The high school football playoffs start tomorrow night as 256 teams across eight divisions all hope to be playing for a state championship at Ford Field a month from now. For this exercise, I decided to take my best guess at picking the teams from the OK Conference that will make it to Ford Field, and briefly touch on the teams that will make great runs, but ultimately fall short.
Title Hunting
West Catholic (8-1), Ranked #1 in D6
The Falcons are playing in the Division 6 MHSAA state playoffs for the first time in its history and should be the prohibitive favorite to win the state title due to the amount of cultivated talent West Catholic has in comparison to the other 31 teams in the D6 field. The Falcons have more distance between themselves and the second-ranked team in D6 than any other top-ranked team in the state (11.32). I have a hard time finding a team in division 6 that will be able to slow down the one-two punch of running back Tim Kloska and quarterback Bernie Varnesdeel. The Falcon’s path is an interesting one seeing the four closest teams in proximity to West Catholic in the D6 playoffs are on the other side of the bracket. I fully expect the 43 combined touchdowns scored by Varnesdeel and Kloska to carry on to the playoffs, bringing the Falcons to their sixth championship of the last 13 years.
Catholic Central (8-1), Ranked #1 in D5
The 42-game win streak ended and the Cougars didn’t bring home the OK Gold championship, however, the biggest goal is still well within reach. Catholic Central is once again the favorite to take home the Division 5 state championship but will face a stiffer test on its road to Ford Field. Division 5 is probably the deepest it's been in years and has several teams capable of taking home hardware in late November. Frankenmuth, Portland, Muskegon Oakridge, Belding, Marine City, Williamston, and Gladwin are all within 10 playoff points of Catholic Central, insinuating that the Cougars will have the hardest road to Ford that they’ve had since they left division 4 for division 5. Catholic Central can sleep well at night knowing they have the horses to make another run with guys like Connor Wolf and Kellen Russell-Dixon leading the way. Similar to their cross-town rivals, I see Catholic Central winning its sixth state title of the last seven seasons.
South Christian (9-0), Ranked #1 in D4
The team that dominated with the most consistency week in and week out from the OK Conference this season has to be South Christian. The Sailor's offense wasn’t slowed down all season, thanks to veteran quarterback Jake DeHaan. DeHaan also showed leadership on defense and special teams, further showing that this South Christian team is a complete unit. The biggest x-factor for the Sailors is sophomore wideout, Carson Vis. Despite playing just his first full season of football, Carson has been a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses all season and has big-play ability to be the difference for South Chrisitan in close games. Defensively, I don’t see many teams standing up to the defensive line the Sailors deploy. I do think South Christian has the toughest regional matchup with undefeated Whitehall looming. If the Sailors can get past Whitehall, all signs lead to Ford Field and a chance at its fourth state title.
Muskegon (7-2), Ranked #6 in D3
The Big Reds are no strangers to Ford Field and hope to make it to the state finals for the first time since 2018. Whether it’s DeWitt, Cedar Springs, East Grand Rapids, Zeeland East, etc., the challenger will eventually change, yet it’s been Muskegon who remains the constant power in D3. This year’s Big Reds squad is led by dynamic quarterback M’Khi Guy and a couple of speedy backs in Destin Piggee and Jakob Price. It’s hard enough to form a defensive game plan around a guy that can take the top off a defense, let alone three. What I like most about Muskegon’s chances at making it to Ford Field is the road in front of the Big Reds. Detroit MLK is on the other side of the bracket, leaving really just one opponent that I think can match the talent level of Muskegon, which is Zeeland West in a potential rematch in a regional championship. If I were to guess, I would put the Big Reds back in Ford Field and ultimately losing to MLK in the D3 state title game.