Opening Week

The two-a-days and anticipation have come to an end; the first Friday night of football season is upon us! It's time for touchdowns, tackles, and inaccurate pre-season predictions! Let's take a look at a few crucial games being played tonight.

GAME OF THE WEEK
Mt. Pleasant Oilers at Midland Chemics
Two of the early-season favorites in the Saginaw Valley League meet in a week one showdown for the driver's seat in the race for a conference championship. The Oilers' QB-WR tandem of Will Arnold and Tyler Mills should be good for a few touchdowns, but the traditionally tough Chemics, led by runningback Joel Parsons, will make one hell of a game of it. Ultimately, this game could go either way, but the Oilers are my personal favorite to win both this match-up and the entire conference.
Prediction:
Mt. Pleasant: 28
Midland: 21

St. Charles Bulldogs at New Lothrop Hornets
One of the most intriguing match-ups will be between two traditionally tough teams who graduated a strong senior class; New Lothrop is without most of the starters on last year's undefeated state championship team, but the perennial GAC Blue champs are always tough. St. Charles is without stud runningback Travis Marietta, but returns a handful of All-Conference players from the team that made it to the state quarterfinals in 2006. I anticipate that it will be a close game, but St. Charles' experienced backfield will have the edge over a young New Lothrop defense.
Prediction
St. Charles: 20
New Lothrop: 14

Swan Valley Vikings at Frankenmuth Eagles
Frankenmuth and Swan Valley are two of the most consistant Class B programs in Mid-Michigan. Both teams will have speed in the backfield, but the Vikings take it to another level; both FB Herb Waits and HB Mark Berden run the 100 meter dash in less than 11 seconds. A state semi-final berth in 2006 should make Swan Valley hungry for even more success, while Frankenmuth is eyeing a return to conference dominance in the Tri-Valley East. Fortunately for them, Swan Valley resides in the Central division.
Prediction
Swan Valley: 42
Frankenmuth: 20

Nouvel Catholic Central Panthers at Hamady Hawks
In the first round of the play-offs last year, Hamady ran into the buzzsaw that was the state champion Nouvel Panthers. This year, however, might not be so one-sided. Hamady is a program on the upswing after spending years in the GAC Blue cellar, and Nouvel is graduating almost their entire starting roster from last year's 14-0 team. However, it's hard to bet against the defending state champions who haven't lost a regular season game since 2002.
Prediction
Nouvel: 35
Hamady: 21

Reese Rockets at Hemlock Huskies
Last year's match-up between these two schools at the annual Red Feather game was an immediate classic; this year's match-up should be similarly thrilling. Reese returns talented QB Josh Bierlein, while Hemlock will look to ride tailback Mitch Wagoner, a third-year starter, to victory. The Huskies, however, may have lost a bit too much to graduation to keep up with the consistantly successful Reese program.
Prediction
Reese: 28
Hemlock: 14