East Lansing Football 2022 Toughest Non-Conference Matchups

East Lansing has a tough schedule next season. I love that they are not afraid to schedule tough non-conference opponents. It creates a lot of excitement and it helps you learn how tough each conference is. It can also help us predict how teams will match up in the playoffs. Looking at the team’s common opponents gives a good gauge for what to look for in playoff matchups. Get an early look at the non-conference matchups East Lansing has in store for in 2022. <strong>Week 1 8/25: Home vs Portage Central </strong> The season will start off with a huge test at home against Portage Central. Last year Portage Central made it to the Regional finals and finished 9-3 overall. This will be the first of several key non-league matchups for East Lansing. Portage Central returns several great players from last year’s team. <strong>Andrew Dinges </strong>is a defensive lineman that is very exciting to watch fly into the backfield at the defensive end position. East Lansing will need to be aware of him at all times to avoid allowing several tackles for loss. Other notable guys that Central returns include; defensive back <strong>Tyler Lynch</strong>, running back &amp; linebacker <strong>Tomas Layne</strong>, and defensive back and wide receiver <strong>Clayton Bacon</strong>. <strong>Week 2 9/1: @Fenton</strong> East Lansing was able to defeat Fenton by a score of 33-7 last year. This year they will travel to Fenton to play a team that returns running back &amp; defensive end <strong>Chris Piwowarczyk. </strong>I believe if East Lansing slows him down they should be able to come away with a victory. <strong>Week 5 9/23: Home vs Grand Blanc</strong> Last year East Lansing fell to Grand Blanc by a score of 34-40. Grand Blanc had an outstanding season in 2021, finishing 13-1 with their only loss coming to Rochester Adams in the state semi-final. Grand Blanc returns star receiver <strong>Tae Boyd (<a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GZnzf">Hudl</a>). </strong>Boyd had a great block on the outside against East Lansing last year that helped open a lane for a big-play touchdown. Boyd has shown multiple times great ability to create big-time blocks on the outside. This game will be a key midseason matchup. When both these teams meet we will know a lot about them. I actually believe Grand Blanc will get the win here. They do lose a lot of seniors but they have become a very good football program the last few years and I think they will be a tough team once again in 2022. I got to watch East Lansing a couple of times last year and was very impressed by the athletes they have. This year they do lose several great seniors but do have several key guys coming back. Some names to keep an eye on are running back <strong>Kanye Jackson</strong>, wide receiver, and defensive back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="178996" first="Evan" last="Boyd"]. </strong>These guys are set up for big years as they have a chance to be the go-to guys. They got good playing time last year. East Lansing just likes to rotate guys and make sure they utilize their personnel to the best of their ability.