Friday Night Kickoff

OK, sorry, but I have to do this again.

"Against the Wind"

The Lakeshore Lancers had to go against the win to take the lead with about 4 minutes to go as Aaron Sanders caught a 10 yard touchdown pass from Zak Wasserman in the corner of the end zone to give Lakeshore a 18-15 lead against East Lansing to win the Regional Championship.

And the Lancers had to do it into not only a stiff 25-30 mile and hour wind, but a very cold wind.   The Lancers were the only team to be able to score with the wind in their face.

Now the game wasn't decided until the very last play of the game.   With 10 seconds remaining, East Lansing completed a 30 yard pass down to the Lakeshore 20 yard line,  After the ball was spotted, East Lansing spiked the ball with 4 seconds left to set up a 37 yard field goal with the wind to try to tie the game.

I never caught the name of the kicker for East Lansing, but his kick hit the crossbar dead center as the clock hit zeros.

Last week the Lancers defeated the number 1 team in the AP poll, well, they get to face what is probably the top program in the state of Michigan.   As Al Pscholka calls them, the "University of East Grand Rapids."

The East Grand Rapids Pioneers who only lost 1 game this season to number 1 in division 2 Lowell. 

East Grand Rapids has won 4 of the last 5 Division 3 state championships, including the last two.  If you remember last year, they needed 5 overtimes to defeat Orchard Lake St. Mary's 46-39 in probably the most memorable championship game in MHSAA history.

Now unless you have been living under a rock for the past 10 years,  EGR has probably one of the top athletic programs, not just football in the state of Michigan.   EGR has around 102 state titles in their trophy case.  

Now as for the "University of EGR" part, there are always allegations about some illegal activity about recruiting practices about the Pioneers, most of them involve the name Grady.   Kevin Grady Sr. was banned by the MHSAA from a few years ago and the EGR athletic program was placed on probation in 2005 by Grady's involvement in the football programs.   Grady has two sons that now play at the University of Michigan, Kevin Jr. is on the football team, while brother Kelvin Grady is on the Michigan Basketball team.  

Here is the story from WZZM TV in Grand Rapids
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=38886

Well Grady is gone, but they have to worry about Joe Glendenning.  This guy is a pure athlete,  All State in Football, Lacrosse, and Hockey.   Not bad.   

Al and Denny said that the game will most likely be played on Saturday, November 22 at 1:00.  Probably at Otsego High School.  We will try to confirm that soon.

Elsewhere

South Haven was defeated by Holland Christian
Decatur lost to Reading
Mendon lost to Muskegon Catholic Central

Posted by Dave Wolf at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been a few days since the game on Friday, and I am now recovered from it.   I would have said it was the cold, but I am what you would call... a "wimp"   I get to work in the heated pressbox at St. Joe so I have no problems whatsoever with weather or cold during games.

I wish I could say that it was the wind and cold that downed my Bears last Friday, It was kinda funny, the weather map on Friday from the Weather Channel had a huge low pressure system in Illinois moving towards Michigan.   Ironic, because that map had a huge red "L" surrounded by a swirling storm of snow and rain and misery.

Well, that's exactly what happened at Dickinson Stadium last Friday for St. Joe, a huge "L" storm, without a lot of pressure came in to St. Joe and the winds coming from the south, blew away the Bears in the District finals.   The rain played by Zak Wasserman, and the snow, provided by Coco Johnson, who snowed over the Bears defense in the second half to put the game out of reach.

St. Joe's season finishes at 10-1,  Lakeshore now also 10-1 will host the East Lansing Trojans on Saturday afternoon at Kohn-Lehmann Field at Al Stockman Stadium at 1:00. 

Now I can't tell you much about East Lansing, except that they are 8-3 on the season.  Two of their three losses are against playoff teams.  The Trojans were defeated by Lansing Everett 29-7, Everett is 7-3 and lost to Lowell in the District Championship game 62-42 in Division 2(yes 104 points).   East Lansing also lost to Grand Ledge 36-35, Grand Ledge is 10-1 and lost to Rockford 56-14 in a Division 1 District Championship game.   Now, the third loss for East Lansing is a little perplexing.  The Trojans were defeated 27-17 in week 5 to Lansing Eastern (try to stay with me on this.  East Lansing and Lansing Eastern...)   Lansing Eastern finished the year at 2-7.   We don't know the circumstances of that game, not without spending 1.99 to buy the game article from the Lansing State Journal's archives.   But if you wanted to read the preview from the LSJ, Click here.

As for the other big game on Friday night.  I'll say this.

If college football needs a reason to have a playoff for a championship here's the example.   The South Haven Rams basically were seeded 4th in the "Wolverine Conference District"  The Rams went on the road and beat the top seed Paw Paw.  Then a week later, they went on the road again and avenged a loss earlier in the season by defeating Three Rivers, at a place where the Rams have had very little success.

Well this week's game for the Rams again has them on the road, but it's going to be an unfamiliar place for South Haven Coach Sam Nichols.  Holland Christian.  The Rams head coach had a coaching role with Holland Christian in helping start the Maroons football program.  He knows the program and he knows the weeknesses and strengths of many of his former players and hopefully that will give the Rams an edge to possibly gain the Rams first Regional title to go along with the District title they picked up a week ago.

 OK that's it for me.  

I'll be checking in every so often, I've even decided to keep posting during baskeball season. 

Posted by Dave Wolf at 05:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok... "Take My Breath Away"

Now that my bad recall of 1980's Top Gun soundtrack lyrcis are out of the way... What else can I say.

The St. Joe Bears have had a few close games since Elliot Uzelac took over the helm of the program prior to the 2006 season.

Two games with Battle Creek Central come to mind, in 2006 St. Joe got a field goal from Ethan Schweir with 5 seconds to go to beat Battle Creek Central 24-21.   A year ago, the Bears defeated the Bearcats 19-18 in a back and forth game all night long.  This year's Lakeshore game comes to mind, the Bears 21-18 winners as the Lancers lose a fumble with under a minute left.

Other than those three games, the Bears have not had a game decided by anything less than at least a touchdown.  The Bears really haven't had to play in close games, but they've won all of those close games.

Jay Nimtz's 36 yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining and Sean Guinane's 2 yard run for the 2 point conversion in the overtime gave the Bears a 32-31 victory in the first round of the MHSAA playoffs, setting up a rematch of the last two district title games as St. Joe hosts Lakeshore, the Lancers had little trouble with Charlotte in a 42-7 win on Saturday afternoon.

 BTW, Here is the video of the Guinane 2 point conversion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaxbWz90l5U

If you ask me, St. Joe needed a close ball game.  Other than the win over Lakeshore, the Bears have jumped out to huge lead in all the games.   The Bears needed to play in a close ball game after having easy wins against Benton Harbor, Mattawan, and Kalamazoo Central.

BTW as I type this, the sprinklers are on again in the Notre Dame game... not the ones on the field,  the ones from the eyes of the Notre Dame players after falling in the 4th overtime to Pitt 36-33.   I am going to enjoy watching Jeff Jeffers cry over this one on Channel 16.  (Sorry Jason)

Posted by Dave Wolf at 05:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Wow, what a game..
A regulation high school football game lasts for 48 minutes.  For 47 minutes and 20 seconds, the game was still in doubt.  The only turnover of the game came at the St. Joe 11 yard line sealed the deal and allowed the Bears to run out the last 40 seconds of the game.

Continue reading "Whoa Nelly!!! What a game" »

Posted by Dave Wolf at 09:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you thought this one was going to be one of those serious breakdowns of each position and how each team will fare against whatever formation each other will throw at them... You're wrong

It's been such a serious week, so we'll break it down... scientifically.

Greatest Moments in Football History
St. Joseph:  1988 State Finals
Lakeshore: 17 Game Win Streak against St. Joe

Advantage: St. Joseph

Home of...
St. Joseph:  Whirlpool/Maytag execs
Lakeshore:  Whirlpool/Maytag execs

Advantage: Push

Fine Dining...
St. Joseph: Bistro on the Boulevard
Lakeshore: Santienellos

Advantage: Push, I can't afford either one.

Cozy places to have breakfast
St. Joseph: Dino's
Lakeshore: Bert's

Advantage: Lakeshore, (Dino's just isn't Nicholson's)

Local Pizzeria's
St. Joseph: Passero's
Lakeshore: Flour Shop

Advantage: St. Joseph, the sauce is worth it...

Distance from the nearest Walgreens:
St. Joseph: About a half mile
Lakeshore: About a half foot.

Advantage: Lakeshore

Eateries near the stadium
St. Joseph: Roxy's
Lakeshore: does it matter????

Advantage: St. Joseph... I love Roxy's

School Colors
St. Joseph: maize and blue
Lakeshore: red and white

Advantage: Push, I like the Maize and Blue for St. Joe and U of M.  But I am a die hard Detroit Red Wings fan, I've even touched the Stanley Cup. So I have an extensive collection of red and white.

Stadium pressbox cuisine
St. Joseph: varies from game to game, pasta, chicken, sandwiches.
Lakeshore: Fried chicken and sandwiches from Heavenly Ham

Advantage: Lakeshore (just need those pickles from Heavenly Ham Tom and I'd really be happy)

All Name Team:
St. Joseph: Frank Nyambweke, Belem Mpamba
Lakeshore: Coco Johnson

Advantage: Lakeshore, can you say Nyambweke and Mpamba without messing up???

What the nicknames do?
St. Joseph: Bears, they maul you.
Lakeshore: Lancers, they violently poke you

Advantage: St. Joseph

Summer Events
St. Joseph: Venetian Festival
Lakeshore: Discover Stevensville

Advantage: St. Joseph, I guess St. Joe wins this by default now

Best places for a hot dog:
St. Joseph: Hot Dog Cart along State Street each summer.
Lakeshore: Culvers

Advantage: St. Joseph

Coaches... Prior coaching locations
St. Joseph: Michigan, Western Michigan, Navy, Ohio State, Indiana, Georgetown, Minnesota, Maryland, Colorado, Cleveland Browns.
Lakeshore:  Dowagiac, Hartford

Advantage: St. Joseph... Come on, he knows Lloyd Carr, Bill Belicheck, he was friends with Bo... I don't need to say more do I?

Touchdown celebrations...
St. Joseph: Lights on the scoreboard, horn.
Lakeshore: Fireworks.

Advantage: St. Joseph, fireworks pollute the atmosphere and are a fire hazard.

Marching Bands:
St. Joseph:  D-1 ratings at Marching Fest each year, even back when I was playing drums at St. Joe
Lakeshore:  D-1 ratings at Marching Fest each year, State competitions, Fiesta Bowl trip

Advantage: Benton Harbor (Sorry, but the TMB is still the tops when it comes to exciting bands for a football game)

Biggest irony
St. Joseph: Lakeshore drive runs next to the stadium
Lakeshore: St. Joseph drive runs through downtown Stevensville

Advantage: Push

Second biggest irony
St. Joseph: The "City" boys play on real grass.
Lakeshore: The "Farm" boys play on fake grass. 

Advantage: Lakeshore

Polish Radio Announcer
St. Joseph: Bret Witkowski - "The Taxman"
Lakeshore: Al Pscholka - "The Polish Prince"

Advantage: St. Joseph, don't want the taxman upset at you.

There you have it.  We've broken the game down scientifically.

Posted by Dave Wolf at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As we continue our preview of the big St. Joe Lakeshore game this Friday, let's look at the home team for Friday. The Lakeshore Lancers.

It's hard to argue with what the Lakeshore Lancers have done under Denny Dock.  The Lakeshore football program may have officially started in 1957, but you could really say that "Lakeshore Football" didn't really start until 1988 when Denny Dock left Dowagiac and took over the coaching position at Lakeshore.  Previous to his role at Lakeshore.

After three straight losing seasons where the Lancers had a combined record of 7-19 including a 1-8 record in 1987, Dock was brought in, and like St. Joe did recently with coach Uzelac, the Lancers had an immediate turn around.

The Lancers had their first winning record since 1987 and only thier second winning season since 1981.  It would get better for Lakeshore as the 1989 season played out.  Lakeshore went 7-2 and the final exclaimation on that season was the Lancers 17-14 win over arch rival St. Joe, whom the Lancers haven't beaten since 1979, of course they didn't play for five of those 10 years.

During the past 21 seasons Dock has been at the helm of the Lakeshore program, he has a combined record of 161-50 at Lakeshore, taken Lakeshore to their first playoff appearance in 1992, followed by playoff appearances in 1994 and then 10 consecutive appearances from 1998-2007.  During Dock's tenure at Lakeshore, the Lancers have not had a losing season and have finished the regular season unbeaten 3 times (1992, 1994, and 2005).  But most Lakeshore fans will remember the 17 game winning streak against St. Joseph from 1992-2006.

The Lancers also built the new Al Stockman Stadium in 1998 which many refer to as "The House that Dock Built."  Which has become one of the top facilities in the region.  Compared to the wooden bleachered Lancer Field.  The Lancers also just added the Million Dollar artificial turf field named Kohn-Lehmann Field at Al Stockman Stadium. 

Last season's Lancers finished a somewhat dissapointing 7-4, while the Lancers continued their streak of winning seasons and playoff berths, the Lancers saw the 17 game win streak against the Bears end with a 21-3 loss one year ago.  The Lancers also lost to the Bears 49-14 to put an end to the Lancers 2007 season.

Going into the season, some questions surrounded the Lakeshore offense as only one starter remained from the previous team.  There is an appropriate cliche' describing Lakeshore.  "They don't rebuild... They Reload"

The one remaining starter QB Zak Wasserman has led the Lancers to a 5-0 record this season.  With the help of slotback Coco Johnson and running back Adam Miller the Lancers have shown that their offensive questions leading into the season may have been erased.  

The main part of the Lancer success so far this season has been the defense.  The Lancers have only given up 28 ponts this season and two of those were on a safety.  Lakeshore's stingy defense has already pitched three shutouts this season.  Shutting out Coldwater 48-0, Jackson Lumen Christi 17-0, and Benton Harbor 41-0.

Special teams for the Lancers is also providing a spark as Coco Johnson tied a school record with a 99 yard kickoff return against Jackson Lumen Christi, plus the Lancers have one of the area's top placekickers in senior Kai Peng.

Recapping the season so far

August 28 - Lakeshore 48, Coldwater 0
at Al Stockman Stadium, Stevensville
Lakeshore jumped all over Coldwater, scoring 28 points in the first quarter en route to a 48-0 win. Lakeshore got two touchdowns from Coco Johnson and Zak Wasserman ran for 1 TD and threw for 2 more in the Lancers win.

September 6 - Lakeshore 17, Jackson Lumen Christi 0
at Withington Stadium, Jackson
Lakeshore's Coco Johnson ran the opening kickoff back 99 yards for a touchdown in the Lancers 17-0 shutout victory at Jackson Lumen Christi,  Johnson also scored on a 17 yard pass reception in the second quarter.

September 12 - Lakeshore 20, Battle Creek Lakeview 6
at Spartan Memorial Stadium, Battle Creek
Lakeshore’s Coco Johnson ran for an 86 yard touchdown and had a 35 yard touchdown reception as Lakeshore beat Battle Creek Lakeview 20-6.  Kai Peng had two field goals for Lakeshore.

September 19 - Lakeshore 24, Portage Northern 22
at Al Stockman Stadium, Stevensville
Portage Northern rallied from a 24-2 deficit against Lakeshore, but the Huskies were unable to convert on a 2 point conversion with less than three minutes left to fall 24-22.

September 26 - Lakeshore 41, Benton Harbor 0
at Al Stockman Stadium, Stevensville
Quarterback Zak Wasserman ran for three touchdowns and passed for another as Lakeshore improved to 5-0 with a 41-0 win over Benton Harbor.

Posted by Dave Wolf at 11:46 PM | Permalink

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)