Week Ten/Playoffs One - Close games and blowouts

The first week of the playoffs have come and gone. Some teams are still out practicing in some unseasonably warm weather. Other teams have shed their tears and let it sink in that football is over for them. Some have even played their last game. The rest of the teams are just thinking about next week and how to improve over last week’s outing. For us fans, we get to watch some awesome games between teams that we’ve probably seen play already this season. Speaking of which, why do they do that? I’d rather travel to watch a game as opposed to watching teams play for the second time in a season. My other pet peeve is Mid Michigan teams having to travel to the UP while Detroit teams stay close to home. Last year, Saginaw Swan Valley had to go to the Yooper Dome to play Menominee. Yea, they were closer than Hillsdale was but why not let some other teams travel? This year Mount Pleasant has to travel to Sault St. Marie for their second playoff game. But that's just my opinion on the subject. Now that I’ve given my opinion, let’s get into some facts.

Mid Michigan
Holt 25 Battle Creek Central 18 (Division 1)

In a close game, it all comes down to who makes plays in the final quarter. BCC wasn’t able to make plays in the second half. They let their 18-15 lead slip away. With about nine minutes left in the game, BCC recovered a fumble at Holt’s 16, but penalties and plays for no gain lead to them going for it on 4th and 27 from Holt’s 33 yard line. A sack put them in a real tough position. Holt drove to BCC’s 20 and scored a field goal to tie the game. Battle Creek couldn’t do anything when they got the ball back and had to punt. Holt got the ball at it’s own 39 yard line with 1:13 remaining on the clock. They drove the field and scored a four-yard run by Holt quarterback Michael Hollern with 10 seconds on the clock to get the victory. Holt will host Rockford on Friday.

Detroit
Melvindale 14 Allen Park 7 (Division 3)

In a shocker for the home team, Melvindale came into town and left with the W. Jaisa’un Holt came off the bench to spark the offense. He had 174 yards on 11 completions and also threw for a touchdown. This is the quickest playoff exit for Allen Park since the 1994 season. That happens when you throw three picks (4-19 for 75 yards) and take three sacks. Melvindale has been working hard to make a name for themselves. Coach McKinney put it like this, “They used to call us little brother to Allen Park, but it looks like we’re the big brother now.” Melvindale will host Carleton Airport Friday night.

North
Suttons Bay 41 Kingsley 8 (Division 6)

The Norsemen ran away from Kingsley and took the ball game with them. Leading that charge was Anthony Stewart. He set the school’s single season touchdown record at 22 behind a 25 carry, 216 yard, four-touchdown performance. He also blocked a punt and laid the wood while blocking downfield. Even though Kingsley didn’t win the game, their coach was still very proud of the way his team played. He said they weren’t the most athletic, but still carried in the proud tradition of Kingsley football through hard work and comradery. It’s tough to win when your starting quarterback breaks his collarbone the week before. This week Suttons Bay will host Montague on Saturday afternoon.

West Coast
Climax-Scotts 36 Lawrence 14 (Division 8 )

Typically, C-S is scoring a lot, and in a hurry. What they don’t typically do is give up many points early in games. This week was a little different. The score at the end of the first quarter was 20-14 in favor of Climax-Scotts. Those two scores would be all that Lawrence would get though. Not bad for their first playoff game, especially one against a great team like Climax-Scotts. C-S ran for 311 total yards with nine players carrying the ball. Jordan Langs had 17 tackles for C-S from his safety position. Climax-Scotts hosts Martin Friday night at 7.