Chiefs, Falcons prepared for regional final matchups this weekend

CONSTANTINE — There's an old adage in football that three things can happen on a forward pass and two of those are bad.

Constantine and White Pigeon might not officially subscribe to that theory, but you'd be hard pressed to get either Shawn — Griffith or Strawser — to say nice things about the forward pass. Both coaches have long been rooted in running the football. Powering over opponents and letting the offense line do its work, road grading their way down the field and letting the defense know there isn't anything they can do about it.

Both teams will be looking to claim regional championships this weekend. They are each in the final eight teams for their respective divisions and are looking at claiming a spot in the Final Four. Here's a look at both matchups the teams will face:

White Pigeon (11-0) at Ottawa Lake Whiteford (11-0), Friday at 7 p.m.

White Pigeon has won 17 of its last 18 games dating back to last season. The one loss came at the hands of its next opponent in Ottawa Lake Whiteford.

The Chiefs got on the bus, traveled all the way over to Ottawa Lake and gave the Bobcats a game, falling 38-26. The 26 points scored by White Pigeon were the most given up by Whiteford in a football game all season — a season that ended with the Bobcats winning the Division 8 state championship and finishing with an unbeaten record at 14-0.

In fact, Whiteford is clearly the class of the state in Division 8. The Bobcats have piled up a record of 36-2 covering the last three seasons and they haven't tasted defeat since a Nov. 19, 2021 matchup against Hudson in the state semifinals.

"I think they are just a football machine over there. They have a lot of great athletes," Strawser said of the Bobcats. "But we've won our share of football games as well. We have won our share of football games and our boys know we've put in the hard work. They believe in each other so we're ready to go over there and play some football."

White Pigeon has won three consecutive district titles since Strawser took over the program. The Chiefs have a record of 31-6 the past three seasons and the 11 victories this year are obviously a school record.

"Winning three (districts) in a row — we wanted that. We celebrated it and we moved on," Strawser said. "We feel like there is a lot of football left for us."

To use the cliche — this game measures up to be the immovable object against the unstoppable force. Whiteford comes into the contest averaging almost 43 points per game. That's pretty good. But White Pigeon believes in itself and the defense, which has spotted opponents just 55 points all season.

That's an average of less than a touchdown per game at just five points per contest. The Chiefs have five shutouts on the season (includes a 2-0 forfeit win over Hartford) and they won last week at Saugatuck, a team averaging better than 30 per contest, 30-0.

"We believe in our defense. We've gotten better as the year has gone on and we knew we'd only get better and better," Strawser said. "The boys are pretty good about seeing something, adjusting to it and playing well."

White Pigeon will need to control the line of scrimmage in this game. Everyone knows what the Chiefs will do offensively, now execution will play a big role in the contest.

Ovid-Elsie (7-4) at Constantine (10-1), Saturday at 1 p.m.

Constantine won its first district title in a handful of years this season, beating both Olivet and Buchanan to reach this point in the season. It was a welcomed result for the Falcons, which eclipsed the 600-win plateau for the school's career this post season as well.

Ovid-Elsie has one of the better nicknames of MHSAA schools with the Marauders, which is more or less a raider or pirate. Constantine is hoping Ovid-Elsie does not come into Sweetland Stadium looking in search of plunder.

"They're pretty good, they're young in spots so that's why I think they are peaking at the right time," Griffith said of the Marauders. "Their quarterback is good, he's a player. They have good size across the board and defensively they play with a lot of energy — I'm impressed with how their kids get after it and flow to the football."

Constantine is built for the post season. The Falcons play tough defense, run the football effectively and they avoid turnovers, which can be critical.

This team isn't the highest-scoring one under Griffith by any stat or number. The Falcons come into the contest averaging 31 points per game, which is more than enough on average when the defense is yielding fewer than 12 points per game on average through 11 games. But make no mistake, the offense for Constantine has helped the defense improve throughout the season.

"We're always trying to get better and I think a lot of our defensive improvements have come from the offense being able to play good possession offense," Griffith said. "Our defensive coaching staff — Darrin VandenBerg (the defensive coordinator), Mike Tulley and Vinny Church — they do a great job of getting us in good looks with coverages and making sure that we're accounting for everyone on the other side of the ball."

Constantine loves playing on Saturdays. They've developed a pattern, Griffith said, and the student-athletes have done a great job with that. This will be the Falcons' fourth Saturday game so far this season, including the past two weeks in the playoffs.

"It's nice for us coaches, we're familiar with the schedule that it brings and that tends to help with the kids as well," Griffith said.

Ovid-Elsie comes in averaging just under 29 points per game, for reference. The Marauders yield just over 18 points per game to opponents, but they've given up just 16 points combined in two playoff wins over Ida (14-3) and Lansing Catholic (42-13).

"They've got a solid program, but remember they always seem to be in that district with Lansing Catholic, so it can be a struggle to make it out of there," Griffith said. "I think they've done a fantastic job this year in a tough league. You look at their losses and there's really only one blowout, everything else has been close."

Contact Sports Editor Brandon Watson at bwatson@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as twitter, @BwatsonSJ.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Constantine and White Pigeon football teams playing in regional finals