Welcome to the 2006
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The conference will most likely come
down to Powers and Davison, both are
returning a lot of key players from
successful '05 campaigns.
Powers offense shouldn't miss a beat with the return of Hickoff,
Lucas-Perry and Lark. Davison
must find a viable replacement in
the backfield
for Ruben Talley but return QB Jared Cowan. You can't count out
Grand Blanc or Carman-Ainsworth
either. Both lost a lot of
talent but have
reloaded in several key areas. Carman returns QB Marty Cardwell,
while GB returns QB Jon Mora and
star RB, Mark Ingram. Owosso
and
Kearsley will be tough as well. Owosso was just a few key series
away from making the playoffs last
season, while Kearsley will have
ample
motivation to improve upon last year's season. Owosso's running
game will keep them in just about
every game with the return of RB
Curran
Jacobs and QB Chris Finley.
The conference is again stocked with
talent, with Sexton, Grand Ledge,
Holt and Okemos looking to be front
runners. It is possible that
you
might see two of these teams playing the day after Thanksgiving.
Grand Ledge is starting this season
with former Assistant Matt Bird at
the
helm. Their should be little disruption as Bird will continue to
keep things moving in the same
direction with a 70+ man roster.
Everett, Eastern,
Jackson and East Lansing are not short on talent either. It
wouldn't be surprising to see one of
these teams step up and make the
'256'.
Ionia, St. Johns and Charlotte all
have a legitimate shot at claiming
this year's CAACII crown.
Ionia with a slew of returning
talent looks to be
the front runner with the other not far behind. St. Johns looked
very well in summer practice.
Maybe not this season, but in the
next few years
Waverly will be a force to be reckoned with. With new Head Coach
Chris Huff bringing in an offensive
mindset from the next level, you
could see
the talented Warriors converting that into football skill in the near
future.
With only six teams, the CAACIII
would still have to be considered
pound for pound, one of the area's
best football conferences. 4
out of the 6
teams have a legitimate shot at the playoffs. This could be the
fifth season in a row that a team
from the conference is playing in
the State
Finals. Right now DeWitt looks to be the class of the league,
looking to put behind them their
lowest win output in some time.
After several
title game appearances, the Panthers just missed the playoffs last
season. Fowlerville and
Lakewood will not be far behind.
Haslett, a returning
State-Finalist, will begin the season without All-Everything Nathan
Turner, but the cupboard is far from
bar in Haslett. Williamston
and Lansing
C.C. will be not pushovers either. C.C. may have lower numbers, but
they have a mindset to compete, week
in and week out.
With big large graduating classes
from both Linden and West, the young
Metro is up for grabs Oxford, West
and Linden the early front runners.
Not far behind and contenders by all means, Brandon, Lapeer East and
Holly should also big big factors in
the title chase. East has just
about
everybody back and both Brandon and Holly are two of the area's most
promising upstart programs.
Swartz Creek joins the conference
and
adds a lot of depth in what should be a big year in a bigger Flint Metro
League.
No surprises here, New Lothrop will
again be the beasts of the Blue.
The Hornets will put their
undefeated GACB record to the test
again this
year and hope to improve upon last year's regional final trip. Just
about every skill player returns for
NL, but they will have a chink in
the armor
when it comes to the trenches. Genesee will contend and Hamady with
a few gifted athletes will surprise
a few people this season.
Byron is
working on a new offense and that should help them out, moving from the
Wing-T to the spread. Bendle
was hurt by graduation and will be
breaking in a new coach. Bentley looks to be headed in the right
direction with a bigger team and a
new Coach as well.
Much like last season, but even more
so, this conference will not be
Montrose and then somebody else to
challenge them. The Red will
have 5
legitimate contenders to the conference title with Mt. Morris, Lake
Fenton and Montrose leading the
pack. Goodrich with a strong
returning
class and lots of experience will not be far behind. Durand is much
improved but LakeVille will find the
going tough in this year's GACR.
The
title will most likely be decided by the team that has two wins out of
the MM, LF and Montrose games.
When it comes to playoff time, these
boys know how to get it done.
This year the class of teams will be
a bit thinner, but don't be
surprised to
see another GT team in the final four. Reese will be the top
candidate for that position.
The program returns some hefty
talent along with QB
Corbin Oldenburg. They do however lose RB, Jason Bierlein and Drew
Saylor. Cass City will most
likely be the contenders to Reese's
run
for the crown. They have a good returning class but lost quite a
bit more in terms of Seniors than
Reese. U.S.A. was decimated by
graduation,
losing most of their team from the most successful football period in
school history with 2 Finals
appearances and 1 ring. All
Saints will be good
but may have problems late in the game with only 15 players. Bad
Axe will be improved as so will the
Lakers. It is yet to be seen
on how
Buena Vista will compete in year one of their GTW trial.
Nouvel will bring with them this
season, the area's best shot for a
state title. With returning
leaders at just about every position
look for the
Panthers to make a run for the hardware. In their way stands and
absolutely brutal schedule with two
state finalists from '05, not to
mention
Class A Charlotte and NEMC juggernaut John Glenn. If they can get
through the season with only a few
losses, they would still have to be
one
of the D6 title favorites. Corunna, Portland and Whittemore all
look to make trips to the
post-season. Perry might
possible be the area's most
improved team and Beecher will look to rebuild under a famous new coach.
Should be another competitive year
for the JPC, with upstarts Houghton
Lake and Roscommon looking to
continue what they started last
season. Clare and Meridian should be right up there as always and
Gladwin could be a contender for the
title. Beaverton, Harrison and
Farwell will find the going tough.
John Glenn will be back but this
year, a new favorite has risen.
With the return of star QB Matt
Faiman, Ogemaw Heights looks to be
the class
of the NEMC. Pinconning lost a lot of talent from some good playoff
teams over the past few years.
Standish will mostly likely continue
their
upswing with a program moving in the right direction. Tawas could
be this year's pleasant surprise,
with a new Head Coach and some
successful underclassmen teams. John Glenn will host Ogemaw in what
could be one of the conferences best
games in quite a while. The
Falcons are built for a deep playoff run but must not overlook the teams
in their own backyard. They
also must face defending D4 champ
Flint Powers in week 1 in what should tell us just about everything we
need to know about OH.
One thing is for sure this season in
the Valley, the usual suspects are
there but unlike in other seasons,
there isn't a clear cut front runner
by any means. Dow, Midland High, Bay City Central should be just a
tad above Western, Heritage, Mt.
Pleasant and Arthur Hill.
Saginaw High
and Flint Northern are headed in the right direction with new regimes and
a positive attitude towards success.
S.W.A. will be talented but raw.
Midland High has a favorable home schedule while BCC is on the flipside
with most of their crucial games
being on the road, including a trip
to
Lansing Everett. Arthur Hill is in the same boat with some tough
road games including a long trip to
Traverse City West. It will
all come down to
Rivalry week when Bay City and Midland are up for grabs. Week 1 is
a dandy as well with AH going to
Heritage and Midland High headed
west
to Mt. Pleasant. It will be one of the most exiting and
un-predictable seasons in years.
Could be an interesting lead-in to
what might be a
drastic change in the landscape of area football with the Big 9 possible
going away and a few teams jumping
to the Valley.
Take your pick this season in the
East, each and every week will be a
toss-up with no clear cut winner and
a few upstarts eyeing the title.
Vassar and North Branch are in a new situation looking to be one of the
teams in the upper echelon.
Garber, Frankenmuth, Birch Run and
Millington will be in the same group. Bridgeport will have to get
healthy before the season starts and
Caro, will almost undoubtedly be a
big
improvement over last season. Vassar, Garber and Birch Run must all
go to North Branch in what seems to
be the only favorable schedule
out of the bunch. This year's champ could realistically have three
losses.
Just like the East, who knows what
to expect from this year's West,B.
One thing is for certain, it will be
one of the area's strongest
conferences
, with 7 out of the new conference's 8 teams making the post-season.
The only team that didn't missed by
1 point on the last play of the
season. Hemlock and Swan Valley may have a slight edge, but it's
not much with Alma, Shepherd and
Ovid right on there tails.
Bullock Creek
much like U.S.A. will have to deal with losing the most successful class
in the school's history. They
now have a strong program, but it is
going
to take at least a year before they re-gain their footing and compete for
the title. Chesaning will be
quick and talented but have depth
issues.
Freeland will be the wildcard this season with a good talent pool but a
few unknowns, beginning with a new
Head Coach and a new QB.
Not to be any different than the
other two TV leagues, this
conference will also feature a
strong top - bottom class of teams.
St. Charles and
Ithaca may be the cream of the crop this season but M.L.S. and
Breckenridge both looked very
promising in summer practice.
Merrill, Valley
Lutheran, St. Louis and Carrollton will have a few depth issues but are
going to be a lot more competitive
in the new better suited TVW,C.
