Bill Khan predicts Belleville-Brighton, other Week 9 Livingston County football games
It seems like yesterday that I walked into Michigan Stadium on a hot summer day to watch the football season opener between Brighton and Dearborn Fordson.
Eight weeks later, and we’ve reached the final week of the regular season. The weather has definitely taken a turn, as have the fortunes of many teams who took the field that day with high hopes.
Week 9 will mark the last football game ever for a lot of players whose teams won’t qualify for the state playoffs. It’s also the final opportunity for me to predict games for all five Livingston County teams.
After this week, only Brighton is assured of continuing into the postseason. Hartland has a pretty good chance of advancing, while a 3-5 Howell team is still clinging to hope.
If there were state playoffs for high school football predictions, I suppose I would qualify. After going 3-1 last week, I have a 27-10 record for the season. I’m peaking at the right time, going 15-3 the previous four weeks. It helps that I’ve picked unbeaten Brighton to win every week, spotting me an 8-0 record on the Bulldogs’ games alone.
The Belleville at Brighton game for the KLAA championship will be played at noon Saturday to accommodate a television broadcast, while the others are in the traditional 7 p.m. Friday slot.
Here are my predictions for the final week of the regular season:
Belleville at Brighton
I’ve picked Brighton to win every week, and the Bulldogs have delivered. There were close calls that came down to a successful field goal at Hartland and a blocked field goal at Northville.
It would be the height of homerism for me to go with Brighton this week. This game won’t come down to a kick at the end, as Belleville is playing at a different level than just about any other high school team in Michigan. The Tigers have outscored their opponents 423-71, including a 42-14 victory over a 7-0 Livonia Franklin team last week.
Brighton has a history of playing Belleville though, most notably in the 2019 state semifinals when the Bulldogs sprang a 22-19 upset. Brighton won that game by playing keep-away, milking the play clock and grinding out the game on the ground. Some drives like the 21-play march that consumed the first 11:09 of the third quarter against Howell would go a long way toward making this game competitive.
Belleville is 36-1 in KLAA games since joining the league in 2018, winning three league championship games against the West Division’s best teams by scores of 32-17 over Brighton in 2018, 41-14 over Plymouth in 2019 and 46-9 over Hartland in 2021.
Prediction: Belleville 40, Brighton 17
Livonia Stevenson at Hartland
Hartland (5-3), which will probably qualify for the playoffs even with a loss, will take on a Stevenson team that will treat this matchup as a play-in game. The Spartans (4-4) hold the 32nd and final playoff spot in Division 1, so they’re in if they win and likely out if they don’t.
It was a great sign for Hartland last week that Joey Mattord was none the worse for wear after missing most of the previous game with an injury in what turned out to be a precautionary move. Mattord needs 1 yard (I like his chances) to become the first Livingston County player to post consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons since Brighton’s Joey Clifford had three straight from 2013-15.
Prediction: Hartland 21, Stevenson 14
Westland John Glenn at Howell
John Glenn (3-5) has won at least three games for only the second time in the last eight years, so this isn’t the automatic “W” that it’s been in the past.
Howell, which still has a shot to make the playoffs, should still be highly motivated. The Highlanders have shown an ability to be competitive in stretches against the best teams on their schedule because of their defense, so this is a game they should win if they can generate any offense at all.
Prediction: Howell 21, John Glenn 20
Fowlerville at Charlotte
When the schedule came out, this looked like one of the easier games for Fowlerville, even though the Gladiators lost 34-27 to Charlotte last season. That's more of a statement on the difficulty of Fowlerville's schedule than a knock on Charlotte.
But, at 7-1, the Orioles are off to their best start since the 2004 team won its first 11 games. This is a far cry from the Charlotte teams Fowlerville beat four years in a row from 2016-19.
Charlotte is coming off a 44-34 victory over a Flint Hamady team that was previously unbeaten and ranked No. 10 in Division 5 by the Detroit Free Press. The Orioles also beat a Lansing Catholic team that just beat Fowlerville last week, 41-14.
Prediction: Charlotte 35, Fowlerville 14
Ann Arbor Pioneer at Pinckney
Pinckney has an opportunity to bookend its season with victories over large Ann Arbor schools with struggling football programs.
The Pirates showed promise by opening the season with a 28-13 victory over Skyline, but the Eagles are 0-8. Pioneer’s only victory is a 41-25 victory over Skyline.
Pinckney’s best chance to win is if quarterback Brady Raymond is back after missing the past two games.
It’s hard to believe Pioneer has fallen this far. The first state championship game I covered was Pioneer beating Detroit Catholic Central, 3-0, in 1987 after watching the Pioneers beat Davison in a snowstorm at Atwood Stadium in the semifinals, 35-14.
Prediction: Pioneer 28, Pinckney 21
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Bill Khan predicts Belleville-Brighton, other Week 9 football games
