MHSAA Football - Week Five Preview

Can you feel the excitement of the second half of the football season? It’s officially fall now and you can feel the crisp autumn air so pull out the sweatshirts or coats because Friday night means high school football games across America. There is a great slate of games that I’m going to write up in this article. Unfortunately, the pay wall of some newspapers has kept me from writing a ton about every game. Keep reading to know a bit about some of the big games in Michigan this weekend.

Capital Area

Haslett (2-2) at DeWitt (4-0) (Friday September 26, 7pm)

The Vikings of Haslett have changed it up a bit this year. After slugging it out for nearly 20 years with the full house T offense, they are much more of a passing team. They had averaged twice as many passing yards as rushing yards, except in last week’s win over Owosso. Mykail Stinson ran seven times for 51 yards and three touchdowns in their 35-0 shutout. Brandon Allen ran for a five yard score and Andrew Harris scored on three yard jaunt. They will need both the passing and rushing offense to click if they want to blemish DeWitt’s perfect record. That means the offensive line needs to be stout and take charge to allow the backs and receivers to make plays.

These two teams have squared off 42 times. DeWitt has only lost nine of those games. Last week, DeWitt blasted Lansing Waverly 56-12. Quarterback Jacob Johnson completed 12 of his 13 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran four times for 130 more yards. James Ross, ShonQuise Trainor, and Michael Roberson each pulled in three passes for 66, 24, and 23 yards respectively. Ross also found the end zone twice. Trainor also ran six times for 46 yards and a score. Ben Heinritz rushed six times for 27 yards and three scores. Wesley England toted the rock four times for 61 yards and two scores. DeWitt has their sights set on a return trip to Ford Field to finish what was left unfinished in last year’s state title game. This is another important game if they want to win their Capital Area Athletic Conference Red Division.

Up North

Johannesburg-Lewiston (4-0) at St. Ignace LaSalle (4-0) (Friday September 26, 7pm)

A battle of the unbeaten for the top spot in the Ski Valley is what is on the line this Friday night on the north side of the Straights of Mackinaw. This is only the third meeting between the two schools and the first that isn’t a playoff game, but I’m sure the atmosphere will feel like a playoff game. J-L will bring their Wing T attack and grind it out. Last week, they beat Gaylord St. Mary 50-14. Nick May and Brandon Huff each found the end zone twice while Logan Huff and Dominic Cassisi each crossed the goal line once. Cassisi grabbed a pair of interceptions on defense.

I wonder if they anticipated Homecoming this year being such a HUGE game. The pay wall for another newspaper foiled this write-up. That doesn’t mean that this isn’t an important game. Winner of this game will hold a game over the rest of the Ski-Valley Conference.

West Side

Muskegon Oakridge (3-1) at Ravenna (4-0) (Friday September 26, 7pm)

These two schools have been powerhouse programs of the Class C/Division 6-7. Both have state championships under their belts. They have even played 47 previous times with Oakridge holding a 34-12 advantage. Last week, Oakridge blasted North Muskegon 27-0. Including in that blasting was a controversial hit on a punt return that sent the North Muskegon quarterback to the hospital with a broken clavicle. No one wrote about this game either. Sorry for the lack of info!

Ravenna smoked Hart last week to set up this huge game for the West Michigan Conference title aspirations of both schools. With a 63-6 win, six different players were able to score rushing touchdowns. Gabe Zimmer ran 10 times for 96 yards and three scores, Dakota Hudson scored both times he touched the ball and scored twice, Justin Jones rushed eight times for 43 yards and a score, Seth Morgan carried twice for a score and 13 yards, Alex White score a six yarder the only time he toted the rock, and David Thompson rushed four times for 37 yards and a score. Quarterback Nick Castenholtz passed three times and completed two of them for 51 yards while chipping in four rushing yards on three attempts. These two rivals should be ready for the big game tonight.

Detroit

Detroit Martin Luther King (4-0) at Detroit Mumford (Saturday September 27, Noon)

This is the start of a TOUGH two week gauntlet in the Detroit Public School League. King, Mumford, Cass Tech, and East English Village all have perfect records. Tomorrow, one of them will fall. If King survives, next week they will have to clash with Cass Tech who has a great chance of beating Detroit Denby this afternoon. East English Village plays a winless Detroit Southeastern today as well. In the next two weeks, much of the final standings could start to shape up.