Three of the Biggest Questions heading into Championship Weekend
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Championship weekend is the biggest weekend in High School Football. Over the past year, the sixteen championship teams prepared tirelessly for this season. With these sixteen teams, we have a few major questions heading into the weekend. Now, here are…
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Continue ReadingChampionship weekend is the biggest weekend in High School Football. Over the past year, the sixteen championship teams prepared tirelessly for this season. With these sixteen teams, we have a few major questions heading into the weekend. Now, here are the three biggest questions heading into the championships!
Which underdogs will win?
Caledonia, Forest Hills Central, and Negaunee come in as heavy underdogs this weekend. Cal and FHC are facing defending champions, while Negaunee is facing a resurging powerhouse. Here’s the thing; I think one of these teams will surprise people. I can’t say who has the best chance of victory out of these three, but we’ll just have to see. I don’t see any of these three teams as fluke championship teams. All three of these teams have upset at least one team on the road to the championship!
Which athletes will stand out?
Every year, many players make big names for themselves at Ford Field and are rewarded by bolstering their recruitment. Last year, Brady Drogosh Brady Drogosh 6'5" | 205 lbs | QB De La Salle | 2023 State MI and Brady Prieskorn Brady Prieskorn 6'6" | 230 lbs | TE Rochester Adams | 2024 State MI had outstanding games and received a ton of D1 attention because of it. M’khi Guy M’khi Guy 5'7" | 165 lbs | ATH Muskegon | 2024 State MI , Miguel Botello Miguel Botello 6'4" | 300 lbs | OL Muskegon | 2024 State MI , Ty Hudkins Ty Hudkins 6'0" | 190 lbs | DB Forest Hills Central | 2024 State MI , Timmy Kloska Timmy Kloska 6'0" | 220 lbs | RB Grand Rapids West Catholic | 2023 State MI , Kaden McDonald, and others are on watch for having monster games.
Will a first-year coach win?
Landon Grove (West Catholic), Todd Thieken (Whiteford), DeJuan Rogers* (Belleville) are all first-year head coaches in the state championship. Going in order, we’ll start with Coach Grove.
Landon Grove has proven to be the guy for West Catholic. Although West Catholic was great last season, the leadership at WC decided on a change, with came with some critics. After the splash hire of Grove and an incredible season, West Catholic looks like it’s back, and they are heavily favored this weekend.
Whiteford coach Todd Thieken has done something similar to Coach Grove. That is, take a good playoff team and make them into a championship contender. Whiteford went 11-2 last season, but now, they have a perfect 13-0 record with a Championship opportunity.
DeJuan Rogers is the head coach of Belleville after the suspension and subsequent firing of Jermain Crowell. He’s a young coach, but he’s been excelling in his role thus far. It looks like he has the full respect of the locket room, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s hired as the full-time head coach after this season.
Derek Pennington from Caledonia is a 2nd-year head coach who has been excelling. Turning a good T-Wing team into an elite west coast team is a huge task, especially within two years.