2025 State Championships: Friday Preview

This is hands-down the most exciting time of the year. We've seen 13 weeks of High School Football, and we've got one more to crown 8 champions. Friday's matchups are incredibly exciting, as we'll see divisions 8, 4, 6, and 2 crown a champion. Here's everything you need to know about Friday's matchups!   Please use code BlackFriday2025 for 50% off a Prep Redzone subscription! 2027 Rankings drop next week!   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Division 8</h2>   Harbor Beach vs. Hudson   Friday, 9:30 AM   Both programs have looked extraordinary throughout the playoffs. Harbor Beach holds a playoff point differential of +115, while Hudson has a playoff point differential of +168. Utter dominance from both programs this postseason, and I'm highly confident that the D8 championship indeed has the two best programs represented.   This is a phenomenal matchup to kick off State Championship weekend. I'm incredibly interested in seeing how Harbor Beach's defense stacks up against Hudson's unstoppable offense. I'm especially excited to watch Hudson's Sophomore weapon, Beckett Campbell.   Score Prediction   Harbor Beach: 27   Hudson: 42   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Division 4</h2>   Divine Child vs. Unity Christian   Friday, 12:30 PM   A really, really quality matchup for the D4 championship.   Divine Child has had an extraordinary defensive performance so far this postseason. They haven't given up over 19 points all season, and they're coming off a phenomenal two-week stretch against Harper Woods and Goodrich. DC was able to limit both of those offenses to one touchdown. Against Goodrich, I was incredibly impressed with performances from [player_tooltip player_id='318570' first='Marcello' last='Vitti'], Andre Davis Jr, and [player_tooltip player_id='1613953' first='Chris' last='Hammock']. Those three players flew around on defense, showing incredible play speed and instincts.   Unity Christian returns to Ford Field. Their straight-T offense has been unstoppable this season, sporting a four-headed monster of ballcarriers and a standout O-Line. QB Justin Febus runs the ball far more than other QBs in similar schemes. [player_tooltip player_id='1290864' first='Jared' last='DeVries'] has another guy who's stepped up this season. I could go on and on- a ton of "new varsity starters" that have not skipped a beat for Unity.   This is going to be a defensive battle.   Score Prediction   Divine Child: 13   Unity Christian: 8   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Division 6</h2>   Jackson Lumen Christi vs. Kingsley   Friday, 4:00 PM   Man, it's been a pretty competitive D6 bracket! It hasn't been an easy path for Lumen or Kingsley.   Lumen here is zero surprise. They've been to (and won) more state championship games than I can count. On paper, they aren't quite as top-heavy when it comes to talent, but they're still so, so steady. Top to bottom, you can trust this team. Their championship culture helped them tremendously last week in their 3OT win against Almont, and the week prior against Ida. There's a number of Lumen Christi players that I'd love to watch. Aydan Gatewood is at the top of the list.   Kingsley is a fun team. They've peaked at the right time, pulling off amazing wins against St. Francis, Reed City, and Kent City in the past three weeks. The shocking outcome against St. Francis really kicked things off for Kingsley. This team is battle-tested, and they should come into the state championship with a ton of confidence. Considering how hot Kingsley is, I'm picking them to win by a field goal.   Score Prediction   Lumen Christi: 17   Kingsley: 20   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Division 2</h2>   St. Mary's vs. Dexter   Friday, 7:00 PM   Both programs are cruising to Ford Field. Neither team saw a one-possession game throughout the entire postseason. In fact, the vast majority of these teams' matchups were all but over by halftime.   St. Mary's heads into the State Championship as the favorite, as they did last year. Overall, they're a little more prospect-heavy than Dexter, and faced a much stronger regular-season strength of schedule. Alongside their dominant win last week over the well-respected Portage Central, most are expecting St. Mary's to take care of business. In order to secure the win, St. Mary's has to lock down Dexter's passing game. Members of the secondary, such as [player_tooltip player_id='566980' first='Kareem' last='Pruitt'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1201160' first='Caden' last='Blankenburg'] will make a huge difference in stopping Dexter's high-powered offense.   I was shocked to hear that this is Dexter's first State Championship appearance. Dexter has been knocking at the door for years, and they've finally earned their shot. This has been the postseason of Cooper Arnedt and [player_tooltip player_id='568190' first='Cole' last='Novara']. That duo has taken Michigan by storm in the past couple of weeks, and I'm interested in seeing if they can keep up that elite connection against an elite secondary. Defensively, they're a strong team as well. Holding Groves to just 6 points is a massive accomplishment.   Score Prediction   St. Mary's: 42   Dexter: 31

This is hands-down the most exciting time of the year. We've seen 13 weeks of High School Football, and we've got one more to crown 8 champions. Friday's matchups are incredibly exciting, as we'll see divisions 8, 4, 6, and 2 crown a champion. Here's everything you need to know about Friday's matchups!