Playoff matchups set: How C-F and Pittsford earned their shot; Week 10 kickoff information
HILLSDALE COUNTY — The brackets are set.
Selection Sunday revealed the playoff seedings for the MHSAA prep football postseason tournament. Pittsford and Camden-Frontier both earned a spot in the 8-player Division 2 playoffs this season.
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Both teams have been matched up in the Region 4 bracket of the tournament. This is our breakdown of the schedule for each team for Week 10, game time information and a look at how each team got to this point.
Playoff Matchups and Schedule
Game Times and Locations to be Updated.
The 6-3 Camden-Frontier (28.75 playoff points) will travel to undefeated and No. 1 ranked Adrian Lenawee Christian (38.333 playoff points) for the 2023 8-player Division 2 regional semifinals. This is one side of the Region 4 bracket.
On the other side of the bracket, 7-2 Pittsford rematches with 9-0 Climax-Scotts after its Week 9 showdown for its regional semifinal matchup. Pittsford (32.444 playoff points) will head to Climax-Scotts (37.000 playoff points) for the rematch.
Semifinal matchups are scheduled to take place on Oct. 27-28. The winner of each matchup will play in the championship on Nov. 3-4. The 8-player state semifinals will be played on Nov. 11. The 8-player football state finals will be held at the Northern Michigan University Superior Dome on Nov. 18, the week before the 11-player finals at Ford Field.
How Camden-Frontier earned its second consecutive playoff berth
Camden-Frontier and coach Rob Wickham had the goal set to make the playoffs again and to compete for a SCAA division title. With the new division alignment, Camden-Frontier's strength of schedule presented many challenges.
The team bounced back from a 36-16 loss to 8-player D1 playoff-bound Bellevue with a 48-34 win over Battle Creek St. Phillip. It then faced the No. 1 ranked and current undefeated Adrian Lenawee Christian in Week 3, losing 44-8.
Camden-Frontier would go on to win three of its four in-county rivalry matchups, including double-digit wins over North-Adams-Jerome, Waldron and Litchfield. It won its divisional matchup against Tekonsha, 50-20.
Its only in-county loss was a 46-6 decision to Pittsford.
Camden-Frontier capped off its regular season with a 56-0 win at home over Lakeside Danbury.
Senior Ethan Worm Wickham broke the career receptions record for Camden-Frontier in the win. He had a total of seven receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns. He has a total of 86 receptions so far in his career.
Logan Leggett had 95 rushing yards and one touchdown. Leggett also completed 7 of his nine pass attempts for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, he had one interception. Brayden Miller had nine carries for 50 yards and four 2-point conversions. Defensively, he had 11.5 tackles.
Kaiden Conroy had four carries for 72 yards and one touchdown. Ben Salyer had two carries for 60 yards and one touchdown. Aiden Leach had seven carries for 28 yards and a touchdown. Cole Fairchild and Logan Allwardt each had a successful 2-point conversions.
Camden-Frontier's 2022 playoff appearance resulted in a first-round exit. Colon defeated C-F 62-8 in the regional semifinals.
How Pittsford earned a playoff berth in second year of 8-player football
Coach Mike Burger and the Wildcats had high expectations heading into 2023 after a stellar offseason of work. The Wildcats looked to build off of their 5-4 2022 season in their first-ever year of 8-player football.
The Wildcats rolled through their first seven games with an undefeated record. They boasted one of the top offenses in the 8-player D2 field and had one of the best defenses in all of southern Michigan prep football. The Wildcats held all but one of their first seven opponents to just one score. They scored at least 44 points in each of their first seven games.
They earned a playoff berth in Week 7 with a win over playoff-bound Bellevue in a 34-6 final. The Wildcats rose all the way up to No. 6 in the AP state rankings.
The final two weeks of the regular season saw Pittsford battle the No. 1-ranked Adrian Lenawee Christian Cougars and the No. 3 ranked Climax-Scotts Panthers.
LCS defeated Pittsford 41-0 for the SCAA East division title. Pittsford bounced back and played a barnburner matchup against the Climax-Scotts Panthers at home to end the season.
Pittsford led 24-16 at the end of the first half. Climax-Scotts scored a touchdown in the third quarter and a 2-point conversion to tie the Wildcats at 24-all heading into the final quarter. The Panthers and Wildcats would trade touchdowns in the fourth quarter before Climax-Scotts hit a 38-yard touchdown pass for the go-ahead score.
Pittsford senior quarterback Gavyn Carden went 14 for 17 for 168 yards and two touchdowns. He would run for 127 yards and a touchdown. Legend Gore had 36 yards and two touchdowns. Lane Lewis had 24 rushing yards. Teagan Williams had five rushing yards.
Bryce Williams had nine receptions for 92 yards and one touchdown. Dyrk Hensley had four catches for 47 yards. Jake Drawe had one catch for 29 yards. Drawe also had 10 tackles. Teagan Williams had seven tackles. Gore and Carden each had eight tackles. Landon Governo and Lane Lewis had three tackles each.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Pittsford, Camden-Frontier football found out who they face in playoffs
