Friday Night Kickoff

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!!!!