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PREP FOOTBALL 2021 ⚫ WEEK 8

Grand Blanc Bobcats one step away from prep football perfection after trouncing Lapeer

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

 The Grand Blanc Bobcats are now one victory away from football perfection.


The power has shifted in The Daily Gazette coverage area from Davison to Grand Blanc in football while the Bobcats are also defending state champions in both boys' basketball and baseball.


The Bobcats are destroying all football competition this fall in the Sagina

 The Grand Blanc Bobcats are now one victory away from football perfection.


The power has shifted in The Daily Gazette coverage area from Davison to Grand Blanc in football while the Bobcats are also defending state champions in both boys' basketball and baseball.


The Bobcats are destroying all football competition this fall in the Saginaw Valley's South Division, and the worst team in the standings is all that separates them from their first championship season under Coach Clint Alexander. Beating Saginaw United next week in Saginaw will complete a 9-0 regular season and finish the Bobcats at 5-0 in the Valley's South Division.


Davison and Lapeer will now play for second place next week at Davison. They are each 3-1 in Valley play. Lapeer is 6-2 overall while Davison is 5-3 and needs to win to guarantee a spot in the state playoffs after making it to the state finals two years in a row at Ford Field in Detroit.


Grand Blanc whipped Davison 43-7 on Sept. 17 and closed out its history at Frank Thomas Field by beating Lapeer 30-6 on Friday night (Oct. 15, 2021). Grand Blanc's state playoff games will be shifted to Flint's historic Atwood Stadium if any happen after the opener is likely staged there.
That will be officially announced on Oct. 24 by Michigan High School Athletic Association officials. 



Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

  Metro League Action on Friday Night

(Championship Game)

Lake Fenton 42, Fenton 6

(Third Place Game)

Goodrich 19, Swartz Creek 15

(Fifth Place Game)

Flushing 42, Ortonville Brandon 35

(Seventh Place Game)

Flint Kearsley 27, Corunna 25

(Ninth Place Game)

Linden 35, Owosso 15

(11th Place Game)

Holly 17, Clio 6 


Saginaw Valley League Action on Friday N

  Metro League Action on Friday Night

(Championship Game)

Lake Fenton 42, Fenton 6

(Third Place Game)

Goodrich 19, Swartz Creek 15

(Fifth Place Game)

Flushing 42, Ortonville Brandon 35

(Seventh Place Game)

Flint Kearsley 27, Corunna 25

(Ninth Place Game)

Linden 35, Owosso 15

(11th Place Game)

Holly 17, Clio 6 


Saginaw Valley League Action on Friday Night

(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc 30, Lapeer 6

Davison 42, Flint Powers Catholic 14

Flint Carman-Ainsworth 24, Saginaw United 12

(North Division Games)

Mount Pleasant 31, Bay City Western 16

Midland Dow 14, Bay City Central 0

Saginaw Heritage 56, Midland 28


Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Action on Friday Night

(MMAC Games)

New Lothrop 49, Chesaning 6

Montrose 40, Durand 29

Ovid-Elsie 40, Byron 0

Mt. Morris 32, Otisville Lakeville 12


Genesee Area Conference Action on Friday

(GAC Teams Non-League Games)

Ecorse 18, Flint Hamady 16

Lutheran Westland 29, Burton Bendle 6

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 54, Flint Beecher 0 

Ypsilanti Community 40, New Standard Academy 6

Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest 12, Burton Bentley 0


Tri-Valley Conference Action on Friday Night

(East Division Games) 

Frankenmuth 40, Essexville Garber 6

Freeland 42, Birch Run 12

Saginaw Swan Valley 6, Bay City John Glenn 0 

Alma 42, Bridgeport 0

(TVC West Cross-Over Championship Game)

Millington 15, Ithica 14

(Other TVC West Cross-Over Games)

Bullock Creek 63, Saginaw Valley Lutheran 0

Hemlock 30, Saginaw Lutheran 0

Standish Sterling 27, St. Louis 6

Carrollton 28, Michigan Lutheran Seminary 20


 Greater Thumb Conference West Division Action on Friday Night

(Conference Games)

Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker 41, Vassar 0

Bad Axe 48, Caro 0

Reese 35, Cass City 20

(Non-Conference game)

USA 48, Brown City 14 


 North Central Thumb League Action on Friday

(Stars Division Games) 

Deckerville 80, Flint International Academy 6

Morrice 48, New Haven Merritt Academy 8

(Non-League Game)

Farwell 24, Burton Atherton 20

Messick 42, Kingston 30 

Mayville 22, Akron Fairgrove 8


Fri. Oct. 22 Metro League Games

(Stripes Division Teams Non-League Games)

Walled Lake Northern at Fenton 7 pm

Flushing at Freeland 7 pm

Redford Thurston at Swartz Creek 7 pm

Flint Kearsley at Armada 7 pm

Ortonville Brandon at Holly 7 pm

(Stars Division Teams Non-League Games)

Bay City John Glenn at Lake Fenton 7 pm

Goodrich at Almont 7 pm

Ovid-Elsie at Corunna 7 pm

Owosso at Adrian 7 pm

Ortonville Brandon at Holly 7pm 


 Fri. Oct. 22 Saginaw Valley Games

(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc at Saginaw United 7 pm

Lapeer at Davison 7 pm

Flint Powers Catholic at Carman-Ainsworth 7 pm 

(Broadcast on WFNT 1470 AM)

(North Division Games)

Saginaw Heritage at Mount Pleasant 7 pm

Midland at Midland Dow 7 pm

Bay City Western at Bay City Central 7 pm 


Fri. Oct. 22 Mid-Michigan Activities Conference (MMAC) Games

(MMAC Teams Non-League Games)

Frankenmuth at New Lothrop 7 pm

Lainsburg at Montrose 7 pm

Ovid-Elsie at Corunna 7 pm

Chesaning at Carrollton 7 pm

Detroit Community at Durand 7 pm

Mt. Morris at Pinconning 7 pm

Byron at Carson City Crystal 7  pm

Burton Bentley at Otisville LakeVille 7 pm


Fri. Oct. 22 Genesee Area Conference Games

(GAC Teams Non-League Game)

Detroit Pershing at Flint Hamady 7 pm

Burton Bentley at Otisville LakeVille 7 pm

Flint Beecher at Millington 7 pm

Caro at Burton Bendle 7 pm

New Standard at Petersburg Summerfield 7 pm


Fri. Oct. 1 Tri-Valley Conference Games

(East Division Games)

Frankenmuth at Bridgeport 7 pm

 Saginaw Swan Valley at Birch Run 7 pm

Essexville Garber at Alma 7 pm

Bay City John Glenn at Freeland 7 pm

(West Division Games)

Carrollton at Standish Sterling 7 pm

Hemlock at Midland Bullock Creek 7 pm 

(Non-Conference Game)

Millington at Saginaw Lutheran Seminary 7 pm 

 
Fri. Oct.1 Greater Thumb Conference West Division Games

(Conference Games)

Vassar at Caro 7 pm

Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker at USA 7 pm

Reese at Bad Axe 7 pm

(Non-Conference game)

Cass City at Harbor Beach 7 pm


Fri. Oct. 1 North Central Thumb League Stars Division Games

(Stars Division Games) 

Morrice at Burton Atherton 7 pm

Flint International Academy at Genesee 7 pm

Mayville at New Haven Merritt Academy 7 pm

Deckerville at Kingston 7 pm 

Metro Flint News/Talk Radio microphones headed to Flint Hamady for 'must win'

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Metro Flint News/Talk Radio microphones headed to Flint Hamady for 'must win'

  (CCN) —  It's a "must win" situation for the Flint Hamady Hawks on Friday night (Oct. 22, 2021) if they want to continue playing football next week. At 5-3 on the season overall, Hamady must beat visiting Detroit Pershing to advance to the state playoffs in Division 5. Metro Flint News/Talk Radio will be tehre to deliver the play-by-pla

  (CCN) —  It's a "must win" situation for the Flint Hamady Hawks on Friday night (Oct. 22, 2021) if they want to continue playing football next week. At 5-3 on the season overall, Hamady must beat visiting Detroit Pershing to advance to the state playoffs in Division 5. Metro Flint News/Talk Radio will be tehre to deliver the play-by-play call with Larry Coleman and TIm Crow.


A victory won't guarantee a spot in the stae playoffs, however, for Coach Gary Lee's Genesee Area Conference champions. They go into Week 9 at the 35th spot in Division 5 where 32 teams qualify. Detroit Pershing is 27th in Division 6 where the top 32 also qualify for state playoff competition. Pershing is also 5-3 after losing last week's Detroit Public School League Division 2 championship game to Detroit Central.





PREP FOOTBALL 2021 ⚫ WEEK 7

Metro Flint News/Talk Radio microphones headed for two Friday night championships

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

 (CCN) — Metro Flint News/Talk Radio's play-by-play microphones will be headed to two championship football games this week.


The live game broadcast will be from Grand Blanc High School where the Bobcats face Lapeer in a battle for first place in the Saginaw Valley's South Division. Kickoff is 7 pm after a 6:45 pm pre-game show. Trace Fish

 (CCN) — Metro Flint News/Talk Radio's play-by-play microphones will be headed to two championship football games this week.


The live game broadcast will be from Grand Blanc High School where the Bobcats face Lapeer in a battle for first place in the Saginaw Valley's South Division. Kickoff is 7 pm after a 6:45 pm pre-game show. Trace Fisher and Tim Crow will deliver the play-by-play call.


The tape delay game to be presented immediately afterward is from Lake Fenton High School where the Blue Devils will host the Fenton Tigers in the Metro League's cross-over showdown between its division champions for overall bragging rights. Larry Coleman and Mike Killbreath will deliver the paly-by-play call. Audio of the game will be presented on Facebook Live at 7 pm after the pre-game show at 6:45 pm.  The tape delay broadcast will be at about 10 pm on the digital delivery via special apps, via Alexa or from links available at The Daily Gazette or Metro Flint News/Talk Radio.

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

 Metro League Action on Saturday

(Stripes Division Game)

Fenton 36, Linden 34 (OT)  


Metro League Action on Friday Night

(Stripes Division Games)

Swartz Creek 35, Flushing 28

Flint Kearsley 41, Holly 6

(Stars Division Games)

Lake Fenton 14, Goodrich 12

Corunna 20, Ortonville Brandon 17

Owosso 51, Clio 8
 

Saginaw Valley League Action on Friday Nigh

 Metro League Action on Saturday

(Stripes Division Game)

Fenton 36, Linden 34 (OT)  


Metro League Action on Friday Night

(Stripes Division Games)

Swartz Creek 35, Flushing 28

Flint Kearsley 41, Holly 6

(Stars Division Games)

Lake Fenton 14, Goodrich 12

Corunna 20, Ortonville Brandon 17

Owosso 51, Clio 8
 

Saginaw Valley League Action on Friday Night

(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc 48, Flint Powers Catholic 7

Davison 50, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 13

Lapeer 47, Saginaw United 6

(North Division Games)

Mount Pleasant 26 Midland 19

Midland Dow 45, Bay City Western 44

Saginaw Heritage 28 at Bay City Central 21


Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Action on Friday Night

(MMAC Games)

Montrose 35, New Lothrop 14

Durand 60, LakeVille 6

Mt. Morris 40, Byron 21

Ovid-Elsie 35, Chesaning 0


Genesee Area Conference Action on Friday

(GAC Games)

Flint Hamady 56, Burton Bendle 20

Flint Beecher 52, New Standard Academy 6

(Non-League Game)

Burton Bentley 35, Flint Jaguars 30 



Tri-Valley Conference Action on Friday Night

Frankenmuth 48, Freeland 21

Essexville Garber 26, Birch Run 20

Bay City John Glenn 34, Bridgeport 0 

Saginaw Swan Valley 29, Alma 28

(West Division Games)

Millington 30, Carrollton 12

Standish Sterling 21, Hemlock 16

(Non-Conference Games)

Ithaca 41, Midland Bullock Creek 19


 Greater Thumb Conference West Division Action on Friday Night 

(Conference Games)

Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker 41, Vassar 0

Bad Axe 48, Caro 0

Reese 35, Cass City 20

(Non-Conference game)

USA 48, Brown City 14 


 North Central Thumb League Action on Friday

(Stars Division Games) 

Deckerville 80, Flint International Academy 6

Morrice 48, New Haven Merritt Academy 8

(Non-League Game)

Farwell 24, Burton Atherton 20

Messick 42, Kingston 30 

Mayville 22, Akron Fairgrove 8


Fri. Oct. 15 Genesee Area Conference Games

(GAC Games)

 Burton Bentley at Flint Beecher 7 pm

Burton Bendle at New Standard Academy 7 pm

Non-League Game)

Flint Hamady at Ecorse 7 pm
 

 Fri. Oct. 1 Saginaw Valley Games

(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc at Flint Carman-Ainsworth 7 pm

Saginaw United at Davison 7 pm

Flint Powers Catholic at Lapeer 7 pm 

(Broadcast on WFNT 1470 AM)

(North Division Games)

Bay City Central at Mount Pleasant 7 pm

Midland at Bay City Western 7 pm

Saginaw Heritage at Midland Dow 7 pm  


(Championship Game)

Lake Fenton 42, Fenton 76

(Third Place Game)

Goodrich 19, Swartz Creek 15

(Fifth Place Game)

Flushing 42, Ortonville Brandon 35

(Seventh Place Game)

Flint Kearsley 27, Corunna 25

(Ninth Place Game)

Linden 35, Owosso 15

(11th Place Game)

Holly 17, Clio 6
 

Fri. Oct. 22 Metro League Games

(Stripes Division Teams Non-League Games)

Walled Lake Northern at Fenton 7 pm

Flushing at Freeland 7 pm

Redford Thurston at Swartz Creek 7 pm

Flint Kearsley at Armada 7 pm

Ortonville Brandon at Holly 7 pm

(Stars Division Teams Non-League Games)

Bay City John Glenn at Lake Fenton 7 pm

Goodrich at Almont 7 pm

Ovid-Elsie at Corunna 7 pm

Owosso at Adrian 7 pm

Ortonville Brandon at Holly 7pm


Fri. Oct. 1 Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Games

(MMAC Games)

New Lothrop at Ovid-Elsie 7 pm

Mt. Morris at Montrose 7 pm

Chesaning at Durand 7 pm

Byron at Mt. Morris 7 pm


Fri. Oct. 1 Tri-Valley Conference Games

(East Division Games)

Frankenmuth at Bridgeport 7 pm 

Saginaw Swan Valley at Birch Run 7 pm

Essexville Garber at Alma, 7 pm 

Bay City John Glenn at Freeland 7 pm
(West Division Games)

Carrollton at Standish Sterling 7 pm

Hemlock at Midland Bullock Creek 7 pm
(Non-Conference Game)

Millington at Saginaw Lutheran Seminary 7 pm

  

Fri. Oct.1 Greater Thumb Conference West Division Games

(Conference Games)

Vassar at Caro 7 pm

Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker at USA 7 pm

Reese at Bad Axe 7 pm

(Non-Conference game)

Cass City at Harbor Beach 7 pm


Fri. Oct. 1 North Central Thumb League Stars Division Games

(Stars Division Games) 

Morrice at Burton Atherton 7 pm

Flint International Academy at Genesee 7 pm

Mayville at New Haven Merritt Academy 7 pm

Deckerville at Kingston 7 pm

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

 

PREP FOOTBALL 2021 ⚫ WEEK 6

Metro League football grabs top billing among The Daily Gazette coverage area games

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

 (CCN) — The Metro League will get top billing this week with Metro Flint News/Talk Radio. Our microphones will be at two big battles while a third key game can be viewed on YouTube via Lake View TV. Video without audio will be provided by Lake Fenton students on YouTube as the Blue Devils host Stars Division leader Goodrich.


Fenton will h

 (CCN) — The Metro League will get top billing this week with Metro Flint News/Talk Radio. Our microphones will be at two big battles while a third key game can be viewed on YouTube via Lake View TV. Video without audio will be provided by Lake Fenton students on YouTube as the Blue Devils host Stars Division leader Goodrich.


Fenton will host Linden while Swartz Creek goes to Flushing in Stripes Division showdowns. Trace Fisher will provide the live radio call on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio for the Fenton-Linden battle. Larry Coleman and Tim Crow will deliver the call for Flushing's homecoming game which will be carried on Facebook LIve and then be presented as the tape delay game on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio after the Fenton-Linden contest.


If Linden and Flushing win, a potential five-way tie for first place can complete the Stripes Division schedule if Kearsley also wins at Holly. Fenton goes to the cross-over championship game next week if the Tigers can beat Linden because they defeated Swartz Creek in head-to-head action.


Goodrich can punch its ticket to the championship game by completing an undefeated season against Stars Division competition. The Martians go into Friday night's contest at 4-0. They gave Ortonville Brandon its only league loss while Brandon handed Lake Fenton its lone loss in a wild 48-40 contest earlier in the season.


If Lake Fenton wins Friday night, Coach Marty Borski's Blue Devils could possibly create a three-way tie for the Stripes Division title if Ortonville Brandon also wins against Corunna.


Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

 Genesee Area Conference Action on Friday

(GAC Games)

Flint Hamady 56, Burton Bendle 20

Flint Beecher 52, New Standard Academy 6

(Non-League Game)

Burton Bentley 35, Flint Jaguars 30


Saginaw Valley League Action on Friday Night

(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc 48, Flint Powers Catholic 7

Davison 50, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 13

Lapeer 47, Saginaw Un

 Genesee Area Conference Action on Friday

(GAC Games)

Flint Hamady 56, Burton Bendle 20

Flint Beecher 52, New Standard Academy 6

(Non-League Game)

Burton Bentley 35, Flint Jaguars 30


Saginaw Valley League Action on Friday Night

(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc 48, Flint Powers Catholic 7

Davison 50, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 13

Lapeer 47, Saginaw United 6

(North Division Games)

Mount Pleasant 26 Midland 19

Midland Dow 45, Bay City Western 44

Saginaw Heritage 28 at Bay City Central 21


Metro League Action on Friday Night

(Stripes Division Games)

Fenton 50, Holly 29 

Flushing 46, Linden 29

Swartz Creek 42, Flint Kearsley 35

(Stars Division Games)

 Goodrich 19, Corunna 14

Ortonville Brandon 28, Owosso 7

Lake Fenton 55, Clio 0


Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Action on Friday Night

(MMAC Games)

Montrose 35, New Lothrop 14

Durand 60, LakeVille 6

Mt. Morris 40, Byron 21

Ovid-Elsie 35, Chesaning 0


Tri-Valley Conference Action on Friday Night

(East Division Games)

Frankenmuth 48, Freeland 21

Essexville Garber 26, Birch Run 20

Bay City John Glenn 34, Bridgeport 0 

Saginaw Swan Valley 29, Alma 28

(West Division Games)

Millington 30, Carrollton 12

Standish Sterling 21, Hemlock 16

(Non-Conference Games)

Ithaca 41, Midland Bullock Creek 19


 Greater Thumb Conference West Division Action on Friday Night 

(Conference Games)

Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker 41, Vassar 0

Bad Axe 48, Caro 0

Reese 35, Cass City 20

(Non-Conference game)

USA 48, Brown City 14 


 North Central Thumb League Action on Friday

(Stars Division Games) 

Deckerville 80, Flint International Academy 6

Morrice 48, New Haven Merritt Academy 8

(Non-League Game)

Farwell 24, Burton Atherton 20

Messick 42, Kingston 30 

Mayville 22, Akron Fairgrove 8


Fri. Oct. 8 Genesee Area Conference Games

(GAC Games)

Burton Bentley at Flint Beecher 7 pm

Burton Bendle at New Standard Academy 7 pm

(Non-Conference game)

Flint Southwestern at Flint Hamady 7 pm


 Fri. Oct. 8 Saginaw Valley Games

(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc at Flint Carman-Ainsworth 7 pm

Saginaw United at Davison 7 pm

Flint Powers Catholic at Lapeer 7 pm 

(Broadcast on WFNT 1470 AM)

(North Division Games)

Bay City Central at Mount Pleasant 7 pm

Midland at Bay City Western 7 pm

Saginaw Heritage at Midland Dow 7 pm  
 

Fri. Oct. 8 Metro League Games

(Stripes Division Games)

Fenton at Flint Kearsley 7 pm 

Flushing at Holly 7 pm

Swartz Creek at Linden 7 pm

(Stars Division Games)

Ortonville Brandon at Goodrich 7 pm

Lake Fenton at Owosso 7 pm

Clio at Corunna 7 pm


Fri. Oct. 8 Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Games

(MMAC Games)

New Lothrop at Ovid-Elsie 7 pm

Mt. Morris at Montrose 7 pm

Chesaning at Durand 7 pm

Byron at Mt. Morris 7 pm


Fri. Oct. 8 Tri-Valley Conference Games

(East Division Games)

Frankenmuth at Bridgeport 7 pm 

Saginaw Swan Valley at Birch Run 7 pm

Essexville Garber at Alma, 7 pm 

Bay City John Glenn at Freeland 7 pm
(West Division Games)

Carrollton at Standish Sterling 7 pm

Hemlock at Midland Bullock Creek 7 pm
(Non-Conference Game)

Millington at Saginaw Lutheran Seminary 7 pm 


Fri. Oct. 8 Greater Thumb Conference West Division Games

(Conference Games)

Vassar at Caro 7 pm

Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker at USA 7 pm

Reese at Bad Axe 7 pm

(Non-Conference game)

Cass City at Harbor Beach 7 pm


Fri. Oct. 8 North Central Thumb League Stars Division Games

(Stars Division Games) 

Morrice at Burton Atherton 7 pm

Flint International Academy at Genesee 7 pm

Mayville at New Haven Merritt Academy 7 pm

Deckerville at Kingston 7 pm

Flint Hamady clinches piece of GAC prep football title with 52-20 victory at Bendle

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Flint Hamady clinches piece of GAC prep football title with 52-20 victory at Bendle

BURTON (CCN) —  Hamady's Hawks, 3-2 overall and 3-0 in Genesee Area Conference (GAC) football, invaded Paul Krause Field at Bendle High School with championship thoughts in their mind Friday night (Oct. 1, 20221). The only thing standing between them and controlling their own destiny was  the pre-season favorite Bendle Tigers who stood at

BURTON (CCN) —  Hamady's Hawks, 3-2 overall and 3-0 in Genesee Area Conference (GAC) football, invaded Paul Krause Field at Bendle High School with championship thoughts in their mind Friday night (Oct. 1, 20221). The only thing standing between them and controlling their own destiny was  the pre-season favorite Bendle Tigers who stood at 4-1 overall and 2-1 in GAC play. 


 The Beecher Buccaneers are the common opponent with both teams, as the Hawks beat Beecher 26-20 last week and the Tigers lost a tough 16-14 contest to the Bucs three weeks ago.

Beecher was 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the GAC heading into Friday’s games. The Tigers were looking to claim a stake in the title chase with a win over Hamady, which would clog up the leader board by creating a three-way tie.


It would likely settle things that way, too, for the GAC title talk since Burton Bentley and Flint New Standard Academy have not come close against any of the GAC's top three teams in action so far this season. Hamady beat Bentley 56-0 while Flint New Standard Academy was beaten 52-6 by Flint Beecher this week after losing 55-0 to Hamady earlier in the season.


It was Hamady that struck first in their opening possession Friday night at Bendle, driving 66 yards and scoring on 22-yard touchdown pass from Sean Byrd to Quinaries Holden. DeShawn Douglas punched in a two-point conversion to give Hamady an 8-0 lead.  


Bendle's offensive air attack was strong the first couple of possessions as Kaleb Bellaflores was accurate on his roll out passes finding his favorite targets  — Kieteris Hamlet and Emillio Riley consistently. The Tigers were able to find the end zone with 11:49 left in the second quarter when Bellaflores found Hamlet for a TD pass and subsequent two-point conversion pass to tie the score 8-8.


It looked like the battle was on as Hamday and Bendle traded touchdowns on the next two possessions. The Hawks connected through the air again with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Byrd to Deltona Boone, who made a great over-the-shoulder catch on a fade route. It was Holden with the two-point conversion catch to put Hamady up 16-8 with 10:12 left in the quarter. 


Bendle countered that score with a big play in the passing game when Bellaflores found Emillio Riley, who had slipped behind his defender for a 75-yard touchdown. Bendle’s two-point conversion was stopped  —  leaving the Tigers trailing 16-14.


This is where Coach Garry Lee's Hawks' defense started to put pressure on Bellaflores, who had been picking them apart through the air.  The disruption to the passing game throttled the offense as the Tigers were finding no room to run on the ground. 


Hamady's offense continued clicking and obviously found a weakness in the Bendle defense as the Hawk QB duo of Sean Byrd De’queris Mayfield started picking up big yards on QB designed run plays. Byrd had a 55-yard touchdown run called back but a play later was able to pick up big yards  — setting up a 5-yard touchdown run by DeShawn Douglas and Daquayvius Buck picked up the two-point conversion, giving Hamady a 24-14 lead.  


It was all Hamady's offense from there as the Hawks scored the next two touchdowns. It was Mayfield running for a 55-yard touchdown on a QB keeper with 5:44 left in the half and then Buck going 49 yards on the ground. Buck also picked up a two-point conversion run  — giving Hamady a commanding 38-14 lead going into halftime.

Hamady's offense picked up right where it left off in  the second half  — finding paydirt with 6:23 left in the third quarter when Buck Rambled 35 yards for his second touchdown of the night. The conversion was no good but the Hawks had extended their lead to 44-14.


Bendle's offense again started to find some protection for Bellaflores, who was able to get the passing game restarted. With 9:46 left in the fourth quarter, Bellaflores found Riley for a 21-yard scoring strike  — Riley’s second of the game. Bendle could not connect on a two-point conversion and now trailed 44-20. 


Hamady crushed any thoughts of a comeback when Holden ran the ensuing kickoff all the way back for a 70-yard touchdown and De’vion Holloway tacked on the two-point conversion to give Hamady a 52-20 lead and the victory.


The Hawks stand 4-0 in the GAC and clinched what will likely be a conference title with the victory.

The lost dropped Bendle's Tigers to 2-2 in GAC play and eliminated them from any title hopes.

The Hawks host Flint Southwestern next week and in a non-league contest after now completing their GAC slate with a perfect 4-0 record.


After hosting the Flint Jaguars on Hamady's new turf carpet next week, they have remaining games against tough non-league opponents Ecorse and Detroit Pershing. Both have 4-2 records to provide extra playoff points in Hamady's race to nail down a spot in the state playoffs. The Hawks were 10 slots out of the top 32 that qualify after Week 5.  Beating a 4-1 opponent on Friday night boosted the Hawks from last week's 21.8 total to 26.167. Six-victory teams no longer automatically qualify for post-season action after a change to the playoff point system this season by the Michigan High School Athletic Association which awards more points for beating bigger schools and teams with more victories.


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Tim Crow is  a sports columnist for The Daily Gazette. He can be heard regularly as a play-by-play broadcaster on sportscasts for Metro Flint News/Talk Radio and he often appears on both The Michigan Sports Zone Show and The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show.

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Flint Beecher romps 52-6 over Flint New Standard Academy in GAC football action

Bentley nears winning season under new coach with 35-30 victory over Flint Jaguars

Bentley nears winning season under new coach with 35-30 victory over Flint Jaguars

MT. MORRIS TWP. (CCN) — Flint Beecher won by a 52-6 romp over visiting Flint New Standard Academy Friday night (Oct. 2, 2021). The victory improved the Bucs to 3-3 overall on the season while moving them to 2-1 in the Genesee Area Conference (GAC) standings.


The Bucs can clinch second play by themselves in the GAC by beating Burton Bentley

MT. MORRIS TWP. (CCN) — Flint Beecher won by a 52-6 romp over visiting Flint New Standard Academy Friday night (Oct. 2, 2021). The victory improved the Bucs to 3-3 overall on the season while moving them to 2-1 in the Genesee Area Conference (GAC) standings.


The Bucs can clinch second play by themselves in the GAC by beating Burton Bentley next week. A victory by Bentley and a Burton Bendle victory at Flint New Standard Academy can create a three-way tie for the No. 2 spot between Bentley and the two Burton schools.


 Below is a look at next week's upcoming games for GAC teams:


Fri. Oct. 8 Game:

(GAC Games)

Burton Bentley at Flint Beecher 7 pm

Burton Bendle at New Standard Academy 7 pm

(Non-Conference game)

Flint Southwestern at Flint Hamady 7 pm 

Bentley nears winning season under new coach with 35-30 victory over Flint Jaguars

Bentley nears winning season under new coach with 35-30 victory over Flint Jaguars

Bentley nears winning season under new coach with 35-30 victory over Flint Jaguars

BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor 


BURTON (CCN) — While the big headline game in Genesee Area Conference (GAC) football on Friday night (Oct. 1, 2021) was at Bendle where the Hawks clinched the championship with a 52-20 romp, another noteworthy battle was going on 7.3 miles away on the opposite side of Burton.


The Bentley Bulldogs mov

BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor 


BURTON (CCN) — While the big headline game in Genesee Area Conference (GAC) football on Friday night (Oct. 1, 2021) was at Bendle where the Hawks clinched the championship with a 52-20 romp, another noteworthy battle was going on 7.3 miles away on the opposite side of Burton.


The Bentley Bulldogs moved to 4-2 overall by beating the Flint Jaguars 35-30.


It was the first time Bentley has ever played Flint Southwestern which is the only remaining high school building open in the Flint school district. Bentley never played Flint Northern, Flint Central or Flint Northwestern before those schools closed.
It was a big night for new Bentley Coach Dan Hewitt who replaced Tekoa Hewitt before the season began. His Bulldogs not only moved within a victory of the school's first winning season in 13 years, but it came against the old coach who left Bentley's program to become coach of the Flint Jaguars two years ago. 


Andre Weathers sandwiched two 1-8 records around a 2-7 finish during three years as head coach at Bentley before taking the head coach job with the Flint Jaguars in 2019. He had previously been an assistant coach at Flint Central, Flint Northern and Flint Northwestern. Weathers, a former University of Michigan star who played on the 1999 national championship team before going on to play in the NFL with the New York Giants, had his Flint Jaguars looking to go to 3-3 on the season when coming to his old stomping grounds at Bentley Friday night.


Bentley High School Principal Justin Dickerson was gushing over the performance by the Bulldogs, taking to Facebook and posting: "Thank you to everyone who came out to support our student athletes last night! There was a lot of excitement in the air! Our girls cheered their hearts out! Our band sounded excellent and our boys...what can I say? Grit? Heart? Passion? Never say die attitude? Brotherhood? They checked every box!  With our backs against the wall, teammate on the way the hospital and Flint knocking on the door to take the lead...Mr. Kilbreath stepped up with a huge interception and then Mr. Wansley lead a drive for the ages and carried the team on his back and sealed the W! I am so proud of our boys...we got something special brewing in Bulldog land! Great win and night for all!"


Social media was bubbling with remarks to Dickerson's post.


Kevin Burge said: "Good night except for the hurt players. They played as a team and cheered each other. I think they got something going here."


Heidi Amrich added: "That game was amazing. I couldn't stay in my seat!! All the boys played great and played with heart was so proud and happy for them best game I've ever been to so proud of all them."


Rosa Gooch said: "Last night's game was unbelievable! There was sooooo much school pride that THIS alumni got choked up and I was bursting with pride listening and watching it all!! The band, cheer, football boys, and crowd were all ON POINT!"


John Kelly added: "That was an amazing game! So much school spirit! I love being a Bulldog!"


Torres Christina chimed in: "These young men are HUNGRY!!! My son Fredrico and the rest of the Bulldogs are trying to make a NEW name for themselves and for the school!!!! They can only go up from here!!!!! Playoffs here we come!"



Bentley nears winning season under new coach with 35-30 victory over Flint Jaguars

 

Grand Blanc, Mount Pleasant football teams roll to 5-0 overall to lead Saginaw Valley action

Grand Blanc, Mount Pleasant football teams roll to 5-0 overall to lead Saginaw Valley action

Grand Blanc, Mount Pleasant football teams roll to 5-0 overall to lead Saginaw Valley action

  (CCN) — Grand Blanc's Bobcats celebrated homecoming Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) by winning for the second week in a row in a long-time rivalry showdown. After beating Davison for the first time in 10 years last week with a 43-7 blowout, Clint Alexander's Bobcats handed Flint Powers Catholic a 48-7 beating. 


After rolling up its biggest

  (CCN) — Grand Blanc's Bobcats celebrated homecoming Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) by winning for the second week in a row in a long-time rivalry showdown. After beating Davison for the first time in 10 years last week with a 43-7 blowout, Clint Alexander's Bobcats handed Flint Powers Catholic a 48-7 beating. 


After rolling up its biggest victory margin ever against Davison, Grand Blanc moved to 2-0 in Saginaw Valley League play and 5-0 overall by coming one point shy of last year's 42-point victory at Powers when the Bobcats won 56-14. It was their best since winning 42-7 in 1997 when both schools were in the Big Nine Conference.

Friday night's 41-point romp ranks as Grand Blanc's third most lopsided over Powers since the school opened in 1970.


In other Saginaw Valley action on Friday night, Davison won 50-14 over Flint Carman-Ainsworth and Lapeer blew out Saginaw United 47-6 in other South Division games while North Division contests saw Mount Pleasant beat Midland 26-19, Midland Dow nip Bay City Western 45-44 and Saginaw Heritage clip Bay City Central 28-21.


GRAND BLANC was led by quarterback Hunter Ames who threw TD passes to Julian Freeman, Nas Carson and Elijah Jackson-Anderson during a 16-of-20 passing night for 270 yards. Jackson-Anderson also ran for a Grand Blanc TD along with Cross Dobbs and Gerren Jarbeau who had rushing TD's for the Bobcats. Dylan Hertzberg added 5 extra point kicks to go with nailing field goals from 35 yards and 30 yards. Flint Powers Catholic's only TD strike came when Laszlo Arprin hauled in a 15-yard scoring strike.


DAVISON broke a 7-7 tie when freshman A.J. HIll rambled in for his second TD run of the game. Junior quarterback Braylen Himmelein ran for a 24-yard TD and Raymond Sturgill had a one-yard TD while Himmelein also hooked up on TD strikes of 63 yards to Teon Armstrong and 2 yards to Hendry Carstarphen. Yahaya Dukuly returned an interception for a Davison TD  and Bryce Simmons-Griggs made a tackle for a safety.


Below is a look at next week's upcoming games for Saginaw Valley teams in both divisions:


Fri. Oct. 1 Games

 (South Division Games)

Grand Blanc at Flint Carman-Ainsworth 7 pm

Saginaw United at Davison 7 pm

Flint Powers Catholic at Lapeer 7 pm

 (Broadcast on WFNT 1470 AM)

(North Division Games)

Bay City Central at Mount Pleasant 7 pm

Midland at Bay City Western 7 pm

Saginaw Heritage at Midland Dow 7 pm   

Goodrich, Ortonville Brandon set up Stars Division showdown in Metro League; Fenton 3-0

Grand Blanc, Mount Pleasant football teams roll to 5-0 overall to lead Saginaw Valley action

Grand Blanc, Mount Pleasant football teams roll to 5-0 overall to lead Saginaw Valley action

 (CCN) — Goodrich and Ortonville Brandon won Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) to set up a Stars Division showdown for first place next week at Goodrich. Meanwhile, Fenton moved to 3-0 atop the Metro League's Stripes Division while Linden fell from the unbeaten ranks when losing at home to visiting Flushing.


FLUSHING looked more like the Raide

 (CCN) — Goodrich and Ortonville Brandon won Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) to set up a Stars Division showdown for first place next week at Goodrich. Meanwhile, Fenton moved to 3-0 atop the Metro League's Stripes Division while Linden fell from the unbeaten ranks when losing at home to visiting Flushing.


FLUSHING looked more like the Raiders everyone expected Friday night at Linden. The Eagles were looking to keep pace with Fenton in the Stripes Division but the Raiders walked away with a 46-29 victory to end their three-game losing streak after opening the season with an impressive 33-6 romp over Flint Powers Catholic in a non-league battle at Flint's Atwood Stadium as part of the fourth annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic. The Raiders tied the game on a 17-yard quarterback keeper by Caleb Mantei and took the lead for good on an 18-yard run by David Hutchinson on the first play of the second quarter. Hutchinson also scored on an 85-yard TD run and Manteij connected with Hutchinson on a TD pass to build a 33-14 lead at halftime.


THE FENTON TIGERS, gunning for their 10th Metro League title in the last 11 years, rolled to a 50-29 romp at neighboring Holly. It was Fenton's third straight victory after dropping its first two games against tough non-league opponents. 


Coach Jeff Seltze's Tigers go to Flint Kearsley next week to take on the upset-minded Hornets after winning over Holly for the 10th straight time in their rivalry. Jake Nichols rushed for 122 yards on 17 carries, including a 45-yard TD sprint and an 11-yard TD bolt. He also caught a 42-yard TD pass from Nolan Alvord. Starting quarterback Seth Logan was 9-of-18 passing for 85 yards and he had TD strikes of 11 yards and 19 yards — both to Sam Calborn.  Vinny Heaphy also scored for Fenton on a 70-yard kickoff return and he hauled in a two-point conversion pass from Adam Barcome.


HOLLY was led by sophomore quarterback Boston Curtis who was making his first varsity start. He threw two TD passes to Jacob Chereson. The first one was on a 17-yarder after pass plays between them of 43 yards and 16 yards led the drive down the field. Chereson also scored on an 80-yard kickoff return and Kendall Murdock ran back a kickoff 82 yards to paydirt for the Bronchos who rebounded strong from a 40-0 whitewashing last week by the Linden Eagles in another tri-county area rivalry game.


SWARTZ CREEEK moved into a tie for second place with Linden behind Fenton in the Stripes Division at 2-1 by winning a 42-35 barnburner over Flint Kearsley. The Hornets went to Swartz Creek flying high after surprising the Raiders last week at Flushing.  Tristan Hinkley rushed 19 times for 191 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead Swartz Creek. Kaleb Hall ran in two more TD's for the Dragons and Dawson Stebbins ran in another one.


GOODRICH did its part to set up next week's showdown with Ortonville Brandon for the top spot in the Stars Division by going to Corunna and nipping the host Cavaliers 19-14. The Martians went to 3-0 in the Metro League while winning its fourth straight since a season-opening loss to state-ranked Frankenmuth  in a non-league battle at Flint's Atwood Stadium as part of the fourth annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic. The Martians rallied from a 14-0 deficit, including two fourth quarter touchdowns by Jace Simerson. He scored on a 10-yard scamper before the winning plunge on a 2-yarder. Clayton Burnett scored Goodrich's other TD on a 71-yard bolt. He led the Martians in rushing on the night with 116 yards on 10 carries.


ORTONVILLE BRANON had an easier time at Owosso by clipping the host Trojans 28-7. The Blackhawks are now 5-0 overall in addition to being tied with Goodrich in Metro League play at 3-0 atop the Stars Division. They also needed a couple fourth quarter touchdowns to pull away.  Dylan Dickens, who had 220 yards on 24 carries, ran for one Ortonville Brandon TD while Gavin Greil ran for antoher one. Lance Briolat drilled a 23-yard TD pass to Drew Hickmott and Hickmott had a second TD when returning  an interception 45 yards to paydirt.


LAKE FENTON won the other Stripes Division game with a 55-0 romp over Clio. It was the fifth straight loss for the Mustangs while Lake Fenton improved to 4-1 overall. The Blue Devils are 3-1 in Metro League play where their only defeat came at the hands of Ortonville Brandon in a 48-40 loss.  

Lucas Storm ran for two Lake Fenton TD's while other TD's on the ground came from Nash Verhelle, Reid Shumaker, Dalton Decker and Jack Conley. Shumaker also threw TD strikes to Decker and Conely during a 6-of-7 passing night.  Ashton Hunter added 7 conversion kicks for the Blue Devils.


Below is a look at next week's upcoming games for Metro League teams: 


Fri. Oct. 1 Metro League Games 

(Stripes Division Games)

Fenton at Flint Kearsley 7 pm 

Flushing at Holly 7 pm

Swartz Creek at Linden 7 pm

(Stars Division Games)

Ortonville Brandon at Goodrich 7 pm

Lake Fenton at Owosso 7 pm

Clio at Corunna 7 pm 

Montrose pulls upset to knock New Lothrop from share of MMAC lead in prep football

Grand Blanc, Mount Pleasant football teams roll to 5-0 overall to lead Saginaw Valley action

Montrose pulls upset to knock New Lothrop from share of MMAC lead in prep football

(CCN) — Montrose pulled the biggest surprise so far of the 2021 prep football season in The Daily Gazette coverage area with a 35-14 upset Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) at New Lothrop.


The Rams knocked New Lothrop out of a first-place tie with Ovid-Elsie in the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference (MMAC) and spoiled next week's expected batt

(CCN) — Montrose pulled the biggest surprise so far of the 2021 prep football season in The Daily Gazette coverage area with a 35-14 upset Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) at New Lothrop.


The Rams knocked New Lothrop out of a first-place tie with Ovid-Elsie in the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference (MMAC) and spoiled next week's expected battle of unbeatens at Ovid-Elsie. Now, New Lothrop will be aiming to possibly create a four-way tie atop the MMAC standings with Montrose and Durand.


OVID-ELSIE stayed unbeaten at 4-0 in the MMAC and 5-0 overall by blanking Chesaning 35-0. Ovid-Elsie handed Montrose its only loss in a 23-22 barnburner two weeks ago.


DURAND kept its MMAC title hopes alive by trouncing winless LakeVille 60-6 in Otisville. The victory improved the Railroaders to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the MMAC where their only loss was 28-7 to first-place Ovid-Elsie. Durand hosts Chesaning next week and a victory could create a possible four-way tie for the top spot in the MMAC if New Lothrop can beat Ovid-Elsie.


MT. MORRIS won its first MMAC game and improved to 2-3 overall by dumping Byron 40-21. Byron is now 0-4 in the MMAC and 0-5 overall.


MONTROSE ended a five-game losing streak to New Lothrop by going to Championship Drive and whipping the host Hornets 35-14 Friday night. 


New Lothrop went into the game tied for first place with Ovid-Elsie at 3-0 after losing its season opener in a non-league contest at Jackson Lumen Christi. The Hornets are the defending champions of the MMAC and they also won a Division 7 state title last season for the second time in three years.

It was the first time New Lothrop has ever lost in the MMAC where the Hornets had won 23 in a row since 2018. The last time New Lothrop lost a league game was in the Genesee Area Conference (GAC) when dropping a 36-28 decision to Montrose on Oct. 9, 2009. That was before Clint Galvas became head coach, and Friday's loss was the first for Galvas to his former head coach as a high school player — Dennis Reinhart.


“Not to take anything away from them, they did a real nice job defensively,” Galvas told the Argus Press about the Montrose team led by his old coach Reinhart who was inducted last year into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. Reinhart's teams have won 20 conference championships during a 38-year coaching career that includes a 309-91 record.


. “I thought we actually did some real good things defensively, too," Galvas added to the Argus Press. "But we gave up a couple of big plays in the second half. First half defensively we played really, really well but we had a couple of touchdowns called back... Hats off to Montrose — they came in with a great game plan and executed well.”


Reinhard told The Argus Press:  “This is what football is all about, high school kids going at it. (A) great rivalry and this is what it’s about … We finally beat them. I mean, they had beat us five straight and the last four probably even haven’t been a game.” 


Montrose was led by Monte Missentzis who rushed for 124 yards on 29 quarterback keepers. He ran for one touchdown on a 3-yard scamper and passed for two TD's more on an 8-of-14 night through the air for 153 yards. He hit Aidan Bernard on a 27-yard TD strike. 


Johnny Mahl intercepted two passes to lead Montrose's defense, including a 46-yard TD return on one of them. Owen Emmendorfer scored Montrose's other TD on a 17-yard run while Chase Perrin was 5-for-5 on conversion kicks.


New Lothrop was hurt by three turnovers and 11 penalties, including one that wiped out a 46-yard TD bolt by Rafael Woods and another that called back a 5-yard TD sprint by Jack Kulhanek. 


Kulhanek was 12-of-29 passing for for 101 yards and two TD strikes to lead the Hornets. One was on a 60-yard TD bomb to Cannan Cromwell and the other was a 12-yard TD connection with Crowell.


  Below is a look at next week's upcoming conference games for MMAC teams:


Fri. Oct. 1 Games  

 New Lothrop at Ovid-Elsie 7 pm

Mt. Morris at Montrose 7 pm

Chesaning at Durand 7 pm

Byron at Mt. Morris 7 pm 

PREP FOOTBALL 2021 ⚫ WEEK 5

Metro Flint News/Talk Radio microphones headed for Burton and Goodrich this week

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

  (CCN) — Metro Flint News/Talk Radio's microphones will be headed to Burton and Goodrich this week for high school football action.


Larry Coleman and Tim Crow will deliver the call from Burton where the Bendle Tigers will host the Flint Hamady Hawks in a big battle for first place in the GAC. Bendle can create a three-way tie for the GAC 

  (CCN) — Metro Flint News/Talk Radio's microphones will be headed to Burton and Goodrich this week for high school football action.


Larry Coleman and Tim Crow will deliver the call from Burton where the Bendle Tigers will host the Flint Hamady Hawks in a big battle for first place in the GAC. Bendle can create a three-way tie for the GAC lead with Hamady and Flint Beecher. The Tigers lost a 16-14 battle to Beecher two weeks ago and Hamady beat Beecher 26-29 last week.


While Metro Flint News/Talk Radio will broadcast on Facebook Live and present a tape delay feed of the Hamady-Bendle game, Trace Fisher will do the play-by-play call from Goodrich. The Martians will host Ortonville Brandon in a battle of unbeaten teams in the Stars Division of the Metro League.


Kickoff for both games is 7 pm. Mike Killbreath will host pre-game shows for each broadcast.


WFNT 1470 AM will broadcast from Lapeer where Flint Powers Catholic will take on the unbeaten Lightning. Game time for the broadcast with Pat Daly and Will McNeal will be at 6:55 pm. Powers Catholic Coach Jerry Todd, who has his Chargers off to a 2-2 start, will also sit down for the second week in a row this week at Blackstones in Downtown Flint for a mid-week pre-game show that his produced and hosted by McNeil.

 

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

 Genesee Area Conference Action on Friday

(GAC Games)

Flint Hamady 26, Flint Beecher 20

Burton Bentley 48, Flint New Standard Academy 0

(Non-League Game)

Burton Bendle 34, Flint Jaguars 16


Saginaw Valley League Action on Friday Night

(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc 48, Flint Powers Catholic 7

Davison 50, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 13

Lapeer 47, Sagi

 Genesee Area Conference Action on Friday

(GAC Games)

Flint Hamady 26, Flint Beecher 20

Burton Bentley 48, Flint New Standard Academy 0

(Non-League Game)

Burton Bendle 34, Flint Jaguars 16


Saginaw Valley League Action on Friday Night

(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc 48, Flint Powers Catholic 7

Davison 50, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 13

Lapeer 47, Saginaw United 6

(North Division Games)

Mount Pleasant 26 Midland 19

Midland Dow 45, Bay City Western 44

Saginaw Heritage 28 at Bay City Central 21


Metro League Action on Friday Night

(Stripes Division Games)

Fenton 50, Holly 29 

Flushing 46, Linden 29

Swartz Creek 42, Flint Kearsley 35

(Stars Division Games)

 Goodrich 19, Corunna 14

Ortonville Brandon 28, Owosso 7

Lake Fenton 55, Clio 0


Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Action on Friday Night

(MMAC Games)

Montrose 35, New Lothrop 14

Durand 60, LakeVille 6

Mt. Morris 40, Byron 21

Ovid-Elsie 35, Chesaning 0


Tri-Valley Conference Action on Friday Night

Frankenmuth 48, Freeland 21

Essexville Garber 26, Birch Run 20

Bay City John Glenn 34, Bridgeport 0 

Saginaw Swan Valley 29, Alma 28

(West Division Games)

Millington 30, Carrollton 12

Standish Sterling 21, Hemlock 16

(Non-Conference Games)

Ithaca 41, Midland Bullock Creek 19


 Greater Thumb Conference West Division Action on Friday Night 

(Conference Games)

Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker 41, Vassar 0

Bad Axe 48, Caro 0

Reese 35, Cass City 20

(Non-Conference game)

USA 48, Brown City 14 


 North Central Thumb League Action on Friday

(Stars Division Games) 

Deckerville 80, Flint International Academy 6

Morrice 48, New Haven Merritt Academy 8

(Non-League Game)

Farwell 24, Burton Atherton 20

Messick 42, Kingston 30 

Mayville 22, Akron Fairgrove 8


Fri. Oct. 1 Genesee Area Conference Games

(GAC Games)

Flint Hamady at Burton Bendle 7 pm

(Facebook Live Broadcast & 10 pm Friday Tape Delay Broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio with Replays Saturday 1 pm & Sunday 1 pm)

New Standard Academy at Flint Beecher 7 pm

(Non-League Game)

Flint Jaguars at Burton Bentley 7 pm


 Fri. Oct. 1 Saginaw Valley Games

(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc at Flint Carman-Ainsworth 7 pm

Saginaw United at Davison 7 pm

Flint Powers Catholic at Lapeer 7 pm 

(Broadcast on WFNT 1470 AM)

(North Division Games)

Bay City Central at Mount Pleasant 7 pm

Midland at Bay City Western 7 pm

Saginaw Heritage at Midland Dow 7 pm  
 

Fri. Oct. 1 Metro League Games

(Stripes Division Games)

Fenton at Flint Kearsley 7 pm 

Flushing at Holly 7 pm

Swartz Creek at Linden 7 pm

(Stars Division Games)

Ortonville Brandon at Goodrich 7 pm

Lake Fenton at Owosso 7 pm

Clio at Corunna 7 pm


Fri. Oct. 1 Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Games

(MMAC Games)

New Lothrop at Ovid-Elsie 7 pm

Mt. Morris at Montrose 7 pm

Chesaning at Durand 7 pm

Byron at Otisville LakeVille 7 pm


Fri. Oct. 1 Tri-Valley Conference Games

(East Division Games)

Frankenmuth at Bridgeport 7 pm 

Saginaw Swan Valley at Birch Run 7 pm

Essexville Garber at Alma, 7 pm 

Bay City John Glenn at Freeland 7 pm
(West Division Games)

Carrollton at Standish Sterling 7 pm

Hemlock at Midland Bullock Creek 7 pm
(Non-Conference Game)

Millington at Saginaw Lutheran Seminary 7 pm 

 

Fri. Oct.1 Greater Thumb Conference West Division Games

(Conference Games)

Vassar at Caro 7 pm

Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker at USA 7 pm

Reese at Bad Axe 7 pm

(Non-Conference game)

Cass City at Harbor Beach 7 pm


Fri. Oct. 1 North Central Thumb League Stars Division Games

(Stars Division Games) 

Morrice at Burton Atherton 7 pm

Flint International Academy at Genesee 7 pm

Mayville at New Haven Merritt Academy 7 pm

Deckerville at Kingston 7 pm

Flint Hamady wins exciting 26-20 GAC showdown with Flint Beecher; Now eyes Bendle

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Flint Hamady wins exciting 26-20 GAC showdown with Flint Beecher; Now eyes Bendle

 FLINT (CCN) — It was a big night in Genesee Area Conference football Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) at Hamady High School as the Hawks hosted the Beecher Buccaneers in a battle of GAC leaders. Hamady's 26-20 victory set up another big battle in GAC action again next week for the Hawks at Burton Bendle.


Bendle can force a possible three-way

 FLINT (CCN) — It was a big night in Genesee Area Conference football Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) at Hamady High School as the Hawks hosted the Beecher Buccaneers in a battle of GAC leaders. Hamady's 26-20 victory set up another big battle in GAC action again next week for the Hawks at Burton Bendle.


Bendle can force a possible three-way tie for the GAC lead by beating the Hawks after dropping a 16-14 barnburner two weeks ago to Beecher.

 Both Hamady and Beecher had taken similar paths the first four weeks of the season with each team going 0-2 in tough non-conference games but coming back to win in weeks three and four — Beecher picking up a non-conference win against the Flint Jaguars 64-22 and last week against the pre-season GAC favorite Bendle Tigers. Hamady had not given up a point in GAC play as the Hawks picked up wins against conference foes Bentley 56-0 and Flint New Standard 55-0 to bring its GAC record to 2-0 after 36-0 to East Lansing and 35-7 to Flint Powers Catholic in non-league games.


All that set up last night’s match-up with Beecher.

Hamady wasted no time in showing that its offense was for real by driving 80 yards and scoring first with 6:29 left in the first quarter. The offense pounded the ball on the ground with carries from DeShawn Douglas and Dayquayvius Buck. It was Buck who plowed it into the end zone from 3 yards out for the only score in the first quarter. Hamady tacked on the extra point to take a 7-0 lead. 


The Hawks were ready to cash in on another drive with 4:29 left in first quarter but that drive ended when Beecher’s Jaylin Townsend picked off a pass on the Bucs' 8-yard line.


Beecher drove down the field and scored at 11:16 in the second quarter as Amarion Jenkins found pay dirt to cut the Hawks lead to 7-6. Beecher elected to go for the two point conversion but that was stopped by Hamady defender Mekhi Forward.

 Forward would become big on defense all night for the Hawks with several big tackles. 


After Beecher cut the lead to 7-6, Hamady was able to counter with 8:32 left in the half as Buck crashed into the end zone from two yards out for his second touchdown of the night. Beecher blocked the extra point leaving the Hawks with a 13-6 lead.


Hamady's Daydrick Jackson recovered a fumble late in the second quarter — allowing the Hawks' offense to find the promise land once again with 1:16 left in the first half  as DeShawn Douglas scampered  26 yards to the goal line to extend the Hamady lead to 19-6. The two point conversion try failed and Hamady took a 19-6 lead into halftime.


Beecher's Amarion Jenkins opened the scoring with a 6-yard TD run in the second half with 6:25 left in the third quarter. It was Jenkins' second touchdown of the game. Beecher again attempted a two-point conversion and it was Hamady’s Mekhi Forward with a big stop, leaving the Bucs down 19-12. 


Hamady’s Ronald Nelson answered back in a big way by taking the ensuing kickoff back 90 yards for a touchdown with 6:13 left in the quarter. The extra point as good and Hamady pushed the lead to 26-12. 


My Metro Flint News/Talk Radio play-by-play partner Larry Coleman and I said these teams were conference front runners and that means there is no quit in either team. Down by two score late in the fourth quarter, Beecher needed a quick score and the Bucs found some magic in the passing game as Eric Jones hit James Cummings for a 50-yard TD strike with 7:21 on the clock. It was Jenkins on the run to pick up the two-point conversion and make things interesting as Hamady was holding on to a 26-20 lead with the Bucs charging.


Hamady’s offense seemed to sputter on the next couple of possessions as there were a couple bad handoff exchanges and mishandled snap. This opened the door for the Bucs' offense to get back on the field and try to take the lead.


The Bucs were marching but with 2:49 left in the fourth quarter, Hamady's Delano Townsend was able to cause a turnover and Hamady needed to pick up a first down in order to run out the clock. It was Douglas who provided the spark with another hard run with cut backs that allowed him to get the edge and pick up the first down needed —allowing the Hawks to go into victory formation and finish with a hard fought 26-20 victory.


The win puts Hamady in the driver’s seat for a GAC title as the Hawks go to 3-0 in conference play. The loss drops Beecher to 2-1 in GAC play but with the strong possibility of winning out in GAC action, the Bendle Tigers are still hoping for a title share.

Next week, Bendle hosts Flint Hamady in another big GAC showdown. A victory by the host Tigers can create a three-way tie for first place if Flint Beecher also beats visiting Flint  New Standard Academy.


The Metro Flint News/Talk Radio microphones will be set up next week at Bendle when Yours Truly will team with play-by-play man Larry Coleman to bring you all the call. We will be live via Facebook Live with the 7 pm kickoff after a 6:45 pm pre-game show. Our call will then be presented on the digital signal at Metro Flint News/Talk Radio at about 10 pm — immediately after our live game from Goodrich between the host Martians and Ortonville Brandon for first place in the Metro League's Stars Division. Both teams are 3-0 so far in Metro League action.

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Tim Crow is  a sports columnist for The Daily Gazette. He can be heard regularly as a play-by-play broadcaster on sportscasts for Metro Flint News/Talk Radio and he often appears on both The Michigan Sports Zone Show and The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show.

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Grand Blanc, Mount Pleasant football teams roll to 5-0 overall to lead Saginaw Valley action

Grand Blanc, Mount Pleasant football teams roll to 5-0 overall to lead Saginaw Valley action

Grand Blanc, Mount Pleasant football teams roll to 5-0 overall to lead Saginaw Valley action

 (CCN) — Grand Blanc's Bobcats celebrated homecoming Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) by winning for the second week in a row in a long-time rivalry showdown. After beating Davison for the first time in 10 years last week with a 43-7 blowout, Clint Alexander's Bobcats handed Flint Powers Catholic a 48-7 beating. 


After rolling up its biggest 

 (CCN) — Grand Blanc's Bobcats celebrated homecoming Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) by winning for the second week in a row in a long-time rivalry showdown. After beating Davison for the first time in 10 years last week with a 43-7 blowout, Clint Alexander's Bobcats handed Flint Powers Catholic a 48-7 beating. 


After rolling up its biggest victory margin ever against Davison, Grand Blanc moved to 2-0 in Saginaw Valley League play and 5-0 overall by coming one point shy of last year's 42-point victory at Powers when the Bobcats won 56-14. It was their best since winning 42-7 in 1997 when both schools were in the Big Nine Conference.

Friday night's 41-point romp ranks as Grand Blanc's third most lopsided over Powers since the school opened in 1970.


In other Saginaw Valley action on Friday night, Davison won 50-14 over Flint Carman-Ainsworth and Lapeer blew out Saginaw United 47-6 in other South Division games while North Division contests saw Mount Pleasant beat Midland 26-19, Midland Dow nip Bay City Western 45-44 and Saginaw Heritage clip Bay City Central 28-21.


GRAND BLANC was led by quarterback Hunter Ames who threw TD passes to Julian Freeman, Nas Carson and Elijah Jackson-Anderson during a 16-of-20 passing night for 270 yards. Jackson-Anderson also ran for a Grand Blanc TD along with Cross Dobbs and Gerren Jarbeau who had rushing TD's for the Bobcats. Dylan Hertzberg added 5 extra point kicks to go with nailing field goals from 35 yards and 30 yards. Flint Powers Catholic's only TD strike came when Laszlo Arprin hauled in a 15-yard scoring strike.


DAVISON broke a 7-7 tie when freshman A.J. HIll rambled in for his second TD run of the game. Junior quarterback Braylen Himmelein ran for a 24-yard TD and Raymond Sturgill had a one-yard TD while Himmelein also hooked up on TD strikes of 63 yards to Teon Armstrong and 2 yards to Hendry Carstarphen. Yahaya Dukuly returned an interception for a Davison TD  and Bryce Simmons-Griggs made a tackle for a safety.


Below is a look at next week's upcoming games for Saginaw Valley teams in both divisions:


Fri. Sept. 24 Games


(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc at Flint Carman-Ainsworth 7 pm

Saginaw United at Davison 7 pm

Flint Powers Catholic at Lapeer 7 pm 

(Radio broadcast on WFNT 1470 AM)


(North Division Games)

Bay City Central at Mount Pleasant 7 pm

Midland at Bay City Western 7 pm

Saginaw Heritage at Midland Dow 7 pm

Goodrich, Ortonville Brandon set up Stars Division showdown in Metro League; Fenton 3-0

Grand Blanc, Mount Pleasant football teams roll to 5-0 overall to lead Saginaw Valley action

Grand Blanc, Mount Pleasant football teams roll to 5-0 overall to lead Saginaw Valley action

 (CCN) — Goodrich and Ortonville Brandon won Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) to set up a Stars Division showdown for first place next week at Goodrich. Meanwhile, Fenton moved to 3-0 atop the Metro League's Stripes Division while Linden fell from the unbeaten ranks when losing at home to visiting Flushing.


FLUSHING looked more like the Raide

 (CCN) — Goodrich and Ortonville Brandon won Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) to set up a Stars Division showdown for first place next week at Goodrich. Meanwhile, Fenton moved to 3-0 atop the Metro League's Stripes Division while Linden fell from the unbeaten ranks when losing at home to visiting Flushing.


FLUSHING looked more like the Raiders everyone expected Friday night at Linden. The Eagles were looking to keep pace with Fenton in the Stripes Division but the Raiders walked away with a 46-29 victory to end their three-game losing streak after opening the season with an impressive 33-6 romp over Flint Powers Catholic in a non-league battle at Flint's Atwood Stadium as part of the fourth annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic. The Raiders tied the game on a 17-yard quarterback keeper by Caleb Mantei and took the lead for good on an 18-yard run by David Hutchinson on the first play of the second quarter. Hutchinson also scored on an 85-yard TD run and Manteij connected with Hutchinson on a TD pass to build a 33-14 lead at halftime.


THE FENTON TIGERS, gunning for their 10th Metro League title in the last 11 years, rolled to a 50-29 romp at neighboring Holly. It was Fenton's third straight victory after dropping its first two games against tough non-league opponents. Coach Jeff Seltze's Tigers go to Flint Kearsley next week to take on the upset-minded Hornets after winning over Holly for the 10th straight time in their rivalry. Jake Nichols rushed for 122 yards on 17 carries, including a 45-yard TD sprint and an 11-yard TD bolt. He also caught a 42-yard TD pass from Nolan Alvord. Starting quarterback Seth Logan was 9-of-18 passing for 85 yards and he had TD strikes of 11 yards and 19 yards — both to Sam Calborn.  Vinny Heaphy also scored for Fenton on a 70-yard kickoff return and he hauled in a two-point conversion pass from Adam Barcome.


HOLLY was led by sophomore quarterback Boston Curtis who was making his first varsity start. He threw two TD passes to Jacob Chereson. The first one was on a 17-yarder after pass plays between them of 43 yards and 16 yards led the drive down the field. Chereson also scored on an 80-yard kickoff return and Kendall Murdock ran back a kickoff 82 yards to paydirt for the Bronchos who rebounded strong from a 40-0 whitewashing last week by the Linden Eagles in another tri-county area rivalry game.


SWARTZ CREEEK moved into a tie for second place with Linden behind Fenton in the Stripes Division at 2-1 by winning a 42-35 barnburner over Flint Kearsley. The Hornets went to Swartz Creek flying high after surprising the Raiders last week at Flushing.  Tristan Hinkley rushed 19 times for 191 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead Swartz Creek. Kaleb Hall ran in two more TD's for the Dragons and Dawson Stebbins ran in another one.


GOODRICH did its part to set up next week's showdown with Ortonville Brandon for the top spot in the Stars Division by going to Corunna and nipping the host Cavaliers 19-14. The Martians went to 3-0 in the Metro League while winning its fourth straight since a season-opening loss to state-ranked Frankenmuth  in a non-league battle at Flint's Atwood Stadium as part of the fourth annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic. The Martians rallied from a 14-0 deficit, including two fourth quarter touchdowns by Jace Simerson. He scored on a 10-yard scamper before the winning plunge on a 2-yarder. Clayton Burnett scored Goodrich's other TD on a 71-yard bolt. He led the Martians in rushing on the night with 116 yards on 10 carries.


ORTONVILLE BRANON had an easier time at Owosso by clipping the host Trojans 28-7. The Blackhawks are now 5-0 overall in addition to being tied with Goodrich in Metro League play at 3-0 atop the Stars Division. They also needed a couple fourth quarter touchdowns to pull away.  Dylan Dickens, who had 220 yards on 24 carries, ran for one Ortonville Brandon TD while Gavin Greil ran for antoher one. Lance Briolat drilled a 23-yard TD pass to Drew Hickmott and Hickmott had a second TD when returning  an interception 45 yards to paydirt.


LAKE FENTON won the other Stripes Division game with a 55-0 romp over Clio. It was the fifth straight loss for the Mustangs while Lake Fenton improved to 4-1 overall. The Blue Devils are 3-1 in Metro League play where their only defeat came at the hands of Ortonville Brandon in a 48-40 loss.  

Lucas Storm ran for two Lake Fenton TD's while other TD's on the ground came from Nash Verhelle, Reid Shumaker, Dalton Decker and Jack Conley. Shumaker also threw TD strikes to Decker and Conely during a 6-of-7 passing night.  Ashton Hunter added 7 conversion kicks for the Blue Devils.


Below is a look at next week's upcoming games for Metro League teams: 


Fri. Sept. 24 Metro League Games 


(Stripes Division Games)

Fenton at Flint Kearsley 7 pm 

Flushing at Holly 7 pm

Swartz Creek at Linden 7 pm


(Stars Division Games)

Ortonville Brandon at Goodrich 7 pm

Lake Fenton at Owosso 7 pm

Clio at Corunna 7 pm 

Montrose pulls upset to knock New Lothrop from share of MMAC lead in prep football

Grand Blanc, Mount Pleasant football teams roll to 5-0 overall to lead Saginaw Valley action

Montrose pulls upset to knock New Lothrop from share of MMAC lead in prep football

BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor

(CCN) — Montrose pulled the biggest surprise so far of the 2021 prep football season in The Daily Gazette coverage area with a 35-14 upset Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) at New Lothrop.


The Rams knocked New Lothrop out of a first-place tie with Ovid-Elsie in the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference (MMAC)

BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor

(CCN) — Montrose pulled the biggest surprise so far of the 2021 prep football season in The Daily Gazette coverage area with a 35-14 upset Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) at New Lothrop.


The Rams knocked New Lothrop out of a first-place tie with Ovid-Elsie in the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference (MMAC) and spoiled next week's expected battle of unbeatens at Ovid-Elsie. 

Now, New Lothrop will be aiming to possibly create a four-way tie atop the MMAC standings with Montrose and Durand.


OVID-ELSIE stayed unbeaten at 4-0 in the MMAC and 5-0 overall by blanking Chesaning 35-0. Ovid-Elsie handed Montrose its only loss in a 23-22 barnburner two weeks ago.


DURAND kept its MMAC title hopes alive by trouncing winless LakeVille 60-6 in Otisville. The victory improved the Railroaders to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the MMAC where their only loss was 28-7 to first-place Ovid-Elsie. Durand hosts Chesaning next week and a victory could create a possible four-way tie for the top spot in the MMAC if New Lothrop can beat Ovid-Elsie.


MT. MORRIS won its first MMAC game and improved to 2-3 overall by dumping Byron 40-21. Byron is now 0-4 in the MMAC and 0-5 overall.


MONTROSE ended a five-game losing streak to New Lothrop by going to Championship Drive and whipping the host Hornets 35-14 Friday night. 


New Lothrop went into the game tied for first place with Ovid-Elsie at 3-0 after losing its season opener in a non-league contest at Jackson Lumen Christi. The Hornets are the defending champions of the MMAC and they also won a Division 7 state title last season for the second time in three years.

It was the first time New Lothrop has ever lost in the MMAC where the Hornets had won 23 in a row since 2018. The last time New Lothrop lost a league game was in the Genesee Area Conference (GAC) when dropping a 36-28 decision to Montrose on Oct. 9, 2009. That was before Clint Galvas became head coach, and Friday's loss was the first for Galvas to his former head coach as a high school player — Dennis Reinhart.


“Not to take anything away from them, they did a real nice job defensively,” Galvas told the Argus Press about the Montrose team led by his old coach Reinhart who was inducted last year into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. Reinhart's teams have won 20 conference championships during a 38-year coaching career that includes a 309-91 record.


. “I thought we actually did some real good things defensively, too," Galvas added to the Argus Press. 


"But we gave up a couple of big plays in the second half. First half defensively we played really, really well but we had a couple of touchdowns called back... Hats off to Montrose — they came in with a great game plan and executed well.”


Reinhard told The Argus Press:  “This is what football is all about, high school kids going at it. (A) great rivalry and this is what it’s about … We finally beat them. I mean, they had beat us five straight and the last four probably even haven’t been a game.” 


Montrose was led by Monte Missentzis who rushed for 124 yards on 29 quarterback keepers. He ran for one touchdown on a 3-yard scamper and passed for two TD's more on an 8-of-14 night through the air for 153 yards. He hit Aidan Bernard on a 27-yard TD strike. 


Johnny Mahl intercepted two passes to lead Montrose's defense, including a 46-yard TD return on one of them. Owen Emmendorfer scored Montrose's other TD on a 17-yard run while Chase Perrin was 5-for-5 on conversion kicks.


New Lothrop was hurt by three turnovers and 11 penalties, including one that wiped out a 46-yard TD bolt by Rafael Woods and another that called back a 5-yard TD sprint by Jack Kulhanek. 


Kulhanek was 12-of-29 passing for for 101 yards and two TD strikes to lead the Hornets. One was on a 60-yard TD bomb to Cannan Cromwell and the other was a 12-yard TD connection with Crowell.


  Below is a look at next week's upcoming conference games for MMAC teams:


Fri. Sept. 24 Games  

 New Lothrop at Ovid-Elsie 7 pm

Mt. Morris at Montrose 7 pm

Chesaning at Durand 7 pm

Byron at Mt. Morris 7 pm 

Bendle tunes up for GAC showdown with Flint Hamady by beating Flint Jaguars for 1st time

Frankenmuth moves to 5-0 overall in Tri-Valley by winning battle of East unbeatens; Millington 3-0

Frankenmuth moves to 5-0 overall in Tri-Valley by winning battle of East unbeatens; Millington 3-0

  (CCN) — The Bendle Tigers tuned up for next week's showdown for first place in Genesee Area Conference (GAC) football by beating the Flint Jaguars for the first time in a non-league battle Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) at Bendle.


Bendle had lost 58-36 in 2019 in its first contest against the Flint Jaguars since Southwestern Academy and N

  (CCN) — The Bendle Tigers tuned up for next week's showdown for first place in Genesee Area Conference (GAC) football by beating the Flint Jaguars for the first time in a non-league battle Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) at Bendle.


Bendle had lost 58-36 in 2019 in its first contest against the Flint Jaguars since Southwestern Academy and Northwestern combined forces. As one of the Metro Flint area's oldest prep football programs, Bendle had never played any of Flint's old members of the City Series members of the Saginaw Valley League which also once included Flint Central and Flint Northern.


Friday night's victory improved Bendle to 4-1 overall. They're 2-1 in GAC play where the Tigers host Flint Hamady next week in a 7 pm kickoff at Bendle. Hamady beat Flint Beecher 26-20 on Friday night (See details in the story above) to go to 3-0 in GAC action. Beecher is now 2-1 in the GAC.


BENDLE lost a 16-14 heartbreaker two weeks ago to Flint Beecher but bounced back with a 30-20 triumph over arch rival Bentley last week to win bragging rights for the City of Burton since Atherton isn't fielding an 11-player team this year.


 The Tigers can now create a possible three-way tie for the top spot in the GAC if they can beat Hamady next week and Beecher beats Flint New Standard Academy.  Kaleb Bellaflores ran for one Benlde touchdown and passed for another one. 


He was 8-of-13 passing for 174 yards through the air while racking up 89 more yards on 9 runs. Kieteris Hamlet caught one TD strike from Bellaflores and Hamlet also ran in one score.


BENTLEY rebounded from its loss in the battle of Burton last week by pounding Flint New Standard Academy 48-0.


 Below is a look at next week's upcoming games for GAC teams: 


Fri. Oct. 1 Action


(GAC Games)

Flint Hamady at Burton Bendle 7 pm

(Facebook Live Broadcast & 10 pm Friday Tape Delay Broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio with Replays Saturday 1 pm & Sunday 1 pm)

New Standard Academy at Flint Beecher 7 pm


(Non-League Game)

Flint Jaguars at Burton Bentley 7 pm 

Frankenmuth moves to 5-0 overall in Tri-Valley by winning battle of East unbeatens; Millington 3-0

Frankenmuth moves to 5-0 overall in Tri-Valley by winning battle of East unbeatens; Millington 3-0

Frankenmuth moves to 5-0 overall in Tri-Valley by winning battle of East unbeatens; Millington 3-0

 (CCN) — Frankenmuth won a battle of the last remaining unbeatens in the Tri-Valley Conference's East Division by clipping Freeland 48-21 on Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021). Both teams were 3-0 in Tri-Valley action coming into the game.

In action involving The Daily Gazette coverage area's other two Tri-Valley clubs, Birch Run dropped a 26-2

 (CCN) — Frankenmuth won a battle of the last remaining unbeatens in the Tri-Valley Conference's East Division by clipping Freeland 48-21 on Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021). Both teams were 3-0 in Tri-Valley action coming into the game.

In action involving The Daily Gazette coverage area's other two Tri-Valley clubs, Birch Run dropped a 26-20 decision to Essesville Garber in East Division action while Millington remained perfect at 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Tri-Valley's West Division with a 30-12 victory at Carrollton.


MILLINGTON also won a battle of the West's only two remaining unbeaten teams.


OTHER ACTION around the Tri-Valley on Friday saw Bay City John Glenn beat Bridgeport 34-0 and Saginaw Swan Valley nip Alma 29-28 in East Division games while Standish Sterling beat Hemlock 21-16 in the other West Division game. Midland Bullock Creek was a big loser in non-conference play, dropping a 41-19 decision to Ithaca.


  Below is a look at next week's upcoming games for Tri-Valley Conference teams:


Fri. Oct. 1 Action  


(East Division Games)

Frankenmuth at Bridgeport 7 pm 

Saginaw Swan Valley at Birch Run 7 pm

Essexville Garber at Alma, 7 pm 

Bay City John Glenn at Freeland 7 pm


(West Division Games)

Carrollton at Standish Sterling 7 pm

Hemlock at Midland Bullock Creek 7 pm


(Non-Conference Game)

Millington at Saginaw Lutheran Seminary 7 pm 

Vassar Vulcans beaten 41-0 in prep football game at Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker

Frankenmuth moves to 5-0 overall in Tri-Valley by winning battle of East unbeatens; Millington 3-0

Vassar Vulcans beaten 41-0 in prep football game at Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker

(CCN) — Vassar was beaten 41-0 Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) at Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker. It was Vassar's third straight loss in Greater Thumb Conference West Division play.


Meanwhile in games outside The Daily Gazette coverage area in West Division action; Bad Axe and Reese stayed perfect in league play. Each went to 5-0 overall with B

(CCN) — Vassar was beaten 41-0 Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) at Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker. It was Vassar's third straight loss in Greater Thumb Conference West Division play.


Meanwhile in games outside The Daily Gazette coverage area in West Division action; Bad Axe and Reese stayed perfect in league play. Each went to 5-0 overall with Bad Axe moving to 3-0 in league play and Reese to 4-0 in league action. Bad Axe won 48-0 over Caro while Reese edged Caro 35-20.

USA had the night off from league play and won 48-14 over Brown City in non-league action.


 Below is a look at next week's upcoming games for West Division teams in the Greater Thumb Conference:


Fri. Oct. 1 Action
 

(Conference Games)

Vassar at Caro 7 pm

Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker at USA 7 pm

Reese at Bad Axe 7 pm


(Non-Conference game)

Cass City at Harbor Beach 7 pm 

Atherton drops 24-20 decision to Farwell as replacement game for Genesee

Flint judge strikes pose at UM football game with UM basketball Coach Juwan Howard

COVID-19 protocol sidelines Genesee's football team for this week's big game

  (CCN) — COVID ruined what was supposed to be the big battle of Genesee Road with potential league championship implications at stake Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) in Burton at Atherton High School. The Wolverines instead lined up Farwell as a non-league prep football opponent when finding out Genesee could not play because of too many p

  (CCN) — COVID ruined what was supposed to be the big battle of Genesee Road with potential league championship implications at stake Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) in Burton at Atherton High School. The Wolverines instead lined up Farwell as a non-league prep football opponent when finding out Genesee could not play because of too many players in quarantine due to exposure to someone with COVID. Farwell won 28-24.


The loss came after Atherton's first 3-1 start since the 2014 football season. The Wolverines are now 3-2 overall in a quest for only their eighth winning season since back-to-back 7-2 campaigns in 1974 and 1975. They play for first place next week in the Stars Division of the Central Thumb League when Morrice comes to Burton for a 7 pm kickoff.


Morrice and Deckerville share the top spot in the division with Atherton at 3-0. Deckerville thumped International Academy of Flint 80-6 on Firdya night while Morrice rolled 48-8 over New Haven Merritt Academy. While Atherton was losing its non-league replacement game for Genesee on Friday night, Kingston also lost in non-league play while Mayville beat Akron Fairgrove 22-8. Kingston dropped a 42-30 decision to Messick.


  Below is a look at next week's upcoming games for the North Central Thumb League's Stars Division teams:


Fri. Oct. 1 Action
(Stars Division Games) 

Morrice at Burton Atherton 7 pm

Flint International Academy at Genesee 7 pm

Mayville at New Haven Merritt Academy 7 pm

Deckerville at Kingston 7 pm
 

COVID-19 protocol sidelines Genesee's football team for this week's big game

Flint judge strikes pose at UM football game with UM basketball Coach Juwan Howard

COVID-19 protocol sidelines Genesee's football team for this week's big game

 BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor

GENESEE (CCN) — Friday's (Sept. 24, 2021) big football game in Burton is cancelled for the Genesee Wolves. Atherton Athletic Director Timothy Hanilan told The Daily Gazette today (Sept. 22, 2021) that the game with potential league championship implications won't happen because of Genesee's football 

 BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor

GENESEE (CCN) — Friday's (Sept. 24, 2021) big football game in Burton is cancelled for the Genesee Wolves. Atherton Athletic Director Timothy Hanilan told The Daily Gazette today (Sept. 22, 2021) that the game with potential league championship implications won't happen because of Genesee's football team being in COVID-19 protocol due to exposure to an individual who came down with the virus that twice wiped out high school football games last year by order of Governor Gretchen Whitmer.


The 2020 season started four weeks late and was derailed during the state playoffs that were delayed until mid-January after Governor Whitmer's shutdown orders during the opening round of the 2020 tournament in November.


"We found an opponent in Farwell after learning that Genesee can't play," Hanilan said Wednesday morning. "Unfortunately, the big battle of Genesee Road is off. It's disappointing."


The big battle of tiny schools in 8-man football was slated as Metro Flint News/Talk Radio's live "Game of the Week" broadcast by Trace Fisher. He has done seven of the top games in The Daily Gazette's coverage area during the first three weeks, and was zeroing in on Burton's action this week. "It was something we were really looking forward to with everyone really excited around here, but we figured (Metro Flint News/Talk Radio) needed to know right away to make arrangements for another game," Hanilan said. 


Both teams have 3-1 records overall and Genesee has a 2-1 record in the North Central Thumb League's Stars Division where Atherton and Deckerville have not yet lost a league game. Atherton is 3-0 in league play, Deckerville and Morrice are each off to 2-0 starts.


Atherton is scheduled to host Morrice next week on Oct. 1 and has an Oct. 15 trip scheduled for Deckerville. Hanilan said the Atherton-Genesee game will be permanently canceled and not made up, no matter what happens in other action.

Deckerville handed Genesee its only loss of the season in a wild 82-48 shootout.


Atherton is led by new Coach Randy Young who has the Wolverines off to their first 3-1 start since 2014. The Wolverines have had only seven winning seasons of football since back-to-back 7-2 campaigns in 1974 and 1975.


Officials from the Genesee school district have not yet responded to a request for a comment about the COVID situation.


PHOTO CAPTION: Pictured above this story is Genesee Coach Ben Almassy who has too many players in COVID-19 protocol to play this week.

Flint judge strikes pose at UM football game with UM basketball Coach Juwan Howard

Flint judge strikes pose at UM football game with UM basketball Coach Juwan Howard

Flint judge strikes pose at UM football game with UM basketball Coach Juwan Howard

  PHOTO CAPTION: Pictured above is Genesee County CIrcuit Court Judge Chris Christensen striking a pose Saturday (Sept. 25, 2021) at Michigan Stadium with UM basketball Coach Juwan Howard. They were in attendance as the Michigan Wolverines won a battle of 3-0 football teams in Ann Arbor by beating Rutgers 20-13. 

PREP FOOTBALL 2021 ⚫ WEEK 4

Grand Blanc unseats Davison's title as king of Metro League area prep football

Fenton Tigers impressive in battle of 1-0 teams in Metro League football vs. Swartz Creek

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

 GRAND BLANC (CCN) — The crowd was huge. The energy was electric. It was high school football at its best in the Metro Flint area.


Davison's Cardinals, the undisputed king of Metro Flint area's prep football scene since Jake Weingardtz became coach in 2018, started strong to send early shock waves through Grand Blanc's hopes of staying per

 GRAND BLANC (CCN) — The crowd was huge. The energy was electric. It was high school football at its best in the Metro Flint area.


Davison's Cardinals, the undisputed king of Metro Flint area's prep football scene since Jake Weingardtz became coach in 2018, started strong to send early shock waves through Grand Blanc's hopes of staying perfect in 2021. But the 3-0 Bobcats struck back quickly from Davison's opening drive to paydirt, and they never looked back afterward as Coach Clint Alexander's troops rolled up a 43-7 romp that gave them the new title as king of Metro Flint area football as one of the few remaining local unbeatens with a 4-0 start.


Nobody in the Saginaw Valley's South Division appears capable of stopping them.


Circle a Week 8 battle against Lapeer as the likely toughest obstacle in the way of the Bobcats winning their first division championship under Coach Alexander. I don't think it will be close.


I thought it would be close Friday night and admit I'm stunned by Grand Blanc's dominance.


When Davison punched the Bobcats in the gut early, I wondered if the fans chanting not so nice things about The Flint Journal would get sweet revenge. Flint Journal sports writer Brendan Savage predicted a 24-20 loss for the team they were rooting for on the visitor's side of Grand Blanc's football stadium on Friday night.


The confidence about their Cardinals proving Savage wrong was understandable. This is a program that has reached the state finals two years in a row at Ford Field. They won it all two years ago in their second season under Weingardtz in 2019.


Add in the fact that Davison had not lost to Grand Blanc in 10 years and you can see why it seemed appropriate to direct a few barbs at The Flint Journal's only sports writer who dares to predict the outcomes of key high school games.


Savage didn't win any friends on the other side of the stadium either after his 24-20 prediction was destroyed in Grand Blanc's 43-7 winning margin.

They quickly got over the shock of Davison taking its opening drive 71 yards to reach the end zone in a run-dominated attack that took 9:44 off the clock. Braylen Himmelein, Davison's junior transfer from Saginaw Swan Valley, capped off a 13-play drive with a one-yard quarterback keeper over the goal line to put Davison ahead. Davison's defense then forced a three-and-out on Grand Blanc's ensuing possession.


Davison led 7-0 after one quarter before Grand Blanc's offense came to life.


The Bobcats scored on their next four possessions after their opening drive had stalled in three plays. By halftime, it was 29-7.


Hunter Ames hooked up with Nas Cardon on a 45-yard TD strike on the second play of Grand Blanc's second possession. Coach Alexander then shocked everyone with a fake extra point kick that turned into a two-point conversion, Grand Blanc was ahead 8-7 and never looked back.


Ames hit Tae Boyd on a 56-yard TD strike to make it 15-7 and Boyd hauled in a 19-yard TD strike to build the lead to 29-7 at the intermission.

Ames also ran in on a 19-yard TD scamper in addition to throwing for 203 yards and three touchdowns on 7-of-11 passing accuracy.

 Elijah Jackson-Anderson also ran for two Grand Blanc touchdowns. He scored on a 1-yarder and scampered in on a 13-yarder.


Daylan Hertzberg was 5-for-5 on extra point kicks for Grand Blanc which was led on defense by Cross Dobbs and Ryan Deibis with sacks, Joe Nemecek with an interception. Dobbs and Joe Marion also each recovered a fumble.


Himmelein was 10-for-20 through the air for 88 yards to lead Davison's offensive attack which was led by Jay’len Flowers piling up 150 yards on the ground with 21 carries. Senior star Gabe Smith led Davison's defense. He had 7 tackles.


--------------------------------------------------------------- ​Mike Killbreath hosts The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekdays from 8 am until 10 am on MetroFlintNewsTalkRadio.com. He is also soon launching a new statewide syndicated TV show known as The Michigan Crusaders. He also hosts The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show every Sunday from 4 pm until 6 pm and regularly appears on Michigan Sports Zone daily from 6-7 pm on MetroFlintNewsTalkRadio.com. He has won statewide awards for both his political columns and sports columns during a 40-year career as a journalist. Killbreath has also won several statewide and national awards for investigative news reporting. 

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Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Fenton Tigers impressive in battle of 1-0 teams in Metro League football vs. Swartz Creek

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

 Saginaw Valley League Action on Friday Night

(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc  43, Davison 7

Flint Powers Catholic 35, Saginaw United 6

Lapeer 56, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 25

(North Division Games)

Mount Pleasant 33, Midland Dow 10 

Midland 35, Bay City Central 9

Bay City Western 40, Saginaw Heritage 19


Metro League Action on Friday Night

(Stripes

 Saginaw Valley League Action on Friday Night

(South Division Games)

Grand Blanc  43, Davison 7

Flint Powers Catholic 35, Saginaw United 6

Lapeer 56, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 25

(North Division Games)

Mount Pleasant 33, Midland Dow 10 

Midland 35, Bay City Central 9

Bay City Western 40, Saginaw Heritage 19


Metro League Action on Friday Night

(Stripes Division Games)

Fenton 41,  Swartz Creek 27 

Flint Kearsley 21, Flushing 14

Linden 40, Holly 0

(Stars Division Games)

Lake Fenton 32, Corunna 13

Goodrich 49, Owosso 13

Ortonville Brandon 55, Clio 0


Genesee Area Conference Action on Friday

(GAC Games)

Burton Bendle 30, Burton Bentley 28

Flint Hamady 55, Flint New Standard Academy 0

(Non-League Game)

Flint Beecher 64, Flint Jaguars 22


Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Action on Friday Night

(MMAC Games)

New Lothrop 63, Byron 13

Durand 40, Mt. Morris 21

Montrose 35, Chesaning 0 

Ovid-Elsie 56, Otisville LakeVille 0


Tri-Valley Conference Action on Friday Night

(East Division Games)

Frankenmuth 54, Bay City John Glenn 0

Birch Run 41, Alma 0

Freeland 43, Essexville Garber 14

Saginaw Swan Valley 56, Bridgeport 20

(West Division Games)

Millington 21, Standish Sterling 8 

Carrollton 44, Midland Bullock Creek 21

(Non-League Game)

Hemlock 48, St. Louis 12


 Greater Thumb Conference West Division Action on Friday Night 

(Conference Games)

Cass City 27, Vassar 18

Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker 35, Caro 9

Reese 36, USA 16

(Non-Conference Game)

Bad Axe 27, Sandusky 17


 North Central Thumb League Action on Friday

(Stars Division Games) 

Burton Atherton 40, Mayville 38

Kingston 36, Flint International Academy 8

Deckerville 52, New Haven Merritt Academy 8

(Non-League Game)

Genesee 64, Caseville 14

Morrice 59, Lawrence 6


 Fri. Sept. 24 Saginaw Valley Games

(South Division Games)

Flint Powers Catholic at Grand Blanc 7 pm

(Radio broadcast on WFNT 1470 AM)

Lapeer at Saginaw United 7 pm

Flint Carman-Ainsworth at Davison 7 pm

(North Division Games)

Mount Pleasant at Midland 7 pm

Midland Dow at Bay City Western 7 pm

Bay City Central at Saginaw Heritage 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 24 Metro League Games

(Stripes Division Games)

Fenton at Holly 7 pm 

Flushing at Linden 7 pm

Flint Kearsley at Swartz Creek 7 pm

(Stars Division Games)

 Goodrich at Corunna 7 pm

Owosso at Ortonville Brandon 7 pm

Clio at Lake Fenton 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 24 Genesee Area Conference Games

(GAC Games)

Flint Beecher at Flint Hamady 7 pm

(Facebook Live Broadcast & Tape Delay Broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio)

Bentley at Flint New Standard Academy 7 pm

(Non-League Game)

Flint Jaguars at Burton Bendle 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 24 Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Games

(MMAC Games)

Montrose at New Lothrop 7 pm

Durand at LakeVille 7 pm

Byron at Mt. Morris 7 pm

Ovid-Elsie at Chesaning 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 24 Tri-Valley Conference Games

Freeland at Frankenmuth 7 pm

Birch Run at Essexville Garber 7 pm

Bridgeport at Bay City John Glenn 7 pm

Alma at Saginaw Swan Valley 7 pm

(West Division Games)

Millington at Carrollton 7 pm

Standish Sterling at Hemlock 7 pm

(Non-Conference Games)

Ithaca at Midland Bullock Creek 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 24 Greater Thumb Conference West Division Games

(Conference Games)

Vassar at Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker 7 pm

Caro at Bad Axe 7 pm

Cass City at Reese 7 pm

(Non-Conference game)

Brown City at USA 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 24 North Central Thumb League Stars Division Games

(Stars Division Games) 

Genesee at Burton Atherton 7 pm

Flint International Academy at Deckerville 7 pm

Morrice at New Haven Merritt Academy 7 pm

(Non-League Game)

Kingston at Messick 7 pm

Mayville at Akron Fairgrove

Fenton Tigers impressive in battle of 1-0 teams in Metro League football vs. Swartz Creek

Fenton Tigers impressive in battle of 1-0 teams in Metro League football vs. Swartz Creek

Fenton Tigers impressive in battle of 1-0 teams in Metro League football vs. Swartz Creek

FENTON (CCN) —  The most Fenton Tigers took on upset-minded Swartz Creek Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021) in a Metro League Stripes Division battle of the unbeaten. After 0-2 starts, both the Fenton Tigers and Swartz Creek Dragons won season opening games last week to set the stage for their clash of unbeaten Metro League clubs.


The Dragons d

FENTON (CCN) —  The most Fenton Tigers took on upset-minded Swartz Creek Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021) in a Metro League Stripes Division battle of the unbeaten. After 0-2 starts, both the Fenton Tigers and Swartz Creek Dragons won season opening games last week to set the stage for their clash of unbeaten Metro League clubs.


The Dragons defeated Holly 28-6 and the Tigers beat title hopeful Flushing 39-20. There were whispers that the Dragons could pull an upset at Fenton on Friday night but the Tigers were not having anything to do with it.


They're fighting for their 10th Metro Legue title in the last 11 years under Coach Jeff Setzke. 

A 41-27 victory over Swartz Creek to follow their impressive showing against Flushing solidified the Tigers as the favorites to win again in 2021.


After having a 30-yard TD run called back with 6:56 left in the first quarter, the Tigers found the end zone at the 4:25 mark on a 19 yard TD pass from Seth Logan to Sam Clayborn. It was 6-0 after the Tigers missed the extra point kick.


It did not take long for Swartz Creek to strike back when Junior Evan Lloyd rambled 65 yards on a TD run with 2:53 left in the first quarter. The Dragons converted the extra point and took a 7-6 lead. 

But te lead was short lived and would be the only lead the Dragons would hold all night as Fenton's offense then got rolling thereafter.


It was less than a minute later that Jake Nichols bolted 18 yards for a TD and Sam Clayborn converted a 2 point conversion to put the Tigers in front 14-7.


To start the second quarter, the teams shared turnovers and Fenton was able to cash in on a fumble recovery on the Dragons' 22 yard line and it was Jake Nichols who punched it in for his second TD of the night to make it a 21-7 Fenton lead. With 44 seconds left in the half, Fenton QB Logan hit Nichols with a 49 yard pass taking the Tigers down to the Swartz Creek 11-yard line On the next play Logan, hit Clayborn with a TD pass but the Tigers again failed to convert the extra point — leaving the Fenton lead at 27-7. 


The Dragons received the ball back and threatened to score when Evan Lloyd ripped off a 64 yard run with 27 seconds left, two short passes later the Dragons found themselves knocking on the door with the ball at Fenton's 3-yard line. But a bad snap pushed them back to the Fenton 26-yard line and the last play of the half was intercepted in the end zone by Clayborn to take the Tigers into halftime with a 27-7 lead.


Swartz Creek opened the third quarter scoring with back-to-back carries by Lloyd who picked up 18 yards on the first carry and then bounced into the end zone from 5 yards out to cut the Fenton lead to 27-13. 


In the fourth quarter, Jake Nichols matched Creek's runningback Lloyd by carrying back-to-back — picking up 11 yards and then scoring his third TD of the game from 7 yards out. The extra point was good, 0making it 34-13 Tigers.


Another big work horse in the second half was Dragons Tristan Hinkley who is listed at 6”1 225 lbs and used that big body to bulldoze his way over and over into the Tigers defense. On the Dragons offensive series, he had a 17-yard carry taking the ball to the Tigers 1 yard line and then bullied his way into the end zone to dent the Fenton lead to 34-20 with 7:38 left in the game. 


Fenton backup QB Nolan Alvord, who had seen some snaps earlier in the game with starting QB Logan went out with an ankle injury, found himself back behind center and was able to break off a 34 yard TD run and extend the Tigers lead to 41-20.


Give credit to the Dragons and their never give up attitude. Hinkley led the way on the ground picking up 32 yards on a run that took the ball down to the Tigers 5 yard line and a couple carries later punched it in for his second TD leaving Swartz Creek trailing 41-27 with 4:28 left in the game. The Fenton offense turned the ball back over to Swartz Creek with under two minutes left and fighting to the very end the Dragons RB Hinkley broke away on the right side and rumbled down the field for 62 yards before being brought down on the four yard line by a host of Tigers ending the game and giving the Tigers their second win in a row and evening their overall record at 2-2 and 2-0 in Metro League play.


Swartz Creek dropped to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in Metro League action.


Next week, Fenton takes on its next door rivals the Holly Broncos, while Swartz Creek will host Flint Kearsley's Hornets.


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Tim Crow is  a sports columnist for The Daily Gazette. He can be heard regularly as a play-by-play broadcaster on sportscasts for Metro Flint News/Talk Radio and he often appears on both The Michigan Sports Zone Show and The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show.

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Flint Powers win its Valley football opener; Flint C-A Cavaliers beaten at Lapeer

Flint Hamady and Flint Beecher to battle for first place next week in GAC showdown

Four teams from The Daily Gazette coverage area survive as Metro League unbeatens

 (CCN) — All three teams from The Daily Gazette coverage area were winners in Tri-Valley Conference action Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021). Frankenmuth and Birch Run were big winners in East Division play while Millington won 21-8 over Standish Sterling in a West Division battle.


FRANKENMUTH went to 3-0 atop the Tri-Valley's East Division an

 (CCN) — All three teams from The Daily Gazette coverage area were winners in Tri-Valley Conference action Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021). Frankenmuth and Birch Run were big winners in East Division play while Millington won 21-8 over Standish Sterling in a West Division battle.


FRANKENMUTH went to 3-0 atop the Tri-Valley's East Division and 4-0 overall by trouncing Bay City John Glenn 54-0.


BIRCH RUN powered to its first Tri-Valley victory by leveling its overall record at 2-2 with a 41-0 romp over Alma in a battle of 1-1 teams in the Tri-Valley's East Division.


MILLINGTON won its second straight game in Tri-Valley action and moved to 4-0 overall by clipping Standish Sterling 21-8. The Cardinals set the stage for next week's battle at Carrollton. They are the only remaining unbeaten teams in Tri-Valley West Division play. Carrollton is 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Tri-Valley action.


OTHER ACTION around the Tri-Valley Conference on Friday night, Freeland stayed tied with Frankenmuth atop the East Division standings with a 43-14 romp over Essesville Garber; Saginaw Swan Valley won its first East Division game with a 56-20 triumph over Bridgeport; Carrollton took a 44-21 decision over Midland Bullock Creek in a West Division opener; and Hemlock won a non-conference tilt with St. Louis 48-12.


Below is a look at this week's upcoming conference games for Tri-Valley teams: 


Fri. Sept. 24 Games 


(East Division Games)

Freeland at Frankenmuth 7 pm

Birch Run at Essexville Garber 7 pm

Bridgeport at Bay City John Glenn 7 pm

Alma at Saginaw Swan Valley 7 pm


(West Division Games)

Millington at Carrollton 7 pm

Standish Sterling at Hemlock 7 pm


(Non-Conference Game)

Ithaca at Midland Bullock Creek 7 pm
 

Four teams from The Daily Gazette coverage area survive as Metro League unbeatens

Flint Hamady and Flint Beecher to battle for first place next week in GAC showdown

Four teams from The Daily Gazette coverage area survive as Metro League unbeatens

 (CCN) — Four football teams from The Daily Gazette coverage area survived Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021) action in the Metro League still in the unbeaten ranks. Moving to 2-0 in Metro League play were Stripes Division co-leaders Fenton and Linden with Stars Division co-leaders Goodrich and Ortonville Brandon.


Swartz Creek was knocked from 

 (CCN) — Four football teams from The Daily Gazette coverage area survived Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021) action in the Metro League still in the unbeaten ranks. Moving to 2-0 in Metro League play were Stripes Division co-leaders Fenton and Linden with Stars Division co-leaders Goodrich and Ortonville Brandon.


Swartz Creek was knocked from the unbeaten ranks in Metro League play by losing at Fenton.


THE FENTON TIGERS, gunning for their 10th Metro League title in the last 11 years, opened Stripes Division play with a 39-20 victory over Flushing and fought off an upset-minded Swartz Creeek club this week 43-27. (See story above) The back-to-back victories to open Metro League action followed an 0-2 start against tough non-league rivals Midland Dow and East Lansing.

"That's why we play such a tough non-league schedule: To get ready for the league and for state playoffs," said Fenton Coach Jeff Setzke on the pre-game show before last week's broadcast of his club's impressive showing against Flushing.


FLUSHING'S RAIDERS lost their third in a row Friday night after an impressive season-opening non-league triumph over Flint Powers Catholic. The Raiders were beaten at home by visiting Flint Kearsley, dropping a 21-14 decision.


THE LINDEN EAGLES blanked tri-county area rival Holly 40-0 after whipping Stripes Division rival Flint Kearlsey 47-21 for its first victory a week earlier after losing non-league games to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (34-8) and Goodrich (9-6). Veteran Coach Denny Hopkins will try to keep his Eagles rolling next week at home against the visiting Flushing Raiders.


GOODRICH ROLLED for the third week in a row after its 28-14 loss to Frankenmuth in the opener at Flint's historic Atwood Stadium in the fourth annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic. The Martians followed last week's 9-6 triumph over LInden in their home opener by thumping Clio 48-0 before bombing host Owosso 49-13 this week.


ORTONVILLE BRANDON won big this week, too. The Blackhawks moved to 4-0 as the Metro League's only remaining unbeaten team overall by handing visiting Clio a 55-0 beating.


LAKE FENTON rebounded from last week's heartbreaking 48-40 loss to Ortonville Brandon by toppling Corunna 32-13.


 Below is a look at this week's upcoming games for Metro League teams:


Fri. Sept. 24 Metro League Games


(Stripes Division Games)

Fenton at Holly 7 pm

Flushing at Linden 7 pm

Flint Kearsley at Swartz Creek 7 pm


(Stars Division Games)

Goodrich at Corunna 7 pm

Owosso at Ortonville Brandon 7 pm

Clio at Lake Fenton 7 pm 

Flint Hamady and Flint Beecher to battle for first place next week in GAC showdown

Flint Hamady and Flint Beecher to battle for first place next week in GAC showdown

Flint Hamady and Flint Beecher to battle for first place next week in GAC showdown

  (CCN) — Flint Hamady won Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021) in Genesee Area Conference football action to set up a big battle of unbeatens next week. The Hawks will play next Friday against Flint Beecher on the new carpet at Flint Hamady. Kickoff is 7 pm and the game will be carried on Facebook Live by Metro Flint News/Talk Radio's play-by-p

  (CCN) — Flint Hamady won Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021) in Genesee Area Conference football action to set up a big battle of unbeatens next week. The Hawks will play next Friday against Flint Beecher on the new carpet at Flint Hamady. Kickoff is 7 pm and the game will be carried on Facebook Live by Metro Flint News/Talk Radio's play-by-play team of Larry Coleman and Tim Crow. 


A tape delay broadcast of the Hamady-Beecher battle will be presented immediately after Friday night's live game on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio.


FLINT HAMADY won its second straight Friday night after dropping back-to-back non-conference games to open the season. The Hawks rolled to a 55-0 romp over  Flint New Standard Academy.


FLINT BEECHER had the night off from GAC play with a non-league date against the Flint Jaguars. They rolled to a 64-22 romp over their Flint rivals. Beecher is also 2-2 overall. The Bucs are 1-0 in GAC action where Hamady is now 2-0.


THE BENDLE TIGERS won Friday night's battle of bragging rights in the city of Burton. They beat cross-town rival Bentley in a 30-28 thriller after losing last week's 16-14 heartbreaker to Beecher.

  Below is a look at this week's upcoming games for Genesee Area Conference teams: 


Fri. Sept. 24 Games 


(GAC Games)

Flint Beecher at Flint Hamady 7 pm

(Facebook Live Broadcast & Tape Delay Broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio)

Bentley at Flint New Standard Academy 7 pm


(Non-League Game)

Flint Jaguars at Burton Bendle 7 pm

All 3 teams in The Daily Gazette coverage roll in Tri-Valley Conference football action

All 3 teams in The Daily Gazette coverage roll in Tri-Valley Conference football action

All 3 teams in The Daily Gazette coverage roll in Tri-Valley Conference football action

 (CCN) — All three teams from The Daily Gazette coverage area were winners in Tri-Valley Conference action Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021). Frankenmuth and Birch Run were big winners in East Division play while Millington won 21-8 over Standish Sterling in a West Division battle.


FRANKENMUTH went to 3-0 atop the Tri-Valley's East Division an

 (CCN) — All three teams from The Daily Gazette coverage area were winners in Tri-Valley Conference action Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021). Frankenmuth and Birch Run were big winners in East Division play while Millington won 21-8 over Standish Sterling in a West Division battle.


FRANKENMUTH went to 3-0 atop the Tri-Valley's East Division and 4-0 overall by trouncing Bay City John Glenn 54-0.


BIRCH RUN powered to its first Tri-Valley victory by leveling its overall record at 2-2 with a 41-0 romp over Alma in a battle of 1-1 teams in the Tri-Valley's East Division.


MILLINGTON won its second straight game in Tri-Valley action and moved to 4-0 overall by clipping Standish Sterling 21-8. The Cardinals set the stage for next week's battle at Carrollton. They are the only remaining unbeaten teams in Tri-Valley West Division play. Carrollton is 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Tri-Valley action.


OTHER ACTION around the Tri-Valley Conference on Friday night, Freeland stayed tied with Frankenmuth atop the East Division standings with a 43-14 romp over Essesville Garber; Saginaw Swan Valley won its first East Division game with a 56-20 triumph over Bridgeport; Carrollton took a 44-21 decision over Midland Bullock Creek in a West Division opener; and Hemlock won a non-conference tilt with St. Louis 48-12.


Below is a look at this week's upcoming conference games for Tri-Valley teams: 


Fri. Sept. 24 Games 


(East Division Games)

Freeland at Frankenmuth 7 pm

Birch Run at Essexville Garber 7 pm

Bridgeport at Bay City John Glenn 7 pm

Alma at Saginaw Swan Valley 7 pm


(West Division Games)

Millington at Carrollton 7 pm

Standish Sterling at Hemlock 7 pm

(Non-Conference Game)

Ithaca at Midland Bullock Creek 7 pm
 

Montrose knocks off unbeaten Chesaning to set up MMAC showdown at New Lothrop

All 3 teams in The Daily Gazette coverage roll in Tri-Valley Conference football action

All 3 teams in The Daily Gazette coverage roll in Tri-Valley Conference football action

  (CCN) — Montrose pulled the first surprise of the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference (MMAC) football season by blanking previously unbeaten Chesaning 35-0 on Friday night. The victory sets up a battle for first place next week in the MMAC when Montrose goes to New Lothrop.


THE DEFENDING CHAMPION Hornets are off to a 3-0 start in MMAC pla

  (CCN) — Montrose pulled the first surprise of the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference (MMAC) football season by blanking previously unbeaten Chesaning 35-0 on Friday night. The victory sets up a battle for first place next week in the MMAC when Montrose goes to New Lothrop.


THE DEFENDING CHAMPION Hornets are off to a 3-0 start in MMAC play after losing their non-conference opener at Jackson Lumen Christi. New Lothrop rolled 63-13 on Friday night.


MONTROSE bounced back at home after losing a 23-22 heartbreaker a week earlier at Ovid-Elsie. The Rams handed Chesaning its first loss after getting off to a 3-0 start overall.


OVID-ELSIE moved to 3-0 in MMAC play and 4-0 overall on Friday night by trouncing Otisville LakeVille by a 56-0 score.


DURAND moved to 2-1 to join a three-way tie behind New Lothrop and Ovid-Elsie in the MMAC with Montrose and Chesaning. The Railroaders won 40-21 Friday night over Mt. Morris.


 Below is a look at this week's upcoming conference games for MMAC teams:


Fri. Sept. 24 Games
 Montrose at New Lothrop 7 pm

Durand at LakeVille 7 pm

Byron at Mt. Morris 7 pm

Ovid-Elsie at Chesaning 7 pm 

Vassar's Vulcans drop second straight contest after 2-0 start in prep football action

All 3 teams in The Daily Gazette coverage roll in Tri-Valley Conference football action

Vassar's Vulcans drop second straight contest after 2-0 start in prep football action

 (CCN) — The Vassar Vulacans lost their second straight in Greater Thumb Conference West Division action Friday night by dropping a 27-18 decision to Cass City.


Vassar had started the season with a pair of non-conference victories to generate lots of excitement in the community after last season's 0-7 record.


In other Greater Thumb Conferen

 (CCN) — The Vassar Vulacans lost their second straight in Greater Thumb Conference West Division action Friday night by dropping a 27-18 decision to Cass City.


Vassar had started the season with a pair of non-conference victories to generate lots of excitement in the community after last season's 0-7 record.


In other Greater Thumb Conference West Division action on Friday night, Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker and Reese stayed unbeaten in conference play while Bad Axe won in non-conference action to move to 4-0 overall. Bad Axe knocked off Sandusky 27-17 in its non-conference battle while Elton Pigeon Bayport Laker won 35-9 over Caro and Reese rolled 36-16 over USA.


  Below is a look at this week's upcoming  games for Greater Thumb West teams:


Fri. Sept. 24 Games  


(Conference Games)

Vassar at Elkton Pigeon Bayport Laker 7 pm

Caro at Bad Axe 7 pm

Cass City at Reese 7 pm


(Non-Conference game)

Brown City at USA 7 pm 

New Coach Randy Young has Atherton off to first 3-1 start since 2014 campaign

Tape delay broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio to air on Facebook Live from Hamady

Metro Flint News/Talk Radio to broadcast live on digital air waves from Burton

   (CCN) — New Coach Randy Young has the Atherton Wolverines off to their best start in high school football since 2014 after winning a 40-38 barnburner over visiting Mayville Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021). A 7-3 record in 2014 was the best at Atherton in more than 40 years since back-to-back 7-2 records in 1974 and 1975. There have been 

   (CCN) — New Coach Randy Young has the Atherton Wolverines off to their best start in high school football since 2014 after winning a 40-38 barnburner over visiting Mayville Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021). A 7-3 record in 2014 was the best at Atherton in more than 40 years since back-to-back 7-2 records in 1974 and 1975. There have been only seven winning seasons in the 40-year span since then, so the new coach understandably had a tough assignment when taking over the helm this year.


Young's task was even more challenging when adding in the fact that last year's Wolverines lost their first two games, forfeited the next two because they didn't have enough players available and then threw in the towel on the season.


All that is now forgotten as Coach Young guided Atherton to its third straight victory on Friday night after losing 30-20 to Kinde North Huron in a non-league opener. All three victories since then have been in league play in the North Central Thumb League's Stars Division. Two other teams from The Daily Gazette coverage area are also in the North Central's Stars Division for 8-man football action — Genesee and International Academy of Flint.


INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY lost its fourth straight game Friday night and fell to 0-3 in league play by dropping a 36-8 decision to Kingston.


GENESEE tuned up for a showdown this week at Atherton by blasting Caseville 64-14 in a non-league contest. Like Atherton, Genesee is off to a 3-1 start overall.


OTHER ACTION among teams outside our area in the North Central Thumb's Stars Division, Deckerville moved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 with Atherton atop the standings with a 52-8 romp over New Haven Merritt Academy. Morrice had a non-league game against Lawrence and won it 59-6.


  Below is a look at this week's upcoming games for Stars Division football teams in the North Central League:


Fri. Sept. 24 Game


(Stars Division Games)

Genesee at Burton Atherton 7 pm

Flint International Academy at Deckerville 7 pm

Morrice at New Haven Merritt Academy 7 pm


(Non-League Games)

Kingston at Messick 7 pm

Mayville at Akron Fairgrove 7 pm

Metro Flint News/Talk Radio to broadcast live on digital air waves from Burton

Tape delay broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio to air on Facebook Live from Hamady

Metro Flint News/Talk Radio to broadcast live on digital air waves from Burton

BURTON (CCN) — Metro Flint News/Talk Radio will broadcast a high school football game this season for the first time from Burton. The microphone of play-by-play man Trace Fisher will be at Atherton High School where the Wolverines put their undefeated record on the line in the Stars Division of the North Central Thumb League on Friday nig

BURTON (CCN) — Metro Flint News/Talk Radio will broadcast a high school football game this season for the first time from Burton. The microphone of play-by-play man Trace Fisher will be at Atherton High School where the Wolverines put their undefeated record on the line in the Stars Division of the North Central Thumb League on Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021). Game time will be 7 pm after the pre-game show at 6:45 pm.


Atherton will host the Genesee Wolves in a battle of teams with identical 3-1 records overall.

Tape delay broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio to air on Facebook Live from Hamady

Tape delay broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio to air on Facebook Live from Hamady

Tape delay broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio to air on Facebook Live from Hamady

 LINT (CCN) — A battle for first place in Genesee Area Conference (GAC) football will be presented on Facebook Live in an audio signal that will be featured as the tape delay broadcast this week from Flint Hamady High School. The Hawks will host Flint Beecher Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) at 7 o'clock. The pre-game show will be featured o

 LINT (CCN) — A battle for first place in Genesee Area Conference (GAC) football will be presented on Facebook Live in an audio signal that will be featured as the tape delay broadcast this week from Flint Hamady High School. The Hawks will host Flint Beecher Friday night (Sept. 24, 2021) at 7 o'clock. The pre-game show will be featured on Facebook Live at 6:45 pm to be followed by the live audio signal of the broadcast by Metro Flint News Talk Radio's play-by-play team Larry Coleman and Tim Crow.


The tape delay broadcast on the radio signal of Metro Flint News Talk Radio will begin immediately after the live broadcast of the Atherton-Genesee game from Burton.

PREP FOOTBALL 2021 ⚫ WEEK 3

Broadcasting high school football action big hit with fans; we will continue airing games!

Broadcasting high school football action big hit with fans; we will continue airing games!

Broadcasting high school football action big hit with fans; we will continue airing games!

 The first big test is done for the new 24/7 internet radio station known as Metro Flint News/Talk Radio. You can tune in by scrolling down on this page to click on the "Listen Live" link, or you can tune in on your smart phone, home computer, office PC, laptop or favorite mobile device by downloading one of our special apps for Iphones o

 The first big test is done for the new 24/7 internet radio station known as Metro Flint News/Talk Radio. You can tune in by scrolling down on this page to click on the "Listen Live" link, or you can tune in on your smart phone, home computer, office PC, laptop or favorite mobile device by downloading one of our special apps for Iphones or Android phones. And if your house is equipped with Alexa devices in multiple rooms, simply say: "Alexa, play Metro Flint News/Talk Radio" and our signal will be booming to you loud and clear.


No AM radio static for us. It's a crystal clear signal from whatever mobile device you use to tune in or or through your car radio if you use a USB to plug in and take Metro Flint News/Talk Radio with you!

The biggest complaints I've had over the past 10 years with my radio shows have come from people angry about losing the AM signal when driving to the far corners of Genesee County. That's why we've made the huge step to launch the market's first 24/7 internet radio station.


We're talking with local talent — some new voices we think you will enjoy and some old faces who have disappeared from the local radio scene after two giant media corporations bought up most of the local stations several years ago. We have also put together a variety of nationally syndicated shows not available on our area's AM or FM dials.

Our official launch is on Sunday, Oct. 24 at noon.


The Morning Gazette Radio Show will kick things off with a special two-hour program to celebrate our 10th year of local radio. We've expanded the format from 90 minutes to two hours in our normal 8 am weekday slot, and most of the talk will be dedicated to local topics as we prepare to also launch a new statewide syndicated TV show to be known as The Michigan Crusaders. 


The format for The Morning Gazette Radio Show will transition away from everything that isn't local. On TV, we will focus on statewide topics and do our lively debate on national and world topics that Metro Flint area audiences have enjoyed so much during the last decade while showing so much love to this former long-time community newspaper editor and publisher. 


This online edition of The Daily Gazette has replaced our print editions that once reached more than 80,000 homes across this county. We're expecting Metro Flint News/Talk Radio to do the same kind of replacement job for all the AM and FM radio stations now on the local horizon.


And back to the first big test I opened with in today's Editor's Notebook. Before our grand opening target date of Sunday, Oct.  24  — a few of our nationally syndicated shows allowed early airing and The Morning Gazette Radio Show got back into the groove after a lengthy layoff due to the COVID-19 shutdown devastated our local business community. But with all the many blocks of open air time available until the big official launch day of our new signal, it was time to test an idea of mine to showcase high school talent.


Our initial high school football broadcasts passed  with flying colors as fans and local businesses offered strong support. We did three great games last week  —  two at Flint's historic Atwood Stadium in the fourth annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic and the big heavyweight battle between Clarkston and the Davison Cardinals in the Battle at the Big House from Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.  We did three more games this week. 


Two of them were barnburners. One featured Goodrich nipping Linden 9-6 in a thriller that many project could be a preview of the Week 8 cross-over game for the Metro League championship. The other one was a back-and-forth battle in Grand Rapids as the five-time defending champions of the OK Conference's White Division repeatedly knocked down Grand Blanc's Bobcats, but couldn't put them down. 


Forest Hills Central rallied from a 14-0 hole to lead 20-14 at halftime. The Rangers struck back to re-take leads, too, after Grand Blanc scored touchdowns to go ahead 24-20, 27-24 and 34-31.


 They scored what appeared to be the game winner with 56 seconds remaining, but Grand Blanc rebounded to win on a 76-yard TD pass.

It's the kind of fun fans enjoy and we hope our local businesses keep putting their advertising dollars behind these great young athletes to help us celebrate their great accomplishments.


Click to our Sports Section for more scores from around The Daily Gazette coverage area. We also have a story about where the Metro Flint News/Talk Radio microphones are headed this week for our high school football coverage.


--------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Killbreath hosts The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekdays from 8 am until 10 am on MetroFlintNewsTalkRadio.com. He is also soon launching a new statewide syndicated TV show known as The Michigan Crusaders. He also hosts The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show every Sunday from 4 pm until 7 pm on and he regularly appears on Michigan Sports Zone daily at noon on MetroFlintNewsTalkRadio.com  (with replays from 7-8 pm) and he also appears regularly from 6-7 pm weeknights on The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show. Killbreath has won numerous statewide awards for both his political columns and sports columns during a 40-year career as a journalist, and he has also won several statewide and national awards for investigative reporting. 

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Clint Alexander has Grand Blanc Bobcats rolling; They go to 3-0 at Midland Dow

Broadcasting high school football action big hit with fans; we will continue airing games!

Broadcasting high school football action big hit with fans; we will continue airing games!

 BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor


MIDLAND (CCN) — The Grand Blanc Bobcats won another back-and-forth football game Friday night (Sept. 10, 2021) to move to a perfect 3-0 on the young season. They won 27-23 at Midland Dow.


They will try to beat Davison next week for the first time in 10 years. They lost to the Cardinals twice last year

 BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor


MIDLAND (CCN) — The Grand Blanc Bobcats won another back-and-forth football game Friday night (Sept. 10, 2021) to move to a perfect 3-0 on the young season. They won 27-23 at Midland Dow.


They will try to beat Davison next week for the first time in 10 years. They lost to the Cardinals twice last year when Davison beat the Bobcats for the North Division championship in the Saginaw Valley and made it to Ford Field for the Division 1 state finals for the second season in a row.


Metro Flint News/Talk Radio will broadcast the big battle at Grand Blanc where one of the biggest crowds for a local prep football game is expected. Trace Fisher and Larry Coleman will handle the play-by-play duties. The kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm after the pre-game show at 6:45 pm.


Friday's thrilling victory at Midland Dow followed the dramatic game-winning touchdown last week with 30 seconds remaining to win at Grand Rapids over Forest HIlls Central. The 74-yard TD strike ton win 38-34 capped off another back-and-forth battle. The Bobcats also won their opener 40-34 over East Lansing in another exciting contest in the fourth annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic at Flint's historic Atwood Stadium. East Lansing came into the game ranked as the No. 25 team in Michigan by the Detroit Free Press in its pre-season poll.


Grand Blanc was 13th in that pre-season poll by the Free Press and a 3-0 record against three traditional Division 1 heavyweights has many projecting a state title run for Alexander's gang of 75 Bobcats.


Hunter Ames connected with Tae Boyd on a 46-yard TD pass to allow Grand Blanc to overcome a 23-20 deficit late in the third quarter. Ames also hit Boyd on a 32-yard TD strike earlier in the game and Ames ran in a 10-yard quarterback keeper. He was 18-of-22 passing for the night for 183 yards with three of his passes going to Boyd for 93 yards.

Elijah Jackson-Anderson led Grand Blanc's rushing game with 14 carries for 94 yards, including a 47-yard TD bolt.


 Click to our Sports Section for more scores from around The Daily Gazette coverage area. 


PHOTO CAPTION: Pictured above this story is Grand Blanc Coach Clint Alexander.

Fenton wins big Metro League opening night matchup against Flushing Raiders

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

BY TIM CROW

CCN Sports Writer


FENTON (CCN) — It was an early season showdown in the Stripes Division of the Metro League on Friday night with potential title implications at stake. The Fenton Tigers, defending Metro League champions and winners of 10 out of the last 11 titles, opened the Metro League schedule with a 39-20 victory over the F

BY TIM CROW

CCN Sports Writer


FENTON (CCN) — It was an early season showdown in the Stripes Division of the Metro League on Friday night with potential title implications at stake. The Fenton Tigers, defending Metro League champions and winners of 10 out of the last 11 titles, opened the Metro League schedule with a 39-20 victory over the Flushing Raiders.


The Raiders had beaten Flint Powers Catholic 33-6 on opening night in the fourth annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic at Flint's historic Atwood Stadium and they lost a heart-breaker against another highly-regarded Saginaw Valley club last week when dropping their home opener 34-20 to Saginaw Heritage which won it with two fourth quarter touchdowns.


Fenton had an uncharacteristic 0-2 start but both losses came against tough non-league rivals. The Tigers were beaten 43-14 by Midland Dow in the Battle at the Big House in Ann Arbor at Michigan Stadium in their opener, then dropped a 33-7 decision last week at East Lansing.


"To get better and get ready for the state playoffs is exactly why we play tough teams like that," said Fenton Coach Jeff Setzke in the pre-game show of Metro Flint News/Talk Radio's broadcast of Friday night's game in Fenton. The broadcast replays on Saturday (Sept. 11, 2021) at 3 pm and 7 pm. You can listen live by going to our Home Page and scrolling down to click on the "Listen Live" link for Metro Flint News/Talk Radio.


Fenton received the opening kickoff Friday night and put together a strong scoring drive to open the contest that culminated with a 11 yard TD pass from Seth Logan to Jake Nichols with 7:39 on the clock to give the Tigers an early 7-0 lead and to set the tone for the game.


Flushing fought right back and tied the score when David Hutchinson broke free from the line of scrimmage and was able to out run the Fenton defense for an 80 yard touchdown scamper to tie the score at 7-7.


The rest of the first half was dominated by the Fenton offense — led by quarterback Logan who had a big night by throwing for two touchdowns and running for two more touchdowns. Logan was able to keep several plays alive with his mobility and accuracy, throwing on the run.


A TD run by Logan and his TD pass to Daniel Mott built a 19-7 advantage over the Raiders.


The Raiders punched in another touchdown on a 6-yard run by Nathan Sanders to cut the Tigers' lead to 19-13 but the Tigers marched down the field led by the passing attack and a great toe dance catch by Sam Claborn at the 4-yard line. Logan busted through the line with a quarterback keeper with: 49 seconds left on the clock to extend the Fenton's lead to 25-13.


Flushing's defense held strong on extra point attempts in the first half — blocking a kick and then stopping two-point conversion attempts twice.


The third quarter was scoreless as offensive drives were stalled on both sides of the ball with penalties and stingy defenses.


Fenton's defense were able to keep pressure on Raider quarterback Austin Williams, causing him to rush throws while Raider receivers were not able to haul in some passing that hit the mark.


In the fourth quarter, it was Jake Nichols busting through the line of scrimmage with 9:46 left in the game and rambling to the end zone untouched for his second touchdown of the night giving the Tigers a 31-13 lead. 


With a comfortable lead, the host Tigers started to substitute in players, and young back-up quarterback Nolan Alvord engineered a scoring drive — finding Daniel Mott in the end zone with 4:16 left on the clock to put the game out of reach. It was Mott’s second touchdown catch of the game. 


Flushing was able to capitalize on a Fenton fumble on its own 15 yard line, again it was Hutchinson who broke the line and with a couple of good moves making Tigers miss tackles as he found the end zone with a 15 yard scoring run bring the final score to a 39-20 Fenton victory and putting the Tigers in the driver’s seat for another Stripes Division Title. 


But there is a lot of season left and the Tigers will have to face division and neighborhood rival Linden later in the season. Linden won big at Flint Kearsley in its Metro League opener Friday night.


A defensive leader for Flushing Friday night was Nichols who had a great game playing two ways for the Tigers also grabbing an interception on defense and making several big tackles to go with his TD run on offense. 


Londyn Claxton played a huge game, going two ways for the Raiders and making several tackles to a big presence on the defensive end and also running in the slot back position making key blocks and catches.

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Saginaw Valley League Action on Friday Night

(Non-League Games)

Grand Blanc 27, Midland Dow 23

Davison 42, Bay City Central 20

Midland 42, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 32

Bay City Western 45, Flint Powers Catholic 7

Lapeer 56, Saginaw Heritage 37

Mount Pleasant 54, Saginaw United 14


Metro League Action on Friday Night

(Stripes Division Games)

Fenton 39, 

Saginaw Valley League Action on Friday Night

(Non-League Games)

Grand Blanc 27, Midland Dow 23

Davison 42, Bay City Central 20

Midland 42, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 32

Bay City Western 45, Flint Powers Catholic 7

Lapeer 56, Saginaw Heritage 37

Mount Pleasant 54, Saginaw United 14


Metro League Action on Friday Night

(Stripes Division Games)

Fenton 39, Flushing 20

Linden 47, Flint Kearsley 21

Swartz Creek 28, Holly 6

(Stars Division Games)

 Corunna 49 Owosso 6
Brandon 48 Lake Fenton 40
Goodrich 48, Clio 0


Genesee Area Conference Action on Friday

(GAC Games)

Flint Beecher 16, Burton Bendle 14

Flint Hamady 56, Burton Bentley 0

(Non-League Game)

Flint Jaguars 46, Flint New Standard Academy 6


Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Action on Friday Night

(MMAC Games)

New Lothrop 47, Mt. Morris 0

Ovid-Elsie 23, Montrose 22

Chesaning 28, Otisville LakeVille 0

Durand 53, Byron 0


Tri-Valley Conference's East Division Action on Friday Night

(Tri-Valley East Game)

Frankenmuth 56, Birch Run 7


Tri-Valley Conference's West Division Action on Friday Night

(Tri-Valley West Game)

Millington 38, Hemlock 7


 Greater Thumb Conference West Division Action on Friday Night 

(Non-League Game)

Vassar 36, Memphis 0


 North Central Thumb League Action on Friday

(Stars Division Games) 

Deckerville 82, Genesee 48

Atherton 49,  New Haven Merritt Academy 14

Kingston 28, Mayville 8

(Non-League Game)

Morrice 58, Ashley 0


 North Central Thumb League Action on Saturday

((Stars Division Game)

 Flint International Academy 54, Blanchard Montabella 0


Fri. Sept. 17 Saginaw Valley Games

(South Division Games)

Davison at Grand Blanc  7 pm

(Radio Broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio)

Saginaw United at Flint Powers Catholic 7 pm

(WFNT 1470 AM Radio Broadcast)

Flint Carman-Ainsworth at Lapeer 7 pm

(South Division Games)

Midland Dow at Mount Pleasant 7 pm

Midland at Bay City Central 7 pm

Bay City Western at Saginaw Heritage 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 17 Metro League Games

(Stripes Division Games)

Swartz Creek at Fenton 7 pm 

Flint Kearsley at Flushing 7 pm

(Facebook Live Broadcast & Tape Delay Broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio)

Holly at Linden 7 pm

(Stars Division Games)

 Corunna  at Lake Fenton 7 pm

Goodrich at Owosso 7 pm

Ortonville Brandon at Clio 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 17 Genesee Area Conference Games

(GAC Games)

Burton Bendle at Burton Bentley 7 pm

Flint New Standard at Flint Hamady 7 pm

(Non-League Game)

Flint Jaguars at Flint Beecher 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 17 Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Games

(MMAC Games)

Byron at New Lothrop 7 pm

Mt. Morris at Durand 7 pm

Chesaning at Montrose 7 pm

Ovid-Elsie at Otisville LakeVille 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 17 Tri-Valley Conference's East Division Games

Bay City John Glenn at Frankenmuth 7 pm

Birch Run at Alma 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 17 Tri-Valley Conference's West Division Games

Standish Sterling at Millington 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 17 Greater Thumb Conference West Division Games

Vassar at Cass City 7 pm


Fri. Sept. 17 North Central Thumb League Stars Division Games

(Stars Division Games) 

Mayville at Burton Atherton 7 pm

Kingston at Flint International Academy 7 pm

Kingston at New Haven Merritt Academy 7 pm

(Non-League Game)

Caseville at Genesee 7 pm

Lawrence at Morrice 7 pm




Fenton Tigers win Metro League opener after 0-2 non-league start to eye another title

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Fenton Tigers win Metro League opener after 0-2 non-league start to eye another title

FENTON (CCN) —  It was a big Metro League matchup tonight between Fenton and Flushing in what is considered to lead toward a division title was decided early as Fenton took a 25-13 lead into halftime. The Fenton offense in the first half was led by QB Seth Logan who threw for a TD to Jake Nichols on the opening drive to give Fenton a 7-0 

FENTON (CCN) —  It was a big Metro League matchup tonight between Fenton and Flushing in what is considered to lead toward a division title was decided early as Fenton took a 25-13 lead into halftime. The Fenton offense in the first half was led by QB Seth Logan who threw for a TD to Jake Nichols on the opening drive to give Fenton a 7-0 lead. Logan added another TD pass and also ran for two first half TD to extend the lead. Flushing's David Hutchison scored on an 80 yard run to tie the score at 7-7 but Fenton controlled the game from that point on taking a 25-13 lead into halftime. 


It was a scoreless third quarter but Fenton tacked on two more TD's in the fourth quarter — one on a 60 yard run by Jake Nichols and another when backup QB Nolan Alvord tossed a TD to Daniel Mott for his second TD of the game. 


David Hutchison added late 15 yard TD run after Flushing forced a fumble. But it was a little to late as Fenton was victorious in it showdown with Flushing 39-20.


-----------------------------------------------------------------

Tim Crow is  a sports columnist for The Daily Gazette. He can be heard regularly as a play-by-play broadcaster on sportscasts for Metro Flint News/Talk Radio and he often appears on both The Michigan Sports Zone Show and The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show.

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Davison, Powers, C-A win initial 2021 prep football games; Lapeer goes to 2-1 by beating Saginaw Heritage

Davison, Powers, C-A win initial 2021 prep football games; Lapeer goes to 2-1 by beating Saginaw Heritage

Davison, Powers, C-A win initial 2021 prep football games; Lapeer goes to 2-1 by beating Saginaw Heritage

(CCN) — It took three weeks, but the Davison Cardinals finally won their first football game of the 2021 season. They've been to the last two state championship games at Detroit's Ford Field, but fans watched them lose their first two non-league games before Friday night (Sept. 10, 2021) when Coach Jake Weingardtz led the Cardinals to a 4

(CCN) — It took three weeks, but the Davison Cardinals finally won their first football game of the 2021 season. They've been to the last two state championship games at Detroit's Ford Field, but fans watched them lose their first two non-league games before Friday night (Sept. 10, 2021) when Coach Jake Weingardtz led the Cardinals to a 42-20 romp over Bay City Central.


The victory came on the new turf at the friendly confines of Cardinal Stadium in Davison. It followed losses to Clarkston and Detroit Catholic Central who have had perennial powerhouse programs in Michigan prep football.


Weingardtz, who lost nine starters on each side of the ball, saw his Cardinals in an early hole when Bay City Central led 13-7 after the first quarter.


Davison reeled off the next 27 points in a row to take control. Jay'len Flowers was the big man by rushing for 71 yards, including three touchdowns. Freshman A.J. Hill also ran for a TD while picking up 102 rushing yards on 13 carries.


Marlow Mahone also ran for a Davison TD and Zachary Pappadakis picked off a pass and ran it into the end zone for another score.


Quarterbck braylen Himmelein, a junior transfer from Saginaw Swan Valley, got on track with a 225-yard passing night on 14-of-21 accuracy. His favorite target was Teon Armstrong who caught five passes for 133 yards.


Sophomore sensation Carter Herriman led Davison's defense for the third straight week. He had 11 tackles against Bay City Central.


While Davison was winning its third non-league contest against a Saginaw Valley rival from the North Division, five other South Division clubs also had matchups against North Division rivals from the Valley. Grand Blanc and Lapeer also won to give the North a 3-3 split on the night.


GRAND BLANC won a 27-23 thriller at Midland Dow to set up Friday night's (Sept. 17, 2021) showdown at Grand Blanc's Frank Thomas Field where a crowd nearing 10,000 fans is expected. It's been 10 years since Grand Blanc has beaten Davison in football. (See story on front page)


FLINT POWERS dropped to 1-2 on the season by taking a 45-7 beating by Bay City Western. Powers now opens its Valley South Divison schedule on Friday night (Sept. 17, 2021) against visiting Saginaw United which is 0-3 in non-league play after losing 54-14 to Mount Pleasant this week.


FLINT CARMAN-AINSWORTH was beaten 42-32 by Midland High to drop to 1-2 overall heading into next week's Friday (Sept. 17, 2021) opener at Lapeer against the Lightning.


LAPEER won a 56-37 barnburner against Saginaw Heritage to go to 2-1. Heritage brought in a 2-0 record after beating Saginaw United 19-18 and Flushing 39-20.


Below is a look at this week's upcoming games for Saginaw Valley South Division teams:


 Fri. Sept. 17 Games


Davison at Grand Blanc  7 pm

(Radio Broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio)


Saginaw United at Flint Powers Catholic 7 pm

(WFNT 1470 AM Radio Broadcast)


Flint Carman-Ainsworth at Lapeer 7 pm 









Linden, Swartz Creek, Brandon, Goodrich Metro League opening night winners

Davison, Powers, C-A win initial 2021 prep football games; Lapeer goes to 2-1 by beating Saginaw Heritage

Davison, Powers, C-A win initial 2021 prep football games; Lapeer goes to 2-1 by beating Saginaw Heritage

(CCN) — Linden and Swartz Creek joined Fenton as the opening week winners in the Metro League's Stripes Division while Goodrich and Ortonville Brandon won their Metro League openers in Stars Division play.


ORTONVILLE BRANDON emerged as the Metro League's only unbeaten after three weeks of play. The Blackhawks won a 48-40 barnburner against

(CCN) — Linden and Swartz Creek joined Fenton as the opening week winners in the Metro League's Stripes Division while Goodrich and Ortonville Brandon won their Metro League openers in Stars Division play.


ORTONVILLE BRANDON emerged as the Metro League's only unbeaten after three weeks of play. The Blackhawks won a 48-40 barnburner against the Lake Fenton Blue Devils in a battle of 2-0 teams so far in non-league action.


LINDEN whipped Flint Kearlsey 47-21 for its first victory after losing non-league games to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (34-8) and Goodrich (9-6).  Bryce Eliuk was the big story for Coach Denny Hopkins' Eagles by running for five touchdowns. He carriedthe ball 17 times on the night for 219 yards.


SWARTZ CREEK won its first game after non-league losses to Flint Carman-Ainsworth 40-18 and Lake Fenton 13-0.


GOODRICH won its second in a row after its 28-14 loss to Frankenmuth in the opener at Flint's historic Atwood Stadium in the fourth annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic. The Martians followed last week's 9-6 triumph over LInden in their home opener by thumping Clio 48-0 Friday night.  Gavin Hart threw for 152 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Martians. Jace Simerson rushed 114 yards on 17 carries and scored twice. Simerson also caught a TD pas from Hart. The other TD strikes by Hart went to Max Macklem, Jace Williams and Caden Kolanowski while Kolanowski also had an electrifying  51-yard punt return for for a touchdown and booted 6-of-6 on extra point kicks.


JOINING GOODRICH AND BRANDON as winners in their Stars Division openers was Corunna which beat Owosso 49-6.


THE FENTON TIGERS, gunning for their 10th Metro League title in the last 11 years, opened Stripes Division play with a 39-20 victory over Flushing. (See story above)


 Below is a look at this week's upcoming games for Metro League teams:


Fri. Sept. 17 Stipes Division Games


Swartz Creek at Fenton 7 pm


Holly at Linden 7 pm


Flint Kearsley at Flushing 7 pm

(Facebook Live Broadcast & Tape Delay Broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio)


Fri. Sept. 17 Stars Division Games


Corunna  at Lake Fenton 7 pm


Goodrich at Owosso 7 pm


Ortonville Brandon at Clio 7 pm 



Three unbeatens remain in MMAC after Montrose knocked from unbeaten ranks

Davison, Powers, C-A win initial 2021 prep football games; Lapeer goes to 2-1 by beating Saginaw Heritage

Three unbeatens remain in MMAC after Montrose knocked from unbeaten ranks

 (CCN) — Three unbeatens remain after two weeks of play in Mid-Michigan Activities Conference (MMAC) football action.


Montrose fell from the unbeaten ranks on Friday night (Sept. 10, 2021) when losing a 23-23 thriller to Ovid-Elsie. It was a battle of teams with 2-0 overall records coming in.


Joining Ovid-Elsie at 2-0 atop the MMAC standing

 (CCN) — Three unbeatens remain after two weeks of play in Mid-Michigan Activities Conference (MMAC) football action.


Montrose fell from the unbeaten ranks on Friday night (Sept. 10, 2021) when losing a 23-23 thriller to Ovid-Elsie. It was a battle of teams with 2-0 overall records coming in.


Joining Ovid-Elsie at 2-0 atop the MMAC standings are the Chesaning Indians and the defending champion New Lothrop Hornets. Chesaning blanked Otisville LakeVille 28-0 Friday night to also move to 3-0 overall. New Lothrop, last season's Division 7 state champs after winning the MMAC title, went to 3-0 overall by blasting Mt. Morris 47-0.


Durand leveled its MMAC record at 1-1 and went to 2-1 overall by blasting Byron 53-0 in the night's other action.


New Lothrop jumped out to a 41-0 lead over Mt. Morris by the  halftime break. 


Sophomore quarterback Jack Kulhanek threw four touchdown passes in a 7-for-8 passing night to lead the Hornets. In addition to throwing for 183 yards, Kulhanek scampered 100 yards on 12 quarterback keepers. His TD strikes went to Rafael Woods, Garret Mangino, Hayden Andres and Cannon Cromwell.



 Below is a look at this week's upcoming games for MMAC teams:


 Fri. Sept. 17 Games 


 Byron at New Lothrop 7 pm


Mt. Morris at Durand 7 pm


Chesaning at Montrose 7 pm


Ovid-Elsie at Otisville LakeVille 7 pm 

PREP FOOTBALL 2021 ⚫ WEEK 2

Grand Blanc pulls out dramatic 38-34 victory on 74-yard TD pass in final minute of play

Goodrich nips Linden 9-6 in potential preview of Metro League football cross-over title game

Goodrich nips Linden 9-6 in potential preview of Metro League football cross-over title game

BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor


GRAND RAPIDS (CCN) — The Grand Blanc Bobcats pulled out a dramatic 38-34 victory in Grand Rapids Friday night (Sept. 4, 2021) over host

Forest Hills Central.


The victory moved Grand Blanc to 2-0 heading into next week's trip to Midland Dow to face a third straight tough non-league opponent before its Se

BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor


GRAND RAPIDS (CCN) — The Grand Blanc Bobcats pulled out a dramatic 38-34 victory in Grand Rapids Friday night (Sept. 4, 2021) over host

Forest Hills Central.


The victory moved Grand Blanc to 2-0 heading into next week's trip to Midland Dow to face a third straight tough non-league opponent before its Sept. 17 Saginaw Valley League opener against the defending champion Davison Cardinals. Davison has also gone to the state finals in Division I two years in a row.


Grand Blanc looked like a team capable of going to the finals at Ford Field this year by pulling out the dramatic TD bomb to win it in a back-and-forth battle between two of the state's top programs. Forest Hills Central is the five-time defending champions of the OK Conference's White Division in the Grand Rapids area.


In other non-league games around The Daily Gazette coverage area on Friday night, defending Metro League champion Fenton was beaten 33-7 by East Lansing while Saginaw Valley North Division members Davison and Lapeer lost non-league games. Davison lost 35-14 at Detroit Catholic Central while Lapeer lost 49-27 to Midland.


Goodrich nips Linden 9-6 in potential preview of Metro League football cross-over title game

Goodrich nips Linden 9-6 in potential preview of Metro League football cross-over title game

Goodrich nips Linden 9-6 in potential preview of Metro League football cross-over title game

BY TIM CROW

CCN Sports Writer


GOODRICH (CCN) — Goodrich won 9-6 Friday night (Sept. 4, 2021) over visiting Linden in what many Metro League football observers believe could be a preview of the cross-over championship game in Week 8. Linden is in the Metro League's Stripes Division while Goodrich is in the Stars Division.


Both teams were comi

BY TIM CROW

CCN Sports Writer


GOODRICH (CCN) — Goodrich won 9-6 Friday night (Sept. 4, 2021) over visiting Linden in what many Metro League football observers believe could be a preview of the cross-over championship game in Week 8. Linden is in the Metro League's Stripes Division while Goodrich is in the Stars Division.


Both teams were coming off of losses in their season openers last week to tough non-league opponents. Linden fell behind 20-0 to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and couldn't recover, eventually losing 34-8. Goodrich was in a 7-7 deadlock at halftime with perennial state powerhouse Frankenmuth but the 90-degree heat on the Atwood turf helped Frankenmuth wear down the Martians who depended on several two-way players compared to a roster limited to one-way performers for the Eagles who used their depth to eventually win 28-14.


Friday's Goodrich-Linden battle started out with Goodrich dominating the opening possession. The Martians controlled the ball (and the clock) with the run game. Caden Kowlanowski returned the opening kickoff to the Goodrich 22-yard line where the offense would take over and pound the ball on the ground for seven straight plays. 


Goodrich running backs Jace Simerson and Clayton Burnett carried the load with Simerson breaking free for a 32 yard TD run to put the Martians on the board with 6:15 left in the first quarter. 


Lindens Kyle Galbreath and Bryce Eliuk were able to bust through the Martian line and block the extra point, leaving the score at 6-0. 


The Eagles offense seemed a little out of sync on their first possession and went four and out. After a short punt from Linden, Goodrich took over on the Eagles' 48 yard line. Again, Goodrich took to the ground game running eight straight running plays, mostly behind big offensive lineman #69 Grant O’Brien who is listed at 6-foot-6 and 335 pounds. With help from his friends on the O-line, O’Brien was able to open up some holes and help drive the Martians down to the one yard line. 


On the last play of the first quarter, Linden's Red Zone defense tightened up. On third and one, the Eagles stopped Goodrich running back Burnett for a two yard loss. 


Facing a fourth down and one yard to go to open the second quarter, Goodrich elected to go for the touchdown. Burnett tried to bust into the end zone but only gained two yards before being met by Eliuk and a host of Linden defenders.


The huge goal stand gave Linden's Eagles the ball back on their own one yard line.


The Linden offense started to find a little rhythm in the second quarter —putting together a nice drive by moving the ball deep into Goodrich territory before penalties stalled out the momentum. Goodrich received the ball back with 2:57 left on the clock to start their last scoring drive before the end of the half.


After exclusively running the ball in the first quarter on the last drive of the half, Goodrich's 29th year Head Coach Tom Alward then opted for his Martians to change it up and throw the ball seven times — completing three passes for 80 yards. The big pass came on fourth down and eight yards to go from their own 46 yard line and with back-up quarterback Colton Leedom at wide receiver and used a double pass play as Gavin Hart tossed to Leedom on the far left of the field and Leedom hit Burnett on a wheel route for 44 yards moving the ball down to the Eagles' 10-yard line. Again, the Eagles defense rose to the challenge and kept the Martians out of the end zone — but not off the scoreboard this time. 

With nine seconds left in the half Colin Kowlanowski was able to connect for a 27 yard field goal to put Goodrich up 9-0 heading into halftime break.


In the third quarter, Linden's offense started to move the ball on their first drive but again the drive was killed by a personal foul penalty against the Eagles. They were also hurt by some bad exchanges between the center and quarterback with low snaps. QB Brandon Green did a good job of handling the bad snaps but that pass oriented offense depends on the quick pitch and catch style passing and the poor exchanges killed the rhythm needed to get the receivers the ball.

Coach Denny Hopkins, who is in his 50th year of coaching football at Linden, watched his defense continue to play well in the third quarter and after a pass interference penalty of first down — the Eagles held for the next four plays and Goodrich turned the ball over on downs. 


This defensive stand seemed to pump up the Linden sideline as the offense came out firing on all cylinders as they put together a 12 play drive that ended with wide receiver Ethan Gomez scampering 25 yards on a reverse play to get the Eagles on the board. 


Goodrich’s special teams returned the favor by blocking the extra point to keep the score at 9-6.

With 3:29 left in the third quarter, Goodrich mounted another drive, aided by a roughing the passer penalty, but the Linden defense held again, stopping the drive at the 12 yard line and forcing another field goal attempt.


This time, Linden special teams came up big, blocking a 29 yard field goal attempt by Goodrich’s Kowlanowski.


 The Eagles mounted one last scoring threat in the fourth quarter as they drove the ball down to Goodrich's 37-yard line with 50 seconds left before the drive ended with an incomplete pass on fourth down. Goodrich then took over on downs and went into victory formation — running out the clock and picking up a 9-6 victory to improve its record to 1-1 while Linden fell to 0-2.


Brandon Green led Linden's offense Thursday night at Goodrich, completing 11-of-18 passes for 75 yards and rushing 8 times for 29 yards. The Eagles picked up five penalties for 65 yards that really stalled out some offensive drives with a couple of those penalties on the defense that kept Goodrich drives alive. 


Goodrich was led by Colton Leedom who was 3-5 passing for 78 yards and Jace Simerson 15 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown. Goodrich had 287 total yards in offense, compared to Linden’s 175. Simerson led Goodrich with 86 rushing yards on 15 carries. 


PHOTO CAPTION: Pictured above this story is Goodrich's Tom Alward who is in his 29th season of coaching high school football.

This week's prep football schedule and scores around The Daily Gazette coverage area

Goodrich nips Linden 9-6 in potential preview of Metro League football cross-over title game

This week's prep football schedule and scores around The Daily Gazette coverage area

Action on Friday by Metro League Teams

(Non-League Game)

East Lansing 33, Fenton 7


Action on Friday by Saginaw Valley Teams

(Non-League Games)

Grand Blanc 38, Forest Hills Central 34

Detroit Catholic Central 35, Davison 14

Midland 49, Lapeer 27 


 Action on Thursday by Metro League Teams

(Non-League Games)

Goodrich 9, Linden 6

Saginaw Heritage 34, Fl

Action on Friday by Metro League Teams

(Non-League Game)

East Lansing 33, Fenton 7


Action on Friday by Saginaw Valley Teams

(Non-League Games)

Grand Blanc 38, Forest Hills Central 34

Detroit Catholic Central 35, Davison 14

Midland 49, Lapeer 27 


 Action on Thursday by Metro League Teams

(Non-League Games)

Goodrich 9, Linden 6

Saginaw Heritage 34, Flushing 20

Lake Fenton 13, Swartz Creek 0

Ortonville Brandon 53, Flint Jaguars 8

Bay City Western 62, Clio 16

Flint Kearsley 21, Bay City Central 18

Auburn Hills Avondale 23, Holly 0

 Corunna 20, Hemlock 13

Charlotte 42, Owosso 6


Action on Thursday by Saginaw Valley Teams

(Non-League Games)

Flint Powers Catholic 35, Flint Hamady 7

Bay City Western 62, Clio 16

Midland Dow 29, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 0

Saginaw Heritage 34, Flushing 20

Flint Kearsley 21, Bay City Central 18


Action on Thursday by Genesee Area Conference Teams

(Non-League Games)

Flint Powers Catholic 35, Flint Hamady 7

Clarkston Everest Collegiate 30, Flint Beecher 0

Burton Bendle 26, Perry 18

Burton Bentley 1, Dearborn Heights Star 

 International 0 (Forfeit)


Action on Thursday by Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Teams

(Conference Games)

New Lothrop 58, LakeVille 0

Montrose 67, Byron 0

Ovid-Elsie 28, Durand 8

Mt. Morris 24, Chesaning 14


Action on Thursday by North Central Thumb League Teams

(League Games)

Atherton44, International Academy of Flint 18

Genesee 46, Kingston 40


Action on Thursday by Tri-Valley Conference East Division Teams

(East Division Games)

Frankenmuth 47, Saginaw Swan Valley 20 

Bay City John Glenn 40, Birch Run 33


Action on Thursday by Tri-Valley Conference West Division Teams

(West Division Game)

MIllington 44, Saginaw Nouvel 6 


  Action on Thursday by Greater Thumb Conference-West Division Teams

(West Division Games)

Reese 44 Vassar 0


 Thursday, Sept. 9  North Central Thumb League 

(League Games)

New Haven Merrit Academy at Atherton 7 pm


Friday, Sept. 10 Metro League Games

(Stripes Division Games)

Flushing at Fenton 7 pm

(Radio broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio)

Swartz Creek at Holly 7 pm

Linden at Flint Kearsley 7 pm

(Stars Division Games)

Clio at Goodrich 7 pm

Corunna at Owosso 7 pm

Ortonville at Lake Fenton 7 pm


Friday, Sept. 10 Saginaw Valley Games

(Non-League Games)

Grand Blanc at Midland Dow 7 pm

(Radio broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio)

Flint Powers Catholic at Bay City Western 7 pm

(Radio broadcast on WFNT 1470 AM)

Midland at Flint Carman-Ainsworth 7 pm

Saginaw Heritage at Lapeer 7 pm

Bay City Central at Davison 7 pm

Saginaw Arthur Hill at Mount Pleasant 7 pm


Friday, Sept 10 Genesee Area Conference Games

(GAC Games)

Flint Beecher at Burton Bendle 7 pm 

Flint Hamady at Burton Bentley 7 pm

(Non-Conference Game)

Flint New Standard Academy at Flint Jaguars 7 pm


Friday, Sept 10 Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Games

(MMAC Games)

New Lothrop at Mt. Morris 7 pm

Montrose at Ovid-Elsie 7 pm

Durand at Byron 7 pm

Otisville LakeVille at Chesaning 7 pm


  Friday, Sept. 10  North Central Thumb League 

(League Game)

Genesee at Deckerville 7 pm


  Friday, Sept. 10 Tri-Valley Conference Games

(East Division Game)

Frankenmuth at Birch Run 7 pm

(West Division Game)

MIllington at Hemlock 7 pm


  Friday, Sept. 10 Greater Thumb Conference's West Division Games

(Non-Conference Game)

Memphis at Vassar 7 pm


Sat. Sept. 11 North Central Thumb League 

(Non-League Game)

International Academy of Flint at Blancahrd Montabella 4 pm



Two Metro League football coaches who just keep right on coaching young people

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

New Lothrop returns to its winning ways with 58-0 romp in Otisville over LakeVille

Friday Night Lights. Okay, Thursday Night football at Goodrich High School between Metro rivals who expect to contend for championships in their respective divisions.


the Linden Eagles and the home team, the Goodrich Martians, put on a great show for a big crowd as Goodrich pulled out a 9-6 victory in what many project as a preview of the 

Friday Night Lights. Okay, Thursday Night football at Goodrich High School between Metro rivals who expect to contend for championships in their respective divisions.


the Linden Eagles and the home team, the Goodrich Martians, put on a great show for a big crowd as Goodrich pulled out a 9-6 victory in what many project as a preview of the Metro League's cross-over battle for the championship in Week 8 between the two division winners.


Both Linden and Goodrich started against a tough opponents  in the fourth annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic at Atwood Stadium, and were looking for their first victories.


And what a difference a week makes weather wise.  Last week, games were played in a sweltering heat and the Goodrich-Frankenmuth game was played at four o’clock in the afternoon on the turf which seemed to wear down Goodrich which has a lot of key players who play both offense and defense. The 90 degree heat took its toll on them last week.


It was 7-7 at halftime but Frankenmuth used its superior depth to pull away after halftime and win 28-14. Most of Frankenmuth's players were restricted to going only one way.


Thursday night was a beautiful night to play football with a game time temperature of 72 degrees and a great crowd for both teams. The energy was in the air as both teams were battling to pick up their first victory of the season. 


 The Linden defense came up big on several occasions to keep the Eagles in the game and if the offense gets going  —  they will give people some trouble in the Metro League this season. 


They could contend for the Stars Division championship with Fenton and Flushing, according to many Metro League observers.


Goodrich is one of the pre-season favorites in the Metro League's Stars Division where Lake Fenton and Ortonville Brandon are each off to 2-0 starts.

 If I mentioned that Goodrich Head Coach Tom Alward was leading the Martians in his 29th football season you would say, "WOW!"


That's quite a career and I would agree it is a very good coaching career to remain at the same school that long. 


But then we looked across the field and saw Denny Hopkins manning the sidelines for the Linden Eagles. Coach Hopkins is leading the Eagles for his 50th season at Linden. 


That means Alward still has 21 years to go to catch up to Hopkins. Think about that for a minute.  

Of course, that's assuming Coach Hopkins would retire to let Alward catch up!


An audio of Mike Killbreath's interview with Hopkins aired Sunday on The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show where the veteran coach explained why he keeps on coaching. Only a few comments aired on the show. Below is a link to the entire interview with Hopkins. I hope you enjoy it. Killbreath taped it as the Eagles were getting ready to play their opener at Flint's historic Atwood Stadium in the fourth annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic.


Click here to hear Denny Hopkins Interview

 

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Tim Crow is  a sports columnist for The Daily Gazette. He can be heard regularly as a play-by-play broadcaster on sportscasts for Metro Flint News/Talk Radio and he often appears on both The Michigan Sports Zone Show and The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show.

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New Lothrop returns to its winning ways with 58-0 romp in Otisville over LakeVille

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

New Lothrop returns to its winning ways with 58-0 romp in Otisville over LakeVille

 BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor


OTISVILLE (CCN) — The defending state champions in Division 7 football needed nearly five quarters to rev up their engine. But by the end of Thursday night's (Sept. 3, 2021) Mid-Michigan Activities Conference (MMAC) opener in Otisville at LakeVille High School, Coach Clint Galvas had his New Lothrop 

 BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor


OTISVILLE (CCN) — The defending state champions in Division 7 football needed nearly five quarters to rev up their engine. But by the end of Thursday night's (Sept. 3, 2021) Mid-Michigan Activities Conference (MMAC) opener in Otisville at LakeVille High School, Coach Clint Galvas had his New Lothrop Hornets firing on all cylinders.


New Lothrop won 58-0 after a slow start Thursday night. The Hornets had two touchdowns called back because of penalties in the first quarter and it was a 0-0 ballgame with 1:48 left. Then came the kind of explosive plays the Hornets have been known for during a 21-year run of consecutive state playoff that has included two state titles under Galvas in the past three seasons.


The victory in Thursday's MAAC opener came after New Lothrop 27-14 loss in the non-league opener last week in a non-league battle at Jackson against perennial state title contender Lumen Christi. 


Jack Kulhanek led the Hornets at LakeVille with four touchdown passes in a 109-yard passing night and he added another one on the ground.  Garret Mangino and Rafael Woods racked up 120 yards each of total offense while each running for a touchdown and catching one TD pass apiece.  Woods rushed for 77 yards and Mangino rushed for 76 more yards on the ground. 


Alec Wenzlick made 10 tackles and Cooper Symons nine to lead New Lothrop's defenisve charge. Cooper had one sack, Wenzlick 1 1/2.

The dominant performance came against a program that hasn't had a winning record since 2010 when going 5-4. There were eight losing seasons in a row before that at LakeVille.


New Coach Ryan Love's first team was 1-6 last season after an 0-5 start and he told Metro Flint News/Talk Radio during the pre-game show of Thursday's broadcast against New Lothrop: "We're trying to change the culture here... We need to act like winners in the classroom, in the locker room, at practice and in games."


Love, who is in his 12th season of coaching football, was the JV head coach at Millington before taking the LakeVIlle job last season.


 "Millington made the playoffs every year that I was involved in the program there and that's the kind of winning culture I'm trying to create at LakeVille," Love said during the pre-game show of the broadcast on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio.


The Falcons made strides in a 0-0 standoff for most of the first quarter and Metro Flint News/Talk play-by-play man Larry Coleman called it a "small victory" for LakeVille. "To start that way was a confidence builder but more impressive to me was how LakeVille's kids kept fighting after they were down big at halftime," Coleman said. "There was no quit in these kids and that's a credit to their new coach. He's building that type of culture he wants in this program. They're going to be a competitive team this season."


LakeVIlle's 1-6 campaign a year ago in Love's debut year followed back-to-back 0-9 seasons at LakeVIlle. The Falcons had their last winning season 11 years ago and were 17-43 from 2010-2019, 20-70 from 2000-2010, 28-62 during the 1990's and 21-60 during the 1980's. The last streak of consistent winning at LakeVille came during the 1970's when Paul Crace led the Falcons to a decade that included going 64-25-1 as perennial contenders for championships in the old County B League and in the Metro League.


New Lothrop is now 3-0 against LakeVIlle since both schools joined the MAAC. The Hornets now finish their MMAC schedule with games against Mt. Morris, Byron, Montrose, Ovid-Elsie, Durand and Chesaning. Next week's trip for New Lothrop is to Mt. Morris which 0was beaten 24-14 Thursday night at Chesaning in its MMAC opener after winning 36-12 over Bath in its non-league opener.


Coach Galvas has his Hornets concluding the regular season schedule in the same fashion as they started the season — facing a tough non-league opponent. The finale is against Frankenmuth which has been a perennial state title contender in recent years. So, too, has been Jackson Lumen Christi which handed New Lothrop a rare regular season loss.


The Hornets have lost more than one regular season game only once in 11 years.


“This is why we scheduled this game,” Galvas was quoted as telling MLive about the opener at Jackson Lumen Christi. “We got everything we wanted to get out this game and then some," he added. "Obviously, we want to win every game we play but at the same time, win or lose, we want to get better, and I think we did that tonight. We drove down to Jackson with 19 guys ready to play and these guys gave me everything they had, which is all I was really looking for. I told them before the game that this was going to be a heavyweight fight and they might land a few shots, but we have to fight back. I thought we did that tonight and I was happy with how our guys reacted to adversity and continued to battle against a very good team. I think we had 10 undefeated regular seasons in a row at one point in time, but we really didn’t have anything to show for it because we couldn’t get past the really good teams in our division. I would much rather be a battle-tested 6-3 team entering the playoffs than an undefeated team who hasn’t played anybody.”


PHOTO CAPTION: Pictured above this story is New Lothrop Coach Clint Galvas who led his 2020 Hornets to a Division 7 state championship.

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

Scores and next week's schedule for prep football in The Daily Gazette coverage area:

  Action on Friday by Metro League Teams

(Non-League Game)

East Lansing 33, Fenton 7


Action on Friday by Saginaw Valley Teams

(Non-League Games)

Grand Blanc 38, Forest Hills Central 34

Detroit Catholic Central 35, Davison 14

Midland 49, Lapeer 27 


 Action on Thursday by Metro League Teams

(Non-League Games)

Goodrich 9, Linden 6

Saginaw Heritage 34

  Action on Friday by Metro League Teams

(Non-League Game)

East Lansing 33, Fenton 7


Action on Friday by Saginaw Valley Teams

(Non-League Games)

Grand Blanc 38, Forest Hills Central 34

Detroit Catholic Central 35, Davison 14

Midland 49, Lapeer 27 


 Action on Thursday by Metro League Teams

(Non-League Games)

Goodrich 9, Linden 6

Saginaw Heritage 34, Flushing 20

Lake Fenton 13, Swartz Creek 0

Ortonville Brandon 53, Flint Jaguars 8

Bay City Western 62, Clio 16

Flint Kearsley 21, Bay City Central 18

Auburn Hills Avondale 23, Holly 0 

Corunna 20, Hemlock 13

Charlotte 42, Owosso 6


Action on Thursday by Saginaw Valley Teams

(Non-League Games)

Flint Powers Catholic 35, Flint Hamady 7

Bay City Western 62, Clio 16

Midland Dow 29, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 0

Saginaw Heritage 34, Flushing 20

Flint Kearsley 21, Bay City Central 18


Action on Thursday by Genesee Area Conference Teams

(Non-League Games)

Ortonville Brandon 53, Flint Jaguars 8

Flint Powers Catholic 35, Flint Hamady 7

Clarkston Everest Collegiate 30, Flint Beecher 0

Burton Bendle 26, Perry 18

Burton Bentley 1, Dearborn Heights Star  International 0 (Forfeit)


Action on Thursday by Mid-Michigan Activities Conference Teams

(MMAC Games)

New Lothrop 58, LakeVille 0

Montrose 67, Byron 0

Ovid-Elsie 28, Durand 8

Mt. Morris 24, Chesaning 14


Action on Thursday by North Central Thumb League Teams(League Games)Atherton44, International Academy of Flint 18Genesee 46, Kingston 40
Action on Thursday by Tri-Valley Conference Teams

(East Division Games)

Frankenmuth 47, Saginaw Swan Valley 20 

Bay City John Glenn 40, Birch Run 33

(West Division Games)

MIllington 44, Saginaw Nouvel 6 


 Action on Thursday by Greater Thumb Conference-West Division Teams

(West Division Games)

Reese 44, Vassar 0 

PREP FOOTBALL 2021 ⚫ WEEK 1

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