District Finals Matchups to Watch in Southeast Michigan Pt. 1

This week’s district finals matchups are bountiful and very, very good, especially in Southeast MI. Last week, we saw twice the amount of matchups yet many huge (expected) blowouts. This week, on the other hand, there are too many games to count that will likely be incredible.  Let’s go over some of the best matchups this week, with more coming tomorrow. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Games to Watch </strong></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#9 Catholic Central @ #7 West Bloomfield (D1) -</strong> </span>Two historically incredible programs face off in my Southeast Michigan game of the week. West Bloomfield has won 9 straight, with their only loss being against #5 Adams during week 1. It’s no secret the incredible D1 talent West Bloomfield produces seemingly year after year, though Catholic Central is looking as good as they’ve ever been. Catholic Central is 8-2 with losses against #18 Chippewa Valley, and #1 in DII, De La Salle. Despite those losses, they have incredible blowout wins against great programs like Brother Rice, and Naperville Central (IL), and St. Mary Prep. <strong>Players to Watch -</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="30133" first="Dillon" last="Tatum"], [player_tooltip player_id="30177" first="Kyle" last="Johnson"], [player_tooltip player_id="30135" first="Michael" last="Williams II"], <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11334729">[player_tooltip player_id="30207" first="Declan" last="Byle"]</a>, <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/5422986/Michael-Beydoun">Michael Beydoun</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/5422989">Brady Blakita</a> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#21 Oxford @ #5 Adams (D1) -</strong></span> Both teams are red hot coming into this one, with Oxford coming off an upset win against #13 Clarkston. Oxford has won 5 straight, consistently winning all of their close matchups and defeating Clarkston by 10 last Friday. Adams on the other hand has been better than the program has ever been, being undefeated winning 10 straight against great teams such as West Bloomfield and Lapeer. <strong>Players to Watch -</strong> <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11569138/Sal-Vackaro">Sal Vackaro</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11557454">Jacob Welc</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11556256">Kewone Burton</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/7806998">Parker Picot</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/8453498">Chase Krol</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/10254584">Logan Sayre</a> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#20 Dakota @ #2 Romeo (D1) -</strong> </span>These two teams met during week 3, and Romeo came away with the close victory 14-10. Don’t let the rankings fool you- Dakota is very capable of pulling off the upset here. The Macomb Red is perhaps the strongest conference in the entire state, and both of these teams were largely successful with a grueling schedule. This should be a very competitive matchup. <strong>Players to Watch -</strong> <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/8314221">Caleb Youngblood</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/13223423">Anthony Lomakoski</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/1825678">[player_tooltip player_id="30282" first="Doug" last="Malcolm"]</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11454849">Aiden Dale</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11538226">[player_tooltip player_id="30183" first="Keyone" last="Nixon"]</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11455194">[player_tooltip player_id="30274" first="Riley" last="Smalarz"]</a> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#18 Chippewa Valley @ #10 Stevenson -</strong> </span>These teams met during week 6, and Stevenson won that one 36-32. This is a great matchup featuring more teams from the Macomb Red. Chippewa Valley has massive talent right now and they’ve beat some of the best programs in the state, and all 3 losses have been by 1 possession or less. Stevenson on the other hand is just as good at 8-2 with their only losses being against #2 Romeo and #1 Rockford. I can almost guarantee that this game is going to be great. <strong>Players to Watch -</strong> <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/9710270">[player_tooltip player_id="30238" first="Ryan" last="Schuster"]</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11055759">[player_tooltip player_id="30295" first="Zach" last="Allison"]</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11106905">[player_tooltip player_id="93782" first="Zion" last="Mitchell"]</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11394347">[player_tooltip player_id="93652" first="Biagio" last="Madonna"]</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11394344">[player_tooltip player_id="30155" first="Jordan" last="Kwiatkowski"]</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11172627">[player_tooltip player_id="30150" first="Jordan" last="Ramsey"]</a> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#16 Woodhaven @ #12 Fordson -</strong></span> Woodhaven is a team that I believe is a bit underrated, as they just upset Dearborn, a team that defeated Fordson earlier this year. The #1 game to watch in dearborn this week, both teams have a huge shot for a state championship if they advance. This should be an awesome matchup, and I can’t wait to see who comes out alive. <strong>Players to Watch -</strong> <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/12498123">[player_tooltip player_id="80496" first="Cornell" last="Perry"]</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/13317655">Andrew Ewald</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11815536">Darion Nundley</a>, [player_tooltip player_id="30132" first="Antonio" last="Gates Jr"], <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11792036">[player_tooltip player_id="101393" first="Alex" last="Osman"]</a>, <a class="uni-link--implied" href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11789470">Mohammed Sayed</a> &nbsp;