By Mike Moore
Staff Writer
File Photo by Ryan Kerwin, JTV Sports
Scour the landscape of the MHSAA’s opening football weekend, and try and find a better game than Friday’s tilt between Lumen Christi and Grand Rapids West Catholic.
Give up yet?
For the third year in a row these two teams will open the regular season against one another.
But for the first time in that span, they each do so as defending state champions.
“It’s a very good game,” Lumen coach Herb Brogan said simply. “We won the first year and then they took it to us last year. I think that can be a little bit of a motivating tool.”
In 2015, Lumen pulled the upset on West Catholic, a two-time defending champ at the time, with a 22-21 victory.
Last year, as a three-time defending champ, West Catholic rolled to a 30-13 win.
Now, the rubber match.
“A game like this forced you to be at your best right away,” Lumen said of facing a team like West Catholic, which has now won four state titles in a row, taking last year’s Division 5 crown with a 43-7 win over Menominee. “Playing a team like this helps with the focus from the first day of practice. It’s been a motivating factor all offseason.”
After losing the season opener, and starting 2016 with a 1-2 record, the Titans won 11 in a row to capture the D-6 title.
“I think last year, after that loss, kids realized we had a long, long way to go,” Brogan said. “They came off a good JV season and expected to be better than they were coming out of the gate. It was a good wake-up call for our guys.”
The Titans took it to heart.
But Brogan said he’d have no problem learning some lessons with a different result this time around.
“You can learn lessons in defeat, but I’d rather postpone those lessons,” he said with a laugh. “If we’re able to go there and win a game, it says some good things about our team. It can build some serious momentum.”
So what’s the game plan Friday night?
“We really have to slow their offense down,” Brogan said. “They score a ton of points (33 per game in 2016). They have a three-year quarterback who orchestrates everything so well. We have to do our best to slow them down.”
On the offensive side of things, the Titans will likely lean on the run game, which is missing a huge weapon with the graduation of Bo Bell and his 2,000-plus yards rushing.
“We’ll run by committee,” Brogan said. “But the real key is controlling the line of scrimmage. Either way, we’re looking forward to this. This is what we’ve been preparing for all offseason.”
Mike Moore is a play-by-play commentator and Sports Writer for JTV Sports.
He’s also a Real Estate agent 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.
