Week 7 high school football scouting reports
HOLLAND - Week 7 of high school football kicks off this week with seven local teams in action.
Holland Christian will host Unity Christian in their annual rivalry showdown and West Ottawa will host East Kentwood in an OK Red showdown, leading the week's games.
Here is a look at the Friday night matchups:
East Kentwood at West Ottawa
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: West Ottawa Stadium
RECORDS: West Ottawa 3-3, East Kentwood 3-3
LAST WEEK: West Ottawa beat Grand Haven 35-14, East Kentwood lost 29-0 to Caledonia
SERIES RECORD: East Kentwood leads 38-17
LAST MEETING: Last year, East Kentwood won 37-20.
SCOUTING REPORT: Of the two common oppents for West Ottawa and East Kentwood so far this season, similar results occured. West Ottawa and East Kentwood both beat Grand Haven handily and both lost to Rockcord. This is Falcons team that lost just 20-14 to Muskegon in Week 1 and defeated Brother Rice 19-17 in Week 2. The Falcons present a quick team that the Panthers will have to slow down to remain in the playoff hunt. The West Ottawa defense played much better last week and will be the deciding factor once again.
"East Kentwood is a much improved team from a year ago and have done some impressive work versus some very good teams. Although they have not been on the winning end of some games, it has been very evident that they can play with anyone in the state. We are still continuing our focus on us as we prepare for week 7. We feel like our team has more room for improvement so we will need to tap into that again this week." - Pat Collins
Unity Christian at Holland Christian
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Holland Christian High School
RECORDS: Holland Christian 3-3, Unity Chrisitan 4-2
LAST WEEK: Holland Christian lost 37-27 to Coopersville, Unity Christian
SERIES RECORD: Unity Christian leads 10-9
LAST MEETING: Last year, Unity Christian won 57-16
SCOUTING REPORT: This Unity Christian team is not completely loaded like the teams that have reached the state finals twice since 2018 and another trip to the state semifinals. But that is a sliding scale, of course. This Crusaders team is still extremely talented and could make another run in the playoffs. The Maroons, meanwhile, are much improved and have already won more games than last year. The offense has been working for Holland Christian and the defense has been much improved. This game will show exacly where the Maroons stand in the playoff picture and could be pivotal to a strong finish to the season.
Zeeland East at Mona Shores
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Muskegon Mona Shores High School
RECORDS: Zeeland East 1-5, Mona Shores 5-1
LAST WEEK: Zeeland East lost 20-18 to Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, Mona Shores defeated Zeeland West 34-6
SERIES RECORD: Mona Shores leads 7-3
LAST MEETING: Last year, Mona Shores won 49-30
SCOUTING REPORT: This has been a tough season for the rebuilding Chix, and it isn't going to get any easier this week. Last week, Mona Shores completely dominated Zeeland West, a team that completely dominated Zeeland East. Mona Shores is once again one of the best teams in the state with only one loss to Rockford on their record. It will be a tough matchup for the Chix.
Reeths-Puffer at Zeeland West
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Zeeland Stadium
RECORDS: Zeeland West 5-1, Reeths-Puffer 5-1
LAST WEEK: Zeeland West lost 34-6 to Mona Shores, Reeths-Puffer defeated Zeelan dEast 20-18
SERIES RECORD: Zeeland West leads 4-0
LAST MEETING: Last year, Zeeland West won 48-8
SCOUTING REPORT: The Dux got a wake-up call last week against Mona Shores and will be eager to get back on track. The Rockets, meanwhile, are much improved and also stand at 5-1, with the one loss coming to Muskegon. They have not faced Mona Shores yet, however, but at 3-1 in the OK Green are just a game behind the Sailors, as are the Dux. The Rockets had a close win over Zeeland East and a close loss to Muskegon. In those games, the defense played well, but the offense struggled a bit to score at times. If the Dux defense can play the way it did in a win at Muskegon, they will be alone in second place after this week.
Hamilton at Spring Lake
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Spring Lake High School
RECORDS: Hamilton 2-4, Spring Lake 1-5
LAST WEEK: Hamilton lost 51-19 to West Catholic, Spring Lake lost 33-6 to Fruitport
SERIES RECORD: Hamilton leads 7-4
LAST MEETING: Last year, Spring Lake won 41-21
SCOUTING REPORT: The Lakers moved to an option offense, similar to Hamilton's this year under a new coach. It has been a learning curve, as one would expect. But the similar offensive scheme is an advantage for Hamilton, which has been running the same system for years. The Hawkeyes have struggled this season after a promising start, and this is their chance to get back on track.
"We are playing at Spring Lake. Coach Cody Mallory is in his first year there and they are running the flexbone option offense just like we do. They have struggled with turnovers, like you would expect a first-year option team to. They have a 1-5 record, but have lost a couple games by just a point. We've played well in stretches over the past four weeks against some of the top competition in our conference, and we hope that we can put an entire game together this week." - Phil Koops
Galesburg-Augusta at Saugatuck
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Saugatuck High School
RECORDS: Saugatuck 2-4, Galesburg-Augusta 1-5
LAST WEEK: Saugatuck lost 35-10 to Delton, Galesburg-Augusta
SERIES RECORD: Saugatuck leads 5-0
LAST MEETING: Last year, Saugatuck won 33-6
SCOUTING REPORT: The Trailblazers have had their ups and downs this season with turnovers factoring in the decision of some games and the offens struggling to manufacture points. This is a turnaround chance for Saugatuck, still clinging to playoff hopes. If they can win out the final three weeks, they have a chance at the playoffs and that chance will lead to an inspiring week for the Trailblazers.
Fennville at NorthPointe Christian
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Comstock Park High School
RECORDS: Fennville 3-3, NorthPointe Christian 6-0
LAST WEEK: Fennville lost 44-8 to Mendon, NorthPointe Christian defeated Martin 35-19
SERIES RECORD: NorthPointe Chrisitan leads 2-0
LAST MEETING: Last year, NorthPointe Christian won 45-26
SCOUTING REPORT: Undefeated and on a roll, NorthPointe Christian has outscored opponents by a stunning 312-78 margin. That means the defense is even more improved than last year's 8-man playoff team. The Blackhawks will have to play their best game of the season on both sides of the ball to have a chance to pull th eupset.
"NorthPointe is probably the best 8man team in the state. They are physical, combine that with their speed and you get a monster of an opponent. We will have to execute and play mistake free football to make this game a competition. There are some areas we feel like if we execute, we will be able to score and in order to win we will need to go score for score with them." - Richard Roth
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Week 7 high school football scouting reports
