1st & Goal: 2026 Week 2 Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 3, 2026
If you’re traveling for the long weekend and see stadium lights shining in the distance, you might want to make a quick stop and check out one of these matchups.
Nearly 80 percent of this weekend’s games will be played Thursday, although those waiting for Friday won’t miss out as there are plenty of opportunities that night as well to see high-profile nonleague clashes or conference openers that could eventually determine championships.
Staying close to home? Tune in to the NFHS Network for the majority of games across the state, and follow the MHSAA Scores page for results as they’re submitted.
Bay & Thumb
Almont (1-0) at Armada (1-0) – Thursday
Almont has continued to set the standard in the Blue Water Area Conference with three straight league championships. The Raiders’ most recent league loss came in 2022 – to Armada, which has finished second once and third in the league twice over that stretch. Both opened this season with wins over 2025 playoff teams, Armada over St. Clair Shores Lakeview and Almont over Marysville.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Saginaw Swan Valley (1-0) at Freeland (0-1), Lapeer (0-1) at Goodrich (1-0), Saginaw Heritage (0-1) at Midland Dow (1-0), Marysville (0-1) at Port Huron (1-0).
Greater Detroit
Detroit Martin Luther King (1-0) at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (1-0) – Friday
This power pair is facing off for the first time since 2006, and theirs will certainly be one of the most discussed games statewide this weekend. St. Mary’s is coming off winning last season’s Division 2 championship and opened with a 35-27 win over Muskegon Mona Shores, while King reached the Division 3 Regional Finals last fall and began this one by downing annual Ohio contender Toledo Whitmer.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Howell (1-0) at Belleville (0-1), Rochester Adams (0-1) at Rochester (1-0), Clarkston (1-0) at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (1-0). FRIDAY Davison (1-0) at Detroit Catholic Central (1-0).
Mid-Michigan
DeWitt (1-0) at Mason (1-0) – Thursday
This has developed into one of the most intriguing rivalries in the Lansing area, with both teams playing at Ford Field over the last three seasons – with 2023 also when these two started their current series. DeWitt has a 2-1 edge and won last year’s matchup 44-37 – the Panthers’ closest game during a run to the Division 3 championship – but Mason has brought back nearly its entire starting lineup this fall.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Fenton (0-1) at Haslett (0-1), Durand (1-0) at New Lothrop (1-0), Lansing Sexton (1-0) at Portland (1-0), Hastings (0-1) at Williamston (1-0).
Northern Lower Peninsula
Ogemaw Heights (1-0) at Traverse City St. Francis (1-0) – Friday
Ogemaw Heights made its first run to the Semifinals last season since 2009, and its only loss of the regular season came 42-32 to St. Francis in Week 2. The Falcons opened last week with an impressive win over Freeland, and the Gladiators downed Elk Rapids. This matchup is joined on St. Francis’ schedule by three games against teams that finished last season at Ford Field.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Escanaba (0-1) at Gaylord (1-0), East Jordan (0-1) at Oscoda (0-1). FRIDAY Boyne City (0-1) at Charlevoix (1-0), Grand Rapids Christian (0-1) at Traverse City West (0-1).
Southeast & Border
Pewamo-Westphalia (1-0) at Ottawa Lake Whiteford (0-1) – Friday
These two small-school powers are playing for the first time, but it might not be the last time this season as both stand to be in the Division 7 playoff chase in two months. Whiteford also played a first-time opponent last week, falling to Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central 37-28, while the Pirates are also coming off a tough opener after having outlasted North Muskegon 17-9.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Monroe Jefferson (1-0) at Carleton Airport (0-1), Brooklyn Columbia Central (1-0) at Michigan Center (1-0), Union City (1-0) at Reading (1-0). FRIDAY Flat Rock (0-1) at Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (1-0).
Southwest Corridor
Cedar Springs (0-1) at Battle Creek Harper Creek (1-0) – Friday
Harper Creek hasn’t received enough attention for its run over the last three seasons, which has included two straight Interstate 8 Athletic Conference titles and a combined 22-6 record. The Beavers opened this campaign with a fourth-straight win (and third-straight shutout) of rival Battle Creek Lakeview and now will have a chance to avenge last fall’s lone regular-season loss. Cedar Springs won that Week 2 matchup 30-20 and is seeking to bounce back after falling to Zeeland West last week.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (0-1) at Portage Central (0-1), Lansing Everett (0-1) at Battle Creek Central (1-0). FRIDAY Stevensville Lakeshore (1-0) at Niles (0-1), Lowell (0-1) at St. Joseph (1-0).
Upper Peninsula
Menominee (1-0) at Marquette (1-0) – Thursday
These former Great Northern Conference rivals are meeting for the first time since 2022, the last season of football for that league. The Sentinels have won four of their last five matchups, but both have found success since their last time facing off. Over the last three seasons, Menominee has played at Ford Field twice – winning last year’s Division 7 title – and Marquette has reached the Division 3 playoffs twice and opened with a close but impressive loss last week to Negaunee.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Ishpeming Westwood (0-1) at Calumet (1-0), Houghton (0-1) at Kingsford (1-0). FRIDAY Gladstone (1-0) at Negaunee (1-0), North Muskegon (0-1) vs. Iron Mountain (1-0) at Petoskey.
West Michigan
East Kentwood (1-0) at Byron Center (1-0) – Thursday
Rare are the days when Muskegon/Rockford isn’t be the default “game of the week” in West Michigan. But don’t look past this matchup this time. East Kentwood is coming off a run to the Division 1 Semifinals last season, which included a 43-14 win over 2024 Division 2 runner-up Byron Center in Week 2. The Bulldogs emerged from an 0-2 start last season, including that defeat by the Falcons, to go 7-2 the rest of the way, and they’ve already avenged the first of last year’s losses by downing Hudsonville 41-20 last week.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Grand Rapids South Christian (1-0) at East Grand Rapids (1-0), Detroit Cass Tech (1-0) at Grandville (1-0). FRIDAY Muskegon (0-1) at Rockford (0-1), Midland (1-0) at Zeeland West (1-0).
8-Player
Portland St. Patrick at Blanchard Montabella – Friday
There may not be a team in MHSAA 8-player football history that scheduled a tougher slate to start the season than Montabella, which avenged last fall’s Division 1 championship game loss with a 62-12 win over Martin last week and now gets the reigning Division 2 champion Shamrocks. St. Patrick handed the Mustangs their only regular-season defeat a year ago, 42-16, in Week 9 on the way to a perfect run, and even had a few more days to prepare this time with its Week 1 opponent Wyoming Tri-unity Christian canceling its season.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Merrill (1-0) at Morrice (1-0), Central Lake (1-0) at Gaylord St. Mary (1-0), Britton Deerfield (1-0) at Climax-Scotts (1-0). FRIDAY Pickford (1-0) at Rudyard (1-0).
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PHOTO Ithaca defenders wrap up a Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart ball carrier during their 48-6 Week 1 win. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Veteran Coach Shows Wayne the Way
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
September 16, 2015
WAYNE – Donald Anderson watched the Wayne Memorial football program lose game after game after game.
As a fan of high school football and a resident of Westland, Anderson, at times, just shook his head. As a former coach, Anderson thought about the possibility of doing something about it.
Few Class A programs have had less success than Wayne. The Zebras have made the playoffs twice and have yet to win a playoff game. Wayne’s last winning season came in 2006, when it finished 5-4. From 2010-2013, Wayne won one game. The Zebras were 2-7 last season.
Wayne is a member of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association and competes in the South division with such well-respected and successful programs like Canton, Livonia Churchill and Plymouth. Even its sister school, Westland John Glenn (the schools are part of the Wayne/Westland school district), has been a playoff team on a regular basis.
As a point of fact, four members of the KLAA South (Canton, John Glenn, Livonia Franklin and Plymouth) have reached an MHSAA Final.
Wayne’s road to rise is not an easy one.
But they have begun the climb.
“We’re getting better. We moved it well against Plymouth (in a 36-13 loss last week). We just don’t have a lot of firepower," Anderson said.
“We’ve got a good young squad. We have just seven seniors, and we don’t have a JV. We have just 12 sophomores and I didn’t want to take away from our freshmen, because they’re good, and we can build on that.”
Last April the Wayne/Westland school district had openings for a head varsity football coach, at both John Glenn and at Wayne. Anderson applied for both and was hired at Wayne. This season he became the school’s fourth head coach in as many years.
Anderson, a Detroit Cody graduate and former NFL player (he was the 32nd player taken in the 1985 NFL Draft after playing four years at Purdue University), has had success as an assistant or head coach at every school he’s been at since he starting coaching in 1989.
Anderson was the defensive coordinator at Cody before becoming the head coach in 1995. In 1999, he went to Detroit Henry Ford as an assistant under Mike Marshall before going to Detroit Northwestern in 2003 as an assistant under Michael Crayton. In 2009, Anderson became the head coach at Northwestern. The school closed after the 2009-10 school year, and Anderson decided, at that time, enough was enough.
He’s been a spectator ever since. Until this season.
“I was still involved,” he said. “I was in consultations with other schools. They wanted to pick my mind. I had a lot of opportunities to coach. It wasn’t the right time. I’ve lived in Westland since 2009. I live between Wayne and Glenn, and I’ve been watching Wayne for a while. I decided to give it a shot. The subject just drew me in. When the opportunity came, I said let’s try it.”
But coaches at Wayne don’t last long. Why would a person, 52 years old and a successful businessman, take a position there when he passed up other coaching opportunities?
A big part was wanting to help local athletes pursue their dreams at the college level. But there also was the challenge.
“I like a task," Anderson said. "It’s like when I left Henry Ford and went to Northwestern. People thought I was crazy. Low and behold, look who’s on my staff.”
Marshall is now Anderson’s assistant, as is Charles Spann, a former head coach at Detroit Chadsey and Detroit Pershing. It’s people like Marshall and Spann who waited for Anderson to get back into coaching to return to the sidelines themselves.
Both Marshall and Spann won Detroit Public School League titles as head coaches. Now they’re trying to help a friend experience the same.
There are definite reasons for optimism. Anderson sees a lot of potential in 6-foot-3, 215-pound sophomore Reggie Micheaux, a receiver and defensive end. "He can go up and get it, and he's a big target," the coach said.
Running backs Jarvis Martin and Malik Bryant, the latter also a defensive back, are among others who are impressing early.
Anderson said former players like himself are different. They have their pride. Their egos push them into circumstances others wouldn’t tread.
But for Anderson, it’s more than his ego he’s trying to satisfy. Ten years ago he was diagnosed with kidney failure. He went through dialysis until he received a kidney transplant five years after the diagnosis. After two years, his new kidney failed. Anderson has received kidney dialysis, three days a week, since 2012. With all of that comes a different perspective.
The winning, for now, has had to wait. Wayne is 0-3. Still, those 13 points represented the most they’ve scored against Plymouth since 2007.
It doesn’t get any easier with Canton (3-0) next, but the Zebras will continue to build.
“It’s about passing it on,” he said. “God has been good to me. It’s about helping others.”
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Malik Bryant breaks past pursuing Plymouth defenders during last week's game. (Middle) Jarvis Martin works against a Plymouth player. (Below) Kyle Brooks turns upfield. (Photos courtesy of Wayne Memorial athletic department/Kathy Hansen Photography.)