• Updated

WHITEHALL — Whitehall senior Graycen Shepherd received big-time attention fairly early in the recruiting process, including a scholarship offer from Bowling Green last June. However, he found home in-state, and signed Wednesday to play at Division II Northern Michigan.

  • Updated

It’s no surprise Whitehall filled up a lot of spots on the all-West Michigan Conference Lakes football team when the squad was announced in late October. The Vikings dominated the league, winning all five games they played by big margins in addition to a forfeit win over Orchard View.

  • Updated

KENTWOOD — For someone to lose Friday’s Whitehall/South Christian regional football final, someone had to make a mistake. Unfortunately, the Vikings, so flawless all season, blinked first, and Whitehall took a heartbreaking 28-21 defeat to end its season in the regionals.

  • Updated

WHITEHALL — All too often the old adage ‘whoever wants it more is going to win’ is used in sports, but that changes when the stakes are raised at playoff time. Whitehall knew its pre-district opponent Big Rapids would want to advance just as much as it did, but it was the Vikings who enjoyed…

  • Updated

MONTAGUE — Mistakes continued to plague Montague Friday night as the Wildcats committed four turnovers in the first 27 minutes and botched a fake punt in their own end, resulting in four Oakridge touchdowns in a 45-7 defeat to end the regular season.

  • Updated

Reeths-Puffer sputtered through the first half of Friday's regular season finale at Lansing Everett, not scoring a point. The second half saw the Rockets team coaches expected to see, and R-P won a 35-0 shutout to secure their place in the postseason.

  • Updated

MUSKEGON — For two and a half quarters Friday night, Reeths-Puffer executed their game plan against Division 2 #4-ranked Mona Shores perfectly. But a third-quarter blocked punt for a touchdown sunk its hopes for an upset, and the Rockets fell to their rivals 15-0.

WHITEHALL — Despite a very sloppy start to the game, Whitehall's West Michigan Conference Lakes victory over Ludington Friday night was never really in question, as the Viking defense dominated again in a 56-6 victory.

Reeths-Puffer coach Cody Kater wasn't entirely happy with the energy level his Rockets played with Friday night, but they were able to grind out the final four-plus minutes of the game and hang on for a 20-18 win over Zeeland East in O-K Green Conference action.

Crucial miscues at key moments were the culprit Friday night for Montague as the Wildcats dropped a 27-7 decision to North Muskegon, dropping to 2-4 on the season.

  • Updated

Reeths-Puffer athletic director Cliff Sandee announced Tuesday night that the Rockets will take the field in the final week of the regular season after all, adding a road game against Lansing Everett. Kickoff for that contest will be at 6 p.m.

  • Updated

Two key miscues on back-to-back plays early in the second half doomed Montague Friday night, as host Ludington ripped off 34 unanswered points in the second half to defeat the Wildcats 34-14.

WHITEHALL — For Whitehall, Manistee represented one of the trappiest of all trap games Friday night, falling between an emotional and lopsided win over Montague last week and a huge clash at Oakridge next week. However, the Vikings' focus never wavered, and the result was a 56-0 blowout of t…

  • Updated

WHITEHALL — Maybe they didn't need the extra push going into a rivalry showdown with Montague, but Whitehall coach Tony Sigmon gave his Vikings motivation all week. Junior quarterback Kyle Stratton said his coach swiped the Bell, the rivalry trophy, from the spot it's occupied in the weight …

  • Updated

MONTAGUE — After last week's tough loss at Ravenna and with a pair of key players sidelined after ejections in that game, Montague responded exactly the way its coaches hoped, dominating early and often to defeat Orchard View 42-6 in the West Michigan Conference Lakes opener.

After two weeks of offensive fireworks, Whitehall's defense took a turn carrying the weight Friday, blanking Alpena 50-0 in a neutral-site game at Ferris State University.

  • Updated

Montague athletic director Jay Mulder has brainstormed for some time ways to connect the current Wildcats with football alumni from the past, and next Friday, Sept. 9, will mark the first public move toward that end, as the Wildcats welcome 1972 and 1992 football alumni back for the Orchard …

  • Updated

RAVENNA — Montague/Ravenna games have largely been slugfests over the past few years, and Thursday's battle between the teams was no different. Unfortunately for Montague, the Bulldogs' quarterback Hunter Hogan made some big plays and its own offense couldn't finish a key drive late in a 14-…

Whitehall's week two game looked a lot like week one on the scoreboard, as the Vikings again engaged in a back-and-forth shootout before dominating the second half for a 41-30 win over Hastings.

  • Updated

WHITEHALL — Whitehall’s dominant performance against returning Division 4 runner-up Unity Christian turned heads around the state, rocketing up the state rankings to the #2 spot. Among those clearly impressed were those on the Detroit Lions state coach of the week selection committee. Viking…

Thursday's season opener was a heart-in-the-throat type of game for Montague, but junior Paul Olson played a huge role in making sure it ended well, making two huge plays late in a 20-17 Wildcats' win.

  • Updated

MUSKEGON — The “blank slate” and the chance to change the culture at Reeths-Puffer attracted Cody Kater to the football coaching job. Now, he’s on the precipice of the first public stress test of his new culture — the season opener against Grand Haven.

  • Updated

MONTAGUE — Last season, Montague entered the schedule a massive question mark, with a first-time head coach and all-state stars departing. The Wildcats proved any chatter that they’d fall off was premature, winning a share of the West Michigan Conference title and claiming a district champio…

  • Updated

WHITEHALL — You don’t schedule a week one game against a program the caliber of Unity Christian, which was the Division 4 runner-up last year and has been to the semifinals or beyond in four of the past six seasons, if you’re not confident in your team.

  • Updated

MUSKEGON — New Reeths-Puffer football coach Cody Kater has kept things mostly quiet around the program in his first summer running things, and that’s been by design. However, the Rockets were able to get out in front of the most important stakeholders they have this week — their future players.

  • Updated

MONTAGUE — After two years away because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Detroit Lions Football Education summer camp returned to Montague this week to spread the gospel of football to kids age six through 14 through a four-day skills camp.