Feature Writers Archives - Page 5 of 58

The Red is known as the “Kiss of Death” this season. All five teams are more than capable of making the postseason. Lake Orion won the division and is loaded again despite questions at running back and linebacker. Clarkston lost their quarterback to transfer and has other questions elsewhere. West Bloomfield made the Division One State Semifinals last season. The Lakers have the offense to score with anyone but can the defense hold it’s end. Oxford has a ton of proven experience coming back along with a very difficult schedule. Adams has a group of proven experience coming back as well.

How does Lake Orion replace their running back and linebackers from last season???

Clarkston’s offensive line, quarterback, and defense looks really concerning, can they overcome distractions???

West Bloomfield has the makings of a State title team but quarterback and defensive secondary are really concerning???

Is Adams back to Adams???

Can Oxford make it back to the postseason with a really difficult schedule???

COMBINED SCHEDULES WITH LAST SEASON’S RECORDS WITH THIS SEASON’S SCHEDULES:

West Bloomfield 71-31

Clarkston 69-32

Oxford 64-34

Lake Orion 55-40

Adams 46-45

MANAGEABLE SCHEDULE: Adams: The Highlanders have a really manageable schedule when you looking deeper into it, playing against teams that went 46-45 last season. They have a tough week one game with Romeo. “When I see Romeo I kind of think of look in the mirror, similar in school size you know the kids they don’t have a bunch of four star, five stars they got kids you know they have D1 guys every now and then, they are very well coached, they are a state championship staff (2016) and those kids are going to play hard, they are going to block and tackle really really well and they’re really tough at home, for us we know it’s a huge challenge but we see a lot of ourselves in them and we played them a couple of times over the years in the playoffs, they’ve been really tough battles” Coach Tony Patritto said of playing Romeo. They have Rochester, Stoney Creek, North Farmington, and New Baltimore Anchor Bay which seems really winnable. “We play Rochester week two, you know that’s a rivalry game and that’s always tough” Patritto added. They still have Stoney Creek and North Farmington as well on the slate. “That’s always a passionate game, I expect Coach Powell and I’ve known his dad for a long long time to have a great game plan against us and you know Ricky did a nice job scheming against us last year so we know that’s going to be a really tough game” Patritto said of playing Stoney Creek. “Then we got to play North Farmington who we’ve had a tough time with over the years because their coaches do a great job and they know us well from the Harrison years” Patritto said about playing North Farmington. When they get into league play they have Clarkston and West Bloomfield coming to Adams but going to Lake Orion and Oxford will be tall tasks.”We have a stretch and I would put this three game stretch against anybody’s three game stretch in the State, we play West Bloomfield, Clarkston, and Lake Orion (two of those three are at Adams) in that sequence, those are three really tough games to have back to back to back” Patritto said about that early stretch of games. “Oxford who we play after Lake Orion, those coaches knows us so well, they’re great guys, great coaches, the Oxford kids are a lot like our kids, they are going to grind” Patritto added about playing Oxford. Overall the Highlanders have a ton of experience coming back which always helps. They could be a team to watch for. I think ultimately to beat great teams like Lake Orion, Clarkston, and West Bloomfield, we have to have balance because those are really smart coaches and if we’re one dimensional it doesn’t matter who you have playing receiver or quarterback, then we’re going to be in trouble” Patritto concluded.

NIGHTMARE SCHEDULE: Oxford: This might be the most difficult schedule I have ever seen anyone go through in my years of covering high school football. The Wildcats non-conference schedule is brutal and they are playing against teams that went 64-34 last season. They open at Swinehart against Utica Eisenhower then have to play the defending Division Four State Champs the following week then have to play Oak Park who could be much improved in week eight and then play Macomb Dakota in week nine. Luckily for Coach Zach Line and company three of those four are at Wildcat Stadium and that’s not mentioning the division which they have Lake Orion and Adams coming to Wildcat Stadium and trips to the Swamp and the Wolves Den. “When you play off teams your kids aren’t as focused, your practices aren’t as intense, you can say they are but they just aren’t but when you’re playing the top dog week in and week out you’re going to continue to get better and better but when you know you aren’t going 9-0 but when it matters in the playoffs you’re going to be ready to go and you’re going to give some teams problems” said Line. It’s going to be tough sledding for Oxford that is for sure but they played a tough schedule before and it got them to the postseason twice.

TEAM ON THE RISE: Clarkston: The Wolves have been a really interesting offseason story this summer with everything that has gone on with them but Clarkston has a pipeline of proven talent ready to take over although the transition from the sub varsities to the varsity doesn’t always translate to success but the Wolves junior class is really talented. They have a tough slate with three of their first four games on the road and Clarkston is facing teams that went 69-32 last season. The Wolves have Belleville in week one which is going to be tough. They have Oxford and West Bloomfield coming to Clarkston along with Utica Eisenhower and Bloomfield Hills which is likely homecoming. The Wolves have to go to Lake Orion, Adams, and Troy Athens. Clarkston looks prime to be very good for years to come.

TEAM THAT’S IN TROUBLE: No One: I don’t really see a team that’s in trouble in this division, there is so much parity in this division that it wouldn’t surprise anyone if all five teams in this division makes the playoffs.

WEST BLOOMFIELD LAKERS:

LAST SEASON’S RECORD: 10-3, 3-2 Red. Lost 40-35 to Southfield Arts and Tech in the Division One State Semifinals.

POINTS SCORED: 429 (30.6 ppg). 163 Red (32.6 ppg)

POINTS AGAINST: 291 (20.7 ppg). 145 Red (29 ppg)

KEY PLAYER: Jamal Shakesphere-Quarterback/Wide Receiver/Defensive Back.

STRENGTHS: Proven Skill Players, Offensive Line

CONCERNS: Defensive Secondary, Discipline

GAME OF THE YEAR: September 13 at Adams.

PROJECTED RECORD: 9-0. 4-0 Red.

PLAYOFF TEAM: Yes.

The Lakers had a really strong year last season but fell to Southfield Arts and Tech in the Division One State Semifinals. The loss should motivate them to do really well heading into this season. “Our biggest challenge is you know we were really close to our goal last year, I had a little up and down year but by the end of the year we were where we wanted to be, had a shot to win it and you it didn’t go our way” said Coach Zach Hilbers. West Bloomfield made some changes this offseason. The Lakers have Beau Jackson coming into the program. Jackson was at Novi Detroit Catholic Central last season and looks to be the starting quarterback for Hilbers. “Beau’s done a really good job that’s come in and learn our stuff and you know be a leader, I told him we got two young guys that we really, really, really like and we’re not going to give anything to anyone, right now they are in competition with each other and he’s done a really good job understanding and accepting it” Hilbers added about Jackson. A player that has been on my radar has been Jamal Shakesphere. Shakesphere can play anywhere on both sides of the football including quarterback. “He’s played quarterback for us on the younger levels, he was the backup to Rick Nance. This offseason he’s shown his offensive versatility, he’ll have some packages when he plays quarterback and play running back and slot receiver, free safety. After we got some injuries last year our two best tacklers were our quarterbacks (Nance/Shakesphere.) He’s a tough kid that works hard and wants to play football, he’s what every kid wants, he wants to get out there and play every way he can” Hilbers said. West Bloomfield has Jailen Allos and Josh Tate at running back. “They are close, pretty good friends when the hang out together outside of football, outside of the school and inside the school as well but they both really stepped up, Josh is a great coachable kid that we really expect to be one of our leaders in the offensive backfield with Jailen again we have a lot of guys where we’re lucky to say we got positional flexibility and versatility, he’s played free safety, he’s played strong safety, he’s played outside linebacker, he’ll play some slot and tight end, he’s gotten stronger, he’s gotten bigger, and he’s really just scratching the surface of his ability” Hilbers said of Allos. Whoever the quarterback is will have proven pass catchers in Kamryn Flowers, Elijah Durham, Christian Banks, and Obi Duru coming back. “Kam has worked his butt off this offseason, he was a speed kid that could run and be a good receiver, we used him how we could, he’s a lot more versatile now, he’s really worked on his game, knows he can’t just run by everyone even though he’s fast and I think he’s more of a complete player than last year, he’s been taking some snaps on defense. He wants to do whatever he can to make himself and our team better” Hilbers mentioned about Flowers. “Elijah’s been awesome he realizes what he has to do, he was more reserved for a couple of years on varsity, letting the seniors do their thing and he realizing that it’s his turn to step up and be that leader, it’s been a growing process for him and I’m really proud of him because he’s trying to embrace it and take that role for him” The offensive and defensive lines should be very interesting to watch. They have Jeremiah Benson, Travis Robertson, Michael Pittman, Kamari Pittman, and Dwayne Broome coming back. They added Jay Gardenhire who transferred from New Jersey this offseason at 6.8 350 lbs on the offensive line. “His mom was getting a new job relocating to the Midwest and had family in the area, we’re fortunate enough that you know we were his landing spot. He’s done a really good job kind of buying into our strength training and what we told him what to do to reach his potential, we’re excited to see what he’s about” Hilbers said about Gardenhire. The back end of the defense should be very good with proven experience in Blake Simmons, Ezekel Davis, Malcom Gibson, Christian Hood, Brody Pikur (out until midseason-labrum surgery,) and Will Espy coming back at linebacker. They have Jonathan Edison, Shakesphere, Malcomb Ross, Sean Johnson, and Kaliq Robinson in the defensive secondary coming back for Hilbers. The Lakers have program strength and loaded again to make another deep postseason run this season. “Our biggest challenge now is not to be complacent and realize we had a tough road to get there and if we want to get back and make one or two more plays and hopefully have a chance to win one or two more games, it’s going to be really hard, you can’t take it for granted the past success and all it does it means there is a bigger target on your back especially in this league” Hilbers concluded. West Bloomfield will for sure be a threat this season.

BEST CASE: The Lakers defense is shored up especially in the defensive secondary to go along with their high octane offense they could be in line to have another successful season.

WORSE CASE: If the Lakers are having quarterback issues and aren’t up to par defensively especially in the secondary then they could be in line for a ton of Big Twelve shootouts this season.

West Bloomfield Podcast (First Segment)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TujKDHv0lc&t=1218s

LAKE ORION DRAGONS:

LAST SEASON’S RECORD: 10-1, 5-0 Red. Lost 38-37 to Clarkston in Division One District Finals.

POINTS SCORED: 435 (39.5 ppg). 181 Red (36.2 ppg)

POINTS AGAINST: 214 (19.4 ppg). 76 Red (15.2 ppg)

KEY PLAYER: Jackie Vasquez-Running Back/Wide Receiver/Defensive Back.

STRENGTHS: Quarterback, Defensive Secondary

CONCERNS: Linebackers, Rushing Attack

GAME OF THE YEAR: August 29 at Northville.

PROJECTED RECORD: 7-2. 2-2 Red.

PLAYOFF TEAM: Yes.

The Dragons had a really strong year going unbeaten with wins over Saline, West Bloomfield, Adams, Oxford, and Clarkston in the regular season. They had a really tough 38-37 loss to Clarkston in the district finals last season. “Last season was a lot of fun, we were a great football team, it was great to see the kids play to their potential, I thought we got better every single week, we had a bunch of tremendous players, the schedule we played was really tough, every game was tough there was no easy game but it was a great year, we ended up losing in the second round of the playoffs which was an upset after we handled Clarkston (won 42-21 at Clarkston) a couple weeks prior in the league championship game but us and Clarkston goes way back, a lot of times who wins the regular season and then gets upset in the playoffs (2006, 2007.) It’s really hard to play someone in the playoffs twice because they are making adjustments and we need to make adjustments, it was a great football game, we had multiple opportunities to win the game, both teams played really hard, they had some key players who made key plays at key times that kept drives alive for them, we had chances to put them away, they just made one more play than we did, at the end of the season your still proud of the kids, they were disappointed after the Clarkston game, it was a great game, I can’t fault the effort or your preparation that’s football, you can’t win them all but we came up just a little bit short and it wasn’t because of our preparation, I have to give Clarkston credit. Overall there were a lot of offensive records that were set, defensively that was the best we had in years. we have an all state kicker that is returning so it was special all the way around, the coaching staff, the kids, it was a lot of fun, it was great, a lot of memories and we’re ready to turn the page and get ready for the season” said Coach and Athletic Director Chris Bell. Lake Orion has made the postseason six of the last eight years should be solid this season but they have some questions especially on the defensive side of the football. The Dragons had a really good junior varsity team going 6-3 last season but sometimes that doesn’t always translate going to varsity. “There’s too many to name, and they are all good players, they are competing for jobs, there is a lot of talent, a lot of good players, the coaching staff down there did a really good job getting them ready, we were able to spend a lot of time getting them ready in the playoffs so we had a really good chance to work with them, they are going to fill some key roles and that’s a strength, we have a good mixture of juniors and seniors, this year offensively we are senior heavy but we’ll have some key juniors in there and defensively it will be a good mixture of both” Bell said about his junior varsity team and the transition to varsity. Lake Orion has some proven experience coming back for Bell who are multi-sport athletes. “Our best players are multi-sport athletes, it’s something we believe in Lake Orion, sometimes kids specialize and that will take care of itself but our athletes play as many sports as they can, it makes them a better athlete, it avoids burn out” Bell added about multi sport athletes playing a big role on the team. The Dragons have a duel threat quarterback in three year starter TR Hill coming back. Hill had a really good year as a duel threat last season and is looking to do more this season. The rushing attack especially the power game is a question mark after losing Billy Robertson to graduation. They have Jackie Vasquez coming back at one of the slot wide receiver spots. Vasquez has proven to be very versatile on both sides of the football. Jayden Borrero could be a player to watch along with Travis Acker and DonDiego Hopkins is another player to watch who could see some time at the power back spot. Hill has proven pass catchers in Jahmari Cooper and Ryan Rocheleau coming back along with newcomer Kyle England (transferred from Detroit Old Redford) at wide receiver. The offensive and defensive lines should be a strength again this season. They have Brendan Nepchuk, Landon Morris, Lane Garris, Parker Bressett, Leo Cassell, Jacob Escobedo, and Brennan Ellison coming back. They also have some depth on the offensive and defensive lines as well which allows Bell to move some linemen around. “We return eight starters on offense, we return TR Hill obviously one of the best quarterbacks in the State of Michigan, we return Brennan Ellison, Landon Morris at guard, we return Jacob Escobedo at tackle, we have Jackson Vasquez at the slot, we return Jahmari Cooper who played outside, is going to play inside this year, he’ll be in the slot. We have Ryan Rocheleau who played his way into the lineup, he had a lot of playing time until he got injured. Ryan has had a great summer, he’s going to play on the outside but when we go to our tight end set, he’ll be inside. We return a lot of fire power on offense, we got to figure out who are running back is, Trey Pochmara was our backup last year but he also is in the defensive secondary, it will be a running back by committee. We got to replace the guard and center up front but we got some good kids there, we’re going to be big and strong up front, we do have a transfer that moved into the district in Kyle England who came from Detroit Old Redford, he’s going to play at one of the wide receiver spots, he’s been tremendous all summer, we got talent at the skill spots, we’re big up front, we return the quarterback, we’re going to have a ton of guys running the ball, we should be able to score a lot of points” Bell said about his offense. The back end of the defense could be the question mark this season for Bell especially losing Kaydon DeGraffenreid and Joey DeBrincat to graduation. The Dragons also lost defensive coordinator Rick Powell this offseason (became new Stoney Creek coach.) They have Russ Purdy taking over the defense as the defensive coordinator. Purdy coached linebackers last season and was a defensive coordinator at Seaholm under Coach Jim DeWald. Lake Orion has Payton McIntyre and Alex Hensley coming back at linebacker along with Pochmara, Grady Harbin, AJ Leitz, and Austin Conn in the defensive secondary coming back. Brody Thompson, Hopkins, Jackson Shoskey, and Max Neering could be players to watch on the defensive side of the football this season. “We’re going to have a great defensive line, TNT looking really good we have Parker Bressett, Brendan Nepchuk, Lane Garris all got a lot of time last year he’s back. We got Peyton McIntyre at linebacker and then we return three of the four in the secondary with Austin Conn, and AJ Leitz, Trey Pochmara and Grady Harbin stepping in, he was our nickel and got a lot of time, we’re really experienced in the secondary. We lost three really good linebackers, we do have to replace those three but we got some great kids who have worked hard this summer, we got talent, we got people, defensively we’re going to be athletic, run to the ball, we got a good secondary that allows us to be aggressive like we were last year so we’re really excited defensively” Bell said about the defense. They have Will Hoffman handling the kicking duties Hoffman was an all state kicker last season and could see some time at linebacker. The Dragons have a brutal non conference schedule which includes Northville, Stoney Creek, Farmington, and Saline this season. Program strength looks to be solid for Bell especially with the youth levels along with merging all three middle schools in Scripps, Waldon, and Oakview Middle Schools and the Lake Orion Youth Football program.”We have four teams, two seventh grade teams, two eighth grade teams (Green and White teams,) there is good coaches down there, several of them have high school coaching experience, the idea there is to give as many kids in our district an opportunity to play football, they want to be coached, learn about the fundamentals, have some fun, play for your school, dress in the green and white, the younger they get its about the fundamentals and having fun but it’s also trying to be successful in the middle school and it’s our feeder program, they do a great job and we support them when we can and our numbers are good coming into high school who want to play football in the freshmen level, we’re going to have over 50 players on the freshmen team which is a credit to our middle school program, if they aren’t doing a good job then we’re not going to see those kids in the high school level that’s what it’s all about” Bell added. Lake Orion also has a very strong youth league which helps a lot. “The Dragon foundation runs the youth league, the demand for roster spots had exceeded the number of roster spots we have, kids want to play, this is a great thing. Our youth league coaches do a great job also John Blackstock does a tremendous job with our tackling program and that’s exploded as well, it’s a feeder program just like in baseball you go from T-Ball to machine pitching which is a tethered process in football you have flag football which is tremendous which kids can play as long as they want and if they move into the rookie tackle which is a scale down version of regular football, fewer players, smaller field, more rules to encourage passing, more wide open the kids really enjoy it and then from there they play in full youth league, full size field, regular football, getting into it, it’s all about being age appropriate to make sure your kids are having a positive experience, learning the fundamentals, they’re safe, they’re well coached as the move up, that’s what’s it’s about” Bell said about the youth levels. The Dragons have a really strong community base which is shows every Friday night. “Lake Orion football is special, the community comes out on Friday nights whether it’s at home or on the road where they will be times there will be more fans on the road then those on the home bleachers, the community has been so supportive of our program. Lake Orion is a special place, we want to make sure the kids know that” Bell concluded. The Dragons have the talent and should be competitive this season. It comes down to if the young players adjust on the fly and if they stay healthy, if they do, look out.

BEST CASE: If the Dragons stay healthy and perform to what they are capable of on both sides of the football then Lake Orion would be in line for another really good season.

WORSE CASE: If Hill gets hurt and injuries mount especially to their star players then it’s a serious concern for the Dragons and their season.

Bell Interview-Casey Campbell Podcast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsnYsuvcdi4

Lake Orion Football Preview Show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b40KeBHFt8&t=1061s

CLARKSTON WOLVES:

LAST SEASON’S RECORD: 6-6, 4-1 Red. Lost 21-20 to West Bloomfield in Division One Regional Finals.

POINTS SCORED: 290 (24.1 ppg.) 146 Red (29.2 ppg)

POINTS AGAINST: 290 (24.1 ppg.) 107 Red (21.4 ppg)

KEY PLAYER: Lucas and Griffin Bowman-Running Backs/Defensive Secondary/Linebacker.

STRENGTHS: Rushing Attack, Proven Wide Receivers

CONCERNS: Both Lines, Defense, Quarterback

GAME OF THE YEAR: September 20 at Adams.

PROJECTED RECORD: 5-4. 1-3 Red.

PLAYOFF TEAM: Yes.

It was a really odd year for the Wolves who have made the postseason 20 of the last 21 years and will look to make it 21 of the last 22 years this season. Clarkston struggled to make the postseason but they went to the regional finals falling 21-20 to West Bloomfield after having a field goal blocked. “It was definitely one of those up and down seasons part of that is attributed to our schedule and never having much of a break, being in the OAA Red is obviously I think as good as a conference, league there is in the entire state and then our schedule we had with the crossover and non-conference slate, I mean we played two state champions (Southfield Arts and Tech and Harper Woods) in our crossovers games and our non-league games were Northville and Eisenhower who are two really good football teams last year so our record wasn’t great and was up and down and not as consistent as I like it to be but some of that can be attributed to the opponents we played including the non-conference games we had” said Coach Justin Pintar. The Wolves have a ton of questions coming into the season and have had a ton of offseason drama as well. They have a ton of skill players and Clarkston’s junior varsity went 8-1 last season but as they all say junior varsity doesn’t always translate to varsity. The Wolves have a ton of proven skill players despite losing Desman Stephens and Brody Kosin to graduation and they lost Brady Collins who transferred to Detroit University-Detroit Jesuit. “Brady mentioned at the end of the school year that he was going a different direction so he’s not expected to play here this fall” Pintar said about Collins departure. Pintar mentioned that the quarterback competition is down to two guys in Alex Waszczenko and Mick Mahaffey. “We got a couple of younger guys in Alex Waszczenko and Mick Mahaffey who’ve been kind of battling it out in the summer for that quarterback spot, they’ll be a little inexperienced because they are sophomores but they are both very good athletes, there teammates like them, and they are well respected. Alex has a little bit more different skill set than Mick does. Mick is probably as fast a guy we got on our team so he gives us an element of speed there. They’ve been battling it out, we’ll see when the pads come on, we got a couple of weeks to figure it out but we feel pretty good about both quarterbacks” Pintar said about both quarterbacks. The Bowman twins are coming back for the Wolves. Griffin looks to be key at linebacker while Lukas is solid in the defensive secondary. Both twins are really capable running backs and proven pass catchers will be looking for this season. “This is their third year of varsity football, they played a key role for us last year and now with three years under their belt they know what’s expected of them and they know what they need to do, they are definitely the kind of kids you enjoy coaching because they are all about football, they’re all about going out there, they play hard, there won’t be a time that I won’t have to question their effort on the field, they don’t play that way, they play all out all the time and they are physical, they’re fast, they want to run the ball hard, they aren’t afraid of contact, on defense they are looking to find the ball so we’re excited to have them back for another year under their belt and it’s exciting to have them back for one more season after this” Pintar added about the Bowman twins. Whoever the quarterback is will have proven pass catchers in Grayson Clark, Brady Beck, Cameron Quaine, Benny Adams, Colton Williams, Hank Orgow, Wendell Childs, and Cameron Love at wide receiver and TJ Shaffer at tight end coming back. “We got a lot of pieces in terms of skill pieces on the field, we don’t have the power five guys like we did last year (Stephens and Kosin) but we feel really good about our depth and have the ability to spread the football around which can sometimes be an asset as well when you know teams know where you want to go with the football it makes it easier for them to defend that when you got four, five, or six guys that you’re really trying to get the football too, I think it makes it tougher on defenses so I feel we have that ability to spread the football around a lot this year to different guys” Pintar mentioned about his deep wide receiving core. The offensive and defensive lines are a concern for Pintar despite having Zach Radlick and Drew Ball coming back on both sides of the football but they will be really young on both sides of the football. “Our most experienced offensive lineman is going to be Drew Ball, he was a starter on defense for us and came in and started on offense and got hurt at the end of the season which was a big loss for us up front but he’s not our typical Clarkston lineman that we’ve had in the past, he’s not that 285 lbs, 6.3, 6.4 lineman, he’s a little undersized but he played with great technique and he’s physical and strong. The lack of size he makes up with everything else with the energy and effort and he plays that way on the defensive side too, he’s kind of one of those guys that can be a game wrecker or game changer on the defensive side of the ball so we’re excited for him to be on our offensive line yet again and after that we’re going to be a little bit more younger, there is a good chance that we’re going to start two or three juniors on that offensive line, one of which was with us last year, so he’s got some good experience just being on varsity, he got a little bit of time, not a lot of time in games but he was going up against these guys in practice all the time and that makes a lot of difference, we’re going to be a little bit younger we lost five seniors who at some point played last year but our offensive line last year was as small as we’ve ever had, I think at one point three of them were under 200 lbs and the other ones were 225 at that, we should be a little bigger which I’m looking forward too, not going to be quite be a vintage Clarkston offensive line but a little more size never hurts up front” Pintar mentioned about his offensive and defensive lines. The back end of the defense will be the major test for Pintar but he has both Bowman twins there as well. They have Beck, Love, Jackson Kopish, Waszczenko, and Jackson Craiglow coming back in the defensive secondary along with Aidan O’Neil handling the kicking duties. “Our back seven or eight are looking pretty good, our linebackers Griff (Bowman) plays one of our overhang backer spots and then Brady Cody is a guy who missed last season that works his butt off in the weight room and we’re excited to see what he can do at middle linebacker, Cooper Collins is another kid, who’s a really good athlete, has good size that we’re going to look at playing either an overhang or a back end defensive end depending on where we need him. We got a lot of guys, we are pretty fortunate with what we got and just on the seven on seven stuff in the summer, I think those guys have looked good and we’re expecting a lot out of our defense and hoping that’s probably the most improved part of our team” said Pintar. Clarkston has a ton of program strength with their freshman, junior varsity, Clarkston Jr. High, Sashabaw Middle School, and the Clarkston Chiefs youth football program. “That’s a huge part of the success is the programs we’ve have at the sub-varsity level, seven through 12, one of the things we’re fortunate about is a lot of our coaches stick around, a lot of our coaches are in the district, they’re teachers, they want to help out in any way they can, we’re really lucky from year to year, we probably retain 90 percent of our coaches and that makes a big difference because they know the system, they know what our expectations are, they aren’t trying to coach up your coaches at the lower level so that’s a big part of it is just having that continuity and consistency at our lower levels and we’re really fortunate in that way and I don’t think that’s the case at every school and in the terms of our seventh and eighth grade, I believe all of those levels went undefeated last year, not mistaken if they played a game not playing each other, our seventh and eighth grade are strong, our numbers have been really good at both levels, I think we’re at about 70 kids last year at seventh and eighth grade at each level and then this year’s incoming freshmen class we’re thinking it’s going to be in the 50’s but it will drop off before the season starts but if we’re in the 50’s with our freshmen program that’s a really good sign, both our freshmen and JV programs continue to do what’s in the best interest of the program and sometimes that doesn’t always lead to winning every single game, they may lose some games because they’re trying to run our stuff and maybe it doesn’t quite fit as well with the freshmen but it makes a big difference later on and there’s the case that we may take some guys maybe away from our JV team and that maybe affects their depth and stuff but both those levels have had success and traditionally have had success and continue to have success so we’re really fortunate, the one thing about Clarkston football is we don’t have transfers, we don’t have anybody coming in from outside the school, we’re not out there recruiting other kids from other teams, we play with the kids we got, and the kids we got are really good and they put in the work, put in the time, they believe in what we are trying to teach them and coach them and that makes a big difference, and it starts at the Chiefs level and I know their numbers have been very good again recently, it starts down there and that’s our feeder system and we’re lucky that we have the continuity the program is not a nine through 12 program like it is in some places but a seven through 12 program for us but our feeder program ties into it as well and we’re lucky to have that” Pintar said about program strength. Pintar credited legendary coaches in Clarkston basketball coach and athletic director Dan Fife and former coach Kurt Richardson for showing him the way around the land of Clarkston. “When I first got hired here, I was introduced to Coach Fife, we sat down and talked and he knew that I coached basketball before and I wanted to coach basketball so he got me a position at Sashabaw Middle School and so right from the start he was one of the first people I met and the opportunity to coach next to him or alongside him is something I will cherish forever, he was really welcoming even as a seventh grade coach those guys invited me to come watch practices or sit on the bench or go in the locker room and listen to the talks, I always appreciated how he was welcoming in that way, he was always accepting everybody and wanting anybody who wanted to be involved had an opportunity to come and learn from him. The thing that I probably take away the most from him was the standard he set, the standard of excellence, he never wavered on, he was an ultra competitive human being, he didn’t want to lose, he set that standard for his team and he made sure he held his team to that standard, it takes a special person to do that, when the games weren’t going well or when practice was done he had a way of connecting and relating to people and telling a story, just having a conversation knowing everybody’s name, he was a guy who was as good as it gets off the court and that’s the biggest difference. Really fortunate to kind of watch his craft and learn from him and there is stuff I know I say today, I took from him and I’m really grateful for that opportunity” Pintar mentioned about Fife. “You get your first teaching job and it’s at Clarkston you got Dan Fife on one hand and Coach Richardson on the other hand and to be able to learn from and see how those two guys lead by example, same thing with KR he set a standard and he held everybody to that standard not just the players but as coaches to that standard so the opportunity to learn from a guy like KR is just incredible and you package that with being able to learn from Coach Fife on the other side with basketball and talk about landing in a lucky spot for myself, the thing I really appreciated in the two to three years I’ve taken over here is that KR is a guy that I have any questions if I need any help with anything or if I want to run anything by him he’s a phone call away and he’s always there to help. He always wants to help but he doesn’t want to step in anybody’s toes and that can be hard especially with guys who have dedicated their entire life to this, the reason they dedicated their entire life to this is because they are so passionate about it and it can be hard for those guys to step away and not be overly involved and KR has done an incredible job whenever we need him without trying to step on anybody’s toes and I really appreciated that, it makes it easier to lead when that’s the case, very fortunate, very lucky to have KR around and still here to talk too and run ideas off of and I’m really lucky to be in that spot having coached under KR” Pintar added about Richardson. The Wolves should be in the conversation with the numbers (70 kids in the varsity, 40’s JV level, and 50’s in the freshmen level, expecting 70’s in the seventh and eighth grade level) and proven talent but the concerns are still there with this program. “Football will change their live for the better, they’re going to learn things, they’re going to form friendships and bonds that are going to last a life time, there’s dealing with adversity as a team and to achieve goals, there is so much that football provides that the kids who gets this experience are very fortunate, it’s something I hope we get more kids involved because it will help them for the rest of their life, we’re always hoping to try and get more kids involved” Pintar concluded on the numbers. Clarkston will be a player that is for sure this season.

BEST CASE: The Bowman twins stay healthy and continue their dominance on both sides of the ball. They develop their offensive line and find a quarterback and the defense shows major improvement then Clarkston is back to Clarkston.

WORSE CASE: The Wolves struggle at quarterback, the offensive line struggles, and the defense really struggles. Also injuries especially to the Bowman twins would be really concerning for Pintar and Clarkston. The Wolves non conference schedule isn’t strong unless Southfield Arts and Tech, Troy Athens, and Bloomfield Hills show improvement. They have Belleville and Utica Eisenhower which helps but the three mentioned need to win games to enhance the Wolves resume, this is something they can not control. Clarkston is the most vulnerable when it comes to missing out on the postseason for that reason.

Clarkston Podcast (Third Segment)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aSQVvOwPNc&t=3101s

ADAMS HIGHLANDERS:

LAST SEASON’S RECORD: 6-4, 2-3 Red. Lost 42-14 to West Bloomfield in the Division One First Round.

POINTS SCORED: 250 (25 ppg) 100 Red (20 ppg.)

POINTS AGAINST: 189 (18.9 ppg.) 113 Red (22.6 ppg.)

KEY PLAYER: Matteo Humbert-Fullback/Linebacker.

STRENGTHS: Quarterback, Rushing Attack

CONCERNS: Defensive Secondary, Depth

GAME OF THE YEAR: September 13 vs West Bloomfield.

PROJECTED RECORD: 8-1. 3-1 Red.

PLAYOFF TEAM: Yes.

It was a really interesting season for the Highlanders which had a really young team but they did make the postseason falling 42-14 to West Bloomfield last season. They had some struggles especially on the defensive side of the football which was really unusual for a Coach Tony Patritto program. “Last year was kind of a disappointment, we didn’t play well in the conference but the conference was really outstanding in terms of talent, we were playing a sophomore quarterback and we had Brady (Prieskorn) who’s a great player but we weren’t deep in other spots so you know I think we learned a lot from last year and hopefully what we learned from last year will help. For the veer to work, it needs the offense, defense, and special teams to do well and when they struggle to get all three phases that usually spells trouble. Adams was really young as mentioned last season but they have a ton of proven experience coming back. “It all started back in the late 80’s when I was coaching at U-D Jesuit, I coached a guy name Ron Rice who went to Eastern (Michigan) and played for the Detroit Lions, he was a sophomore quarterback, 15 years old and we were playing in the Central Division of the Catholic League at that time so Catholic Central, DeLaSalle, Brother Rice, St. Marys so we didn’t have a lot of linemen so what gave us an opportunity to at least make some first downs and move the ball to keep possession against those great teams was run triple (option) so that’s where it all started, I learned most of it from Tony Annesse who is the head coach at Ferris State University and his brother coached with me for many years and that’s where I learned most of the fundamentals, I studied the academies and everyone who does their own little wrinkle on it and when I went to Bishop Foley before I came to Adams (2002) we were in the same boat, we had a 22 man varsity roster playing DeLaSalle, Brother Rice, St. Marys and those schools, (Detroit) DePorres back in the day and for us to be successful we had to double at the point of attack, read somebody and that way we were only to block ten guys instead of 11 so that’s really the premise of what we do now is much more diversified with the spread option, still running elements of the triple (option) that people have to prepare for but when people load the box we can do some other things now and I have to give credit to my son Mark Patritto who’s helping me call the offense now and helping me kind of expand my thought processes on the offensive side” Patritto said about the veer offense. The Highlanders have a proven quarterback in Ryland Watters coming back. Watters made a name for himself last season and will look to continue that success for Patritto. He mentioned that Watters could see time at linebacker this season. “If our quarterback is good we’re usually okay, he’s about 6.2, 210 (lbs), he’s a really tough kid, he’s a really good athlete, he’s going to play a little defense for us at linebacker so you know our battery in the backfield in the triple (option) having a good quarterback and fullback makes us more balanced and hopefully more difficult to defend” Patritto said of Watters. Adams has Matteo Humbert comes back at running back. Humbert was the B back (lead running back in the veer offense) and a very good linebacker as well. “Matteo he’s a three year starter at fullback, he was our linebacker too so you know he’s really worked to make himself bigger faster and stronger, he’s probably the hardest worker I’ve ever had in my 35 years, we expect him to be a dominant force especially on offense carrying the ball but also as a really good linebacker so Matteo is going to be a great two way starter” Patritto said of Humbert. Watters should have proven pass catchers in Lachlin Tillotson, Jack Cici, Cam Dywood, Connor Helfridge, Trenton LaGarge, and Landon Greier at wide receiver coming back.”I think you know Lachlin, Connor Helfridge, Trenton LaGarge and a bunch of other dudes are really stepping up at the reciever positions, our slots can really run routes, Cam Dywood’s going to be a junior, he runs really good routes, so we’re hoping some of those guys who didn’t play a lot last year can catch some the ball we would had thrown to Brady (Prieskorn) and give us some balance so people can’t load up the box against us” Patritto said about his wide receivers. The offensive and defensive lines should be solid with Liam Kania, James Tsamadis, Rowan Kawa, and Henry Little coming back. “We have Liam Kania returning, 6.3 220 (lbs) just a chicil specimen, well play defensive end and offensive tackle, opposite him will be Rowan Kawa who’s 6.4 288 (lbs), he’ll play the other tackle spot. We’re going to be young at the other line positions, that’s going to be the biggest question for us” The back end of the defense will be the question for Patritto with Watters, Tillotson, and Humbert coming back at linebacker. Adams has Tommy Offer, Paxton Battershall, and Cici coming back in the defensive secondary. “We have two outstanding seniors in Tommy Oliver and Paxton Battershall who will play slot for us and start on defense and then we have Lachlin Tillotson who’s our best returning receiver and corner, he’s going to be a big play guy and we got some juniors that I think will surprise some people” Patritto added. Program strength looks to be solid especially with the middle school programs at Van Housen and some from West Middle School along with the Rochester Raiders youth football program. “So last year our freshmen and JV teams were very competitive teams, they were small rosters but really tough kids and they both had really successful seasons beaten the schools that were much bigger than us but this year believe it or not this is the most kids we’ve had in our program since 07, we’ll have 40 on the freshman, 40 on the JV, and over 40 on the varsity and we haven’t had those kinds of numbers at the lower levels so it was really hard for us especially at the JV level because we’re playing teams like Lake Orion, Clarkston, and West Bloomfield that put two platoons at the JV level and we got eight guys going both ways you know with a 22 man roster so we won a lot of those games and now we have a little bit more depth in the program, I’m excited to see what those guys do and we get players from two different Middle Schools (Van Hoosen and West) and our local club the Rochester Raiders, used to be the Redskins, I’ve never paid attention to anybody in the middle school so I have no idea what they are doing, so when they show up as a freshmen, I coach them” Patritto said about program strength. The Highlanders should be better but they have a ton of questions especially in the defensive secondary. Depth is another concern to watch with Adams. “You got to be reasonable, you could be a really good team like Oxford or Adams and win two games or no games in the OAA Red, they’ll be no shame in that to be perfectly candidate with you but our expectations like 21 (went to the Division One State Championship Game) and 22 is to win the league so last year was not good, we had three league losses (Lake Orion, Clarkston, West Bloomfield) and that’s just not acceptable so we know we have a very small margin of error, if we’re not executing at a high level, no pre snap penalties, no turnovers, we have to take care of the ball and finish drives with touchdowns, not field goals, we know we as Adams to beat the biggies and to beat the great four teams in our conference, we got to play close to perfect to win so that’s what were going to strive for, I don’t know if it’s going to happen or not but we’re going to give it our best shot” Patritto concluded. The Highlanders should be a team to watch this season.

BEST CASE: The Highlanders are back to being Adams with the veer offense (triple option.) Watters is healthy, Humbert is having a monster season, and Tillotson is having a monster year along with a much improved defense. If these three stay healthy then Patritto could have a chance to make some serious noise in the postseason.

WORSE CASE: The lines and the defense struggles for a second straight season. Also if injuries mount and Watters regresses, those could also be red flags. The schedule is toughen enough for the Highlanders but the postseason seed might not be as good as they want.

Adams Podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlbXDIDaYi8

OXFORD WILDCATS:

LAST SEASON’S RECORD: 4-6, 1-4 Red. Lost 58-26 to Lake Orion in Division One First Round.

POINTS SCORED: 218 (21.8 ppg.) 91 Red (18.2 ppg.)

POINTS AGAINST: 282 (28.2 ppg.) 176 Red (35.2 ppg.)

KEY PLAYER: Luke Johnson-Running Back/Linebacker.

STRENGTHS: Quarterback, Rushing Attack

CONCERNS: Defensive Secondary

GAME OF THE YEAR: August 29 at Utica Eisenhower.

PROJECTED RECORD: 4-5. 0-4 Red.

PLAYOFF TEAM: Yes.

The Wildcats have played one of the most vicious schedules in the last four years and with the rules in place, even a losing record can get you into the postseason like what Oxford did last season, making the postseason with a losing record and needing to win three of their last four games to even make it. The Wildcats have a really tough schedule again this season for Coach Zach Line. “It was a testament of the guys to keep working, you’re going to have games where we don’t play Oxford brand of football, I think our guys have zero quit in them so we always have a chance in every game, we enjoy having a harder schedule, I mean you look at it we open up with Ike (Utica Eisenhower) and we end the season with Dakota so it doesn’t get any easier especially with our OAA Red schedule we have” said Line. Oxford has some questions when it comes to depth but they have proven playmakers coming back but talking to Line he mentioned that this was his deepest team he’s had at Oxford. “The more grown up your team is, we have a senior heavy team this year the better off you are” said Line. The Wildcats have a proven quarterback in Jack Hendrix coming back. Hendrix had a breakout year last season and had a monster game against Stoney Creek which turned their season around. “Jack has done a really good job, his biggest improvement is his leadership and his command of the huddle so you know as soon as you walk into the huddle you’re going to have confidence with Jack because he’s going to speak clearly, speak with confidence, and he knows the plays better know so he’s not just saying words, they mean nothing to him, he knows the playbook, he’s spent a lot of time this offseason, at lunchtimes going over the playbook where he’s reading where he’s going, knowing where the running back’s doing and why’s he’s doing that so he’s in a good spot as far as X’s and O’s go so it makes him more confident as a player and obviously Jack is gifted at throwing the football and he’s got enough speed and quickness to make people miss, he’s going to be a really good quarterback for us, and we’re looking forward for him to have a great junior year” Line said of Hendrix. Oxford has been known for pound the rock under then coach Bud Rowley. The Wildcats have a proven runner in Luke Johnson. Johnson has been a stud at running back and is expected to see some time at linebacker. “Luke is a stud, he’s our only named captain so far, named him in the spring in the offseason, Luke is our leader, as he goes, we go, he’s a great player, gifted in a lot of a lot of ways, he’s taken a big jump so far, I can already tell as a leader being vocal and holding his guys accountable so that’s a huge asset for us having Luke at linebacker, running back it’s a great thing to have in our arsenal” Line said of Johnson. Johnson will be wearing the legendary #42 this season. #42 is a huge honor in Oxford to have. That number honors greats such as Line, his brother Prescott Line, and Tate Myre have worn that number for the Wildcats. Hendrix will have Jake Champagne, Liam O’Neil, Eli Carpenter, and Owen Pavlock coming back at wide receiver. “We’ll roll with a lot of other guys but Jake is a great receiver for us, he’s a big body, catches the ball really well I think the basketball side of him allows him to use his body and you know box people out in space and he’s getting better and better at that and that comes with being a senior and even having more confidence and you can see it with Jake now, he’s more confident with what he’s doing, he’s not asking as many questions as he was, he’s flying around and having fun” Line said of Champagne. “We got a good arsenal of receivers, we have three or four that I could mention” Line added about his wide receivers. Pavlock and O’Neil could also see time in the defensive secondary. Drew Cady handles the kicking duties. “The Cady family is always professional, they always stay after, they’re going to get their kicking in and kick even longer, you know they’re always going to be ready so as a coach I don’t have to do much in practice because I don’t want to get their leg hurt but I also trust they are dialed in, they’ll be ready to go when that kick is needed, athletically both of them (Drew and his brother Jay) are super athletic so it’s kind of a double edge sword because you want to use them on offense, defense, and everything else but you know you have a gem of a kicker and you want to make sure they are ready to kick. I know with Jay we used him everywhere, he was our corner, he was our tight end, he was our kicker and that’s a lot on his body and they play soccer so as a family they’ve done a good job of cold tubing, taking care of their bodies but they are the exception of how they go about their business, they are pro mentality so I always know that Drew while he’s at soccer, he’s going to come to football practice, go all out and then go into the cold tub after, take care of his body, get protein, get water, he’ll be ready to go the next day but as far as kicking goes, Drew has done a great job, he’s been doing a ton of camps, we haven’t done a lot of kicks this offseason but he’s been playing more of the tight end role for us and he’s done a good job” Line said of Cady. The offensive and defensive lines are question marks for Line but they have some experience with Liam Carr, Nolan Cumbey, Reed Swiss, Brandon Cass, Liam Combie, and Brendan Cass coming back. “We got a good amount of returning guys or guys that moved up from freshmen to play JV that might be ready to be exposed this year at a younger age to the varsity level so we are deep at that position which is nice which he haven’t been in the past, we’re in a good spot but this year we are we have not put a starting five together for any of our camps yet, we’re trying to get guys many reps as possible to get our depth, get our understanding and grow our program” Line said of his linemen. “We got Liam Carr coming back, he’s our leader on the line, he’s put in a ton of work this offseason, get in better shape to move quickly so just the amount of work he’s put in is going to make him a better player this year, he’s smart” Line said of Carr. “Brendan Cass was a great guard for us, and Liam Combie, we have three senior returners and the rest I can’t tell you because of the competition which is awesome” Line added. The Wildcats will have Johnson along with AJ Kuppa at linebacker as mentioned but Line is high on Dean Rice who also see time also at tight end. “He does a really good job for us, he’s physical, he’s got good hands, he blocks well” Line said of Rice. Line is also excited about Preston Wilder who played a lot as a freshman as the backup running back. “Going from eighth grade to varsity is a huge jump and he was exposed to that in football and in wrestling season so he got a lot of experience last year and breathing down a fire hose so Preston will have who I think will have a great year” Line said of Wilder. “I think AJ Kuppa is going to have a great year, young buck, he’s a physical gets to the football, it’s old school Oxford football” Line said about Kuppa. Program strength has been solid for Line and they could be in the hunt for years to come. “Really good, both our sub varsities are way up, we’re probably around 90 kids between the freshmen and the JV, that’s really good so as far as the younger levels are concerned our numbers are up so hopefully good things for Oxford as far as that goes again at those levels you want to make sure those guys are learning football but they are having fun like the biggest process is getting them from OJW (Oxford Junior Wildcats) through middle school (Oxford Middle School) to the varsity level which is the pinnacle of football for most kids in their hometown and keep having fun and obviously at the varsity level it gets more serious, your best 11 on the field but we want to make sure our kids all the way up, we’re finding ways to make sure that football remains fun” said Line. The Wildcats could have a really similar story like last season, they have experience which always helps. “I feel a lot of excitement about our team when we have our workout days our numbers are up when we have our camp days our numbers are up and that tells me that the kids are ready to get things going. We’ve kind of had a lull the last couple of years but you see guys chasing after a leadership roles, you see guys competing, you see guys having fun, those are all signs of a good team and if you don’t have a good team then you don’t have nothing, you can have all the X’s and O’s you want but if the team isn’t together and having fun, working hard together you’re not going to have anything and so we embrace that brand tough and gritty, those are things we talk about when you when you leave Oxford you feel us” Line concluded. Oxford could be a scary team to watch despite what their record could be.

BEST CASE: If they stay healthy look out. Johnson and Hendrix have monster seasons and the offensive line really develops along with a shored up defense. The Wildcats would be a tough one for anyone in the postseason.

WORSE CASE: Injuries and non conference losses derail the Wildcats. Also the lines if they aren’t fully developed and the defense struggles that spells trouble for Oxford.

Oxford Podcast (Second Segment)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ChMHD9tjnI&t=1s

Blue Division Preview

by orionontv | Aug 22, 2024 | Feature Writers, High School Sports

Blue Division Preview

Written Wednesday August 21st at 2:20 PM

ONTV News Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoMLYqQF3g8

Podcasts

Tyler Kieft

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5H0mhi6z1E

Scott Burnstein and Doug Corless

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKw-ZcIj474&t=82s

Civic Center TV Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_K1oE4Eq3A

BLUE:

Preview Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkx9Mz1iw64

DIVISION RECAP/STORYLINES:

This is a crazy division with seven teams this season. All seven teams are more than capable of winning this division. Seaholm won the division last season but they lost a lot of proven talent to where there are questions. Troy might have the best quarterback in the division but they have questions at running back along with depth concerns. Bloomfield Hills had one win last season, what will the Blackhawks be this season. Troy Athens has a ton of questions despite them saying they have put everything together. Farmington comes from the White after a rough year last season. North Farmington has a chance get back to being themselves after a rough three years. Oak Park will look to have a bounce back year. This division should be really interesting.

Can Farmington put it together???

Can North Farmington bounce back after two disappointing seasons???

Will Troy Athens be a postseason team???

Can Troy benefit from playing a tough non conference schedule???

What’s next for Seaholm???

Can Oak Park get back to their old selves???

What to expect with Bloomfield Hills???

COMBINED SCHEDULES WITH LAST SEASON’S RECORDS WITH THIS SEASON’S SCHEDULES:

Farmington 46-40

Seaholm 45-45

Troy 44-42

Bloomfield Hills 37-47

North Farmington 37-51

Oak Park 36-49

Troy Athens 35-52

MANAGEABLE SCHEDULE: Farmington: The Falcons could be poised to make a return to the postseason after missing the postseason last season. The schedule looks very manageable in what will be anyone’s division to take despite playing teams that went 46-40 on their schedule last season. They have Oak Park, Holly, Troy Athens, Seaholm, and Lake Orion coming to Falcon Field in which those games will be covered by Farmington TV-10. They have a really tricky game going to Ron Holland Field which they didn’t play their arch rivals last season. “It hurt our kids and our community that we didn’t get to have the rivalry game last year with them, I think it’s huge for just the atmosphere for high school football when you know you have a rivalry game which has been big the last couple years that we’ve played it, our kids are looking forward to it, that’s a game we’ve always had circled on our calendar” Coach Jason Albrecht said about playing North Farmington. They have to go to Troy in week seven, and Dearborn (Dearborn Heights Crestwood) in week nine. Farmington could be a team that could make a ton of noise this season as mentioned and the schedule could help them out.

NIGHTMARE SCHEDULE: Troy Athens: The Red Hawks have not had the best of seasons as of late only making the postseason once since 2011 but the change to the Wing T has helped Coach Tom Cook and Troy Athens. The Red Hawks are playing teams that went 35-52 last season but they have a really tough stretch of games which includes Clarkston, Berkley, Oak Park, and North Farmington but they all come to John R Road. They have to go to Troy, Farmington, and Seaholm which will be really tough games. It’s going to be a really challenging road for Troy Athens this season. “If we want to end up to where we want to go we need to make sure we’re playing the toughest teams that we can find” said Cook on the schedule.

TEAM ON THE RISE: Oak Park: The Knights were very young which resulted in them struggling last season. There is no reason why they should be much improved this season especially playing teams that went 36-49 last season. Oak Park has Royal Oak, Seaholm, North Farmington, Bloomfield Hills and Lapeer coming to Knight Valley which seems very doable. They have to go to Farmington and Oxford while Troy and Troy Athens looks winnable. Overall the Knights have took their lumps, they could surprise some folks and be back in the conversation.

TEAM THAT’S IN TROUBLE: Troy: The Colts have gotten a ton of hype with several players going to play in college (Noah Oury, Jailen Peacock, and Lucas Tic) but they have a ton of questions coming into the season. The touchdown pass by Fraser on the last play of the game kept Troy out of the playoffs last season (fell 20-19.) Troy will have a tougher non-conference schedule and see teams that went 44-42 last season. They have Pontiac as their first non-conference game but they have to play against Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (Home) and Lake Orion (Road) which will be really tough games. The Colts have to go to Ron Holland to close the season and Oak Park and Farmington come to Troy. This is a team that can’t afford a bad loss, if they do then they could be seeing the same fate they had last season.

FARMINGTON FALCONS:

LAST SEASON’S RECORD: 2-7, 1-4 White. Didn’t make Postseason.

POINTS SCORED: 142 (15.7 ppg.) 35 White (7 ppg.)

POINTS AGAINST: 295 (32.7 ppg.) 179 White (35.8 ppg.)

KEY PLAYER: Trenton Dardon-Running Back/Linebacker.

STRENGTHS: Proven Experience

CONCERNS: Mental Mindset, Depth

GAME OF THE YEAR: August 29 vs Oak Park.

PROJECTED RECORD: 8-1. 6-0 Blue.

PLAYOFF TEAM: Yes.

The Falcons were really young last season which showed with their record and the points allowed on defense. They will look to make the postseason for the fifth time in seven years this season in a new division. “Last year was rough, we moved up a division after being really successful 22 season (went 6-4, lost 41-28 to Temperance Bedford in the first round,) we had quite a bit of returning guys at certain positions but we were really young at a lot of positions especially our offensive line and we had a new quarterback and obviously those are like I always feel like some of the most important, everything starts up front for us, playing two state champions doesn’t help when they are in your divisions and Groves and Rochester were two really strong teams” said coach Jason Albrecht. Farmington should be much improved for Albrecht being in the Blue and having a ton of proven experience coming back. “The big mindset for us this offseason and for me was getting our kids to understand is that people aren’t going to show up and bow down to you and we had a good year one year and we can’t have fallbacks like we did last year, I think our kids really took it to heart and put together a really strong offseason for us” Albrecht added. The Falcons have Julian Johnson coming back at quarterback. Johnson seen time last season and took a ton of lumps. Johnson should be in line to have much better season. “That’s huge having him back” Albrecht said of Johnson. The offensive and defensive lines is where everything starts for Farmington. They have a proven lineman in Brady Patricia coming back. “Brady has started on the offensive line since his sophomore season and has dabbled at times on the defensive line but he’s that guy that veteran on our o-line that we’re looking forward to having his guidance with some of the kids coming up from the JV as well” said Albrecht. They also have Vaughn Hoffmeyer, Justin Quin, and Evan Simms also on the offensive and defensive lines alongside Patricia. All three players were sophomores last season and Albright has been pleased with how they’ve developed this offseason. “I’m pleased with how they’ve grown physically and caught up to the speed of the game, last year they started for us quite a bit and look forward to what they’re going to bring for us this year.” Albright added. The back end of the defense should be solid with Joe Stevens, Jaylin Marshall, and Hershel McCormick-McGreeter in the defensive secondary. “He’s a kid that played on the JV last year, he’s not huge physically but he has great instinct and great ball skills” Albrecht mentioned about Marshall. McGreeter did everything on JV last season but he should make the most noise in the defensive secondary. Farmington has Trenton Dardon, Daniel Vukaj, and Carter Kulinski coming back at linebacker. Vukaj led the Falcons in tackles last season. He could also see some time at running back as well. Dardon could also see time at running back. He seen a ton of carries when Cam Pettaway got hurt last season and should be the workhorse in the backfield this season. “We expect him to be a workhorse for us, he’s probably one of those pound for pound one of the strongest kids in our program” Albrecht added about Dardon. Farmington has a newcomer in Antione Bailey who Albright is really excited to see make his mark on this program. “Antione Bailey is a kid who is smooth with the ball, great vision, was on the track team last year, he and Trenton will be splitting time in the backfield and playing all their spots on the offensive side” Albrecht said. Kulinski could see time at tight end coming back for Albrecht. They have program strength as well which always helps. “Our juniors now was one of our largest classes, our senior class has been primarily a smaller one, I do it every winter when we send out stuff to our middle schools saying if you’re planning on coming to Farmington, here’s the sign up so you can get information on summer workouts and all that stuff, right now we have more numbers than what I anticipated now again I joke with coaches and we say this all the time like kids sign up but they don’t show up, we’ve been a week in to the conditioning stuff that we do, I’m not seeing the numbers that I’ve signed up yet but we have a lot of kids that have been in the weight room like we’ve had more kids then we’ve had in the past, I think some of the kids in the school are starting to see that and are starting to gravitate to coming out because they see the commitment and the brotherhood that our kids have and they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves and something special that. I think it’s great that we’re getting numbers, I joke hopefully we have enough helmets because with programs the biggest issue is having enough of those anymore. Number wise people ask are we going to do a freshman team or you know I think a lot of schools have done a JV-A and a JV-B type so we may be looking at that possibly with if the numbers stay true to what they are and then kind of put together a handful of games for those JV-B type of kids because we have a lot of kids that I probably have two will be sophomores and a handful of juniors who haven’t played before that are wanting to come out this first time football players so that obviously they’re not going to be jumping in, ready to go automatically as a varsity player” Albrecht concluded. Farmington should be a team to watch this season, they should be a player.

BEST CASE: The Falcons stay healthy and develop confidence especially the underclassmen then it could be hello postseason.

WORSE CASE: Injuries mount and the Falcons struggle like what happened last season.

Farmington Podcast (Second Segment)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TujKDHv0lc&t=1217s

OAK PARK KNIGHTS:

LAST SEASON’S RECORD: 3-6, 2-2 Blue. Didn’t make Postseason.

POINTS SCORED: 148 (16.4 ppg.) 86 Blue (21.5 ppg.)

POINTS AGAINST: 264 (29.3 ppg.) 96 Blue (24 ppg)

KEY PLAYER: Quinton Blakeley-Running Back

STRENGTHS: Skill Players

CONCERNS: Quarterback, Both Lines

GAME OF THE YEAR: August 29 at Farmington.

PROJECTED RECORD: 6-3. 4-2 Blue.

PLAYOFF TEAM: Yes.

It has been a really difficult path for the Knights and for Coach Greg Carter as of late. Oak Park is 6-21 in the last three years. The offense has been the biggest issue for Carter, they have not scored over 200 points in the last three years. The Knights had made the postseason in nine straight seasons (2012-2020) but they haven’t been the same since their 26-20 loss to Warren De LaSalle in overtime in the Division Two State Semifinals in 2020. Oak Park should be much improved this season after being a really young team last season. This was a team that played a ton of freshmen and sophomores. They were also affected by some really tough departures to other schools. “We still have a young team but we do have enough game experience, they’ve worked extremely hard this offseason and we got enough guys who are leaders, we’re still young we’ve only got eight seniors” Carter said. The Knights will need to find a quarterback this season. Carter mentioned there were three guys that were competing for the job.”We’re excited, a lot of our quarterbacks have worked hard, they’ve been through different quarterback coaches, then they have to go through me” Carter said. Whoever the quarterback is will have some proven playmakers even though they will need to find some balance heading into this season. The Knights have Quinton Blakeley, Michael Reid, and Michael Jones coming back at running back. Blakeley is the speedster while Reid and Jones are power backs. The pass catchers are solid with Ron’Dre Austion and Alex Patterson coming back at wide receiver. Oak Park has a lot of these proven players that play the back end of the defense. Ivaan Burrow, Aaron Paymon, Reid and Jones at linebacker along with Austion and Patterson in the defensive secondary coming back. Blakeley also handles the kicking duties. They have Camari Barginner and William Reed on the offensive and defensive lines coming back. Program strength is a concern this season. The Knights have been the great mystery like they were last season. “We want to win our league and get to the state tournament this season” Carter concluded You never know what you’re going to get with Carter’s team.

BEST CASE: The Knights find a quarterback, the lines develop, and they stay healthy then Carter could be a postseason team for the first time since 2020.

WORSE CASE: Injuries mount and the lines struggle to develop then the Knights could miss the postseason for the fourth straight year.

TROY COLTS:

LAST SEASON’S RECORD: 5-4, 1-3 Blue. Didn’t make Postseason.

POINTS SCORED: 216 (24 ppg.) 68 Blue (17 ppg.)

POINTS AGAINST: 127 (14.1 ppg.) 107 Blue (26.7 ppg.)

KEY PLAYER: Noah Oury-Quarterback.

STRENGTHS: Quarterback, Proven Receivers, Defense

CONCERNS: Rushing Attack, Depth

GAME OF THE YEAR: September 13 at Lake Orion.

PROJECTED RECORD: 5-4. 3-3 Blue.

PLAYOFF TEAM: No.

The Colts had a chance to make the postseason for a fourth straight year but they allowed a last second touchdown on the final play of the game falling on the road to Fraser 20-19 thus costing themselves a trip to the postseason. “Last year obviously it came down to the last play and you know sometimes kids when you talk about the summer like like hey are you pushing yourself as hard as you can, you it could change one rep and they are sometimes like all right coach is just saying whatever but you know like we kind of put it end to their ears this year like listen it came down to literally one play and if that kid jumps a little higher, if we go a little faster as a pass rusher, we could have made the play, we could have made the playoffs so you know obviously winning season 5-4 was successful but you know that team had the goal of making the playoffs and it came down to that one play and props to Fraser for making the play and sometimes you know in life you have to deal with losses and that was something we had to deal with that night” said Coach Chris Frasier. Troy has been very good defensively and wasn’t bad offensively but when they went in the division it was really ugly for with the three losses last season. “With the seniors that is the hardest part of losing, I’m an old man now, I’ve had successes, I’ve had failures but you know I can deal with those things but you know looking into the eyes of a 17 year old who doesn’t understand why and you know like a 17 year old in the locker room who realizes that they played their last football game those are things that break your heart as an adult, those are things that you know life lessons that football teaches is that you know that your not going to always be successful so we tried to use that message to the seniors and the juniors and the kids that are coming in this year was like look into the eyes of this four year starter Nolan Block who you know have given his soul to the program, look at what he’s feeling right now and make sure that’s not going to be you this year” Frasier added. The Colts have a lot of proven talent who is poised to make a return to the postseason. They have a duel threat quarterback in Noah Oury coming back. Oury has a talented wide receiver in Jailen Peacock along with another talented wide receiver in Evan Baraic also coming back. Peacock is expected to also be a defensive back as well. “The biggest thing they bring is experience, they know what a varsity football game looks like, they know what two a days looks like, they know what winning feels like on the sideline, they know what losing feels like so those are things like that you can’t teach and you know every school around the OAA, the State of Michigan has those kids that have been around the block and they are the ones that you know kind of lead the younger generation of juniors that are coming up to Varsity, they’re are kind of the ones who write the ship, it can’t always be the coach harping on the kids, work harder, it means pushing yourself, it means more coming from the players then it does from me so those are the things that Noah, Lucas, and Jailen bring to the table is they’ve been on varsity for three years each and Jailen is a four year player so that’s the biggest thing, naturally they are talented, the biggest thing is you can’t teach is experience” Frasier said about Oury, Peacock, and Lucas Tic. The rushing attack is the question mark for the Colts as they lost Nolan Block to graduation last season. They will go with JP Marowitz coming back at running back this season. “Losing Nolan Block a four year starter, there’s nothing you can do to replace that, we also were lucky to get Drew Oliver from the soccer program last year, he was impactful the whole year it wasn’t just the loss of Nolan it was the loss of Nolan and Drew so we got JP who is a three year player, I literately told him like you’ve been in the program for three years, your going to get the first shot and if he’s proves if it’s his job then he’s not going to lose it” They also have Jordan Jakupi, John Spreitzer, and Tic coming back on the offensive and defensive lines. Troy has had a strong back end of the defense for years and will have it again this season. The Colts have Gabe Gesiner and Greg Tester coming back at linebacker along with Jackson Barrett, Peacock, Jayden Johnson, Jackson Barrett, and Cung Lian coming back in the defensive secondary for Frasier. “It gives us a chance to look at the younger guys, passing camps, Seven on Sevens, it’s been good for the younger kids to get some reps naturally when the older kids came back it was nice to have a safety blanket with the older kids there” Fraser said. The non-conference schedule has been the issue for Fraser despite the three postseason appearances the schedule really hasn’t tested Troy until they got to league play but this season the non-conference has toughen up with games against Lake Orion and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep both were playoff teams last season. The Colts on paper should be a postseason team with the schedule but there are a ton of questions with this roster heading into the season that Frasier needs to address. Troy lost Shayne Hines this offseason as he went to Waterford Kettering to be their athletic director. Program strength is a big concern as well to watch. “Troy is a big school and in the last couple of years we’ve been lucky to get some more kids interested in football from other sports so hopefully that’s something we want to continue is you know there are so many athletes in the building no matter where you are to go around and we hope we can get more and more of those kids that play baseball, that play basketball, that run track, more of those kids to come off with football because our football team is better when we have better kids, it is what it is, we hope we are promoting football not only in Troy, not only at Troy High but also at Troy Athens so we just want to keep football because it’s something that’s special for kids and something that can teach them all about life and about facing challenges along the way” Frasier concluded. The Colts could be a player to watch this season.

BEST CASE: Stay healthy, the depth develops especially up front, and they find a rushing attack to go along with their passing attack. If they do then its hello postseason.

WORSE CASE: The rushing attack doesn’t develop and they lose games they aren’t suppose too which puts their postseason dreams at risk.

Troy Podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eebq7SbEVCc

NORTH FARMINGTON RAIDERS:

LAST SEASON’S RECORD: 4-5, 3-1 Blue. Didn’t make Postseason.

POINTS SCORED: 207 (23 ppg.) 75 Blue (18.7 ppg)

POINTS AGAINST: 245 (27.2 ppg.) 75 Blue (18.7 ppg.)

KEY PLAYER: Brendan Rice-Offensive/Defensive Lineman.

STRENGTHS: Skill Players, Both Lines

CONCERNS: Quarterback, Depth

GAME OF THE YEAR: September 13 vs Farmington.

PROJECTED RECORD: 6-3. 4-2 Blue.

PLAYOFF TEAM: Yes.

It has been a really odd and unusual three years for the Raiders. North Farmington is 9-18 in the last three years with no postseason appearances which is really un Coach Jon Herstein like. The defense has been the big problem for Herstein. They allowed 758 points (36 ppg) in that span. Herstein has had two really strong years when they went 16-4 in the 2020 and 2021 seasons which were postseason trips. “We’ve been through the pandemic and they’ve experienced a downturn in the number of kids, we had a little bit of that but our numbers are trending back in the right direction so that’s exciting” said Herstein. The Raiders have to replace several key players in key positions from last season. North Farmington has to replace a ton of proven skill players from last season. “We got a good group of juniors or seem to be seniors now that have played varsity football off and on for the last two seasons so we think really highly of them and are really excited to see what they’re able to do” Herstein added. The Raiders have Brendan Rice, Jeremiah Lambert, Shawn Davis, Micah Redic, Owen Varva, Josiah Eswick, Josh Tchozewski, Artero Wilson, Jamir Rentie, and Leland Pettiway coming back on both the offensive and defensive lines. Rice has gotten most of the attention this offseason. “He’s been doing really good, he’s trimmed up a little bit so that’s good still working on getting to the shape he wants to be and to play both ways and really be dominate on both the offense and defensive lines but I’m confident he’ll get there, he’s been a good leader for us, working hard in the weight room, super excited for him” Herstein said on Rice. Herstein was also excited to see how the other linemen would look alongside Rice this season. “We think that could be a really good part of our team, we got a number of kids that have been playing there for a number of years, we are also really excited about a couple of incoming kids and young kids” Herstein said of his proven linemen. He’s high on two young linemen that can make some noise in the future in Gabe Jankowski who could start in week one on the offensive line along with an incoming freshman in Elijah Moore who could play on both sides of the football. The back end of the defense looks to be solid with Dominic Washington, Nick Washington, Trey Thomas, Will Simmons, and Leland Hollingsworth coming back. The defensive secondary looks to be solid with Alex Trainor, Justin Cross, Andrew Coultier, Terrance James, Trainer Alexander, Duke Blanch, and Christian Scott coming back in the defensive secondary for Herstein. James will be the starting quarterback to add to his time in the defensive secondary while Blanch is expected to see time at running back alongside Simmons for the Raiders. “Terrance is an phenomenal athlete, can throw it really well but not necessarily a quarterback when you think about his potential in college, he’s more of an athlete, more of a receiver/defensive back but from an athletic standpoint and a football ability he’s really got it so we’re excited to see him get out there and command the offense, and throw the ball very well, has a strong arm and can also run it so see him make some pretty good plays out there” Herstein said of James. James has proven pass catchers in Jermon Johnson, Cross, Trey Brown, Lorence Woodley, Alexander, and Thomas coming back at wide receiver. Woodley also played basketball for legendary North Farmington coach Todd Negoshian last season. He will also see time on defense this season. Coultier handles all the kicking duties. Program strength looks to be on the upswing for Herstein this season after a few rough years with the pandemic. The middle school and youth levels look strong. Stone Trevino could be a player to watch in the future. He could play a ton on JV this season and has the makings to be that next great Raider quarterback. Herstein has a great relationship with Negoshian which helps both football and boys basketball. “It’s been good, we do all the training for those guys as the weight training and the conditioning, we welcome anybody within the school to come out and train, he gets all the players to come out, we wish we could get more of those guys to come out and play some football but you know how it is in this day and age with the kids that with the single sport athletes and things like that but we’re super excited for him and the team to make it to the State Finals, very proud of him, he works so hard as a basketball coach even though he’s an ambassador to the school, he cares tremendously about the Raiders, Toddy puts in a ton of extra work for the school, you couldn’t be more happy for them to have that game which they would have been able to win although and against one of the best teams if not in the Midwest but in the entire nation (Orchard Lake St. Marys,) they gave them all they can handle for a long time, it was a pretty tight game, they battled really hard, so we’re really proud of those guys and really happy for him and a shout out to his father (Tom Negoshian) who is being inducted into the BCAM (Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan) Hall of Fame this fall, so obviously the success they’ve had here at North Farmington in the basketball realm has been phenomenal and a pillar in the community” Herstein said of Negoshian. North Farmington should be competitive but they need the defense to be where they were back in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. If they get that then the Raiders could make some noise and could be a player in the Blue this season.

BEST CASE: James is the answer at quarterback, everyone stays healthy, and reach their potential then they will likely be in the postseason for the first time since 2021.

WORSE CASE: James is not the answer at quarterback, injuries mount, and they miss the postseason for the fourth straight year.

North Farmington Podcast (Second Segment)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfZ8PH3iC28&t=2433s

SEAHOLM MAPLES:

LAST SEASON’S RECORD: 9-2, 4-0 Blue. Lost 34-21 to Waterford Mott in Division Two District Finals.

POINTS SCORED: 392 (35.6 ppg.) 189 Blue (47.2 ppg.)

POINTS AGAINST: 201 (18.2 ppg.) 62 Blue (15.5 ppg.)

KEY PLAYER: Will Forsberg-Wide Receiver/Defensive Back

STRENGTHS: Rushing Attack, Proven Receivers

CONCERNS: Quarterback, Depth

GAME OF THE YEAR: August 29 vs Troy Athens.

PROJECTED RECORD: 2-7. 1-5 Blue.

PLAYOFF TEAM: No.

The Maples have had a ton of success making the postseason five of the last six years and going 17-5 in the last two years. Seaholm could be in line for a really long season when they went 1-8 in the 2021 season with a really young team. They lost a great 2024 class to graduation which featured beating arch rival Groves twice last season. “It was a senior heavy team they’ve been together since they were sophomores, a couple played as freshmen so they we’re young a few years ago and they had time to develop and they had a really good senior year, I’m disappointed how we went out in the district championship game (lost to Waterford Mott) but I thought that was a really good team that had a great year” said Coach Jim DeWald. DeWald mentioned going against and beating Groves twice had a huge impact on his kids and his team. “It is what it is you know we’re going to always try to play Groves in the last week, we always wanted then week nine, we got them in week nine this year and if you’re good and they’re good then your going to meet in the playoffs in the second or first round for two weeks in a row, it’s happened a couple of times and it is what it is, the first game, we won 21-14 and then the second game was a Big 12 shootout (56-49,) it’s amazing we got a shootout like that when all we do is run the ball (veer)” DeWald added. Seaholm will see Groves in week nine in Beverly Hills. “It’s as heated as you get, if you can get two really good teams in the same city, I think both do things well at what they do and we do what we do, we believe in our systems, we believe in fighting for our community and playing for the community and playing for the schools, it’s a heated, heated rival and you know last year we got the best of it for two games in a row but obviously we’ve been on the other side of the coin a lot as well, they’ll be pretty good, they lost the quarterback but they got Chris Little and they have the Gach kid (Avery Gach), he’s the real deal, that’s something we have to deal with going down the line, they do a good job offensively, defensively, they are a solid program and I love it, I love the rivalry, I love the heatedness of it, playing it at the end of the year nothing’s better, nothing speaks more about playing high school football than that game” said DeWald on playing Groves. The Maples has had young teams in the past but the veer should keep them in every game this season. “I think the style of offense we play keeps us in many games. It started when I was at Andover (Bloomfield Hills) when you don’t have Division One guys falling out of the sky you got to do what you can do, our community is behind it, everyone understands why we do it and they believe in it, our kids believe in it, our fans believe in it, our school believes in it so it is what it is, I think we’ve had in 13 years two kids sign letters of intent for Division One football so we’re not and when you got to go against some of these other schools that have a kid every year or they’ll have two kids as a Division One player like and we just don’t get it, I mean we got what we got and those who approaches those doors, we don’t recruit, we don’t, there’s no undue influence, whoever comes through those doors, we’ll coach them up and we’ll make them mentally and physically stronger and move on” DeWald said of the veer offense. Seaholm has Penn Roberts coming back at running back. “He’s a really good athlete, great kid, he’ll be a B Back for us, we had him play a little tight end because we had the Kinnie boys and you had Sean Emerson at B back so you know he was about third string last year so we put him at tight end so he’ll be our B back, he’s going to be a really good player for us” DeWald said about Roberts. He mentioned that Alex Smith will share some time at B back as well. The quarterback position will be really interesting. DeWald won’t know until the first week who his quarterback will be come week one against Troy Athens. “We have two kids, Patrick Hughes and Finn Rowland competing for that spot, one’s a senior and the other is a junior, who knows what’s going to happen, they’re having a great summer, look forward to seeing how that plays out” DeWald said about his quarterback situation. Whoever the quarterback is will have Nathan Walsh, Alexandro Ross, Kyle Moore, Evan Patterson, and Will Forsberg coming back at wide receiver. “We have Nathan Walsh there, he’s tall and lengthy, he’s also a safety for us, he played as a junior, he’s going to be a good player for us. We have Alexandro Ross who is our A back (slot running back/wide receiver,) Hondo is done a great job there, you have a guy like Kyle Moore who has been fighting to get to those positions so those are guys that you know play in space, block in space, we look forward to see what they can do besides that we have Matt Erne and Magnus Bradstrom are our only returning starters on the offensive side of the ball, we got a lot of holes to fill” DeWald said. Walsh, Patterson and Forsberg could also see time along with whoever loses the quarterback battle will be in the defensive secondary, Roberts and Roth are coming back at linebacker, while Wesley Billings handles the kicking duties. They have Max Kruger, Mo Elmallaha, Sean McGlinn, Ryan Glime, Erne, and Bradstrom coming back on the offensive and defensive lines. “In the offensive line, we’ve been pretty lucky last few years with a good offensive line, we’ll see how these guys pan out, right now they are playing well, they are working hard, getting stronger and I’m looking forward to it” DeWald said about his offensive line. The defense should be very interesting to watch this season “We have a lot of positions to fill, the corner back spot we’re fighting to see who plays” DeWald said about his defense. “We need to replace Kyle Robbins and Sean Emerson, they were quarterbacks of the defense, that’s going to be really hard to replace” DeWald mentioned. Program strength looks to be solid for DeWald although he wants to see more games played on Saturdays to give his sophomores a chance to play if they don’t play varsity. “Our numbers are up, our numbers are great, we still have to battle losing kids out of our middle school (Berkshire) which you know drives me bananas but our numbers are good, I think right now we are at 90 kids in the program, the highest it’s been in like ten years but program numbers are good, kids are great, they work their tail off and I couldn’t be more proud of them. We’ve been able to field three teams for the last couple of years and for a while we’ve been fielding only two teams and it’s massive when you can field three teams, you have three different starting quarterbacks, you have three starting B backs, you have six different starting offensive guards so you get kids more playing time so it helps us a ton, you can’t get better by sitting on the bench, you got to play, I think our lower level coaches do a really good job preparing those guys and making sure those kids get on the field so they stay in the program and they get to us on varsity and we can take advantage of some of the playing time and change it into you know a varsity player” DeWald added. This will be a completely different team this season with Seaholm but they had a new facility last season. “Awesome, it is awesome, you look around and we’re so lucky at our school we don’t have a track around the football field, so it’s already a cool stadium, it’s enclosed with one side you have the hill with the big scoreboard and on the other side you have this three story monstrous big old building that has our locker room, our coaches office, the batting cages, the track, the golf simulator, the film room, I mean everything you need the concessions are in there, the team room, it is phenomenal and it is so cool to be a part of, you just sit in that thing on the field and you look at that big building it’s like a small college. Aaron Frank our athletic director called it his baby, did a great job designing it, I think it’s awesome. Our game day experience you know he’s done a great job of getting music going during timeouts and different things like that, it’s such a cool environment, I can’t tell you how many people go to those games and go, even we have players come back like oh this is crazy, how come it’s not like this when we were there it’s fun, it’s a big party and it’s awesome to be a part of and God we are lucky at Seaholm” DeWald said about the new facility and Frank. The Maples could take some lumps after having two really strong years but don’t tell that to DeWald or his team, they are looking forward to the season. “It’s a cool place to be a part of, I can’t lie, I enjoy it every day, you know we worked out this morning and the kids got after it, we are excited for the season to get going. I think we have a bunch of kids who play really hard, I think we’ll try to play keep away with the ball like we always do and see where the game leads us in the fourth quarter, if we’re in the fourth quarter up a score, down a score, or tied, I like my chances” DeWald concluded. You never know with DeWald and his program or his coaching staff which has former Avondale coach Ed Couturier, James Clawson, former Troy and Stoney Creek defensive coordinator Gary Griffith, and new Boys Basketball Coach Spenser Adams, they’ll always think of something.

BEST CASE: Maples don’t miss a beat from last season. They find new stars and are in division contention with a postseason appearance likely.

WORSE CASE: Maples young players don’t develop which makes them take a step back and miss the postseason.

Seaholm Podcast (Second Segment)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jgW3HdMz1o

TROY ATHENS RED HAWKS:

LAST SEASON’S RECORD: 3-6, 0-4 Blue. Didn’t make Postseason.

POINTS SCORED: 185 (20.5 ppg.) 58 Blue (14.5 ppg.)

POINTS AGAINST: 223 (24.7 ppg.) 136 Blue (34 ppg.)

KEY PLAYER: Nathan Piggott-Tight End

STRENGTHS: Back end of the Defense

CONCERNS: Quarterback, Both Lines, Depth

GAME OF THE YEAR: September 13 vs Oak Park.

PROJECTED RECORD: 2-7. 1-5 Blue.

PLAYOFF TEAM: No.

The Red Hawks have been a program that has had some ups and downs as of late but it hasn’t given them a postseason appearance which not counting the COVID year was in 2011. Troy Athens is 31-74 since 2011 and they have not fared well going 13-14 in the last three years. “It was a year of growing, we had some change not just offensively but defensively being in the second year, we got the job a little bit late in the spring, we tried to make things comfortable for the kids and then last year it was kind of an overhaul offensively and defensively for what we wanted to run, so there was a lot of learning going on but a lot of growth took place so we’re excited to see where that leads us, hopefully this year” said Coach Tom Cook. The offense has been the problem for Cook and the Red Hawks despite changing to a Wing T offense last season but it hasn’t produced better numbers in the past. Troy Athens has only had one season since 2011 where they have scored over 200 points (298-2021.) “There are several coached on our coaching staff that have run it in the past, we were looking where we wanted to go as a program, we like to think that we got a bunch of tough kids that are hard nosed like to hit you know that combined, it is a misdirection offense, when we do run into teams that are bigger than us, there is a few things that you can do with when you’re outsized and one of them is you know you want to make people guess where the ball is so that was some of the thought process that gone into it, we’re looking to expand a little bit this year and hopefully add a few wrinkles that people might not expect” said Cook about the Wing T offense. Also they have lost three straight games to arch rival Troy which does not make the fan base none too pleased. “It’s a healthy rivalry, we need to focus on what we need to do in the game rather than trying to kind of compare ourselves or really put them at the forefront of our thoughts, we want to make sure with our team is at the forefront is how we prepare and what we’re doing for that week, hopefully that mindset will field success” Cook said about the rivalry with Troy. Cook has the majority of his team being two to three year players who have played a ton of football. “We’ve been kind of young at certain positions, we’re hoping this year we’ll see kind of some of the fruits of like of developing some of those young players over the last couple of years, we have a strong core of seniors” said Cook. Cook has to address the quarterback spot. He did mention Andrew Dunlap could start at quarterback. “Andrew, Anthony’s younger brother has looked impressive at times during the summer” Cook said about Dunlap but the battle at that spot hasn’t been decided yet. “We got kids competing and that’s the big thing we want we want kids to compete for the positions they get, right now that’s a pretty popular one that kids want to try and win over, we’ve had some kids that looked pretty good this summer in some of the workouts, some seven on sevens that we’ve been at and Andrew Dunlap is one of them” Cook said about his quarterbacks. Whoever the quarterback is should have a proven pass catchers in Miguel Diaz, Alex Beaubien, and Grayson Conrad at wide receiver along with Nathan Piggott at tight end coming back along with an energy player in Reiter Reiss. They have Anthony Dunlap coming back at running back. Whoever the quarterback is will have Marcello Koha, Jose Marino and Gabriel Jabborri coming back on the offensive and defensive lines. The defense should be really solid especially the back end. “We’re looking strong in our defensive secondary and our linebackers are very experienced” Cook mentioned about the back end of the defense. They have Cainan Hanbury, Corban Crum, Tom Gili, Conrad, and Dunlap at linebacker along with Elliot Booth, Steven Lazat, and Diaz in the defensive secondary coming back. “We’re strong up front, hopefully we’ll start seeing some of the fruits of being young over the past few years at certain positions” Cook mentioned. Depth has been really concerning to watch for Troy Athens this season. “That’s something we talked about as well, running back will be a really deep position for us, we’re hoping that some of the line positions we can find a little bit more depth there on offense, tight end is a position that we seem to have, we have several kids who could play for us and with those positions covered, that we really like our growth in this offense” Cook said about the depth on offense. Program strength is another concern to watch. “We are working to try to get our system into the middle school level as well, Larson Middle School is our biggest feeder coming into Athens High School and what’s nice is you know to a limited degree like you know they got kids exposed to what we’re running like at the high school level, they had some good success with it last year, they had a pretty good team. Our incoming freshmen it’s fantastic, we’re expecting big numbers again from that group and this year they’ll have a little bit of experience running some of the stuff that we run as they come in so that’s really one of the focuses we’ve had in the past couple of years is to try and streamline the learning for kids at a young age coming up to high school so as they come in it’s not a culture shock, this will be the first year I can say that to a limited degree that they have been running like similar stuff to us at the middle school level so I’m excited to see how that generates success at our freshmen level. We have a strong Troy Cowboy program (youth football) that’s for anyone in Troy that’s going to either high school (Troy or Troy Athens) so growing up in my hometown we had one high school, it was a smaller area, we had one high school so every kid in the area you knew where they were going to end up so Troy Cowboys they do a great job, I met with one of the coaches at our youth camp, he was there with his grandson so we had a nice talk, they have kids going to both schools but they do a great job getting them ready for middle school football” Cook said about program strength. Troy Athens got a new logo and is getting new field turf this offseason. “I love the new hawk, I love the fact in the past there were so many different athletic programs in our school have used different hawks and Todd Heugh, former soccer coach here at Athens High School and current athletic director, one of his biggest pushes was to make it kind of make a uniform hawk and get a logo that represented Athens High School and I love the fact that we have one now, the field is being redone and it’s looking great, it’s been tough not having it for summer training but it still hasn’t been released to us, it’s an exciting time here at Athens not just for the football program but for all of our athletics with a new look and a new logo, it breathes a little bit of new life into some of our programs, it’s been an exciting change” Cook said about the changes. There are question marks for Cook and with a new principal in Vernon Burden who has seen a ton of successful football at Southfield Arts and Tech and Lake Orion. “He’s been fantastic, he’s been incredibly supportive, I’m not taking away any of the other principals who’ve been here, they’ve been fantastic as well but you didn’t see them at practice as often, you didn’t see them in the hallway and talking football with football players, he’s incredibly supportive, he’s a big source for growing the program with his experience and relationship with the kids and he knows what a great experience it is being a part of a football program can be for a young person, he’s been fantastic, I can’t say enough about Mr. Burden” Cook said about Burden. The pressure has to be on with the Red Hawks if they want to make the postseason. “Continue with growth, our schedule is tougher but we’re going to play better football, that’s one of the goals for our kids it’s going to come down to what they want to do to make that happen, I know this group of juniors and sophomores actually coached at Larson Middle School not too long ago, it’s a good group of kids that are dedicated and driven, that’s a goal of theirs. I have a feeling that these kids are going to work toward that goal and see some success in getting there by the end of the year” Cook concluded. Troy Athens could be a team that makes some noise this season.

BEST CASE: Red Hawks have a monster year from Piggott on both sides of the football and find that quarterback/wide receiver combination that could put Troy Athens into postseason contention.

WORSE CASE: Red Hawks have another disappointing season and questions mount.

Troy Athens Podcast (First Segment)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aSQVvOwPNc&t=3101s

BLOOMFIELD HILLS BLACKHAWKS:

LAST SEASON’S RECORD: 1-8, 0-5 White. Didn’t make Postseason.

POINTS SCORED: 123 (13.6 ppg.) 39 White (7.8 ppg.)

POINTS AGAINST: 336 (37.3 ppg.) 161 White (32.2 ppg.)

KEY PLAYER: Mason Hitchcock-Wide Receiver/Linebacker.

STRENGTHS: Wide Receivers, Defensive Secondary

CONCERNS: Both Lines, Defense, Quarterback

GAME OF THE YEAR: September 6 vs Dearborn Divine Child.

PROJECTED RECORD: 1-8. 0-6 Blue.

PLAYOFF TEAM: No.

The Blackhawks have not been themselves as of late. They are 4-14 in their last 18 games. The offense has been the biggest problem for Coach Dan Loria’s team especially in the last two years. They scored 123 points which 50 came against North Farmington in the last game of the season. Bloomfield Hills has not scored over 160 points in three of the last four years and the points against has gone up as well. The Blackhawks have allowed a combined 641 points in two years which is not good. These need to change if Bloomfield Hills wants to be competitive this season. The Blackhawks will have a new quarterback as Kieran Crossley has graduated along with Jace Reed, Gavin Cote, among others who have graduated. Whoever the quarterback is will have wide receivers Jonah Zekman, Peyton Parsons, Anthony Pearce, and Mason Hitchcock coming back for Loria. DaRon Mason could be a player to keep an eye on for the Blackhawks. The rushing attack is a question mark for Loria. They have Evan Becker coming back but Christopher Edwards could be another possible option for Loria to address the rushing attack. The defense is a question mark as well especially up front and at linebacker. Zekman, Pearce, Edwards, and Parsons could see time in the defensive secondary along with Reggie Hinton. Hitchcock could see some time at linebacker along with Caden Whitmire, and Sam Doer at linebacker coming back. Bloomfield Hills has question marks on the offensive and defensive lines despite having Jack Shaffer, Nolan Metts, and Grant Main coming back. Program strength has been a question mark for Bloomfield Hills despite their junior varsity team was very good last season but it doesn’t always translate to the varsity level. They have a strong middle school feeder (South Hills and North Hills just opened up and is on the old Bloomfield Hills Lahser campus) and youth level programs. If the Blackhawks want to make some noise, they need their young guys to step up on both sides of the football.

BEST CASE: The Blackhawks could surprise everyone in the media by developing stars and being a player in the division.

WORSE CASE: The Blackhawks struggle to find balance and miss the postseason for the third straight year.

Football Uniform Grades-2024

by orionontv | Aug 15, 2024 | Feature Writers, High School Sports

Football Uniform Grades-2024

Written Friday August 9th at 4:45 PM

Here are the football uniform grades after media day.

Red

Clarkston (Uniform Provider-Nike): The Wolves are making changes to their uniforms this season. The Michigan helmet stays which is the classic Clarkston look. The jerseys will be really interesting to watch come week one. GRADE INC.

Lake Orion (Uniform Provider-Nike): The Dragons went old school with the football uniforms last season. The all green and all white with the green V-Neck look is classic Lake Orion. There are no stripes or no LO V-neck collar, just a simple classic look with names on the back. The only down side is the road uniforms say DRAGONS as well and not LAKE ORION. The pants have the classic stripes on the sides with the Dragons logo and the green helmet makes it a perfect uniform. Finally a jersey that Coach Chris Bell got right and it’s me approved. GRADE A.

Adams (Uniform Provider-Adidas): The Highlanders have a yellow helmet with the Adams A on one side and the player number on the other side. There was talk about putting the script Adams on them which I questioned why they would do that. The home yellow is okay but not great, it is an upgrade over the brown jerseys and white pants look and or the brown and yellow look. The road whites are different with the brown and yellow stripes on the elbows. I’m not a fan of these jerseys. GRADE C.

West Bloomfield (Uniform Provider-Home/Road/Alt-Nike, Third jersey-Russell Athletic): The Lakers haven’t changed much with their uniforms. The white pants are classic along with the green and white uniforms. The all white look looks like the clone troopers from the Star Wars series. The all black uniforms look solid as well. The military uniforms also look great as well. The helmet needs a paint job. Green helmet would be much better and smoother. GRADE A-

Oxford (Uniform Provider-Nike): The Wildcats have a classic simple uniform whether it’s the home blue or road white uniforms. They went with a yellow helmet which is different from past tradition when they wore blue helmets. The new design with the small wildcat with the OHS on top of the sides along with the white stripe doesn’t look right, look too LSU like. The simple plain uniform looks very nice especially with yellow or blue pants. Oxford should NEVER wear white pants under any circumstance. White pants have been bad luck in the past. GRADE B.

White

Harper Woods (Uniform Provider-Nike): The Pioneers have an interesting uniform combination. They have three helmets and a very good uniform design. I like the black and maroon helmet much better than their white helmets. The uniform top looks great whether if it’s maroon, black, or white jerseys and pants. The black or maroon helmets make the uniform look very strong but the white helmet,well not so much. GRADE B.

Southfield Arts and Tech (Uniform Provider-Nike): The Warriors finally got out of the Adidas looks and went to Nike last season. The all blue uniforms with red helmet looked very good along with the all white with red helmet as well but I’m not a fan of the Warriors name on the back of the road uniforms. They also have a red uniform with white pants which looked good. They look so much better in the Nike uniforms and also red helmets which has the Warriors logo on both sides which is great. White is not a good look for the helmet. Great uniform and pants. GRADE A-.

Groves (Uniform Provider-Nike, Alternate-Zenith): The Falcons have a great home uniform but a subpar road uniform. The green helmet is great with the old classic Atlanta Falcons bird on both sides of the helmet. The home green, gold, and black look is a great look for the Falcons. The road white uniforms look odd especially the lettering in gold. It’s not like two years ago with that look, now that was a great look, the current look not so much. The alternate uniforms look good, the yellow jerseys look solid with the Falcons wings on the top of the jerseys. The greens look fine, the white needs a ton of work. GRADE C.

Rochester (Uniform Provider-Under Armor): The Falcons went back to tradition and no gimmicks. Rochester has an all blue uniform with a blue helmet and a road white look with a blue helmet. They have an alternate black look for a game if it’s a big one. I like that they finally figured out the uniform design and not go all Oregon like they did a few years ago which was the definition of fashion disaster. GRADE A.

Stoney Creek (Uniform Provider- Zenith): The Cougars released a new uniform combination this season. They went with the all navy blue helmet and the navy blue pants. I like the design of the uniform but the look needs some work. The gold doesn’t pan out as I thought it would. I don’t like the SC collar on the jersey. I think the Stoney Creek name is too small and the numbers are too big. The back of the jersey says COUGARS which is something I’m not too fond off. Overall it’s good look but some of the fonts need work. GRADE C.

Blue

North Farmington (Uniform Provider-Adidas): The Raiders are going with three jerseys. The Adidas logo scares me but Coach Jon Herstein loved the new look especially the black with the brown trim and the same with the white with brown trim. They finally got out of the white helmets. The all white look with the gold helmet would look great along with the all black and golds as well. Great look, not a fan of the provider. GRADE B.

Seaholm (Uniform Provider-Nike): The Maples went back to Maple helmets and went with an all Maple look at home and all white on the road. I think its okay but it’s not like the uniforms from three years ago. I wished the Maple helmet were with the old uniforms of the past. It’s an okay look but the jerseys are too plain but if they bring back the opposite elbows then yippee. GRADE B.

Troy (Uniform Provider-Nike): The Colts finally got Nike uniforms and they look as sharp as ever. The home black has the COLTS name while the road white has TROY. I wish they would put name plates on the back of the road uniforms but they got the all black and the all white look finally nailed down. GRADE A.

Troy Athens (Uniform Provider-Nike): The Red Hawks classic uniform design I really like with the gold helmet, red jersey, and gold pants. It’s the traditional look and the ATHENS crest looks sharp. The all white on the road looks very strong as well. I would like for Coach Tom Cook to at least put a Red Hawk on the helmet and not an A. They took the name plates off which was very sad. I like the Nike uniforms they wear. GRADE A.

Oak Park (Uniform Provider-Nike): The Knights changed uniforms last season. I really like the home red uniforms with the name OAK PARK on the crest with white pants with the Knights logo and the Jumpman photo. The all white look looked good until they went to white helmets. To make it worse there has been games they wore red pants. Overall I like the uniform design but NO WHITE HELMETS. GRADE B-.

Bloomfield Hills (Uniform Provider-Nike): The Blackhawks went back to black helmets which made the most sense and brought a black uniform with purple lettering. I like this uniform a lot even though their purple jerseys from the past were better. The white uniforms look too plain. The home black looks good, the white needs to bring back the opposite elbows. GRADE B.

Farmington (Uniform Provider-Nike): This is not the best design when it comes to uniforms. I don’t like the helmet being white but the Falcon wings make up for it. The all blue look looks very good but the helmet doesn’t click. If there is a team that could go back to a classic look like they did with the Penn State look then Farmington might have a great shot to do so. GRADE B.

Gold

Berkley (Uniform Provider-Nike): Berkley went back to the old tradition but something a bit different. They will have maroon helmets with the same design which is fine but they are bringing back the blue uniforms which looks great and white pants on both home and road. Overall I’m going to miss the all maroon look but the old school and the all white on the road looks great anyway. GRADE A.

Royal Oak (Uniform Provider-Zenith): The Ravens kept their uniforms from last season. The home black jerseys have the Ravens name in white with blue numbering. The elbows are much better with the blue, white, blue stripes. The road ones are the same design. They have a black helmet to go with it. I forgot the provider but they look fine. GRADE A.

Ferndale (Uniform Provider-Nike): The Eagles kept the same look with the all brown look. They still have an all yellow look and an all white look as well. The helmet is dark brown which I really like a lot. This is a great uniform that can make the colors work to their advantage. GRADE A.

Pontiac (Uniform Provider-Home/Third jerseys Russell Athletic, Road-Nike): The Phoenix have a solid color scheme. Pontiac has purple uniforms with black pants at home. They wore a new black uniform with purple wings on them. The road is white with all white uniforms with the purple helmet. I really like the purple even though Pontiac has two different uniform providers, I’ll live with it. GRADE A.

Avondale (Uniform Provider-Nike): The Yellow Jackets changed their home uniforms. I really like their home purple uniforms with the yellow pants. It is very classic. I am not a fan of their road uniforms. The changed the road uniforms by going to Nike. The all black third jerseys look very good as well for the Yellow Jackets which has became a permanent look. Finally a clean look. GRADE A

Volleyball Preview

by orionontv | Aug 15, 2024 | Feature Writers, High School Sports

Volleyball Preview

Written Wednesday August 14th at 10:35 AM

These are the early projections for volleyball heading into the 2024 season.

Volleyball District Preview

https://saginawbay4650.blogspot.com/2024/06/volleyball-districts-are-out-2024.html

AROUND THE OAA TOP TEN TEAMS.

1. Clarkston

2. Adams

3. Lake Orion

4. Bloomfield Hills

5. Stoney Creek

6. Troy

7. Rochester

8. Troy Athens

9. Oxford

10. Groves

RED

Clarkston- The Wolves are loaded with proven talent. They have that experience getting to the Final Four under Coach Alison Smith. The key for Clarkston this season is not to get complacent, if they do then trouble could loom. The Wolves have had a lot of proven success but can they sustain is the key going forward.

Adams- The Highlanders were around 500 last season with a very young team. Expectations are high this season. They are a veteran heavy team and have a new coach in Nancy McKowen taking over the program. McKowen has been around Oakland County and brings a boatload of experience with her. She will look to keep the tradition alive at Adams. The Highlanders are a sleeper to watch in the State.

Lake Orion- The Dragons have been very competitive for years under Coach Tony Scavarda and they should be again this season. Lake Orion has the proven talent to make some noise in what should be a very tough division and they have a tough district as well. The Dragons could be a sleeper if they stay healthy.

Bloomfield Hills- The Blackhawks have had a ton of success as of late under Coach Jacob Paige. Bloomfield Hills expects to be in the mix in the Red this season with the proven talent he had coming back. The Blackhawks could also be a team that has a deep postseason run if things go right this season.

Stoney Creek- It was un Cougar like for Stoney Creek to struggle like they did last season but Coach Ross Talbot’s program has always been defined with what they do in the postseason. The Cougars should be better this season with program strength in the pipeline. Last season was a year to forget for Stoney Creek fans but this season they should be much better.

Troy- The Colts were up and down last season but they did have some big wins in the Red when they knocked off Lake Orion last season. Troy was your perfect Jekyll and Hyde team as mentioned this is something Coach Tom Viglant wants to get corrected heading into the season. The Colts are a mystery team to figure out so it will be very interesting to see what happens.

Rochester- The Falcons were an up and down team last season under legendary Coach William Gibbs. Rochester has had a strong summer and they have experienced what life in the Red brings. The Falcons should be a team to watch this season because of the experience and they could be a sleeper if things go right.

West Bloomfield- The Lakers were around 500 last season. They had a rough start but picked it up in the middle of the season but struggled a bit during the final stretches last season. Coach Elizabeth Ferguson should have her hands full moving up to the Red but some of the players West Bloomfield has has experienced what life in the Red is so that should help heading into a new division this season.

Seaholm- The Maples had a very challenging transition period under Coach Derrick Williams last season. Now it’s Williams second year and he’ll look to get Seaholm back on track this season. It will be very interesting to see how the Maples do this season with life in the Red.

WHITE

Troy Athens- The Red Hawks will look to take the next step heading into this season. Troy Athens should be a team that could make some noise in the White and maybe in the postseason this season. It has been a process for Coach Mary Kate Zinn with the Red Hawks but this could be the year that championship hardware might be in their future, we’ll see what happens.

Oxford- It was a season to forget last season for the Wildcats being under 500 having a new coach and playing in the always tough Red. Looking for a fresh start in a new division, Coach Noelle Zebb will look to have a bounce back season. Oxford should be in the thick of the White this season with the experienced learned from the rough goes last season. The Wildcats should be a player in this White this season.

Groves- The Falcons had a tough season record wise but to their defense they did play a very tough schedule. Coach Madison Clouse will look to get Groves back on track after a really rough year last season. The Falcons are a potential dark horse candidate in the White this season.

North Farmington- The Raiders were a team that was around 500 last season. They had some good wins and some really tough losses. North Farmington has been up and down as of late for Coach Michael Love and will look to have a bounce back season. The Raiders should be in the conversation as a possible darkhorse in the White.

Avondale- The Yellow Jackets had an off season last season. Coach Andrew Steff will look to get Avondale back on track. They should have some experience coming back which always helps. Consistency will be key for the Yellow Jackets heading into this season.

Berkley- It was a really rough season for the Bears adjusting to a new coach in Dakota Stanchuk last season. The Bears had a lot of young players after getting to the State Quarterfinals two years ago. Berkley should be much improved under Stanchuk but can it turn into results remains to be season

Royal Oak- The Ravens really struggled last season for Coach Ciara Schultz. Royal Oak was really young and they lost a ton of close games last season. They should be better after having a really rough season. The Ravens could be a team to watch.

Farmington- It was a struggle for the Falcons last season. Farmington has a new coach in Dan Englehardt taking over the program. The Falcons will be young this season and there has to be a transition period that has to happen during the season. Farmington will be going through that period.

BLUE

Ferndale- The Eagles have always been a consistent power and will be again this season. Ferndale has a new coach as Andrea Phillips takes over the program. The Eagles will have athletes and should be in the conversation. There will be a transition period and it has to happen during the season.

Ferndale University- It was a really odd year for the Eagles and Coach Kenton Maki. The Eagles were not consistent which showed in their record last season. Ferndale University is expected to make a big jump this season. The Eagles could be a team to watch.

Southfield Arts and Tech- The Warriors will have a new coach taking over the program in Rachel Watson. Watson will be tasked to send Southfield Arts and Tech to the next level this season. The Warriors have had proven athletes so it will be very interesting to see how the transition period goes for Southfield Arts and Tech this season.

Harper Woods- It was a rough year for the Pioneers who struggled late in the year last season. Harper Woods should be improved despite the struggles. If the Pioneers get some consistency after last season’s rough patch then Coach Lydia Doty-Faulk can turn things around and better results will come for Harper Woods.

Oak Park- The Knights were a Jekyll and Hyde team last season. Oak Park started off strong but struggled mid season and then got hot to close the season. Consistency will be the key for Coach Daimienne Goodlow if the Knights want to be competitive this season.

Pontiac- The Phoenix were an up and down team last season. Pontiac will look to have a better season and they have a new coach taking over at Pontiac. There will be a transition period but it will have to happen during the season.

Tuned-In Thursday: Chelsea’s Favorite Albums of all time

by orionontv | Aug 8, 2024 | Entertainment, Feature Writers, Music

Throughout my entire adult life, my music taste has been kind of all over the place. Starting off with hard rock, then transitioning to alternative hip-hop, then going full indie – one thing has been clear: I like what I like. When people try to rank their favorite albums of all time, sometimes they skip over recent releases (within the last 25 years.) For me, popular albums from the last fifty years have been taken into consideration when talking about my favorite albums of all time.

Album lists also have to be comprehensive by genre. When creating a top five or top ten of all time you cannot just have a bunch of jazz, or just hip-hop, or just rock albums. It has to have diversity. Which is why for me, my top five albums of all time include two rock albums, two indie albums and a jazz record.

Here they are:

#5 – “In The Court of the Crimson King” by King Crimson (1969)

King Crimson’s 1969 debut record, “In The Court of the Crimson King,” combines both jazz and progressive rock into a record that is more fun to be talked about than to be listened to in a certain way. Bombastic and epic instrumentation and vocals that are befitting to a medieval style rock band bathe the tracks in a sort of elegance. It seems to me that King Crimson opted to go for more of a stylistic record than one of substance. This is apparent by how bonkers some of the lyrics are on tracks like “21^st Century Schizoid Man” and the closing title track. Nevertheless, King Crimson’s legacy and infamy comes with this being one of the greatest concept records and one of my favorites of all time.

#4 – “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” by Wilco (2002)

Combining the aesthetics of early-2000s “indie sleaze” and the sonics of late-90s alt-country, Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” is a treat for fans of both, and even for fans of neither. Vocalist Jeff Tweedy’s musings over twangy yet driving guitar and drum instrumentation gives off a vibe of someone who’s seen it all, but still hungry for more. The fact that Wilco can put together catchy, relatable and powerful tracks will still maintaining their accessibility and fun is truly staggering. “Kamera,” War on War,” and “Jesus, etc.” is a part of a great track-run that just keeps on giving the further you go into the album.

#3 – “You’re Living All Over Me” by Dinosaur Jr. (1987)

Commonly thought of as a “proto-grunge” album, Dinosaur Jr.’s (or Dinosaur’s if you’ve been following the band for long enough,) 1987 record, “You’re Living All Over Me” is a pre-grunge noise rock masterclass in both songwriting and atmosphere. Much like some other albums on this list, “You’re Living All Over Me” serves as a lens into what circumstances led to the overhaul of rock music in the 1990s. The reason why tracks like “Little Fury Things,” “Cracked,” “Sludgefeast” and “Tarpit” resonate with me so much is that there are not merely progenitors to bands like Nirvana, but they excel in their respective lanes as textured music pieces.

#2 – “Teen Dream” by Beach House (2010)

Revivalism can be tricky – especially if you are a band who likes to not stray far from your roots and influences. When I first got into Beach House, I laid back with a cautious optimism and was pleasantly surprised by how light and accessible most of the albums were (aside from a few excpetions.) Tracks like “10 Mile Stereo,” “Norway” and the infamous and endlessly catchy “Silver Soul” paint a beautiful landscape of awe, wonder and beauty in a genre that absolutely overstayed its welcome in the mid-2000s. However, with Beach House’s 2010 magnum opus, Teen Dream, dream pop rose from the ashes and brought a new sense of adventure to a genre that looked like it was on its way out.

#1 – “The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady” by Charles Mingus (1963)

Music, most often, is inherently tied to ones’ own emotions. This is because we make these emotional connections with music through when and where we first listened to certain songs/records/albums. We can also sense the emotional subtext the music is trying to convey to us through its musicality. “The Black Saint” is no different. Arguably Mingus’s best and most well-known work, this is my favorite jazz record and my favorite album of all time. The way Mingus mixes ballet, flamenco, third stream jazz and experimental big-band is impressive to say the least. Sprawled over four tracks and forty minutes, Mingus frames the musical progression through the progression of a ballet, such as “Black Swan.” There are no vocals on the record, however, you can feel the pulling and pushing of the narrative through sax, horns and other instruments at different points on the album. Every time I listen to the start of this record on a whim, I have to go all the way through – it’s that good. Overall, Mingus’s masterpiece impresses not only jazz enthusiasts, but jazz-listening amateurs like myself.

Around the OAA

by orionontv | Aug 6, 2024 | Feature Writers, News, Sports

Get to Know the OAA Football Non League Opponents in 2024.

Featured Writer: Sammy Taormina.

Written Friday August 2nd at 10:15 PM

Updated Monday August 5th at 5:05 PM

Here are the non league teams the OAA are facing this upcoming football season and a little about them.

Here they are.

Flint Beecher (Week One at Southfield Arts and Tech): These were two teams that were looking for a game and they found one. The Bucs are a very interesting team. Flint Beecher had made the postseason five straight years until missing out last season going 3-5. What’s interesting is the Bucs are 11-16 since 2021. It should be a very interesting matchup between two teams that are looking to find their own way heading into the season and it’s also Coach Curtis McKenzie’s first game with the Warriors.

Belleville (Week One vs Clarkston at Wayne State): The Tigers are coming off a really tough and disappointing 36-32 loss to Southfield Arts and Tech in the Division One State Finals last season. Belleville is upper classmen heavy this season. The Tigers are 2-3 against the OAA in it’s history. Belleville is one of the favorites in Division One to win it all because of that upper classmen experience. Clarkston will have their hands full with Belleville in week one in Detroit.

Northville: (Week One vs Lake Orion): The Mustangs had a really good season beating Novi Detroit Catholic Central in the district finals last season. Northville lost 14 starters last season but the Mustangs reload quite well and they have gone 18-5 in the last two years. Lake Orion had a really strong year last season but fell to Clarkston in the district finals. This should be a really interesting matchup of two teams that have a ton of questions heading into the season.

Livonia Stevenson (Week One vs North Farmington): These are two teams that are no strangers to each other in the Kensington Lakes Conference before North Farmington left for the OAA in 2002. The Spartans have really struggled as of late. They have gone 11-16 in the last three years. The Raiders have missed the postseason the last three years and have went 9-18. This should be a really interesting matchup of two teams that are looking to use that game as a stepping stone to having a much better season.

Macomb Dakota: (Week Nine at Oxford): The Cougars have one of the deepest teams this season and are favored to win the Macomb Area Red Division this season. Macomb Dakota has been a perinatal power for a long time making the postseason 22 straight years. The Wildcats aren’t afraid of anyone and playing this game proves that, this should be a really interesting game at Wildcat Stadium.

Romeo: (Week One vs Adams): This is shaping up to be a really interesting matchup between the Bulldogs and the Highlanders. Romeo has made the playoffs 19 straight years under Coach Kurt Rienas but they lost a ton of talent from last season but they seem to always find a way to reload. The coaching matchup is a good one between Highlanders coach Tony Patritto and Rienas. This should be a really interesting matchup at Dan Barnabo Field between Adams and Romeo.

Utica Eisenhower: (Week One vs Oxford, Week Nine at Clarkston): The Eagles have had strong classes go through Utica Eisenhower which has brought them a ton of success. They have to replace a ton of talent from last season and they have the Wildcats and a rematch with the Wolves which they won 36-19 at Swinehart last season. These two games should be really interesting to watch considering the Eagles have a really tough schedule this season.

Chippewa Valley: (Week One at West Bloomfield): This is a rematch of a classic 22-21 Lakers win over the Big Reds at Wayne State before the severe thunderstorms hit last season. Chippewa Valley has a new coach in Terrance Wilson taking over the program and they have made the postseason 11 straight years. It will be really interesting to see how he runs the program at Chippewa Valley. The Lakers are loaded everywhere with proven athletes, this should be a really interesting game in the Swamp.

New Baltimore Anchor Bay (Week Nine vs Adams): This is shaping up to be a really interesting game between two teams that run different styles. The coaching matchup between former Macomb Dakota and Warren DeLaSalle Coach Mike Giannone and Adams Coach Tony Patritto is also really interesting. The Tars have had battles with Stoney Creek the last two years losing by a combined two points (24-23 in 2022 and 21-20 last season. The Highlanders run the veer offense and has been really successful. This should be a really interesting game to say the least.

Madison Heights Lamphere (Week One at Ferndale, Week Nine vs Berkley): The Rams have become a consistent power in the Macomb Area Gold under Coach Roy Ostrowski. Madison Heights Lamphere is 30-10 since 2020 which is really good. The Rams have a ton of proven players coming back. They also beat Royal Oak by a combined 61-0 in the last two years. The last time Madison Heights Lamphere played Ferndale, the Eagles won both meetings by a combined 92-7 but that was before Ostrowski got to Madison Heights. This should be a really interesting matchup for the Eagles and Bears when they play the Rams.

Warren Cousino (Week One vs Stoney Creek): There are a ton of storylines with this game. The Patriots are 10-8 in the last two years making the postseason and it’s the home school of new Cougars coach Rick Powell. Stoney Creek has been up and down as of late but with Powell returning to his home school it’s going to be a really interesting matchup and this matchup was made before Powell became the new coach at Stoney Creek. This should be really interesting as mentioned.

Fraser: (Week One at Rochester, Week Nine vs Troy Athens): The Ramblers made their names known when they shocked Troy 20-19 keeping them out of the playoffs last season. Fraser is 5-13 in the last two years for Coach Jim Skladankowski. The Ramblers should be a really interesting team to watch this season especially the last two years. It should be a really interesting matchup for the Falcons and the Red Hawks when they play Fraser.

Utica Ford II: (Week Nine at Ferndale): This will be the first meeting between these two teams. The Falcons are 7-27 since 2020 which is something that Coach Mike Szalkiewicz wants to change. The Eagles have been up and down lately. Coach Eric Royal’s team are no strangers to playing Division One teams and Utica Ford II is one of them. It should be a interesting matchup between these two teams.

Clawson: (Week Nine vs Royal Oak): The Trojans have had a ton of success as of late. Clawson has made the postseason the last six years and has a 34-24 record since 2018. The Trojans have had a ton of balance for Coach Steve Haney but they need to shore up the defense if they want to make it seven straight years. It will be a tough matchup for Coach Collin Campbell and the Ravens.

Walled Lake Central: (Week One vs Berkley): This is a rematch of a 42-0 Vikings win last season at Hurley Field last season. Walled Lake Central is 10-44 since 2018 which is something Coach Jeff Pinard wants to fix and quick. The Bears went 0-9 last season and has a new coach in Casey Humes. This is a stepping stone game as Humes talked about on the podcast for both teams.

Walled Lake Northern: (Week Nine vs Rochester): This is a rematch of a 31-10 Falcons win at Rochester last season. Walled Lake Northern is 10-33 since 2019 which is something Coach Mark Brimmer wants to fix and quick. Rochester went 3-6 last season and will look to have a bounce back season for Coach Eric Vernon. This should be really interesting in Walled Lake to close the season.

South Lyon: (Week Six at Groves): It was a really off year for the Lions winning two games last season. South Lyon will look to bounce back this season. They will have a really tough matchup with Groves. The Lions have some experience coming back which helps. If the South Lyon of old comes back then it could be a really interesting matchup for Coach Brendan Flaherty’s team.

Macomb Lutheran North: (Week Three at Avondale): The Mustangs had a really successful year winning their first district crown and winning nine games last season and expectations are high for them this season. They have some of that experience coming back. Macomb Lutheran North is well coached under Coach Garrett Wenzelberger. This should be a really interesting matchup between two teams that have different styles but both coaches in Coach Bob Meyer and Wenzelberger know each other really well.

Jackson Northwest: (Week Six at Berkley): The Mounties have been up and coming as of late going 10-8 in the last two years. Jackson Northwest has been growing as a program under Coach Stafford Newsome. This game is being played on a Saturday at Hurley Field. It should be a really interesting matchup between two teams looking to make some noise this season.

Ann Arbor Huron: (Week Nine at Stoney Creek): The River Rats have made the postseason the last four years but they are 18-15 since 2020 which is around 500. Ann Arbor Huron scores a ton of points but they have allowed a bunch as well. It should be a really interesting matchup for Coach Rick Powell going up against a very inconsistent River Rats program that has been up and down as of late for Coach Jamonte Love.

Livonia Clarenceville: (Week Four vs Royal Oak): The Trojans have been really successful since then coach Bob Meyer turned the program around there. Livonia Clarenceville is 29-19 since 2019 but they missed the postseason last season. The defense was the problem for Coach Marty Castleton’s team all season, they allowed double figures in all but one game last season. The Trojans have the offense to compete with anyone, it’s going to be a tough matchup for the Ravens.

Cedar Springs: (Week One at Avondale) The Red Hawks are coming off a 4-5 season last year has 14 starters (six on offense and eight on defense) coming back for Coach Gus Kapolka. Cedar Springs has made the postseason eight of the last 10 years and looks to do so again this season. The Red Hawks make the trip to Auburn Hills in week one to face a Avondale team that is loaded with proven athletes. Both their programs are making the trip to Avondale which should be a really interesting matchup.

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep: (Week Four at Troy, Week Seven vs Ferndale): The Fighting Irish has become a proven powerhouse going 39-12 since 2019 with each of them being postseason appearances. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep has built their sub varsities and has been a proven power under Coach Pat Fox. The Fighting Irish lost a lot of proven experience last season but they always find a way to reload. This will be a really tough matchup for both the Colts and the Eagles.

Lapeer: (Week Seven at Oak Park): The Lightning have been a proven power in the Saginaw Valley League and is no stranger to the OAA. Lapeer hasn’t gone this far south in a while which they will do when they go to Knight Valley. The Lightning see arch rivals Davison and Grand Blanc in the Valley but they have a new coach in Anthony Merlo taking over the program. Merlo was the offensive coordinator last season at Stoney Creek. He knows the OAA quite well but so does Coach Greg Carter even though the lack of familiarity between the schools, the coaching staffs, not so much.

Saline: (Week Nine at Lake Orion): The Hornets are no strangers to success but they have always seem to run into Belleville sometime in the postseason. Saline has a ton of proven players coming back and several have Division One offers. The Hornets are coming off a tough 35-28 loss to Lake Orion last season and now have to make the return trip to Dragon Country. Saline had beaten the Dragons in two straight until last season. They have a new coach in Kyle Short taking over the program. This should be a really interesting matchup to say the least between two proven programs.

Holly: (Week Two at Farmington): The Bronchos are well coached under former Berkley and Troy Athens coach Billy Keenest and also former Lake Orion defensive coordinator Dave Tooley is also there as well. Holly has been into the postseason the last two years and they are always prepared for anyone. They fell to Avondale in the first round last season. The Bronchos are going to be a tough matchup for the Falcons that is for sure.

Dearborn Divine Child: (Week Two at Bloomfield Hills): The Falcons have been a very successful program going 15-8 in the last two years. Dearborn Divine Child has a ton of proven experience as well coming back for Coach Chris Laney. This is going to be a really tough matchup for Coach Dan Loria and the Blackhawks.

Dearborn Heights Crestwood: (Week Nine vs Farmington): The Chargers have had a ton of success going 22-14 since 2020 but missed out on the postseason after two losses to Carleton Airport and Dearborn Heights Robiachud. Dearborn Heights Crestwood has a ton of proven experience coming back and are well coached under Coach Mike Grucz. This should be a really tough game for the Falcons in week nine.

Redford Union: (Week One at Harper Woods): The Panthers have had a ton of success with a ton of proven experience coming back for Coach Ian Iler. Redford Union is 37-12 since 2019. They have a ton of proven athletes as mentioned coming back and the success they have had this summer. This will be a early season test for Coach Rob Oden and the Pioneers.

Carleton Airport: (Week Nine at Avondale): The Jets are no strangers to the OAA having played Harper Woods in the regional finals last season. Carleton Airport is a much different team losing a ton of proven experience (19 seniors from last season.) They have a new coach as Derek Anderson takes over the reigns. Anderson was the defensive coordinator last season. It is unknown what the Jets will have this season but they could surprise some people.

Novi Detroit Catholic Central: (Week Three vs Harper Woods): The Shamrocks play in the always tough Catholic League. They are a proven powerhouse in Oakland County and have been in the postseason most years. Novi Detroit Catholic Central is a team that is loaded again and will look to get to the postseason again this season. This is a huge opportunity for the Pioneers like they did last season when they won the Division Four State crown. A win in this game means big momentum booster for Coach Rob Oden and Harper Woods but it’s going to be a tough one.

Detroit East English Village Prep: (Week Nine at Harper Woods): The Bulldogs are coming off a postseason appearance despite finishing at 500. They are 10-17 in the last three years. Detroit East English Village Prep finished at 1-5 and allowed 263 points in that stretch (43.8 ppg.) This is going to be a really tough matchup for Detroit East English Village Prep despite the close proximity, this does not bold well for the Bulldogs going up against the defending Division Four State Champs.

Detroit Fredrick Douglass: (Week One at Pontiac): The Hurricanes have really struggled going 13-79 since 2013. The Phoenix have had their fair share of struggles but rebounded to win three games under second year coach Wendell Jefferson. This should be a really interesting matchup of two teams that are looking at this game as a stepping stone game.

Detroit Lincoln King Academy: (Week One at Royal Oak, Week Nine vs Pontiac): The Wolves saw a ton of progress winning three games last season. Detroit Lincoln King Academy had a crazy game with Pontiac falling 44-42 in overtime. The defense is still the issue for the Wolves heading into this season but they are a team that is on the rise. Forgot to mention they outscored Memphis and Hamtramck by a combined 80-13 in their final two games last season. It will not be an easy game for the Ravens or the Phoenix.

Detroit Renaissance: (Week Nine vs Southfield Arts and Tech): The Phoenix have been up and down as a program. They are 13-21 since 2020 and are no strangers to playing OAA teams (Adams and Rochester.) Detroit Renaissance fell 41-14 to the Warriors last season but Southfield Arts and Tech has a new coaching staff and virtually a new team heading into the season. It should be a really interesting matchup to watch in Detroit between these two teams in week nine.

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