able to do it again vs. the Falcons, it will be a real statement that they are ready to go.
EK bounced back from a tough loss to Grandville in week six with two strong wins over Grand Haven and Jenison. The defense was the story for EK here, as they only allowed 7 in each of the games. Meaning that this unit also has found some rhythm on defense and will be a good test for the Rams offense.
NEWAYGO (6-2) vs FREMONT (2-6)
Newaygo got back in the win column vs Lake Odessa Lakewood last Friday night 53-36, the 6-2 Lions will now go on the road to Fremont, looking for another win before they start the D6 playoffs.
Fremont holds the inverse record of Coach Munger’s Newaygo team – currently sitting at 2-6. They will look for a senior night upset win on their own field to close their season in this one. Despite the record, Fremont could be a good test for the Newaygo defense – as they have scored 62 or more in two of their last three games. (One of those games was a wild 70-64 shootout loss to Montague).
FOREST HILLS NORTHERN (4-4) vs NORTHVIEW (8-0)
Two teams that each have importance on this game for different reasons, first for Northview – the Wildcats look to contnue their dream season under coach Ryan Oshnock. The Wildcats have already locked up the OK-Black title and are now just a single win away from a perfect reguar season, before they will look to play spoiler to Mona Shores and Byron Center in the postseason.
FHN needs to win to get in. Based on current projections, coach Ostipow’s team would likely find themselves just on the outside looking in with a loss, but would likely just squeeze in to the D2 post season with a win. So, the stakes are clear, the Huskies need an upset win on their home field to not just play spoiler to Northview’s perfect season – but also to be able to keep playing beyond this week.
The Huskies will need to keep a similar blue print to thier close 17-14 loss to FHC back in week three, if they can limit Armaan Irving and the dangerous Northview offense while controlling the clock on the other side of the ball, they could be in the right position to pull out the huge win.
MANTON (2-6) vs JOHANNESBURG-LEWISTON (1-6)
The firs season of Manton football on MSR comes to a close with a game at Johannesburg-Lewiston between a couple of teams that are looking to end the year with a win to build on as they head into the 2025 season.
Manton dropped their contest to Beal City 49-6 last Friday, while J-L fell to Mancelona 40-12 for their sixth straight loss (after a week one win vs Harbor Springs). The key here will be if J-L is able to get the offense going at all in this one, they have scored to fail more than 12 in any game after their 30 points in the season-opening win.
Until last Friday, the Manton offense had ben able to score 24 or more in their past 5 games, so if the Rangers can break out that type of offense early, they should be in a good spot to get win number three of 2024.
TRI COUNTY (5-3) vs LUDINGON (6-2)
After falling to a great Reed City team in big fashion, 52-6, last week, Tri County will wrap up their regular season on senior night by hosting 6-2 Ludington to end the year. Tri County has been on an up and down streak the past several weeks – as they have alternated losses and wins every-other week since their week four loss to Newaygo. They’ll be hoping to continue that streak (for this week at least) and close with a win.
Ludington finished second to Whitehall in the WMC Lakes division this season and have been led by a high-powered offense that has scored 31+ points in all but one game (10 in a loss to Whitehall) and have scored 40+ in 5 games, including a 66 point performance last week in a 66-12 win over Orchard View. We’ll see if the Orioles can keep up that pace, or if Tri County will be able to slow down the Orioles attack and answer with a high-powered offense of their own.
—
Enjoy the final week of the regular season this week, and check back in for content every day as MSR will continue to be your leading source for live action, recaps, previews, analysis and more for the entire run to the state championship games in Detroit on Thanksgiving weekend!
