Postseason push revs up this week in prep football action
Well, the high school football regular season in Michigan is nearly over — it's hard to believe. But there are just two regular season weeks left on the gridiron and it will certainly be an emotional time.
Many teams will be fighting for the postseason, many teams will have their seniors take the field for the final times in the next two weeks. In this week's previews there will be some added information and a different angle on the game, featuring playoff points and potential post season matchups for those local teams.
Locally, we're expecting about a half a dozen teams to be in the postseason picture. So let's start there.
Constantine at South Haven
Constantine hits the road to take on South Haven in a big-time conference matchup on Friday night. The Falcons and Rams will be playing for the outright spot atop the SAC-Lakeshore Division. Constantine comes into the game with a 6-1 record, the Falcons have won five straight games.
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Currently, the Falcons are ranked fourth in the Division 6 Associated Press Poll. They are currently fifth overall in Division 6 with 43.857 playoff points. Depending on which postseason preview website you look at, and several of them are good, Constantine probably should be the top seed in their district. That will obviously hold serve if they keep winning. Potential playoff matchups in the district include Parchment, Kalamazoo United and Buchanan.
Centreville at Muskegon Catholic Central
If they playoffs were to start today, Centreville would be in the post season. The Bulldogs are 4-3 at this point and have 25.000 playoff points on the year and ironically enough, sit in the 25th overall spot for Division 8 in points. They hit the road on Friday to take on Muskegon Catholic Central, a team which ranks 15th in the playoff points for D8 with 32.143 so far.
Either team picking up a win here would be a big deal. For what it's worth, Centreville will have potential district matchups against Hudson, Addison or White Pigeon.
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Greenwood Christian Academy at White Pigeon
White Pigeon has been really solid all year. The Chiefs sit in the 14th position in the current D8 playoff standings for points with 32.571. White Pigeon just wrapped up a league championship after beating Cassopolis 62-0 last Friday, it was the school's first outright championship since the 1984 season.
Now the Chiefs welcome in a Greenwood Christian Academy team which is 5-3 on the season. They're an Indiana team, located in Greenwood, Ind., which is a suburb of Indianapolis. They're a K-12 private school that has a total population in the mid-700s — for high school level they're around 220 students.
Anyway, White Pigeon could have opening round district matchups against Addison, Centreville or Hudson.
Marcellus at Martin
Marcellus had raced its way to a 6-1 record on the season. That includes back-to-back shutouts over Bangor (47-0) and Grandville Calvin Christian (52-0). The Wildcats are currently ranked sixth in the Division 1 playoff points standings for 8-player football with 31.661 points.
This week, the Cats travel to Martin, a 5-2 team that is sitting in the 17th spot for the postseason with 26.804 points. This is a monster game for both teams as a victory by either all but insures they will be the playoffs.
Marcellus, even with a loss here, should still make the playoffs with a game against Eau Claire next week. The Wildcats have potential district matchups with Carson City-Crystal, Gobles, Marcellus and Mendon.
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Mendon at Battle Creek St. Philip
Mendon is 5-2 on the season. That number should improve to six wins as they travel to take on Battle Creek St. Philip on Saturday. The Hornets have dropped consecutive games to Adrian Lenawee Christian and Climax-Scotts in what are their toughest regular season games on the season.
The Hornets are still looking for a Week 9 matchup after Fennville canceled its season. Mendon does not currently have a game on the schedule for that week, but odds are they will find someone to play. Mendon is currently listed as the 13th team in Division 1 playoff points for 8-player football with 28.571 points. A victory here won't hurt. Potential playoff matchups in the opening round for the Hornets include Carson City-Crystal, Marcellus and Gobles.
Colon at Climax-Scotts
Colon hits the road this week to play the second-ranked Climax-Scotts Panthers. Climax is considered one of the better teams in 8-player football this season and they will play in the Division 2 playoffs. Currently, Climax is second in playoff points behind Adrian Lenawee Christian. Colon currently is on the outside looking in for the playoffs.
The Magi had 22.429 playoff points and that puts them 21st overall. Their final two games are against No. 2 Climax-Scotts and No. 1 Bridgman, both of those games are on the road.
Sturgis at Three Rivers
Neither Sturgis or Three Rivers will be playing in the playoffs. The Trojans sit at 2-5 for the season and have 25.286 playoff points, which ranks 51st in Division 3. Three Rivers comes into this game at 1-6 on the season and has 24.286 playoff points.
This will be the 53rd meeting between Sturgis and Three Rivers dating back to 1950. Each team has won 26 times during that span. The Cats and Trojans have split their last four matchups as well.
Sand Creek at Bronson
The Bronson football team will host Sand Creek on Friday. The Vikings have now stopped four straight games and are on the outside looking in for the playoffs with only 16.714 points. They are 1-6 on the season and host Sand Creek, which is currently in the playoffs for Division 8.
The Aggies have won two games in a row and are 3-4 on the season. They sit at 27th out of the possible 32 potential playoff teams with 24.179 points.
Bellevue at Burr Oak
Burr Oak hosts Bellevue on Friday. The Bobcats are 1-6 and will not be making the playoffs with 11.714 total points. Burr Oak currently sits at 42nd in the playoff point standings in Division 2.
Bellevue is currently 19th with 25.857 playoff points in Division 1.
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: Postseason push revs up this week in prep football action
