Conference play kicked off in several leagues across the area and we managed to answer some questions that had been left unanswered by a wild non conference slate in the first two weeks, but even more I think we asked more questions then what we had answered by the results of another really interesting third week of the season. Here’s my four biggest takeaways from the week that was in west MI high school football!

 

FIRST DOWN: Scots Scoring Big

Caledonia had a disappointing 2025 for their standards welcoming in new coach Whitney Bell last yera, that was mostly due to a lot of injuries on an already young and turned-over roster. Most notably D1 prospect QB Bryce Backus missed the majority of the season, but he’s back and armed with former South Christian and WMU QB Jon Wassink as his new OC and the Scots have been piling on the points because of it.

They scored 35 points as they handed Rockford the Rams second loss of the season on Friday night as the Scots moved to 2-1 on the year (Their week one win over Portage Northern was forfeited after the fact due to an ineligible player for Cal).

But, now moved back down for the season into D2, Caledonia is proving that they have the firepower through the air as well as their traditional physicality and could be a factor in the race for the OK-Red and set to make a deep playoff run as well…

 

SECOND DOWN: Falcons Fly Again

After a second week loss to Coopersville 41-21, the reigning D5 champion West Catholic Falcons and coach Landon Grove were back to the drawing board a bit as they looked to rebound and continue to build with a pretty young squad that lost some key pieces from last year’s title team.

They made that statement on Friday night as they came back to beat 2-0 South Christian in a 44-34 shootout, and the key is the play of their sophomore QB Will Smith, who continues to improve week-by-week and could be the key piece in delivering a return trip to Ford Field at the end of the season. Smith was an efficient 15-20 passing with 195 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Falcons win. So, it was an overwhelming ground game to go along with a very efficient and dangerous pass game that delivered the win and shows off the way WC is already improving in the early part of 2026.

 

THIRD DOWN: The Other Falcons Also Still Flying

East Kentwood is West Michigan’s undisputed best team, I got the chance to see them with my own eyes at they dropped 56 in a 3 score win over the Grandville Bulldogs on Friday night live on MSR. That game may have shown where the Falcons defense – breaking in a new OC and some new pieces in the front 7 still will be rounding into form still.

But, it may not matter where the defense is at because of the ability of the offense. Coach Tyrone Spencer has a dangerous combo of a transfer QB Colin O’Connor, OC Cheyne Lacanaria and a bevy of weapons who are almost always the fastest group that steps on the field. It is a precision attack that can carve up the best of secondaries, and also has the ability to run the football with a group of dangerous running backs behind the strength of an O Line that averages 288 pounds across the starting 5.

EK made a statement vs Grandville and in my mind, maybe they made a statement worthy of getting the #1 ranking in the entire state. Coach Spencer could have the pieces needed to win state title #5 and his first at Kentwood.

 

FOURTH DOWN: Driving Dux

Zeeland West has been the epitome of steady since the school’s founding two decades ago, spending all but the last two years under legendary coach John Shillito, before the keys got handed off in 2025 to Jeff Bolhouse, who took the Dux to the Regional round in year #1.

The Dux in 2026 look like a team ready to made another deep run in the D3 playoffs and are doing it in a steady and somewhat untacked about fashion because they are quietly handling business while many other teams in the area have been suffering losses and making statements to draw the headlines. A 24-0 win over New Market Huron Heights (ON) got the Dux to 3-0, and they’ve done it with an average margin of victory of 26 points through those three wins.

The Dux look like what they have always been this year, which is a very good thing for the Zeeland West faithful.