1st & Goal: Week 5 Preview
September 24, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Most years, we’d talk this weekend about Michigan high school football teams being in midseason form.
They’re getting there quickly – and with another series of big-time matchups these next few days helping all of us get back up to speed.
Major rivalries will play out again in Muskegon, Flint and Metro Detroit among various communities all over the state. Some of the most noteworthy games are briefly previewed below. Check out the MHSAA Score Center beforehand for kickoff times and locations of all games, and come back Friday and Saturday for scores as they’re reported.
This week we’ll also have 53 varsity football games broadcast on MHSAA.tv; click the link for listings.
Bay & Thumb
Flint Hamady (1-0) at Flint Beecher (1-0)
Anthony Branch’s coaching tenure after Courtney Hawkins left for Michigan State began with a 27-19 win over Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard last week. The Bucs’ biggest game of the regular season is up next, and Branch has plenty of experience in Hamady matchups after serving previously as an assistant coach and having played in the Beecher program. The Hawks have won all three regular-season matchups with the Bucs since the teams rejoined the same league in 2017.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Davison (1-0) at Grand Blanc (1-0), Frankenmuth (1-0) at Saginaw Swan Valley (1-0), Sandusky (1-0) at Harbor Beach (1-0), Saginaw Nouvel (0-1) at Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary (1-0).
Greater Detroit
Sterling Heights Stevenson (1-0) at Macomb Dakota (1-0)
These two finished fifth and fourth, respectively, in the Macomb Area Conference Red in 2019. But together last week they defeated reigning champion Clinton Township Chippewa Valley (Dakota 29-20) and runner-up Utica Eisenhower (Stevenson 7-3). Dakota owns a five-game regular-season winning streak against the Titans, including last year by a 40-14 score. But Stevenson may be continuing a surge that took it to last year’s Division 1 Semifinals – a run which included a 38-35 win over Dakota in the District Final.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Dearborn Fordson (0-1) at Belleville (1-0), Detroit Mumford (1-0) at Detroit Cass Tech (1-0). SATURDAY Detroit Catholic Central (1-0) at Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (1-0).
Mid-Michigan
Midland Bullock Creek (1-0) at Ithaca (1-0)
These two are in different divisions of the Tri-Valley Conference West this fall. But a year ago they were in the same division and shared the championship, breaking Ithaca’s streak of nine straight outright league titles. The Yellowjackets won last year’s matchup 35-21, but Bullock Creek was able to grab a championship share after Ithaca fell to Hemlock 30-6 in the league finale. Both opened last week with wins over 2019 playoff teams, Ithaca over Saginaw Nouvel and Bullock Creek over Carrollton.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY DeWitt (1-0) at Grand Ledge (1-0), LeRoy Pine River (1-0) at Beal City (1-0), Leslie (0-1) at Stockbridge (1-0), St. Johns (0-1) at Williamston (1-0).
Northern Lower Peninsula
Ogemaw Heights (1-0) at Kingsley (1-0)
Ogemaw Heights is coming off its first winning season since 2013 after going 8-3 a year ago. Kingsley, meanwhile, posted its best finish since 2005 at 12-1 and with a run to the Division 5 Semifinals. A 36-19 Week 2 win over Ogemaw Heights was among seven victories total the Stags posted against teams that finished with winning records. And this matchup should mean more in the future as Ogemaw Heights has joined Kingsley in the Northern Michigan Football Conference Legends division.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY East Jordan (1-0) at Harbor Springs (1-0), Traverse City St. Francis (0-1) at Grayling (1-0), Petoskey (1-0) at Traverse City Central (1-0), Oscoda (1-0) at Rogers City (1-0).
Southeast & Border
Breckenridge (1-0) at Reading (1-0)
Added just this week, this might be one of the top small-school matchups in the state this season. Reading has won the last two Division 8 championships and defeated Breckenridge 39-20 in the 2018 title game. This could be a preview of another playoff matchup to come. Together they defeated their season-opening opponents last week by a combined score of 95-6.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Blissfield (1-0) at Hillsdale (1-0), Brooklyn Columbia Central (1-0) at Clinton (1-0), Riverview (1-0) at Milan (1-0), Battle Creek Pennfield (1-0) at Parma Western (1-0).
Southwest Corridor
Saugatuck (1-0) at Schoolcraft (1-0)
This might have gotten a little more attention a year ago, as these two frequently are the best or near the top of their divisions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Schoolcraft was a co-champion in the Lakeshore last season, but Saugatuck finished sub-.500 overall for the first time since 2006. Saugatuck got off to a winning start last week, however, as did Schoolcraft – and this fall both are in the SAC Valley.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Marshall (0-1) at Coldwater (1-0), Portage Northern (1-0) at Mattawan (1-0), Decatur (0-1) at Cassopolis (1-0), Coloma (1-0) at Kalamazoo United (1-0).
Upper Peninsula
Sault Ste. Marie (1-0) at Marquette (1-0)
Granted, it’s just one week to go on. But based on early returns, these might be the best in the Upper Peninsula this fall. Sault Ste. Marie opened with a seven-point win over Traverse City St. Francis, while Marquette downed Menominee by 23. Marquette has beaten the Blue Devils in four straight including 31-0 a year ago, but despite last year’s defeat Sault Ste. Marie went on to its winningest season since 2013. A win tonight could end up the Sault’s highlight of this shortened season.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY West Iron County (1-0) at L'Anse (1-0), Hancock (1-0) at Bessemer Gogebic (0-1), Menominee (0-1) at Marinette, Wis. (0-0), Norway (0-1) at Houghton (1-0).
West Michigan
Muskegon Mona Shores (1-0) at Muskegon (1-0)
This easily is the headliner of the week, matchup up a pair of teams that reached Ford Field a year ago. A 53-0 Muskegon win over Shores in Week 8 was among dominating victories that pushed the Big Reds to a Division 3 runner-up finish. The Sailors, meanwhile, didn’t lose again after that night, stringing together a series of mostly close wins on the way to the Division 2 title. Muskegon has a five-game winning streak in this rivalry matchup, but a much closer finish than last year’s has to be the expectation this time.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Montague (1-0) at Muskegon Oakridge (1-0), Rockford (1-0) at Caledonia (1-0), Byron Center (1-0) at Grand Rapids Christian (0-1), Hudsonville Unity Christian (1-0) at Grand Rapids West Catholic (1-0).
8-Player
Colon (1-0) at Adrian Lenawee Christian (1-0), Saturday
Colon’s move to 8-player in 2018 proved beneficial and then some as the Magi went a combined 23-2 over the last two seasons and won the 8-player Division 1 title a year ago. Lenawee Christian’s move this fall could usher in similar dominance for the Cougars, who finished 10-2 and just missed defeating eventual Division 8 champion Reading in the Regional Final last year. Lenawee opened its 8-player era with a 62-0 win over another first-year 8-player team Athens last week, while Colon downed frequent playoff qualifier Bellevue 45-6.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Portland St. Patrick (1-0) at Vestaburg (1-0), Merrill (1-0) at Atlanta (1-0), Pickford (1-0) at Cedarville (1-0). SATURDAY Newberry (0-1) at Munising (1-0).
PHOTO: Johannesburg-Lewiston opened last week with a 47-14 win over Mancelona. (Photo by Robert Batzloff.)
Dock Putting Dad's Coaching Lessons to Work as Middleville TK Continues Climb
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
November 3, 2025
MIDDLEVILLE – Denny Dock can't pinpoint the exact moment he thought his football-loving son would follow him into coaching, but the signs were there all along.
For starters, there were the countless hours spent tossing a football around the backyard. Or when his young son, Jeff – not even old enough for middle school at the time – eagerly joined other Stevensville Lakeshore coaches watching film on weekends.
Maybe it was all those Friday nights spent trekking along the sideline as a ball boy for Lancers teams. Another clue might have been the Saturday afternoons the two spent together watching college football, or taking in the NFL on Sundays.
When Jeff got older, it may have been how he readily absorbed tips that helped him become a better quarterback in high school and then at Grand Valley State. It could have even been an early, uncanny ability to grasp the importance of fundamentals.
Put it all together, and it seemed inevitable coaching football loomed in Jeff Dock's future.
"That's very fair to say," said Denny Dock, who is 19th on the state's list of all-time winningest football coaches while also the winningest high school softball coach in the country. "The younger years in football were really positive for Jeff, and that doesn't happen all the time. There are negative things that can happen."
While there might have been multiple signs the younger Dock would one day join the coaching ranks, he admits it was far from a done deal. There were thoughts of becoming a biology teacher, a pastor or maybe even an orthopedic surgeon.
But coaching? Even with his father as a classic example of the positive impact a good coach could spread, Dock said it took years for him to eventually land in coaching.
"It dawned on me that there were a lot of all three of those things in being a coach," he said. "Growing up in sports is what I knew, and I ended up developing a passion for it."
That passion is actually the highest it's been in years as his Middleville Thornapple Kellogg football team this past weekend improved to 7-3, continuing the program's first winning season since 2020 and the best fall since the Trojans went 7-3 in 2018. The Trojans defeated Hastings 28-20 in a Division 2 playoff opener, and a win this Friday at Lowell would give Middleville its first District championship since 2001.
Denny Dock coached football at Hartford from 1981-83, Dowagiac from 1984-87, and then Lakeshore from 1988-2013, returning to lead the Lancers for one more season in 2020 and all together totaling a 270-79 career record, 15 league titles and five runner-up MHSAA Finals finishes.
He has kept his hand in football in aiding his son's Trojans program. He's at all the games to add support, critique, advice, strategy, tips on how practices can best be organized and long talks discussing how continual improvement can be furthered.
It's a two-way street as an old football coach who never had a losing season, and is a member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame, can remain invested in the game while his son benefits from three decades worth of experience.
Jeff Dock said his father's real value is his ability to spot from the stands the little things that less experienced coaches may miss.
"Play calling, how players are used, maybe a little bit about strategy," Dock said.
After playing for his father, Dock said there's no doubt he's transferred the best of what he learned into his own coaching. The older Dock was not only a highly successful football coach, he's compiled a 1,319-345-2 record in softball with eight Finals titles.
Whether it's about football or the philosophy Dock stresses in his softball program, the advice accepted from his father – who still attends softball clinics for tips on improving the Lakeshore program – is virtually across the board. It begins, however, with how a coach should treat his players.
"I was a manager growing up, and I saw his intensity and a love of his players," Dock said. "He never pushed me in any direction, but he told me about education. He always let me figure it out. One of the coolest things my parents did in raising me was to allow me to figure things out."
As far as the Xs and Os of coaching, Dock said his father prizes an organized practice. In fact, it could even be argued that both Docks enjoy a spirited and productive practice session over the microscope of Friday Night Lights.
"He never had a losing season, and it was ingrained in us just to go back to work and that that work never stops," he said. "He loves practices and being organized. Rule No. 1 with him was to make sure the players are prepared, and that you have to communicate with them. Dad would never belittle us or cuss us out.
"I saw the work he put in, how he'd wake up every Saturday thinking about the game. I saw the nitty gritty of coaching and how it was going to take work."
It was that seemingly endless work, in fact, that Denny Dock made sure his young son understood. Denny had no illusions over the pitfalls of coaching, and the pros and the cons. But before he could teach that to his son the coach, he made sure his son the quarterback understood how athletics worked.
There were challenges as a player and now for his son as a coach.
"He was always a quarterback because I think he liked the ball in his hands," Denny Dock said. "I think he liked the leadership part of the game, understanding the team part, and knowing what he had to do. That always challenged him."
While the challenge of playing is long gone for the younger Dock, the next challenge is building a program which is annually competitive. To do that, Jeff Dock said he accepts what his father knew 30 years ago.
"I'm willing to learn anything from anyone at any time," he said. "I know my dad has always thought about what he can do to become a little better every year. I'm always looking for ways to communicate and do things better. It can always be done better, but how can you get there? How can we do the little things better. That's what I learned."
PHOTOS (Top) Jeff Dock, left, and son Micah – Middleville Thornapple Kellogg’s quarterback this season – stand for a photo at their home field. (Middle) Denny Dock, far left, coaches a base runner during Stevensville Lakeshore’s 2022 Semifinal win. (Top photo by Steve Vedder.)