My high school football travels took me to Navarre Field Friday night to see St. Mary Catholic Central host Milan.
It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a game so much. It was a perfect night for football and two good teams put on a great show.
It can’t be much fun for coaches to watch game tapes after a loss, but it sounds like Milan coach Steve Robb enjoyed this one more the second time. “It was a good game, fun to watch and be a part of,” he said in an e-mail to me Monday morning.
SMCC put together an inspired effort to hand the Big Reds their first loss of the season. The Falcons had no business winning this game, Physically, they could not match Milan and were playing without their starting tailback and quarterback.
But they found a way to get it done.
I just realized that I never posted any notes on Week 6 in this blog. So here are a few general impressions on the state of Monroe County Region football:
1. Erik Johnson of Summerfield and Jeff Wood of Bedford are doing great jobs in their first season as head coaches. Summerfield has never made the state playoffs and Bedford has been there just one, but both are challenging for berths this year.
Summerfield’s hopes probably boil down to beating arch-rival Whiteford this week. The Bulldogs finish against 1-6 Britton-Deerfield.
Bedford plays a week Dexter team this week before finishing against state-ranked Chelsea.
2. Another first-year coach doing a great job is Gibraltar Carlson’s Kent Sikora. Carlson has enjoyed more success in recent years than Summerfield or Bedford, but Sikora took over a team that was 3-6 last season and had to start the year with four straight road games. Despite that, he has the Marauders in playoff contention.
3. Flat Rock has to be the scrappiest team in the Region. Despite having just 18 players on the roster, they give almost everyone a good game. I love the way coach Joe Pruchnicki deals with the small roster. “The last time I counted, you could only play 11,” he said.
4. Monroe has made a nice recovery after a rocky start, but squeezing into the playoffs is going to be tough. The Trojans take on undefeated Dearborn this week.
5. Dundee quarterback Daniel Bolster has a bright future. The sophomore has poise and talent. He throws the ball as well as any quarterback I’ve seen this season.
6. I was happy to see New Boston Huron finally get a victory Friday night. Dan Kalbfleish and his staff are working hard to get the program on track. The Chiefs have a chance to finish the season with a three-game winning streak.