September 4, 2006
Mick's Super 10
·
Free Press sports writer Mick McCabe's top 10 high school football
teams:
|
RK |
SCHOOL |
W-L |
DIV |
|
1. |
|
2-0 |
2 |
|
2. |
|
2-0 |
1 |
|
3. |
Birmingham Brother Rice |
2-0 |
2 |
|
4. |
|
2-0 |
2 |
|
5. |
|
2-0 |
2 |
|
6. |
|
2-0 |
3 |
|
7. |
|
2-0 |
3 |
|
8. |
Davison |
2-0 |
2 |
|
9. |
|
2-0 |
1 |
|
10. |
|
2-0 |
1 |
·
Complete rankings, 7B
Zeeland West knocked off Hudsonville in a
monumental victory for its program. Now things get even tougher for the Dux.
On the horizon is Friday's showdown with No. 1
Muskegon, but West coach John Shillito wanted to
enjoy the 36-21 win over Hudsonville a bit longer.
"We're thrilled with the victory," Shillito said. "The big thing about Hudsonville is
they have a rock-solid program, they're in the state playoffs every year. The
big thing for us was up front, on both sides of the ball in the trenches, our
kids really played well."
Shillito was pleased with the
performance of quarterback Aaron VanDenBeldt, who ran
for 172 yards and two touchdowns.
Typical of a Shillito-coached
team, VanDenBeldt completed two of only three passes
for 55 yards.
"Counting our extra points, he was
4-of-5," Shillito joked.
As he did at Muskegon Orchard View and
Now the Dux will try to do that against
"He's a special player," Shillito said. "He adds another dimension to what they
can do -- several added dimensions."
With players like Johnson and fullback Ashton
Leggett, you want to keep
"They are a good defensive team," Shillito said. "We coached against them last year and
the last two years we were at
An early gauge: The more film of Holt
that Jeff Putnam watched, the more nervous he became.
"Holt was as big and as strong a team as
you'll find, they're in the playoffs every year," said Putnam, Davison's
coach. "We thought they're a helluva team. We
said it was a barometer game for us."
Davison's barometer has never been higher after
drubbing Holt, 34-20, for its second straight win.
Putnam has said from day one he has the best
group of receivers he has ever coached. Quarterback Jared Cowan was remarkably
effective for throwing only seven passes. Cowan
completed four of his attempts for three touchdowns and 158 yards. Jeremy
Wilson, also a standout defensive back, had three receptions for 128 yards and
two touchdowns.
"We spread the defense out and go at them
horizontally," Putnam said. "If they're going to pay a lot of
attention to our receivers, we're going to run the ball."
Davison ran the ball against Holt, accumulating
almost 300 yards on the ground. Tim Olds led the backs with 123 yards on 13
carries.
The Cardinals have been among the state's top
teams for years and have made the playoffs the last four seasons. They have
been close to winning a state championship, and a victory over a team like Holt
will do wondrous things for their confidence.
"I think we learned we're going to be able
to compete against anybody we face," Cowan said. "We also showed we
can play defense against a good team."
THE SHOW MUST GO ON: The
Lafayette Evans, director of athletics for the
PSL, said that he would reduce the number of sites hosting games and play
multiple games at some sites.
He also said girls
basketball will be played, but league games only.
The other fall sports are on hold until the
strike ends. He said football and girls basketball would be played because it
is impossible to make up missed football games and teams must play a certain
number of games to qualify for the state playoffs. Girls
basketball needs to play games to determine which teams qualify for the PSL
playoffs.
Contact MICK McCABE
at 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com.