EAST LANSING, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – Marching orders were sent out on Sunday to eight-man and 11-man high school varsity football teams across the state.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association eschewed its evening selection show in favor of a noontime press release announcing the championship tournament pairings. Due to the COVID 19 outbreak shortening the regular season from nine to six games, all 11-man schools would be able to enter the post-season, unless unable to do so for health reasons. Nine such 11-man teams and seven eight-man teams notified the MHSAA office of that situation.
In the eight-man tournament, points determined playoff teams, with 14 squads either not qualifying due to points or having school enrollment above the maximum threshold for qualification. These teams will be eligible to play an additional game or two against each other to complete their seasons.
Along the Lakeshore, these first-round pairings for games this Friday-Saturday (Oct. 30-31), with confirmed dates and times (via MHSAA) listed:
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Holland at Zeeland East (Division 3, District 18) – Saturday, Oct. 31 7 PM
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Holland Christian v. Unity Christian at Baldwin Middle School (Division 4, District 27) – Friday, Oct. 30 7 PM
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West Ottawa at Rockford (Division 1, District 1) – Saturday, Oct. 31 12 PM
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Ottawa Hills at Zeeland West (Division 3, District 18) – Friday, Oct. 30 7 PM
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Hamilton at Godwin Heights (Division 4, District 27) – Friday, Oct. 30 7 PM
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Saugatuck at White Pigeon (Division 8, District 61) – Friday, Oct. 30 7 PM
On Monday morning, Fennville Public Schools posted this on its Facebook Page: “With the safety of our student-athletes at the top of our priorities, we have decided to opt-out of the MHSAA Football Playoffs. Prior injuries, along with those sustained this past Friday, have left us with an extremely low number of healthy athletes. This decision was extremely tough and we truly feel for those seniors who played their last game in the orange and black.” Buchanan gets a bye into the second round as a result.
All tickets will be sold online for safety and contact tracing.
The two Zeeland games are scheduled to air on 99 7/1450 WHTC (6:40 PM broadcast time both evenings), with the Saugatuck contest at White Pigeon on The Lakeshore’s 92 7 The Van at 6:40 PM on Friday evening.
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