A hard-fought regional weekend, that leaves us some powerhouses and some underdogs, sets us up for a great Semifinal weekend. All games are Saturday at 1 pm at neutral locations. Our guest picker this week is former Allen Park Jaguars Coach Tom Hoover. Hoover was the Head Coach at Allen park for 20 years and owns a 171-50 career record and made it to the playoffs 17 of the 20 years at the helm.
Last Week Prediction Record
Josh: 7-3
Jason: 6-4
Season prediction record
Josh: 23-11
Jason: 24-10
Division 1
Rochester Adams (12-0) v Grand Blanc (12-0)
After unseating West Bloomfield Adams is one step away from the school’s second State Finals appearance with the first coming in 2003. They got to this point by averaging 32.6 points per game on offense and holding opposing teams to 13.3 points. For Grand Blanc, they are looking to get to the State Final for the first time in school history. After slipping by Rockford who many had as the number one team in the state. Grand Blanc’s offense is scoring two more points per game than Adams, however, they are giving up 7 more points on the defensive side of the ball. With both teams being undefeated this could be the closest game of the week.
Josh: Rochester Adams
Jason: Grand Blanc
Hoover: Grand Blanc
Sterling Heights Stevenson (10-2) vs Belleville (11-1)
After running through Fraser, Stevenson has made it to the Semifinals against all odds, and sits one game away from their fifth Finals appearance and first since 2009. Stevenson’s defense better come ready to play as they will need to find a way to lower the 22 points per game they give up to have a chance against a high-powered offense. Bellville comes in after a close and highly contested game against rival Fordson. For Belleville, this is their third straight appearance in the Semifinals, and for a team that is heavy on seniors, they feel this is their best chance at a Finals appearance.
Josh: Belleville
Jason: Belleville
Hoover: Belleville
Division 2
Traverse City Central (11-1) vs South Lyon (12-0)
Traverse City Central began the season at the Big House in Ann Arbor and now sit just one game away from their fifth Finals appearance, and first since 1988 when they beat Detroit Catholic Central. Averaging 49 points a game in the playoffs this high-powered offense will look to make it to Ford Field with a win, and as Carson Bourdo said “We just have to go out and give it our all.” For South Lyon, they come in after an overtime win over Portage Central. When asked about the South Lyon team Bourdo said “They are a great team that’s super well coached.” Looking to make it to their second finals appearance and first since 1995. Finding a way to slow down Josh Burnham(Notre Dame) and Bourdo will give them a shot.
Josh: Traverse City Central
Jason: Traverse City Central
Hoover: Traverse City Central
Livonia Franklin (7-5) vs Warren De La Salle (11-0)
The underdog story of Livonia Franklin has been a good one to this point in the season and they sit just one game away from the school’s third Finals appearance, and first since 2017 when they faced De La Salle. For De La Salle they are looking to make it back-to-back trips to the finals, but this time with a different outcome.
Josh: De La Salle
Jason: De La Salle
Hoover: De La Salle
Division 3
St Joseph (8-4) vs DeWitt (11-1)
Looking to make it to the school’s second Finals appearance St. Joseph will run into the defending Division 3 champions, DeWitt. After winning the first two games by a combined score of six St. Joseph exploded for a 49-13 win over Parma Western last weekend. For DeWitt, they are looking to make it back to Ford Field to show that last year’s Championship win wasn’t a fluke. DeWitt quarterback Ty Holtz said they are going to take it one play at a time. He went on to say “Executing and finishing drives on offense and making stops on defense is going to be really important.” While they average 45 points a game the offense should be able to fire on all cylinders.
Josh: DeWitt
Jason: DeWitt
Hoover: DeWitt
Mason (10-2) vs Detroit Martin Luther King (11-1)
Looking for their first Finals appearance Mason comes into this one after a surprising upset over Brother Rice. For Mason to have a shot against a strong King team they will need their defense to hold them down and be able to control the clock and tempo. King comes into this one looking to make it to a third-finals appearance in the last four years. As Wide Receiver Lamont Parks Jr said “We have to play for each other and focus on going 1-0.”
Josh: King
Jason: King
Hoover: King
Division 4
Freeland (11-1) vs Chelsea (12-0)
Fighting to make it to the division 4 finals game are two teams who just made the change to division 4. Chelsea dropped back down to division four after spending the last two seasons in division 3. For Freeland, they make the jump up to division 4 from playing in division 5. Making that jump up hasn’t affected the defense for Freeland as they have held opposing offenses to 10 points a game as they look for the first Finals appearance in school history. On the other hand, Chelsea is back in division 4 and is looking to make it back to the finals which is something they haven’t been able to do since they made the finals in 2018 as a division 4 member.
Josh: Chelsea
Jason: Chelsea
Hoover: Chelsea