MUSKEGON, MI – After nearly 21 years with MLive, it’s time to hang ‘em up.
If my heart and my head did not tell me it’s time to walk off into the sunset, then my Week 2 Muskegon-area high school football predictions would appear to be the nudge out the door: Ten picks correct and eight games missed by a mile.
One must try to be that lousy in predicting high school football outcomes, it would seem.
Over the years, my track record has been pretty good: Better than an 80-percent clip, pushing 90 percent last season. I’ve made some quite a few good predictions and some downright dreadful picks.
No prediction had me puffing my chest out more than calling for Mona Shores to knock off Detroit King in the 2019 Division 2 state finals by a score of 28-26. The final score ended up 35-26 in favor of Shores after the Sailors tacked on a touchdown with 1:57 left, otherwise I had that score nailed.
Guess it’s time to stop patting myself on the back and address what’s most important: Coaches, players and, most importantly, the readers.
Thanks for your loyalty over the years and for putting up with my sense of humor in this column space. I’ve truly enjoyed making these predictions. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading them and, maybe for some coaches and players, hope you’ve gotten some mileage out of posting them all over the locker room as bulletin-board material.
Hey, you win some and you lose some. Sometimes, you lose a lot, like in my predictions last week.
Hoping to finish strong with this week’s picks. A new adventure awaits at CatchMark Technologies and CatchMark SportsNet in Whitehall.
See you around, everybody.
Last week’s record: 10-8 (55.6 percent)
Season record: 25-9 (73.5 percent)
Best pick last week: Reeths-Puffer 20, St. Johns 14. The Rockets took care of business, 19-6, winning by a larger margin than predicted.
Worst pick last week: Wow, take your pick! Among the eight incorrect predictions, none of them were really what you’d consider close to the mark.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Muskegon (1-1, 0-0 OK Green) at Zeeland West (1-0, 0-0), 7 p.m. Friday: Muskegon mustn’t allow the loss to Detroit Cass Tech turn into two. Zeeland West will be tough enough without the Big Reds hanging their heads over last week’s 49-14 loss to the Technicians.
This is a very intriguing matchup. Last year, the Dux controlled most of the game before the Big Reds made some plays late, including Myles Walton’s school-record 95-yard punt return in the final moments.
Shane Fairfield’s teams have had a lot of success stopping the wing-T in the past, but this one has the potential to be a wild one.
Prediction: Muskegon 28, Zeeland West 26
***
Mona Shores (1-1, 0-0 OK Green) at Grand Rapids Union (2-0, 0-0), 7 p.m. Friday at Houseman Field: Like Muskegon, Mona Shores will be looking to make amends from last week’s lopsided loss. The Sailors could not get the stops they needed in a 40-19 defeat to Detroit King.
Union is looking to spring the upset here and start 3-0 for the first time since 1998, but it probably does not help the Red Hawks that Mona Shores is coming off the decided loss to King. Matt Koziak should have the Sailors’ full attention this week.
Does former Mona Shores coach Don Fellows have something up his sleeve for the Sailors? If the Red Hawks are able to pull this one off, it would be the program’s biggest win in years.
Prediction: Mona Shores 44, Grand Rapids Union 20
***
Ravenna (2-0, 1-0 West Michigan Conference) at Whitehall (1-1, 0-1), 7 p.m. Friday: This is arguably the toughest game for me to predict this week.
The Bulldogs have looked sharp in their new uniforms and through their play on the field. The Vikings are nursing their wounds from last week’s loss to Oakridge in a physical game.
At the end of the day, football games are won at the line of scrimmage. On paper, Whitehall would seem to have the edge over Ravenna in that regard.
Prediction: Whitehall 26, Ravenna 21
***
Hart (2-0, 0-0 West Michigan Conference) at Montague (1-1, 1-0), 7 p.m. Friday: Last week, we all wondered, “Is Hart for real? We’ll find out a lot in the Pirates’ game against Kent City.” Hart controlled that game from start to finish and came away with a 30-22 win for the Pirates’ first 2-0 start since 2004.
Well, Montague is a different animal. Don’t be misled by the Wildcats’ 1-1 record. Their season-opening loss to Edwardsburg should be viewed in context – the Division 4 Eddies are among the top teams in the state regardless of classification.
Should Hart pull this one off, you can start getting the “Coach of the Year” award engraved for Joe Tanis. That’s no disrespect to Hart, but more a measure of respect for Montague.
Prediction: Montague 38, Hart 14
OTHER MUSKEGON-AREA PICKS
(Note: All games at 7 p.m. Friday)
(At) Reeths-Puffer 24, Wyoming 14
Jenison 22, (at) Grand Haven 14
(At) Coopersville 30, Fruitport 22
(At) Spring Lake 42, Holland Christian 14
North Muskegon 56, (at) Shelby 6
Ludington 26, (at) Manistee 20
(At) Central Montcalm 28, Fremont 14
(At) Chippewa Hills 14, Grant 12
(At) Big Rapids 36, Newaygo 14
(At) Kent City 44, Lakeview 6
Holton 26, (at) Morley Stanwood 22
(At) Hesperia 22, White Cloud 20
Note: Oakridge, Muskegon Catholic Central and Muskegon Heights all have open dates in their schedules this week. Oakridge and Muskegon Heights will be collecting forfeit wins.
Related reading:
Oakridge’s Cary Harger follows mentor as Detroit Lions High School Coach of the Week
Vote for MLive Muskegon football Player of the Week for Week 2 (Sept. 2-3)
Top 50 Michigan high school football teams: Powerhouses rise to top in Week 3
Muskegon-area 2021 high school football power rankings after Week 2
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Muskegon-area Week 3 football picks: Win or lose, these are my last predictions for MLive - MLive.com
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