Top Week 4 Matchups in the OK Conference
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The Ottawa-Kent conference is as strong as ever. We have several championship contending teams in this area, and many big games on display. This article will cover seven of the biggest games of the week! (3-0) Caledonia @ (3-0) Rockford…
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Continue ReadingThe Ottawa-Kent conference is as strong as ever. We have several championship contending teams in this area, and many big games on display. This article will cover seven of the biggest games of the week!
(3-0) Caledonia @ (3-0) Rockford
This is my game of the week for not only the OK Conference, but for the entire state of Michigan. This is one of the best matchups of the entire season.
Rockford couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. Kicking off the season, Rockford surprisingly defeated Muskegon by a score of 27-7, an insanely impressive defensive performance against an elite offense on paper. Next, Rockford went to Mona Shores and crushed the Sailors 31-8. These two decisive victories against teams with state-championship aspirations is incredibly impressive. Ryan Ahern has been an excellent two-way player for the Rams, being an aggressive linebacker and a fundamentally great running back. I’m also incredibly interested to see more off DT Zane Panchula Zane Panchula 6'5" | 290 lbs | DL Rockford | 2025 State MI , DB Louis Bosscher Louis Bosscher 6'1" | 185 lbs | DB Rockford | 2024 MI , and DB Isaac Poot Isaac Poot 6'1" | 190 lbs | DB Rockford | 2025 State MI .
Caledonia has also gotten off to an impeccable start. Brody Betser Brody Betser 6'2" | 205 lbs | QB Caledonia | 2025 State MI has been everything advertised and more. Derek Pennington has continued to be one of the best two-way players in the entire state, Brock Townsend Brock Townsend 6'0" | 205 lbs | RB Caledonia | 2024 State MI continues to impress, etc. Caledonia has similarly impressive victories when comparted to Rockford. For one, Caledonia dominated one of the best teams in the MAC Red, at one point going up three touchdowns against Romeo. North Farmington and West Ottawa look to be decent teams, though Caledonia defeated these teams by a combined score of 90-10.
(1-2) East Kentwood @ (2-1) Grandville
Both of these teams are looking for a big win here. Neither of these teams have lived up to what I thought their ceiling would be. East Kentwood began the season with a dominant win over Hartland, but that team is now 0-3 and they’ve taken a huge step backwards. EK also lost decisively against a fundamentally sound Byron Center team, alongside a close loss to Hudsonville. Grandville is 2-1, which was expected with their first three games, though I was worried about how close their game against Grand Haven was for a while. Moving forward, this is a major league game just to establish some confidence for both squads.
For Grandville, I’d like to see big games from LB Reid Graveson and RB
Jayden Terry
Jayden
Terry
5'8" | 175 lbs | RB
Grandville | 2026
State
MI
. Perhaps they can get QB
Cash Ruff
Cash
Ruff
6'4" | 205 lbs | ATH
Grandville | 2024
State
MI
involved in the offense more as well.
East Kentwood has a lot of great players that I am interested in seeing. Casey Joppie Casey Joppie 6'1" | 180 lbs | QB East Kentwood | 2024 State MI has a big oppurtunity. Elissee Kanda just posted some good two-way tape. Stellan Bowman Stellan Bowman 6'0" | 210 lbs | LB East Kentwood | 2024 State MI remains one of the best linebackers in all of Michigan.
(3-0) Hamilton @ (3-0) Allendale
I’m delighted to see both of these teams having strong starts. Hamilton and Allendale actually have a great opportunity to make some noise in the Blue this year before the OK gets a shakeup. I quite honestly don’t know much about either program here, but this should be a good game to watch!
(3-0) West Catholic @ (1-2) Unity Christian
West Catholic is a re-emerging powerhouse while Unity Christian is a consistent championship contender that has looked good so far this season. West Catholic has looked phenomenal so far this season, with dominant wins over the usually great Edwardsburg and the rising GR Union. The game against Coopersville was a slugfest that WC ultimately won, so perhaps Coops exposed some wrinkles in this team. Unity Christian began the season with a 1-possession loss to a great Whitehall team, then went on to win against Oakridge, then another one possession loss against a rising Spring Lake team. West Catholic has the edge on paper, but there’s no way I’m counting UC out.
(2-1) Coopersville @ (3-0) Spring Lake
Both of these teams have been awfully impressive thus far. Spring Lake is really hitting their stride with their new coaching staff, while Coopersville has dominated the trenches against every team they’ve faced. Should be a good game, and let’s see if this can be Spring Lake’s fourth game in a row winning 34-28!
(1-2) Muskegon @ (2-1) Mona Shores
This is another huge rivalry matchup, and the biggest game in the Muskegon area. This is a storied rivalry that seems to be a coin flip each and every year.
Muskegon has to find a way to get this offense going consistently. With their elite O-Line including Karl Brooks Karl Brooks 6'4" | 345 lbs | OL Muskegon | 2024 State MI , Miguel Botello Miguel Botello 6'4" | 300 lbs | OL Muskegon | 2024 State MI , N-Kye Wynn N-Kye Wynn 6'5" | 245 lbs | OL Muskegon | 2025 State MI , alongside a great backfield consisting of M’Khi Guy, Destin Piggee Destin Piggee 5'6" | 160 lbs | ATH Muskegon | 2024 State MI , and Jake Price Jake Price 5'6" | 175 lbs | RB Muskegon | 2024 State MI , The Big Reds should be putting up numbers against everyone. On the defensive side, they have plenty of physical athletes ready to get after it. I’m specifically looking for DT Chris Jones Chris Jones 5'10" | 240 lbs | DL Muskegon | 2024 State MI to go to work against a great Mona Shores offensive line.
Mona Shores has a great opportunity on their home field. The X-Factor 100% is QB Jonathan Pittman Jonathan Pittman 6'1" | 205 lbs | QB Mona Shores | 2025 State MI . Pittman has some hot games but he also has some cold games, though I was very impressed by what I saw from him against Reeths-Puffer. WR Micah Carefelle Micah Carefelle 5'10" | 185 lbs | WR Mona Shores | 2025 State MI also made a few phenomenal plays last week. Defensively, Andrew Baker Andrew Baker 6'1" | 205 lbs | LB Mona Shores | 2024 State MI will be critical in stopping the run.
(2-1) Comstock Park @ (2-1) Belding
Going to the Silver, Comstock Park at Belding should be a good one. These are two more teams I am not too familiar with, though I know this could be a game that decides the fate of the entire league.