Playoff primer | Sturgis-area football squads open the post season
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When the MHSAA football playoffs start this weekend, five of our local teams will begin their quests.
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For 8-player football, three squads in Colon, Marcellus and Mendon have aspirations of traveling the better than seven-hour trip north. The Superior Dome on the campus of Northern Michigan University will once again host the 8-player football finals.
For 11-player, both Bronson and Constantine have qualified for the playoffs. They also have aspirations of making it to the MHSAA football finals, which are played once again at Ford Field in Detroit. Here's a look at each team's matchup this weekend.
Bridgman at Colon, Friday at 7 p.m.
Both Bridgman and Colon finished the season with identical 8-1 records. Colon, by virtue of more playoff points, earned the home game. Head coach Robbie Hattan and the Magi wanted to play the contest on Friday night and earned that ability by having a successful regular season.
The Bees come in swarming opponents with an average of nearly 50 points per game. They also picked up a forfeit win over Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian late in the season, but Bridgman has been able to move the football on everyone this year. The lone loss came back in the middle of the year, 56-28, to Grand Rapids Sacred Heart.
Hattan said the Bees are a well-coached team and his program understands that. Avoiding miscues is a big part of Bridgman's success this year. Being physical has been as well. Colon knows Friday's game will probably be nothing different.
"We need to establish our run game. Bridgman is very physical and we have to match their physicality," Hattan said. "Hopefully this place is rocking and we make our community proud."
Colon is no slouch offensively, either. The Magi put up 39 per contest and only two opponents — Climax-Scotts and Mendon, a pair of playoff teams — kept them under 40.
Hattan, in his return to lead the Magi, has been more than happy with his team's performance this year. The program is looking forward to another playoff appearance.
"It's a great feeling — going into the season, we set some high goals," he said. "It's great to see the hard work that the kids have put in pay off."
The winner of Friday's game will take on the winner of Climax-Scotts and Concord.
Marcellus at Litchfield, Friday at 7 p.m.
Marcellus had a successful regular season, winning six of their games. The Wildcats had three separate two-game win streaks during the year, but dropped their regular-season finale to Fennville in a 42-22 decision.
But head coach Nate Davies and the Cats have a lot of confidence in themselves. A big win earlier this year over Grand Rapids Sacred Heart (34-26) helped instill that. And even in a 56-52 defeat against Climax-Scotts, the Cats showed they could score points against solid opponents.
Now, they hit the road on Friday to play at Litchfield, which won the second-most games in school history this year with eight. The school record for the Terriers was 10 wins back in 1994. Davies and the Cats are aiming to make sure they do not get a chance to match that record.
One big key for the Cats will be believing in themselves. They're also battling some injuries and will have to circle the wagons.
"Trust between players. We're down a few starters on both sides of the ball this week," Davies said. "They have a solid passing game. We need to find a way to make their quarterback uncomfortable and cover on the backend."
This senior group of Cats has made the playoffs three times in their four years.
"That's uncharted territory for Marcellus," Davies said. "Hoping we can build off that experience."
Adrian Lenawee Christian at Mendon, Saturday at 1 p.m.
Mendon, the top-ranked team in Division 8-player, Division 2, is looking for a repeat performance from last week. Well, offensively anyway. The Hornets beat Adrian Lenawee Christian 96-57 in what is believed to be the highest-scoring 8-player game of all-time.
Head coach Bobby Kretschman and the Hornets are happy with the 96, obviously. But the 57 is a bit of a concern.
"We have to have a bend and not break mentality and finish the game. We had them down 80-36 and sort of quit playing with the intensity and focus we needed to finish the game," Kretschman said. "We turned the ball over and that led to them capitalizing and you can't do that against an explosive team like them."
Playing a squad back-to-back can be challenging. The Hornets know that heading in and have been using this week of preparation on remaining focused with the task at hand.
"It's never easy playing a team twice, let alone back-to-back but our kids have been focused and obviously want to improve on last week's performance," Kretschman said. "Turnovers and possessions will be key to us coming out on top. Biggest thing is to keep the kids focused on doing their job. We understand that they are going to have some big plays and complete passes but we need to eliminate mistakes and get off the field on third and fourth down."
It's Schwartz Time once again in Title Town. It's become tradition, where the Hornets host a playoff game on Saturday's with a 1 p.m. kickoff. The Saturday schedule helps make it a little more special for the Mendon program, it's remained the expectation for the green and white.
The winner of Saturday's game will take on the winner of Marcellus-Litchfield.
Bronson at Ottawa Lake Whiteford, Saturday at 1 p.m.
Bronson started the season with a record of 1-2, dropping games to Springport and Union City. But since then, the Vikings have been on a mission and have peeled off six consecutive victories heading into the playoffs.
You've read it before, but Bronson has been a road-warrior squad this year. With the new facilities coming in, head coach Tony Myers and his group have had to play each game away from home on the year. So hitting the road for the opening round of the playoffs is not a big scare for the Vikings.
"Man, this group is special. I’ve coached these guys since they were freshmen, when I was the JV head coach, and we talked about these moments back then," Myer said. "We talked about Bronson becoming a dominant program and we’ve proven that over these last three years. These guys have been battle-tested since their sophomore year, whether they were playing varsity or coming up to fifth-quarter. To see them earn this opportunity after everything they’ve put into the program really means a lot."
Whiteford loves to run the football. Bronson knows it will have to find a way to make the Bobcats uncomfortable during that process and force them into long-yardage situations.
Myers has a defensive group which has been very strong this season. Opponents are scoring less than an average of two touchdowns per game as Bronson has yielded just 13.6 points per game to opponents. They've recorded three shutouts on the year and always give the team a shot to be in the game.
Whiteford comes in on a seven-game win streak after dropping its first two contests. Their defense has been extremely good as well this season, especially after the opening two losses to Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (37-28) and Pewamo-Westphalia (35-0). During the seven-game win streak, Whitford has out-scored its opponents by an average of 59-10.
Bronson wants to win in the trenches and not beating themselves.
"Making sure our guys are doing their assignments and flying to the football," Myer said. "Whiteford plays a physical game, and we need to match that physicality right from the start."
Saranac at Constantine, Saturday at 1 p.m.
Constantine comes into the playoffs winners of eight straight games. The Falcons have been impressive on both sides of the ball all season and want to especially keep the defensive stronghold going this weekend.
Opponents are scoring only 10 points per game against the Falcons this year and each of the last five opponents have scored either in single digits or been shut out. In wins over South Haven, Allegan (a 2-0 forfeit), Lawton, Delton-Kellogg and Coloma, Constantine has won by an average of 39-3.
Shawn Griffith's team wants to be physical. They love to win in the trenches and control the line of scrimmage.
Saturday's game will see the Falcons aim to get it going early.
"We have to establish a physical front on both sides of the ball. We’ve been able to do that the last few weeks and it causes problems for opponents," Griffith said.
Sweetland Stadium can be a nightmare for opponents. It's a great thing for the Falcon seniors this year as earning another home contest is clearly a positive for the program. Griffith echoed that, saying that earning an opportunity to play another game at home is a testament to the work his group has put in this year.
"Playing at home means a lot, especially for our seniors to be able to play in front of your hometown crowd. This late in the year is a great feeling," he said, "Honestly, the best thing our team has done this year is play for each other as we have a very close group. This has made a huge difference."
Saranac went 7-2 this year, including a pair of wins to end the regular season. The Red Hawks can score (32 per game) and they run a ton of formations.
"This team runs every formation we’ve seen in the past 10 years," Griffith said. "We’ll have to adjust to them and make sure that we don’t open gaps for them to exploit our defense is going to have to be on their toes for anything."
The winner of Saturday's game will play the winner of Ravenna and Cassopolis next week.
Contact Sports Editor Brandon Watson at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BwatsonSJ.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Playoff primer | Sturgis-area football squads open the post season