Week Five - Play For The Name On Front Of Your Jersey

The halfway point of the regular season has come and gone. There will be teams that will secure a playoff spot within two weeks while others will need to keep

The halfway point of the regular season has come and gone. There will be teams that will secure a playoff spot within two weeks while others will need to keep working. Plenty of good teams will need to turn it up a notch and play sound, mistake free football for the rest of the season or face not making the playoffs. I’d also like to send a “thumbs up” to Flint Michigan School for the Deaf who played their first football game since 1984 this past Friday. Although the Tartars lost 42-6 in their Eight Man Football debut, they still have seven more tries to get that first win since 1978. They play tonight at home tonight, 5pm, against Akron-Fairgrove Take it to ‘em, Tartars!

Capital Area

Mason (4-0) at St. Johns (3-1) (Friday September 25, 7pm)

St. Johns is a good football team. They only have one loss on the season, and that was to a very good Mount Pleasant team. Last week, the Redwings had to battle back against Lansing Sexton to force overtime and secure the victory. It wasn’t easy though; they had a lead and allowed Sexton to score an 87 yard touchdown. Jacob Robinson had a huge part in the win. He recovered a fumble, scored two touchdowns, ran for 96 yards, and had 113 receiving yards. Nicholas Grinder had 100 yards on his 23 carries. He also scored from five yards out in overtime which proved to be the game winning touchdown. Quarterback Eddie Peters completed 10 of his 14 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. This game will have large implications for the CAAC Red title. There are only three more weeks of league play and both St. Johns and Mason have out of conference games in that span.

Mason is looking good this season. After going 9-2 last year, they have started off with four straight victories. Last week they battled Okemos and put them away early and never let them in the game. Most of the damage was done by Benjamin Hinamanu. He had 11 carries for 221 yards and two touchdowns, including a 41 and a 90 yard scamper. Saylor Lavallii also had a great night, rushing for 129 yards on eight carries and scoring two touchdowns of his own. Bulldog quarterback Thomas McNamara didn’t need to pass much, but he did complete three of his six passes for 61 yards. Kicker Jacob Denby kicked six extra points after he helped Mason’s soccer team win 2-0 over Okemos just before the football game.

Detroit

Macomb Dakota (4-0) at Sterling Heights Stevenson (4-0) (Friday September 25, 7pm)

Coach Mike Giannone knows about winning. His Cougars of Macomb Dakota have won two Division 1 state titles in the past three years. Running back Brandon Hughes has run the ball for 518 yards so far this year and scored seven times. Junior quarterback Mark Morris is passing very well, completing 33 of his 48 passes for 554 yards and seven touchdowns as well.  Last week, he completed 10 of his 11 passes for 133 yards and also ran 10 times for 64 yards. The Cougars have a huge offensive line which allows their backs and receivers to do their thing. It wasn’t all fun for Dakota. They were down 10-0 half way through the second quarter before they battled back to beat Romeo 33-17.

It was the Titans of Sterling Heights Stevenson who knocked Dakota out of the playoffs last season. Their quarterback, Jason Fracassa, is a four year starter for Sterling Heights Stevenson. He’s not too far from breaking the state record for career passing yards (7,464 by Mill Coleman, Farmington Hills Harrison). Against Grosse Pointe South, he completed 21 of his 28 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns. Marcus Beaurem returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a score. Coach Rick Bye has his team playing very well and will definitely know what to expect against Dakota. These two teams play once a year, and in some years, they also meet up in the playoffs.  Everyone is going to be looking at whether Dakota is able to shut down Fracassa by putting pressure on him and forcing some bad passes. The Titans, on the other hand, will use their running game to keep pressure off their QB and allow him to make plays when called upon.

West

Hamilton (4-0) at Byron Center (4-0) (Friday September 25, 7pm)

Bulldog coach Marc Cisco had his team playing well last week. In their 29-6 victory over Zeeland West, they took it to them. Their defensive line played disciplined and didn’t allow Zeeland West to get their game going. Coach Cisco even called them the stars of the game. One interesting tidbit about the game is that Byron Center had 30 offensive plays all game, while ZW had one drive of 22 yards (that resulted in no points). Zac Cross ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries…handling the ball nearly half of their offensive plays. With their running game working so well, they didn’t need to pass and had no passing yards. In the game, they had 220 yards of total offense. Cross blocked a punt which a teammate returned for a score. Aaron VanderHuevel returned a fumble 96 yards and scored as well.

Hamilton also beat up on a Zeeland team last week. They played Zeeland East and won 49-7. Quarterback Evan Mudd threw for 177 and two touchdowns. Aric Spotts was the main running back, carrying 19 times for 122 and a touchdown. The Hawkeyes defense has been a major part of their winning ways. This season, they returned eight defensive starters which shortened the learning curve. Outside linebacker Adam Koning had 11.5 tackles against Zeeland East. Coach Chris Myers makes sure his team’s preparation is right and that they know what to expect each and every week. He attributes that to his “Green Berets,” their scout team offense.  Hamilton will need to stop the big plays that Byron Center’s offense can make while making big defensive plays and scoring with their offense.

Mid Michigan

Saginaw Swan Valley (4-0) at Ovid-Elsie (Friday September 25, 7pm)

This game features a traditional Tri-Valley League powerhouse against a team new to the league, but knows how to win. The Vikings were able to knock out Midland Bullock Creek last week 36-14. Leading Swan Valley’s rushing attack was Dan Berden, gaining 81 yards on 19 carries. Quarterback Cody Call completed five of his 13 passes for 84 yards, all of which went to Matt Reardon. Coach Rich Bell said his offensive line played well in the fourth quarter which allowed them to score 10 points, after Bullock Creek cut the lead to 12. Swan Valley is going to try to run the ball, pass when they want to, and play good defense. Their defense will need to play top notch if they want to stop Ovid-Elsie’s thoroughbred Chris Robinson

When you talk about O-E, the conversation always begins with Chris Robinson. In their 47-34 win over Hemlock, Robinson ran wild. He tallied 293 yards on 28 carries and scored five touchdowns. From his safety spot, he led the Marauders with eight tackles. His shortest touchdown run was six yards while he also ran one in from 69 yards out. It was an Andrew Barber interception in the first quarter that may have made the difference in the game. Hemlock was driving, but that 76 yard “pick-six” ended the drive. O-E only threw one pass during the game and it wasn’t completed. It’s obvious what Coach Jerry Goosen is going to do; play tough defense and get Chris Robinson the ball.

North

Midland (4-0) at Mount Pleasant (4-0) (Friday September 25, 7pm)

This is one of the top games in the state and even though it’s the very bottom of what I use as criteria for a “north” game, I wanted to make sure it was profiled. Midland has dominated most every game they played this season. Except for one. That game was last week against Bay City Central. It took a 32 yard field goal by Matt Frazier with six seconds left to seal the deal for the Chemics. Quarterback Alex Rapanos completed 10 of his 17 passes for 100 yards and a score. Charlie Leffingwell carried the ball a ton; he had 36 carries for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Once again, Midland found a way to win. This might not be their most talented team, but they are very disciplined and play good football. Tomorrow’s game against Mount Pleasant will be a great test and quite possibly decide the Saginaw Valley League championship.

Although the Mount Pleasant Oilers have given up some scores, their defense has been very tough. Against Bay City Western, they only gave up seven points and 214 total yards. Meanwhile, the Oiler offense ran for 300 and passed for 120. Quarterback Josh Rathje completed nine of his 11 passes for 120 yards and three touchdowns. John McCann has 205 yards on his 14 carries, including a 91 yard touchdown run. This offense can put points on the board. Their defense is quite apt at keeping their opponents off the board. Couple those two things together, and you have a very solid football team. Coach Jason McIntyre has been able to get the best out of his kids and developed it into one of the better programs in the middle of the state.