By Mike Moore Photo by Ryan Kerwin, JTV Sports
Staff Writer
Parma — His team will enter as a large underdog, both based on past seasons, past history and the past few weeks.
Dave Mifsud is just fine with that, too.
The final third of the 2017 regular season officially kicks off Friday night for high school football, and for Mifsud and his Western squad, one of the biggest games in program history takes flight at 7 p.m. at Lumen Christi.
“This is a big game, especially in the sense that we have a lot of people around here who aren’t big fans of Lumen,” Mifsud said. “But we’re going to face a program that is very good every year, and to me, they look like the best team in the conference. It’s going to be a great challenge, and we have our work cut out for us.”
A big game, a great challenge, and just maybe, the best shot Western has had to pull the afore-mentioned upset as there has been in many years.
The Panthers hit the ground running when the season began, jumped out to a 4-1 start before last week’s narrow 33-28 loss to Harper Creek.
The goal now is the same as it was when the season started — get back to the playoffs.
The goal now requires two wins in the final three weeks of the regular season, and this one certainly won’t be easy.
Lumen’s success is hardly a secret to anyone, and the team seemed to pick up right where last year left off.
Following last weekend’s 33-14 blitz of Coldwater, the Titans improved to 5-1, secured a playoff berth, and with just two games remaining, are playing to wrap up home field come postseason time.
Trying to decipher what makes the Titans go is an equally daunting task.
Maybe it’s the defense, which has allowed 17 points the past three weeks and 69 all season.
Or, maybe it’s the offense, which has scored 108 points the past three weeks and 198 all year.
“They have some athletes on both sides of the ball,” Mifsud said. “They can run it as always, and their quarterback is throwing the ball real well. … When we have the ball, we can’t have three-and-outs. We have to possess the ball, and when we have chances, we have to score.”
The Panthers would have no problem engaging in a shootout, considering they’ve averaged 35.3 points per game.
“But we’re going to need some stops on defense,” Mifsud stressed. “We will have to slow them down.”
Western is 1-22 all-time against Lumen, the lone victory a 14-7 decision in 1976.
“We had a heck of a game two years ago (12-7) loss before we ran out of chances,” Mifsud added. “So, yeah, we think we have a pretty good chance this year. They look pretty darn good, and have some great athletes who we have to contend with.”
A win would do wonders for the Panthers’ program, Mifsud noted.
“That Harper game, we could taste it. It was right there in front of us,” Mifsud said of last week’s loss. “That was a tough loss to swallow. Now we have a chance here to make the most of something, and it would mean the world to us to find a way to win.”
Mike Moore is a play-by-play commentator and Sports Writer for JTV Sports.
He’s also a Realtor with Real Estate One, specializing with buyers and sellers throughout Michigan, from the Jackson area to metro Detroit. You can reach him at mmoore@realestateone.com or by calling (313) 770-6365 with any inquiries.
