Friday Night Kickoff

As we continue our preview of the big St. Joe Lakeshore game this Friday, let's look back at the two games played last year...

During the buildup to the game, the rivalry was put over the top in the "Sign gate" incident.  During 2007, Lakeshore was celebrating the 50th anniversary of their football program.  A bill board displaying the Lakeshore logo and saying "50 years of excellence" was displayed on along Niles avenue in downtown St. Joe, less than a mile from St. Joe high school.  The sign company claimed that the billboard was simply put up in the wrong place. 

With the weight of a 17 game losing streak in the series and a controversial call in the 28-20 Lakeshore win in the 2006 playoffs, St. Joe playing at home vowed that the streak would end in 2007.

When gameday finally arrived,  Lakeshore came into the game with a 4-1 record, St. Joe a perfect 5-0 record.  The gates of Dickinson Stadium opened at 6:00, the seats were filled by 6:10, and the crowd kept coming.  

When the Bears came out of the high school and walked to the stadium locker room shortly afterwards the crowds were already cheering.   The game was still more than an hour away and the fans were already ready for kickoff.   The parking lots were full at the high school, shortly thereafter the lots are Kelly's Bowl were filled.   One side of the stadium was decked out in maize and blue and the other side red.  Still about an hour from kickoff.

By the time the game started, there were an estimated 8,000 people inside the stadium, the seating capacity for Dickinson Stadium is 5,300.  The city of St. Joe brought in some temporary bleachers in the north endzone. Still fans were lined up around the fence, at the top of the stands, all around the perimeter of the stadium.

St. Joe came out to a slow start as the Bears turned the ball over which led to a Kai Peng field goal for Lakeshore.  The Bears would turn it over again, and Lakeshore would attempt another Kai Peng field goal, but this attempt was blocked by the Bears, and suddenly you could tell that the momentum was starting to turn. 

The defensive battle would continue until late in the second quarter when the St. Joe offense finally got to work as Ryan Bock scored on a 1 yard run to give the Bears a 7-3 lead going into halftime.

The Bears would take advantage of a Lakeshore miscue as the Lancers were forced to punt the ball from their own 41 yard line.  A bad snap forced Lancer punter Matt Miller to fall on the ball at the Lakeshore 30 yard line.  The Bears would take advantage 3 plays later as Ethan Schweir threw a 15 yard touchdown pass to Brad Guinane to give the Bears a 14-3 lead.

The Bears and Lancers traded interceptions in the third quarter and the Bears then went on an 8 play 51 yard drive capped off by a 4 yard touchdown pass from Schweir to Brett Virgil,  like the previous three touchdowns Virgil would add the extra point.  The Bears had a 21-3 lead and the St. Joe crowd could sense that Lakeshore's streak was about to end.

After the Lancer defense came up with a goal line stand to stop the Bears before the final horn.  The St. Joe student section rushed the field and St. Joe celebrated the Bears first win over Lakeshore since 1991.

With the win, St. Joe clinched a playoff spot, Lakeshore would need to win two of their last three games to clinch a playoff spot which they did in the final week. 

In the opening round of the playoffs Lakeshore defeated Wayland 10-7 while St. Joe defeated Grand Rapids Christian 31-21 to set up the rematch.

Dickinson Stadium was packed again but this game seemingly was never in doubt.

The Bears dominated the Lakeshore Lancers with a 49-14 win to claim the 2007 Division 3 District Championship.

St. Joe's defense set the tone early as the Bears held Lakeshore's offense in check, the Bears would get on the Board first when Ryan Bock scored from 2 yards out for an early 7-0 St. Joe lead.

After consecutive punts by Lakeshore and St. Joe, the Lancers would drive to the St. Joe 5 yard line, but the Bear defense held the Lancers to a field goal attempt, Kai Peng who has been almost automatic for Lakeshore, missed a 20 yard field goal wide left. The Bears would drive 80 yards on the next series to take a 14-0 lead when Ryan Bock caught a 2 yard touchdown pass from Ethan Schweir. 

Lakeshore would finally get on the board with 4 minutes to go in the half as Cam Moore was able to make a running catch in the endzone and was able to keep his foot in bounds to cut the St. Joe lead to 14-7.  

The Bears would swing the momentum back to St. Joe as Palmer Averill caught a 23 yard touchdown pass to give the Bears a 21-7 lead prior to halftime.

The Bears would get the second half kickoff and drive to score on a 1 yard Ryan Bock touchdown run to give the Bears a 28-7 lead.

Lakeshore would cut the lead in half when Griffin Gibson scored on a 2 yard run.

St. Joe would score again when Brad Guinane had a 37 yard touchdown catch and a 35-14 Bear lead.

The defense held Lakeshore to a 3 and out and got the ball back at the Bear 48 yard line.  St. Joe only needed one play and 11 seconds to add to the lead when Ryan Bock scored on a 52 yard run.

St. Joe would begin the 35 point mercy rule when Drake Smith scored a 20 yard touchdown run and a Bears 49-14.  In all the Bears totaled 518 yards of total offense.

The Bears claimed the district title and would go on to beat Lansing Sexton a week later in one of the greatest comebacks in school history as the Bears rallied from a 21-0 deficit to win 42-27 and claim the regional crown.

Ticket update
Tickets are on sale Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM at both the Lakeshore and St. Joseph athletic offices.  They are $5 each.  Gates will open at 6:00 PM on Friday.  We do know that Lakeshore will be bringing in some temporary bleachers to help accomodate the what is expected to be a overflow crowd. 

I am starting to wonder if this game should be moved to Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend.   It's the only way they will actually see a decent football game.

Posted by Dave Wolf at 01:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

As we start our week long look at the "Big Game" this week.   We should start by looking at the history of the St. Joe Bears and Lakeshore rivalry.

First the earth cooled... and then the dinosaurs came.... OK I won't go that far back...

But when Lakeshore opened in in 1957 it would take 4 years before the Lancers would play their first game against their neighbor to the north.

St. Joe shut out Lakeshore 34-0 in the first meeting in 1961.  The Bears shutout the Lancers again in 1962 26-0.  That's the way it went for 20 of the first 22 games played.  Lakeshore would break the 11 game St. Joe win streak to start the series when the Lancers won for the first time in 1972 by the score of 14-0.

St. Joe would win the next six games from 1973-1978 by the combined score of 124-31.

Lakeshore would record their second win in 1979. 

Followed by St. Joe wins in 1980, 81, 82, and 84.  The schools didn't meet in 1983.

In the first 23 meetings.  St. Joe won 21 of them and outscored Lakeshore 504-128.  To put it in perspective on how dominant St. Joe was in the first 23 meetings,  It took Lakeshore 23 seasons to score 128 points, St. Joe surpassed that after only year four with 131 points total.

After St. Joe's 34-0 victory in 1984, the series was put on hold.  During the break in the series St. Joe compiled an amazing 37-6 record over those years, making three appearances in the playoffs and even playing in the 1988 MHSAA Championship game in Class B.  While St. Joe went on to great success under Coach Ike Muhlenkamp those 4 years, Lakeshore compiled a record of 12-23. 

The series was back in 1989, but add a new coach to the Lakeshore sidelines... Denny Dock.

When Dock took over the reigns of the Lakeshore program the Lancers would begin on their own run of dominance in the series.   Lakeshore beat St. Joe 17-14 in 1989, then St. Joe won the next two games. 

In 1992, the Lancers 17-14 victory would be the start of what is now referred to as "The Streak."

Lakeshore would win 17 consecutive games over the next 15 years by the combined score of 534-183.  To put it in perspective again.  Lakeshore would surpass that point total in the 7th game of that streak.

In the midst of that streak, one of the most memorable games took place in 1997 at the old Dickinson Stadium in St. Joe.  With the Bears leading 28-24 in the fourth quarter, a transformer blew at the stadium, knocking out power to the stadium.  with no lights on a dark October night.  The game was suspended and would have to be resumed on Saturday.  The Lancers would stop the Bears and would score a late touchdown to win the game.

After the Bears went 0-9 in 2005, St. Joseph football coach John Van Wagoner was out as coach of the Bears and was replaced by college coaching veteran Elliot Uzelac.  The Bears turnaround was immediate. 

The Bears went from 0-9 to a 5-4 regular season in one year and made the playoffs for the first time since 1999 (where they were eliminated by Lakeshore).  Even though the Bears were suddenly competitive again they still lost 34-14 at Lakeshore in the regular season and a controversial call which helped Lakeshore secure a 28-20 win in the playoffs.

The Bears used that playoff loss as motivation for the 2007 season.  The Bears would meet Lakeshore at Dickinson Stadium on September 28th and would make sure that the streak would go no further as the Bears would win 21-3.  

As luck would have it, the Bears and Lancers would meet in the playoffs for the second consecutive season, and the Bears would defeat Lakeshore 49-14 to claim the district championship.

The rivalry hasn't been limited to just football.   Lakeshore built a new football stadium as Al Stockman Stadium opened in 1998.  St. Joe would demolish the aging Dickinson Stadium after the 2001 season and open the new Dickinson Stadium in 2003.

St. Joe installed a new scoreboard at Dickinson Stadium in 1998 with a computerized message center.   Lakeshore would install one at Al Stockman Stadium in 2005.   

Lakeshore installed a new elecronic sign outside the high school.  St. Joe just recently added an electronic sign outside Dickinson Stadium a month ago.

Lakeshore just added turf...

Posted by Dave Wolf at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The marquee game for next Friday is obviously St. Joseph (5-0) at Lakeshore (5-0)

This is the first time EVER that St. Joe and Lakeshore will enter the game undefeated.

Now, it's a little hard to believe that with the history of these two programs that the Bears and Lancers have never been both unbeaten this late in the season going into this game.

Out of the 45 meetings between the Bears and Lancers, 25 of those games were played the first week of the season.   From the start of the series in 1961 through 1982 it was always the first game.  There was no game in 1983.  In 1984 it was in week 1 once again.

Then from 1985-1988 the Bears and Lancers didn't play.

The series resumed again in 1989 where it was played in week 9 up until 1998.

It was back to the first week in 1999 and 2000.  Then when Lakeshore joined the Big 16 conference in 2001, the Bears and Lancers met in either weeks 6 or 7.

In those previous 45 games, they have NEVER come into the game unbeaten.  The closest was last year when St. Joe was 5-0 and Lakeshore was 4-1.

We will be talking about this game all week long. 

Here's what I have planned.

Monday... A look at the history of the St. Joe Lakeshore Rivalry game.

Tuesday... A look at the two games played a season ago.

Wednesday... Looking at the Bears.

Thursday... Looking at the Lancers.

Friday... A breakdown of the game.

TICKETS FOR THE GAME

Tickets are $5 each and will be sold on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 7:30am-3:30pm in both the Lakeshore and St. Joe athletic department offices.  Gates will open at 6PM on Friday, blankets will NOT be allowed before the game.  If you bring your blanket to stake out your spot, you won't have a blanket, and even worse... you wont have a seat either.  And Lakeshore Athletic Director Jim Sanford will probably be giving out blankets, slightly used of course, as Christmas gifts this season.

Posted by Dave Wolf at 03:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Wolf - WSJM Sports 

I know that this is a "High School" football blog... But a quick note about the news from the Detroit Lions.

Matt Millen is gone!!!! 
Matt Millen is gone!!!! 
Matt Millen is gone!!!! 
Matt Millen is gone!!!! 
Matt Millen is gone!!!!

A bleak and dismal 8 seasons in Detroit Lions football should be coming to a close, as the Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford finally did what us fans were demanding for the last 4 seasons... Firing Matt Millen.

 The fixing of the Lions won't happen this season, or maybe next season.  Millen's mistakes will take years to fix.  The Lions have to find an individual that can figure out a way to un-do the damage done by years of failed drafts, years of poor free agent signings, and other questionable personnel decisions.

 And sorry to say... the coaching staff must go to.  There cannot be anything left over for the Lions to start out with.

How about the team being sold to a group of Los Angeles investors who want to put an NFL team in LA.

Then make the Lions an expansion team and start over.

Posted by Dave Wolf at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Wolf - WSJM Sports 

OK, when we all reach halftime of our games Friday night the season will be half over... hard to imagine that after waiting for months for football to start, there are more weeks behind us than ahead of us.

But I digest... I have to say that going to Battle Creek Central last week was an eye opening experience.  What the Battle Creek Public school system is doing to the athletic complex at the high school is amazing.  Not only was the grass at C.W. Post Field replaced with field turf this past summer, but they also added a new running track, there are three new basketball courts being built across the street which will accommodate the 6 basketball teams at the high school.  There a new baseball and softball fields, the Central Field house, probably one of the best basketball venue's in the state is also getting work done to the locker rooms, as well as some of the aging plumbing and heating systems.  The last time I saw the pressbox at C.W. Post field, I said it was really in need of some work.  Boy did they ever.  They've redone all of the rooms, on both floors, new tiles, new paint jobs. new counter tops, new restroom (yes a restroom in the pressbox!!!), but the pressbox had tinted windows.  Plus some of the best sloppy joes on the planet earth... yes I had a few.  I wish I could have taken the rest of it home.   It's just too bad that the new Big 16 schedule won't have St. Joseph at Battle Creek Central anytime in the next two seasons.   I really hope that after the Big 16's next rotation ends in 2011, I will have the opportunity to see the finished product in the Cereal City.  

Now as for the actual football part of this entry.

Big 16 West

I guess St. Joe running back Drake Smith was a "back-up" in name only.  When the Bears lost one half of the combo of "Thunder and Lightning" namely Ryan Bock and Smith.  Some were wondering if Smith was going to be able to become the  power runner like Bock was.  Well after two games of 200-plus yards rushing and 7 touchdowns, I think those questions have been answered.  In the Bears 67-35 win at Battle Creek Central last week, Smith scored 43 of the Bears 67 points.  Six touchdowns and 7 extra points, he also kicked off, drove the bus to Battle Creek, unloaded the equipment, taped ankles, cooked the post game meal and cleaned jersey's afterwords.  Smith did everything for the Bears on Friday Night.  St. Joe now returns home this Friday night, it's probably the night St. Joe coach Elliot Uzelac doesn't like... Homecoming.   Coach U will need to keep his team focused on the task at hand, the Niles Vikings.  St. Joe coming off of that big blowout win at Battle Creek Central will need to concentrate on not taking the 2-2 Vikings lightly.  Niles has wins over Sturgis and Kalamazoo Central.

The Lancers should take a moment to think about what could have happened last week.  The Lancers let a 24-2 lead all by disappear and the Lancers offense was stalled in the second half as Portage Northern almost rallied to tie the game at 24 with three minutes left.   Lakeshore's defense has allowed the least amount of points so far in the Big 16 this season (28), but if you remove the Lancers' 48 points against Coldwater, the Lancers have only averaged around 20 points a game. Not that good, the Lancers offense is mostly coming from the legs of speedster Coco Johnson, but you have to know that the league knows about Coco.  He's not going to surprise anyone anymore.  More teams will be keying on him and quarterback Zak Wasserman will have to find other targets to get the Lancers suddenly struggling offense back to full speed.  The Lancers will try to find their offense against Benton Harbor this week, also the Lancers Homecoming night.

It's an important week for St. Joe and Lakeshore.   They can't look ahead to their game next week.  Coaches' Uzelac and Dock know that the hype for the game next week will be a distraction, even during this week.

BTW, I will be doing a lot in relation to the St. Joe/Lakeshore game next week.

Benton Harbor has to regroup and it's not an easy time of the schedule for them to do that, they have to break in a new quarterback, they started last week with a game against Jackson Lumen Christi, then they are at Lakeshore this Friday night.  The Tigers know that getting a win Friday night at Lakeshore will be a monumental task, but as I said before.  This could be one of those weeks were Lakeshore could be caught looking ahead at next week.  If Benton Harbor can maybe jump out to a lead, it should be interesting to see what happens.  Lakeshore has never trailed at any point in any game this season.  Benton Harbor hasn't led at any point of the season.

Niles is wondering what happened.  The Vikings entered the fourth quarter with a 16-0 lead at Marshall, a place that is not an easy place to play at.  But in the span of the 12 minutes the Vikings found themselves up 16-0 at the start of the quarter to trailing 20-16 at the end.  Marshall's Jamar Wimberly scored three touchdowns in the final quarter to send the Vikings back home with the stunning loss.  Costly mistakes and a drive ending at the Marshall 7 yard line with 14 seconds left sent the Vikings to their second loss of the year.  Coach Dan Brawley's task this week is getting his Vikings ready to respond and focus on the next game and not dwell on the collapse in Marshall.  The Vikings know about how good St. Joe has become,  The Bears rolled off victories of 28-0 and 21-6 over the last two seasons.  Plus the Vikings will need to keep that image of the Bears 67 points scored at Battle Creek Central out of their heads.   If the Vikings come in to Dickinson Stadium on Friday night and expect the Bears to light up the scoreboard, then the Bears will do exactly that.

Could things get any worse for Mattawan?  The Wildcats are now 0-4 after a 28-27 defeat at home to previously winless Sturgis.  Now the Big 16 Schedule makers have sent the 4-0 Portage Central Mustangs at the Wildcats...  This could get ugly... fast.

Lakeland

Probably the shocker of the Lakeland Conference was the Berrien Springs win over Coloma.  Berrien Springs abandoning the spread offense they used during the first three games of the season, and going to a more traditional "I" formation.  It worked for Bill Bergan's team as they ran for 276 yards, Matt Hecht had 167 of those.  The 'Rocks are in the win column and probably this week too...the Shamrocks host River Valley this week.

In other Lakeland games this week.  Buchanan hosts rival Brandywine, the Coloma Comets try to rebound against Edwardsburg and Cass is at Bridgman.

Red Arrow/SJV

LMC hits the road this week for a game at Centreville, both teams are 3-1 on the year and both teams put up a lot of points last week, LMC beat Covert 55-0 and Centreville beat Bronson 49-43.  LMC beat Bronson two weeks ago 23-6.  Some of those pundits will say that LMC can win this one... and they can.  If LMC can win this game and go to 4-1, a playoff spot could very well be within site.

SAC

Remember when Decatur vs. Lawrence was always the game to watch for the SAC conference title.  It won't be that this year, Decatur comes into the game at 4-0 while Lawrence is 0-4.  You can bet the next week when Hartford visits Decatur, the SAC south division title will most likely be decided.

Wolverine

South Haven won their second straight game with a win over Otsego, the Rams upcoming schedule doesn't make a return trip to the playoffs an easy task.  The Rams host 4-0 Paw Paw this week. and then travel to now 4-0 Three Rivers in two weeks.  The rams probably wont get in at 5-4 so winning against Paw Paw or Three Rivers is a must,  they have one loss to play with, but losing both games will keep the Rams out of the postseason.

Dowagiac will be the first guest at the new stadium in Comstock.  The Colts newly redone stadium will finally be completed for this week's game against the Chieftains.

EDIT 9/25 -

Thanks for the comments Jason,  boy those days playing Little League at Wells Field on the Yankees seem so long ago, don't they.   Can't argue with two Little League Championships those two years!!!!

Posted by Dave Wolf at 01:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Dave Wolf - WSJM Sports 

It's a good thing that the Whirlpool/Maytag World headquarters are in Benton Harbor.   They might be replacing some washing machines from whomever had to clean the uniforms after the slop everybody played in last Friday.

One jersey that really needed special attention was St. Joe's Drake smith.  The Bears running back had 214 yards rushing during the St. Joe Bears 20-7 win at Portage Northern.  Portage Northern and St. Joe were both 2-0 going into the game and the Huskies were determined to payback the Bears for the 41-3 beat down St. Joe handed the Huskies a year ago.  St. Joe thanks you for providing the bulletin board material for last week's game.  St. Joe faces the 2-1 Battle Creek Central Bearcats.  The Bears have beaten the Bearcats by a combined 4 points in these last two years, 24-21 in 2006, and 19-18 in 2007.  However both of those games were in St. Joseph.  This Friday, the Bears will be the visitors at the newly renovated C.W. Post Field in Battle Creek.  The newly redone field includes a new artificial turf field.

It's kind of funny that the new turf at Al Stockman Stadium was probably the only field in Southwest Michigan that wasn't a factor in the games last week, but unfortunately for Lakeshore, they were at Battle Creek Lakeview, on the natural grass.  But it didn't seem to matter to Lakeshore, the Lancers and Spartans played in a downpour for most of the night.  What was even more amazing that Lakeshore's Kai Peng, kicked two field goals, including one from 40 yards in the rain.  Lakeshore's Coco Johnson scored two more touchdowns for the 3-0 Lancers.  This week Lakeshore can avenge one of their 3 losses from a season ago when they host Portage Northern.  Last season the Huskies pulled off a stunner as the Lancers dropped a 14-12 decision at Portage.  This season, both the Lancers and Huskies are meeting in exactly the same circumstances as last year, Lakeshore 3-0, coming off of a tight win against Battle Creek Lakeview.  Portage Northern is 2-1 coming off of a upsetting loss to St. Joseph.   Expect a rebound game from Northern and expect the Lancers to not let the Huskies surprise them like last year.   This should be a real game to watch this week.

Just like last year, Benton Harbor is 0-3, but it's not for a lack of effort.  The Tigers put in a lot of work in the off-season last year and during the season's first three weeks.   The Tigers may not have the wins and success they would have hoped for so far this season, the important thing is to keep improving.  A 35-0 loss to Battle Creek Harper Creek after a 7-6 loss at Kalamazoo Central the week before may sound to some like the Tigers haven't improved.  Let me tell you as somebody who has seen Harper Creek this season, the Beavers may have been 0-2 on the year but if you're Benton Harbor and you have speed as one of your offensive weapons wiped out because of the poor weather at Harper Creek and muddy field.  Plus Benton Harbor had to deal with a deceptive Wing-T offense that Harper Creek runs, needless to say that Benton Harbor hasn't seen that offense before and it's difficult to stop, even if you have seen it before.  It won't be an easy week this week for the Tigers, up next for Benton Harbor is the defending Division 5 runner-up, Jackson Lumen Christi.  The Titans are looking to rebound after two straight losses to Lakeshore and Portage Central.  Things might not be pretty this week at Filstrup Field for the Tigers this week.

The only team in southwest Michigan that really didn't have to deal with poor field conditions was Lake Michigan Catholic.  The Lakers got the luxury of playing at the new Kohn-Lehmann Field at Al Stockman Stadium at Lakeshore last Friday for their game with Bronson.   The Lakers got 230 yards rushing and two touchdown runs from Michael Cottier in LMC's 23-6 win over Bronson.  Cottier's TDs came on runs on 68 and then 86 yards.  LMC's record now sits at 2-1 on the season and will play Covert this week at Watervliet High School.

Elsewhere Around the area

Big 16
Niles pulled of what could be called somewhat of a minor upset when the Vikings beat then unbeaten Kalamazoo Central 40-29.  The Vikings limited the Maroon Giants to 7 points in the third quarter.  While that may not seem to be an important stat... Here's what makes it special.  Kalamazoo Central didn't have an offensive snap in the quarter.   The only score was a 92 yard kickoff return from Juwan Hemphill.  Niles had a total of 70 plays while KC only had 27.

Mattawan is a surprising 0-3 after an 18-13 loss at Coldwater.  What's happened to the Wildcats??  In less than two seasons, the Wildcats have gone from a playoff team to a doormat.  Stories have surfaced about some dissension in the ranks at Mattawan after some players were kicked off the team for disciplinary reason and some parents not taking the news very well.  Former Lakeshore assistant coach Doug Paran has some problems to deal with.

Lakeland
The Lakeland Conference title could already be on the line this week as 3-0 Cassopolis visits 3-0 Buchanan.  Both teams appear as the early front runners for the Lakeland crown.   The Rangers' DaShaun Curtis and Bucks' Clinton Orr would be worth the price of admission just to watch one of them play.  You've got both of them in this game. 

At the other end of the Lakeland, 0-3 Bridgman will visit 0-3 River Valley.  The Mustangs host a team they almost merged with to form a co-op team.

SAC
Watervliet is 1-2 on year, but 6 points is all that separates them from a 3-0 record.  The Panthers will meet a team that actuall IS 3-0 when they travel to Hartford on Friday.

Wolverine
If you looked at this game on the schedule before the season started, Three Rivers at Gull Lake may have looked like a game that could have determined the winner of the Wolverine Conference.  It doesn't appear that will happen as Three Rivers is 3-0, but Gull Lake is 0-3 and coming off of a 33-0 loss at South Haven.

As for South Haven, the Rams are looking to get back to .500 this week when they travel to Otsego to face the surprise team of the Wolverine Conference so far... Otsego

Posted by Dave Wolf at 01:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's week three of the high school football season.  A few surprises have already have happened.

Did you really expect to see Otsego and Vicksburg at 2-0 in the Wolverine Conference while South Haven and Gull Lake were 0-2.  Need I remind you that Gull Lake is the defending Wolverine Conference Champions.

St. Joseph Head Coach Elliot Uzelac is good friends with New England Patriots Coach Bill Belicheck, it seems almost ironic that a major part of each team is out for the year with an ACL injury.  St. Joe already has shown that despite the loss of Bock, the Bears running game is in good shape with Drake Smith taking up the load.  Smith was slated to be the starting running back last year but a knee injury gave Bock the starting position.   Now that Bock is out, Smith is showing that the Bears are still dangerous.  After wins over Battle Creek Harper Creek and Marshall, the Bears will head on the road and face 2-0 Portage Northern at McCamley Field in Portage.   Just like the Bears, the Huskies are 2-0 and have been explosive on offense, beating Benton Harbor 45-12 in week 1 and then blasting Mattawan 49-6 last Friday.  The Bears defense will have to contend with a potent Northern offense.

Lakeshore finally gets to have a normal schedule this week.  After playing their first game on a Thursday night against Coldwater, and then on Saturday night at Jackson Lumen Christi.  The Lancers finally have a Friday game.  Why mess with success, Maybe the Lancers should have all over their games on Thursday or Saturday, after all they have won both of their games so far, 48-0 against Coldwater and 17-0 against Lumen Christi. 

There were some questions surrounding the Lancers coming into this season, after all the Lancers only returned 3 starters from last year.  The Lancers coming off of a season where not only did they lose to St. Joseph for the first time in 15 years, but then to lose by 35 points to the Bears in the playoffs.   The Lancers answered those questions and silenced most of the critics with a 17-0 shutout victory at Jackson Lumen Christi.  In all reality, the game was over after just 15 seconds, as Coco Johnson ran the opening kickoff back 99 yards for the touchdown.  The opportunistic Lancer defense forced three Lumen Christi turnovers, and after two games, the Lancer 'D' hasn't given up a single point.  The Lancers will finally play a Friday game at Battle Creek Lakeivew.  One of only two games the Lancers will play on natural grass this season.

Benton Harbor may not have any victories yet under Maurice Burton, but it's not for a lack of effort.  The Tigers major week 1 problem was all but eliminated going into the game at Kalamazoo Central.  The first part of any play is the snap from the center to quarterback.  Well after that was solved you could see what the Tigers are really capable of.  A 7-6 defeat to Kalamazoo Central sent the Tigers to 0-2 on the season, if moral victories counted then Tigers would have one.  KC scored 47 points in a 47-0 win over Mattawan in week 1, the Tigers defense limited the Giants to just 7 points, and if not for a failed 2 point conversion, the Tigers would be celebrating their first win since the 2006 season.  But all is not lost for the Tigers.  The quick Tiger offense could put up some big numbers this week at 0-2 Battle Creek Harper Creek.  The Tigers defense will have to contend with a Wing-T offense of Battle Creek Harper Creek that only has scored 11 points in two games.  The Tigers key on defense is to stick to their assignments and don't chase.  The Beavers will play "hide the ball" all night long.  The Tigers speedy defense should give them an advantage.

Lake Michigan Catholic's season ended last year with a blowout loss at Cassopolis.   The Lakers were defeated 63-18 a year ago in Cassopolis.  Cass needed a facemask penalty on fourth down to keep what would end up being the game winning drive alive as Jeffrey Anderson scored on a 2 yard touchdown run with 61 seconds left and DaShaun Curtis added the 2 point conversion to give Cass a 15-14 win over LMC.  The same LMC team that Cass defeated by 45 points a year ago.   Give LMC credit. everybody was convinced that LMC was going to end up the same way they had in the playoffs last year.  Nobody gave LMC a prayer in this game (I know, bad pun), I admit I didn't give LMC a shot.  But they proved me wrong.  They didn't win the game, but the Lakers responded and showed that the Lakers are a team to contend with...  Need proof.  Cass Coach Andy Hubbard told the South Bend Tribune. "We didn't want to put the ball in their hands in overtime."  I guess that teams know that stopping LMC's single wing offense is no easy task.

Random thoughts...

Wolverine Flip Flop
What is going on in the Wolverine Conference?  Gull Lake and South Haven are both 0-2, while perennial conference doormats Otsego and Vicksburg are 2-0?

Titan Killers???
Since joining the Big 16 in the 2006 season, Jackson Lumen Christi has only lost 2 regular season games... Both to the Lakeshore Lancers.

Posted by Dave Wolf at 02:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)