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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Will cold weather freeze the Lions’ hot road record?
The Detroit Lions have been red-hot on the road this season, amassing a 5-1 record away from Ford Field. But this Sunday’s game will bring about a test the Lions really haven’t seen this year: Cold weather.
Barring an unforeseen warm front from the southern hemisphere or something, it obviously won’t be warm at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sunday. The Lions played at Green Bay and Kansas City when it was still warm in September, played at Tampa and inside when they played at the Los Angeles Chargers and New Orleans.
The coldest game the Lions played was when it was in the high 50s at Baltimore, and quarterback Jared Goff seemed to struggle a bit in the wind (although the Ravens defense had something to do with that also).
The Lions won a brutally cold game at Green Bay to end last year, so it’s not like they can’t draw on success in cold weather.
Still, this should be a different kind of test for a Lions team that has passed just about all of them on the road this year.
Grand Valley State bows out of Division II playoffs
There won’t be a champion from the state in Division II this year. No. 2-ranked Grand Valley State was eliminated from the playoffs with a heartbreaking 7-6 home loss in Allendale to No. 4 Harding.
The Lakers saw starting quarterback and Harlan Hill Award (the Division II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy) finalist Cade Peterson suffer an injury in the fourth quarter, and then gave up the game-winning touchdown to Harding with 3:52 remaining.
Alma sees historic season end
Another state team playing a home playoff game over the weekend was Alma, which hosted SUNY Cortland in a Division III quarterfinal.
Unfortunately for the Scots, they couldn’t build on the momentum of a win at traditional Division III power Mount Union the week before, bowing out of the playoffs with a 58-41 loss.
Alma quarterback Carter St. John was limited with an ankle injury in the second half after the game was tied 34-34 at halftime, and the Scots couldn’t get on track.
Still, it was a historic season for Alma, which finished 12-1.