Rockford at Muskegon highlights Week No. 1; LSJ football section hitting the streets

By Craig Beilfuss
Local SportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON—The 2023 high school football season gets underway this week and LSJ will be covering 19 games.

On Thursday, there are 12 games on the slate and another seven on Friday. That coverage not only includes stories, but LSJ photographers will be covering 14 of those contests with their photos.

The cast of photographers will be led by veteran Eric Sturr as he will be covering the Mona Shores trip from Muskegon to Manitowoc, where the Sailors will take on the Lincoln Ships. Local Sports Journal will have a daily photo album and reports from Manitowoc on the Sailors’ practices and social events throughout the weekend.

The Local Sports Journal 2023, 80-page edition of the football preview will be hitting the streets this week as well. Delivery of the publication will be over the course of Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. You also can also get the special section at some season opening games at the front gate.

Distribution sites where you can pick up the football preview include: Family Fare (Manistee); North Country Cafe and Wesco (Scottville); Family Fare, Mancino’s, Kuntry Kupboard, Old Hamlin Restaurant and Chuckwagon (Ludington); Hansen’s Foods and Subway (Hart); Pentwater Convenience Center; Cherry Hill Supermarket, Hometown Pharmacy, Deb’s Lakeside Cafe, Oceana Builders Supply and The Pizza Factory (Shelby); Montague Foods; Rothbury Hardware: Subway, Rivers Ace Hardware and Whitehall Shell (Whitehall); Holton Foods; Jacks and J & H Oil (Twin Lake); Ed’s Orchard Market, Shelby State Bank, Subway and Hesperia House (Hesperia); Houseman’s Foods and Subway (White Cloud); Leppinks Food Center (Newaygo); Gene’s Orchard Market and Subway (Grant); Speedway (Kent City); Speedway, Wesco and Roundtable Restaurant (Ravenna); Subway and Harding’s Supermarket (North Muskegon); Subway, Shelby State Bank and Orchard Market (Fruitport); Orchard Market, Subway and Butch’s Burrito’s (Spring Lake); Subway and EZ Mart (Grand Haven); Pic-N-Pac (Norton Shores); Sports Clips (On Harvey Street and Henry Street); Subway locations in Muskegon (On Western Avenue, Old Grand Haven Avenue and Henry Street).

Each week our veteran group of sportswriters will be making their picks and updating our readers on our weekly scheduled games. Here are my picks for opening weekend.

Thursday Games

Newaygo @ Kent City – The Ralph Munger coaching era gets underway at Newaygo. What will the Lions and Munger

bring to the table in the season opener. Kent City started off strong in 2022 before running into the likes of Reed City, White Pigeon and Muskegon Catholic, where they were outscored 138-36. Everyone has to have an upset special. This is it for me … Newaygo spoils Kent City’s home opener with a 22-18 win.

Kenowa Hills @ Fruitport – The Trojans don’t have the offensive firepower that they had in 2022 when they finished 8-3, but they are facing a Kenowa Hills team coming off a dismal 2-7 season. Fruitport wins a close one, 26-17.

Reeths-Puffer @ Grand Haven – The Rockets open up the season with three road games and are coming off a 6-4 season under second-year head coach Cody Kater. Grand Haven struggled last season going 1-8. The Bucs have a new head coach in Andrew Biedenbender. Reeths-Puffer gets off to a good start with a 28-14 road win.

Oakridge @ Sparta – Oakridge won last season 30-14 and went on to a 10-2 season under hall of fame and veteran head coach Cary Harger. Trevor Jones and the Oakridge offense will lead the way as the Eagles win, 36-18.

Spring Lake @ Montague – Two teams coming off of a losing season in 2022. Montague is young and inexperienced while Spring Lake returns a veteran offensive and defensive unit. The Lakers get the opening week road win over the Wildcats, 35-21.

Godwin Heights @ Mason County Central – The Spartans are coming off a 3-6 season in 2022 while Godwin Heights finished with a 4-5 record. MCC has a new head coach in Dave Smith, who takes over for veteran coach Scott Briggs. Chalk one win up for the hometown Spartans, 19-13.

Holton @ Orchard View – Two teams definitely going through the rebuilding stages. The loser may have a tough time getting a victory and the winner, it could be its lone win of a long season. I’ll take the Cardinals in close contest, 22-13.

Petoskey @ Ludington – Charlie Gunsell has been roaming the sidelines as the Ludington head coach for 23 years. The Orioles will be playing on their new resurfaced field. Ludington won last year in overtime 37-31 on the road. They’ll ring in the new year with a 31-19 win at Oriole Field.

New Lothrop @ Muskegon Catholic Central – The Hornets are coming off a 10-3 season in 2022 and will prove to be a strong opening week opponent for MCC head coach Steve Czerwon and his Crusader squad. Bryan Convertini and the offense will have just enough scoring opportunities for a 28-18 win.

Kalkaska @ Manistee – The Mariners are coming off a 7-4 season where they reached the second round of the playoffs and are looking to build off that momentum with seven offensive starting returners along with eight defensive starting returners. The Mariners win over the Blazers, 42-16.

Hudsonville Unity Christian @ Whitehall – The Viking’s are coming off an 11-1 season. They took care of the Crusaders in the opening week in 2022 with a 54-26 win. Look for veteran quarterback Kyle Stratton and Whitehall to have a big offensive night as the Viking’s open up the 2023 campaign with 42-18 win.

Grant @ Kelloggsville – This game has been moved back to an 8 p.m. start time because of the anticipated heat index. Both teams finished with 1-8 records in 2022. I’ll take the local team by a score of 26-20.

Friday Night Games

Beal City @ Ravenna – Two football powerhouses face off in the season opener. The Aggies won 22-21 last season. The Bulldogs get some revenge this year as the offense scores just enough points to get the 28-20 win at home.

Pewamo-Westphalia @ North Muskegon – The visiting Pirates come into North Muskegon after going 6-5 last season. The Norse and quarterback James Young look to get off to good start before their showdown with Muskegon Catholic next week. North Muskegon wins big, 36-12.

Rockford @ Muskegon – Should be one of the best games in the state on Friday evening. The Rams are coming off a 10-1 season and a OK Red Conference title while the Big Reds made it to the state championship game in 2022. The Muskegon offense with Destin Piggee, Jakob Price and M’Khi Guy leading the way will rack up a ton of yardage and points. The Big Reds tune up for DeLaSalle with a 48-22 win.

Hart @ Fremont – Both teams return a significant number of veterans on both sides of the ball. The Packers beat the Pirates last season 22-8 at Hart. Fremont gets the home win in a close one, 22-19.

Hesperia @ Muskegon Heights – Friday night will be the start of a long year for the young Muskegon Heights Tigers. Hesperia will win big, 42-0.

Shelby @ White Cloud – The Indians have a new head coach in Isaiah Trice while Shelby head coach Phil Fortier has been roaming around the sidelines in some coaching capacity for 35 years. Fortier and his Tigers get the road win, 26-12.

Mona Shores @ Manitowoc Lincoln – It’s been an interesting few weeks for Mona Shores leading up to their departure for Wisconsin to face the Ships of Lincoln High School in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The Ships are coming off a 3-6 season. The Sailors look to get the road win before a huge three-game home schedule that will include facing Rockford, Reeths-Puffer and Muskegon. Jonathan Pittman and the Sailors’ offense will take care of business with a 35-20 win.