Troy Athens at Bloomfield Hills: This could be the game that could decide the Blue. Both teams bring different styles to this matchup. Troy Athens has Waides Ashmon who is a workhorse at running back and wants to play the pound the rock scheme for Coach Billy Keenest. Bloomfield Hills comes from the Red and features Tanner Slazinski at quarterback in a spread attack for Coach Dan Loria. Both the Red Hawks and Blackhawks have struggled in the last few years so someone should be going home happy with a huge win.
Clarkston at Southfield Arts and Tech: These two teams played twice last season. Southfield Arts and Tech stunned Clarkston 28-14 at West Bloomfield in week one behind two touchdowns from RaeQuan Lee. The Wolves returned the favor in week six behind two touchdowns from then wide receiver Justin Buchmann and a really bad penalty late in overtime and an Ethan Clark two point conversion to stun the Warriors 22-21. The loss cost Coach Tim Conley’s team a trip to the postseason. Both teams appear to be healthy heading into this game and have firepower to burn. This game looks to be a shootout in the making.
Oxford at Lake Orion: This will be the debut for Oxford coach Zach Line going up against the rivals to the south in Lake Orion. The Wildcats have a ton of experience back led by quarterback Brady Carpenter and running back/linebacker Melvin Eckles. The Dragons have the balk of their offensive line back along with defensive back and wide receiver Kade Manzo. Lake Orion won 35-0 at Oxford last season but in 2018 it was the Wildcats that went into Lake Orion and stunned the Dragons 28-7. This rivalry game should be a very interesting matchup to say the least.
Stoney Creek at Seaholm: This is a rematch of last season’s 20-13 Seaholm victory over Stoney Creek. Both of these teams made the postseason a year ago with the Maples getting to the Division Two State Semifinals. This will be a very good coaching matchup between Jim DeWald and Nick Merlo and also a great quarterback duel between Caleb Kroner and Ryan Echout. The Cougars and Maples both have experience back which makes this game very interesting. This should be a good one on Friday night.
Ferndale at Avondale: These are two teams that missed the postseason last season after having high expectations. Ferndale won 42-28 last season at home ending a trend of the road team winning this game. This game cost Avondale a trip to the playoffs in 2019. The Eagles are heading back to what got them to the dance and ditching the Wing T according to their head coach Eric Royal. The Yellow Jackets have a ton of athletes including David Holloman at running back. This will be a huge game for Coach Corey Bell especially since Avondale didn’t make the playoffs last season and they have a senior heavy team.