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Drive for Detroit: Playoff Week 1 Review

October 29, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

One MHSAA Playoffs week is done, with four to go. Here’s some of what we’ve seen so far:

• Of 144 games played over the weekend, 39 were decided by seven or fewer points. Six were decided by merely one point!

• We had the fifth-highest scoring game in MHSAA history, where the losing team scored at least 40 points, and two more that saw teams combine to blow past 100 points. Another game passed 90, and a handful more saw more than 80 points put on the board.

• We will have at least two new champions. Central Lake in 8-Player Division 1 didn’t qualify for this postseason, and five-time reigning Division 5 champion Grand Rapids West Catholic was eliminated over the weekend.

So with those as a start, this week – as with most first weeks of the MHSAA Playoffs – was filled with rematches from the regular season, a few upsets and many more wins to set up bigger games in the next round. Read on for a few notes on four of the most intriguing results from each division.

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Division 1

HEADLINER: East Kentwood 31, Brighton 28 The Falcons (9-1) came back from an early 14-point deficit to earn their first playoff win since 2014. East Kentwood’s field goal was the only score of the second half. Brighton finished 7-3 but with two losses by a combined eight points. Click for more from FOX 17.

More shoutouts: Rockford 18, Traverse City West 13 The Rams (6-4) hit the road to defeat the Big North Conference champion Titans (7-3). Macomb Dakota 21, Romeo 17 The Cougars (8-2) beat Romeo (6-4) for the second time this fall by seven or fewer points, this time to set up a rematch with rival Clinton Township Chippewa Valley. Dearborn Fordson 24, Grosse Pointe South 17 The Tractors (9-1) scored 21 unanswered fourth-quarter points, and their 24 total were the second most given up this season by the Blue Devils (8-2).  

Division 2

HEADLINER: Okemos 31, Jackson 22 The Chiefs (7-3) have reached their highest win total and won their first playoff game both since 2011 under first-year coach Mike Krumm. This victory also ended a dream season for Jackson (9-1), which won its first league title in more than 70 years and (research pending) may have achieved its first perfect regular season. Click for more from State Champs Sports Network.

More shoutouts: South Lyon 31, Dexter 24 (OT) The Lions (10-0) held on to extend their winningest season since 2004 with their first playoff win since 2011, ending Dexter’s first playoff season ever at 6-4. Jenison 64, Traverse City Central 43 The Wildcats (7-3) emerged from this offensively-charged matchup with their first playoff win since 2001 and despite Central (7-3) scoring its second-most points in a game this season. Temperance Bedford 55, Dearborn Heights Crestwood 21 The Mules (6-4) continued their surge after a 2-4 start, ending the winningest season for Crestwood (8-2) since 1991.

Division 3

HEADLINER: Detroit Martin Luther King 7, River Rouge 6 These two entered the playoffs both averaging more than 40 points per game. But the Crusaders (8-2) bounced back from giving up 42 to Cass Tech in Week 9 by holding River Rouge (8-2) to single digits – not just for the second time this year, but the second time in four seasons. The Panthers’ defense, for its part, gave up only 24 points over its final eight game after a 40-7 loss to Cass in the season opener. Click for more from MLive-Detroit.

More shoutouts: Parma Western 21, Mattawan 14 (OT) The Panthers (9-1) held on to celebrate the first playoff win in program history. Mattawan finished 5-5 but with three straight losses by seven points or fewer. Battle Creek Central 25, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg 24 The Bearcats (7-3) earned their first playoff win since 2004, coming back after the Trojans (7-3) got off to a fast start. Muskegon 42, East Grand Rapids 35 The Big Reds (10-0) held on in one of their few close games of this season and a rematch of their 49-21 Week 3 win over the Pioneers (6-4).

Division 4

HEADLINER: Chelsea 28, Grosse Ile 21 The Bulldogs (7-3) didn’t make the loudest noise this season coming out of a Southeastern Conference White that saw Jackson and Dexter both receive statewide acclaim for their best seasons ever. But Chelsea earned its moment with this upset of the previously-unbeaten Red Devils (9-1).  Click for more from the Sun Times News.

More shoutouts: Paw Paw 14, Three Rivers 7 After being shut out by Three Rivers 26-0 in Week 5, Paw Paw (8-2) beat the Wildcats (8-2) for the first time since 2014 and scored on them for the first time since 2015. Escanaba 27, Ludington 20 The Eskymos (8-2) will play for a third straight District title thanks to a late score against the Orioles (7-3). North Branch 44, Croswell-Lexington 41 The Broncos (8-2) earned their first playoff win since 2006, coming back to beat the Pioneers (6-4) after falling to them 45-26 only two weeks earlier.

Division 5

HEADLINER: Clare 42, Manistee 28 The Jack Pine Conference co-champ earned a District Final rematch with Reed City by ending Manistee’s best season of the playoff era at 9-1. The Pioneers (9-1) tied the most points given up this season by the Chippewas, who rebounded from 2-7 a year ago. Click for more from the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun and see below for highlights from MI Sports Now.

More shoutouts: Hudsonville Unity Christian 41, Grand Rapids West Catholic 22 The Crusaders (8-2) ended West Catholic’s opportunity to extend its Division 5 title reign to six seasons, handing the Falcons (5-5) their earliest playoff departure since 2005. Hopkins 46, Berrien Springs 6 In a clash of league champions, Ottawa-Kent Conference Silver winner Hopkins (9-1) impressed against Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference Red champ Berrien Springs (7-3). Lansing Catholic 22, Olivet 21 Quarterback Josh Kramer scored and then threw the game-winning two-point conversion pass with 47 seconds to play as Lansing Catholic (9-1) edged the Greater Lansing Activities Conference champion Eagles (8-2).

Division 6

HEADLINER: Millington 50, Ithaca 33 These teams met for the first time since 2014, when Ithaca won a District Final 35-0. This time, the Yellowjackets (8-2) were contained to their shortest season since not making the playoffs in 2008. Millington (7-3) will play for its third straight District title coming off its second game this season scoring 50 or more points, led by running back Jack Shreve’s 194 yards and three touchdowns rushing. Click for more from the Saginaw News and see highlights below from WEYI.

More shoutouts: Delton Kellogg 86, Niles Brandywine 50 – These teams – both 7-3 – combined to score the fifth-most points in a game in MHSAA history where the losing team put up at least 40. Among record book-worthy performances, Shane Brown caught five touchdown passes for the Bobcats, but they couldn’t keep up with a Panthers’ offense averaging 41 points per game. Michigan Center 35, Grass Lake 6 The Cardinals (9-1) may have fallen short of the Cascades Conference championship because of a four-point loss to eventual title winner Grass Lake in Week 6, but they’ll move on to a District Final after this big rematch win. Blissfield 21, Hillsdale 10 The Royals (6-4) avenged a 10-point Week 6 loss to the Lenawee County Athletic Association co-champion Hornets (8-2), despite getting outgained in yardage 257-191.

Division 7

HEADLINER: Saugatuck 49, Kent City 28 A live cable audience (FOX Sports Detroit) was able to enjoy this high-scoring matchup, which saw the reigning Division 7 runner-up Indians (9-1) pull away after the teams were tied 21-21 at halftime. Kent City (8-2) gave Saugatuck its closest game since a Week 4 loss to Schoolcraft. Click for more from the Holland Sentinel and see highlights below from WOOD TV.

More shoutouts: Lake City 30, North Muskegon 28 The Trojans (10-0) kept their unbeaten season alive, but with their second two-point win this fall and second by seven or fewer points over the last two weeks. North Muskegon (5-5) scored the most points Lake City has given up this season. Allen Park Cabrini 7, Detroit Community 6 The Monarchs (6-4) held on after scoring during the first quarter for their first playoff win since 2007, in the first playoff game ever for Community (8-2). Centreville 16, Union City 14 The Bulldogs (9-1) reached nine wins for the first time at least in the playoff era, just holding off the Chargers (6-4).

Division 8

HEADLINER: Reading 65, Pittsford 48 This was another one that will make the record books as these teams combined for 113 points. A fun fact is that Pittsford (7-3) scored more points than Reading had given up this entire season (40) heading into the night – but the Rangers (10-0) also upped their average to 52 per game with their highest output of this fall. Click for more from the Hillsdale Daily News.

More shoutouts: Harbor Beach 26, Saginaw Nouvel 6 The Pirates (9-1) avenged last season’s one-point District Final loss to Nouvel (6-4), which went on last year to finish Division 8 runner-up. Ubly 30, Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary 28 The Cardinals (7-3) seemed like an intriguing contender in Division 8 with previous losses only to Division 6 teams, but Ubly (8-2) made the Division 7 Semifinals two years ago and might be ready for another run. Dansville 29, Sterling Heights Parkway Christian 20 The Aggies (7-3) couldn’t get past reigning Division 7 champion Pewamo-Westphalia in their league this fall, but Division 8 should be on the lookout after they handed Parkway (9-1) its only defeat.

8-Player Division 1

HEADLINER: Deckerville 54, Kingston 16 The Eagles (8-2) are off and running again, earning an opportunity to win a fifth straight Regional title by dispatching rival Kingston (8-2) for the second time this fall – and after winning the first meeting by only 18. Click for more from the Huron Daily Tribune.

More shoutouts: AuGres-Sims 58, Mayville 6 After 12 tries in 11-player, first-year 8-player AuGres-Sims (10-0) earned its first playoff win to end Mayville’s second straight 5-5 season. Bellevue 54, Battle Creek St. Philip 6 The second-place Broncos (9-1) earned a rematch with Southern Central Athletic Association A champion Colon after winning this second meeting with St. Philip (6-4) in four weeks. Colon 58, Camden-Frontier 14 The Magi (9-1) came back from a Week 9 loss to beat Camden-Frontier (5-5) for the second time this season.

8-Player Division 2

HEADLINER: Crystal Falls Forest Park 36, Powers North Central 24 The reigning champion Trojans (6-4) opened the playoffs with a win over Jets for the second straight season, but this one hardly was expected after North Central (8-2) won their first meeting 52-28 in Week 6. Click for more from the Iron Mountain Daily News.

More shoutouts: Rapid River 20, Engadine 18 The Rockets (7-3) had fallen 30-12 to Engadine (8-2) only two weeks earlier and also in last season’s playoff opener. Brethren 42, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart 26 The West Michigan D League champion Bobcats (7-3) bounced back from a Week 9 loss to win their first playoff game since 1990 and end the Irish’s first season of 8-player at 7-3. Tekonsha 28, New Haven Merritt 22 (OT) The SCAA B champion Indians (6-4) earned their first playoff win in their second postseason game all-time, downing the Northern Central Thumb League White champion Mustangs (6-4).

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PHOTO: A Kent City ball carrier charges through a hole in the Saugatuck defense, but the Indians went on to win the Division 7 playoff opener that was broadcast live on FOX Sports Detroit. (Photo by John Johnson.)

Forest Hills Northern coach Eddie Ostipow, far left, watches his senior son run the offense during Monday’s first practice of the season.

1st Day of Practice Begins Final Run for Father & Son Ostipow at Forest Hills Northern

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

August 12, 2026

GRAND RAPIDS – For one obvious reason, no player on the Forest Hills Northern football team has received more wake-up calls from the head coach over his lifetime than Owen Ostipow.

But the one he and a handful of his teammates received about 4 p.m. Monday may prove memorable – especially if it ends up setting the tone for a successful fall.

The first practice of this season was set to begin at 3:45 p.m. That’s when Ostipow and others arrived, thinking they were early. That not being the case, and a few conversations over the confusion later, the Huskies headed to the goal line where varsity head coach Eddie Ostipow – Owen’s dad – opened what was to be his final first day of practice, at least for a while, by sending his team through push-ups and sprints as a reminder to sharpen up immediately for the work to come.

“Definitely a wake-up call for some of us to just get in line and get order. A lot of the guys were a little late today, me included,” Owen Ostipow said. “Absolutely deserved.”

Most likely, that brief bumpy start will end up as little more than a sidenote as Coach/Dad and his senior all-state candidate son/quarterback ride together through one more season, Owen before heading off to play at Ferris State and Eddie on the way to retiring after 27 years as a head coach in the West Michigan and Greater Lansing areas.

A total of 602 varsity football teams were scheduled to begin practices Monday, as were teams playing every fall sport at every MHSAA member school.

At Forest Hills Northern, that meant the beginning of the end of a recent era.

Eddie Ostipow will be retiring as head coach after this fall and from teaching later this school year, providing more time to watch his oldest son Evan’s football games at Hope College and next season Owen’s as he has committed to sign with the two-time reigning Division II national champion Bulldogs.

Owen Ostipow, far right, runs sprints on the track with his teammates.Of course, Owen nor Evan nor younger siter Auden were even on the radar when Eddie began his varsity coaching career at Charlotte as a 24-year-old in 1999 and led the Orioles to a combined 47-17 record over six seasons and the Division 3 Semifinals in 2004. He left after that season to coach three at East Kentwood, then returned to Charlotte for five more seasons before taking over at Ada Forest Hills Eastern and building the Hawks toward an 11-2 record and Division 4 Semifinal run in 2015 that remains that program’s most successful finish.

Ostipow moved on to coach Greenville from 2016-18, then took over at Forest Hills Northern in 2019. He enters this fall with a combined record of 116-112 while frequently matching up at his various stops with statewide powers like DeWitt early on, later Rockford and Muskegon, then Grand Rapids West Catholic and these days Muskegon, Mona Shores and Byron Center all during Ottawa-Kent Conference Green play.

On Monday, about 70 players took to FHN’s stadium turf to get things underway, including 45 varsity players. The Huskies are coming off two straight 4-5 finishes, last year after losing 14 players to injuries – including nearly half of those for the season – during the first half on opening night.

But they also return an all-region quarterback in Owen Ostipow, who ran for 1,435 yards and 22 touchdowns last season and threw for eight more scores. And that’s a great way to start anew.

“We’ve got an opportunity. We have a chance to surprise some people,” Eddie Ostipow said. “I like being the underdog sometimes too, so I think that makes it exciting. If you can get your kids to buy into that, I think that’s something that can be really powerful.

“My thing as a coach, I always try to have a perspective of what’s possible for us and then push them like crazy to get there. If we can get every ounce of effort and intensity and focus out of them, then I think we’ve had a great year.”

Of course, as life roles change, perspectives can evolve as well. Ostipow has gone from teaching and coaching kids who were less than a decade younger to turning 52 years old with Evan graduated, Owen on the way and Auden heading into her sophomore year.

Eddie Ostipow works with the Huskies linemen.His football staff at FHN is a collection of coaches who were part of the program before him and others who were with him at some of his other stops. None go back to his days at Charlotte, but athletic director can – he was an all-state receiver for the Orioles under Ostipow before graduating in 2005. Sherman then played at Northern Michigan, came home to coach with Ostipow at Charlotte and again at Forest Hills Eastern, and he inherited his old coach in taking over at FHN in 2024.

“Coaching, he lives it, probably a bit more than he should. But that’s the hobby,” Sherman said. “His passion, he’s always working on something – he always has some nuance or change, something new he’s trying to learn.

“I joke sometimes, when you have kids sometimes you soften up a little bit, but he’s not soft. We’re going to have expectations (this season), we’re going to have all those things. But as you go through it, and then you become a parent, you sometimes see that lens a little different.”

As a now-veteran coach as well, Ostipow has had opportunities to cheer on former players who have gone on to major accomplishments.

In January, his former quarterback Trinidad Chambliss nearly took Ole Miss past Miami at the Fiesta Bowl, just missing out on a chance to play in the College Football Playoff title game. On the opposite sideline celebrating that 31-27 Hurricanes win was Jack Clark, a member of the Miami staff who starred for Ostipow at Forest Hills Eastern and owns a national championship ring after serving on Michigan’s staff during its 2024 run. Another 2005 Charlotte graduate, Chad Richardson, has a Super Bowl ring from serving as director of game presentation for the Los Angeles Rams during their 2022 surge, and he’s now with the Buffalo Bills in the same capacity as they prepare to open a new stadium. Matt Packowski was a junior on that 2004 Orioles team and now is a Division I college football referee.

There surely will be more to come, and Ostipow did not sound Monday like a coach on his way out. But he’ll do his best to be fan for a while and cheer on the Huskies who came through his household as well before possibly making a return to the sideline when their playing days are done.

“I feel like it’s kinda special. Most people don’t get to get coached by their dad, and I think it’s a little more extra special because I remember when my brother was a senior, and I started on varsity as a sophomore, that was the first time I’d seen (my dad) cry,” Owen Ostipow said. “It was just kinda heartbreaking. You watch (your kids) grow, and then they’re just gone.

“Now it’s going to be me. Maybe we’ll see that again from him, but you never know.”

PHOTOS (Top) Forest Hills Northern coach Eddie Ostipow, far left, watches his senior son Owen (white helmet cap) run the offense during Monday’s first practice of the season. (Middle) Owen Ostipow, far right, runs sprints on the track with his teammates. (Below) Eddie Ostipow works with the Huskies linemen.