MUSKEGON, MI – Filling out the nonleague portion of a high school football schedule can be tricky, especially for smaller, highly successful programs such as Muskegon Catholic Central and Oakridge.
Among the considerations when lining up opponents are school size, travel expense and competitiveness, particularly as it relates to playoff ramifications.
Some matchups just make too much sense, however. Muskegon Catholic Central vs. Oakridge is one of them.
Two of the Muskegon area’s winningest programs are renewing their series, as the Crusaders and Eagles are scheduled to meet in Week 9 of the 2020 season with an Oct. 23 nonleague clash at Oakridge’s Russell A. Erickson Stadium.
In Week 9 of the 2021 season, Oakridge will return a visit to MCC’s Kehren Stadium to complete the two-year deal.
The Eagles and Crusaders have met only two times previously, both teams winning handily on their home fields in season openers: Oakridge 45-26 in 2015, and MCC 30-6 in 2016.
Oakridge head coach Cary Harger poses for a portrait during the MLive Muskegon Chronicle high school football media in Muskegon, Michigan on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. Joel Bissell | MLive.com
“We were really happy to get that one just because of the rarity of that game – only playing twice and it was a good turnout for both teams, and so I think that will spark some people’s interest in that one again,” Oakridge coach Cary Harger said about the renewing the series with MCC.
Beyond the local appeal of the matchup, both teams’ schedules are now filled and that’s never a given these days.
Coming off a 6-3 playoff season, Muskegon Catholic Central kicks off 2020 with another attractive, local matchup on the road against a competitive North Muskegon squad. In addition to the Crusaders’ four Lakes 8 Activities Conference games, they’ll have nonleague home contests against Grand Rapids West Catholic (Week 2) and Benton Harbor (Week 5) and another nonconference road game at Centreville (Week 8).
Oakridge, which was 10-1 last season with a West Michigan Conference title and 15th-straight postseason appearance (24 in 25 years), opens 2020 with a nonleague game at 2019 Division 4 playoff qualifier Sparta. The other seven games on the Eagles’ slate this fall will be WMC contests.
Filling a nine-game football schedule can be a challenge, as Muskegon Catholic Central athletic director Casey Christensen can attest. In 2019, the Crusaders played an eight-game, regular-season slate, having an open date in Week 5. It includes a series of emails, phone calls, texts and moving pieces, and it’s important to stay out in front of it as much as possible.
“The North Muskegon one just kind of materialized really quickly. They’ve obviously gotten stronger over the last couple years and they reached out to us, and so that was obviously a natural fit because it’s right down the street and we have good, competitive matchups with them in all our sports. It’s a good, kind of local rivalry,” Christensen said.
“Obviously, everybody wants as many home games as they can get and I know that Rick (Ruel, Oakridge AD) was really looking for a home game – they only had three, so we conceded to them on that to play over there and then we’ll get them back at our place in 2021.”
Christensen said that each of MCC’s nonleague contests are two-year deals on paper, although with conference realignments and the potential for expansion in leagues such as the WMC, those contracts aren’t necessarily binded as teams’ schedules tend to shift.
For instance, the Crusaders played Wyoming Godwin Heights in Week 9 last season, but Godwin has an OK Silver contest against Comstock Park in the regular-season finale this fall.
In 2019, Oakridge opened at Belding and closed the regular season at home vs. Traverse City St. Francis. Both deals were potentially for two years, but things changed.
Harger said that Belding opted to go in another direction for the 2020 season opener (now taking on North Branch instead). As for a return trip to Traverse City to play St. Francis this fall, Harger said that Oakridge was looking for a closer alternative to cut down on travel even though last year’s game as a dandy (25-20 Eagles win). According to Harger, Oakridge was keeping St. Francis on the back burner, but St. Francis went in another direction and scheduled Jackson Lumen Christi for Week 9.
Ruel said there were only a few options for Oakridge on the west side of the state for Week 9 and one of them was Muskegon Catholic Central.
Two to three weeks ago, Oakridge and MCC agreed to rekindle the rivalry.
“I just told Rick, ‘Why travel almost three hours for a game when we could just play across town again and we’re both going to have nice crowds and hopefully good games and it won’t cost us much because we’re just traveling across town?’” Harger said.
Muskegon Catholic Central and Oakridge each will have four home games and five road contests in 2020.
Muskegon Catholic head coach Steve Czerwon poses for a photo during the MLive high school football media day, in Muskegon on Wednesday, August 7, 2019. Kayla Renie | MLive.com
MCC coach Steve Czerwon said it’s great to have local matchups such as the one between his Crusaders and the Eagles.
“Well, (the 2020 schedule is) challenging for sure, but I think, too, two of the teams don’t have head coaches (currently) – Benton Harbor and Centreville – so there’s a little bit of unknown just glancing at it,” said Czerwon, who should field a more experienced team this fall compared to the last two seasons.
MCC took some lumps with a very young roster two years ago, when the Crusaders finished an uncharacteristic 3-6, but they trended back in the right direction last season.
Oakridge has remained steady, although the Eagles are losing four-year standout Leroy Quinn to graduation. But the expression seems to apply for both the Eagles and Crusaders: Tradition never graduates.
“I think the main thing is, we’re probably only going to be playing with one sophomore on varsity so that’s going to be quite a shift from where we were the last couple years in terms of playing underclassmen,” Czerwon said. “It will be good to play with age-appropriate kids again.”
Of course, with the coronavirus pandemic gripping the world and especially the country, nobody can say that the 2020 Michigan high school football season is a sure thing.
“I hope so, I hope so,” Ruel said. “You know, obviously it’s been a crazy winter season and it’s been a crazy spring right now. We’re kind of going as the governor goes – we’ll see what she has in store and then see what the MHSAA wants to do.”
Muskegon Catholic Central 2020 football schedule
| Date | Opponent |
|---|---|
| Aug. 28 | at North Muskegon |
| Sept. 4 | GRAND RAPIDS WEST CATHOLIC |
| Sept. 11 | at Orchard View* |
| Sept. 18 | LUDINGTON* |
| Sept. 25 | BENTON HARBOR |
| Oct. 2 | MUSKEGON HEIGHTS ACADEMY* |
| Oct. 9 | at Manistee* |
| Oct. 16 | at Centreville |
| Oct. 23 | at Oakridge |
| Home games in ALL CAPS. *Lakes 8 Activities Conference game |
Oakridge 2020 football schedule
| Date | Opponent |
|---|---|
| Aug. 28 | at Sparta |
| Sept. 4 | at Shelby* |
| Sept. 11 | WHITEHALL* |
| Sept. 18 | at Mason County Central* |
| Sept. 25 | MONTAGUE* |
| Oct. 2 | at Hart* |
| Oct. 9 | NORTH MUSKEGON* |
| Oct. 16 | at Ravenna* |
| Oct. 23 | MUSKEGON CATHOLIC CENTRAL |
| Home games in ALL CAPS. *West Michigan Conference game |
Read more:
Add Detroit County Day vs. Montague to list of intriguing 2020 football openers
Football state champions set to collide at 2020 Prep Kickoff Classic in Detroit
Muskegon vs. East Kentwood set for 2020, 2021 season openers
MHSAA answers key questions on fate of high school sports and coronavirus
Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus
"traditional" - Google News
March 24, 2020 at 08:40PM
https://ift.tt/33JCnCn
Traditional powers Muskegon Catholic Central, Oakridge to renew budding football rivalry - MLive.com
"traditional" - Google News
https://ift.tt/36u1SIt
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Traditional powers Muskegon Catholic Central, Oakridge to renew budding football rivalry - MLive.com"
Post a Comment