Huddle up! Here’s a look back at this weekend on the gridiron, with three key takeaways from the state’s football scene -- and a glimpse at what’s to come next week.
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Road to Ford Field for prep teams set to start
On Sunday night, the pairings for the upcoming high school football playoffs were announced, with 32 teams in each of the eight divisions qualifying for the postseason.
Here’s a look at best five first-round matchups in the Detroit area.
Novi Detroit Catholic Central (7-2) at Novi (7-2) — This is will be the fourth playoff meeting between the city rivals since 2015. Catholic Central has won the previous three, but Novi had its best regular season since 2008.
Rochester Adams (6-3) at West Bloomfield (7-2) — Both of these programs have made state final appearances at Ford Field this decade, and the teams played a close 36-32 game during the regular season.
Sterling Heights Stevenson (4-5) at Clinton Township Chippewa Valley (7-2) — MAC Red rivals will have a rematch of a regular season meeting that was won by Chippewa Vally, 38-21. Stevenson is much tougher than its record indicates, having lost three games to playoff teams by a combined 17 points.
Birmingham Groves (6-3) at Birmingham Seaholm (8-1) — This will be the second consecutive week the rivals will meet. Seaholm won the regular-season finale between the squads last week, 21-14, and now they’ll run it back.
Detroit Martin Luther King (4-5) at Port Huron (7-2) — An intriguing Division 3 matchup, King will have a tough road test as it begins its playoff run for a third straight state championship.
Is J.J. McCarthy’s Heisman campaign about to kick off?
Mainly because of Michigan’s weak schedule and the fact he hasn’t played in fourth quarters, there has been no buzz with U-M quarterback J.J. McCarthy when it comes to Heisman Trophy contention.
However, that might change.
With McCarthy turning in good performances and bigger games on the horizon that will put him on a bigger platform, there is definite room for McCarthy to thrust himself into the Heisman conversation.
In addition, at the moment the list of contenders seems weak. Last year’s winner and this year’s presumptive favorite, USC quarterback Caleb Williams, might not be in contention this year after the Trojans suffered their second loss of the year to Utah on Saturday.
No doubt, the door seems to be opening more and more each week for McCarthy.
Western-Eastern set to collide
The second game of the year between intra-state Mid-American Conference schools will take place on Saturday when Western Michigan plays at Eastern Michigan in a 1 p.m. kickoff.
This will be a must-win game for Eastern if it wants to retain the Michigan MAC Trophy it won last year.
The Eagles already have lost to Central Michigan, which will play at Western Michigan on Nov. 7.