Harper Creek, Climax-Scotts among area teams to make football playoffs. Who will they play
Harper Creek was the lone city team sitting in front of their television sets on Sunday night waiting to find out what is happening for them in Week 10 of the high school football season.
The Beavers are the only team in Battle Creek that will be playing in the first round of the playoffs, which begin next Friday and Saturday. Overall, only four programs from the Battle Creek area advanced to the high school football postseason, the lowest total for the area since the playoffs went to eight divisions.
As announced by the MHSAA on its Selection Sunday show, Harper Creek (6-3) made the 32-team field in Division 3 and will play a first-round game against No. 6-ranked Parma Western (8-1), 7 p.m. on Friday. The Beavers, with 51.00 playoff points, are the No. 4 seed in the district and will travel to face the top-seeded Parma Western Panthers.
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It will be a rematch between the two teams as Parma Western beat Harper Creek, 21-7, in Interstate 8 Conference play in Week 6. The team that advances will face the winner of Stevensville-Lakeshore (5-4) at St. Joseph (6-3) in the second round.
"They are a league team, we know them very well and we know they are a fine football team," Harper Creek coach Mason Converse said. "There are pros and cons to playing a team we have seen before. The pro is we know each other and the con, also, is that we know each other."
Harper Creek is back in the playoffs after missing out last year. In 2021, the Beavers lost to Parma Western in the second round after Harper Creek beat the Panthers in the regular season.
"They beat us during the season this year and give them credit for that. Two years ago, we beat them in the regular season and then they beat us in the playoffs. Just shows, it's tough to beat a team twice in the same season," Converse said. "This has turned into quite a rivalry and the kids are excited to be playing them. They wanted this rematch."
Beyond Harper Creek, area teams Olivet, Union City and Climax-Scotts all made the postseason. A possible future matchup for Harper Creek could have been Gull Lake, which, despite a 6-3 record, missed the postseason by one slot in Division 3.
Leaning on its strength of schedule, Olivet made the Division 6 playoff field with a 3-6 record. The Eagles will face 8-1 Constantine in the first round. The winner will see the winner of Buchanan (6-3) vs. Kalamazoo Hackett (5-4).
In Division 7, Union City earned a spot in the postseason with a 6-3 record. The Chargers will go on the road to face undefeated North Muskegon, which is ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 7. The winner of that matchup will face the winner of Schoolcraft vs. Lawton.
Only one area team made the playoff field in 8-player football as No. 3-ranked Climax-Scotts will take its undefeated record into the postseason. Climax-Scotts will host Pittsford in a 8-player Division 2 first-round game. The Panthers beat Pittsford (7-2) in Week 9, 38-30. If Climax-Scotts advances, it will face the winner of Camden-Frontier (6-3) vs. No. 1-ranked Adrian Lenawee Christian (9-0).
Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Harper Creek, Climax-Scotts among area teams to make football playoffs
