Top Week 4 Matchups in the OK Conference

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(3-0) Caledonia @ (3-0) Rockford</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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 [player_tooltip player_id='899577' first='Zane' last='Panchula'], DB [player_tooltip player_id='436261' first='Louis' last='Bosscher'], and DB [player_tooltip player_id='602426' first='Isaac' last='Poot']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Caledonia has also gotten off to an impeccable start. [player_tooltip player_id='551056' first='Brody' last='Betser'] has been everything advertised and more. Derek Pennington has continued to be one of the best two-way players in the entire state, [player_tooltip player_id='667472' first='Brock' last='Townsend'] 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. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(1-2) East Kentwood @ (2-1) Grandville</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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.<br>For Grandville, I'd like to see big games from LB Reid Graveson and RB [player_tooltip player_id='206418' first='Jayden' last='Terry']. Perhaps they can get QB [player_tooltip player_id='875978' first='Cash' last='Ruff'] involved in the offense more as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>East Kentwood has a lot of great players that I am interested in seeing. [player_tooltip player_id='241629' first='Casey' last='Joppie'] has a big oppurtunity. Elissee Kanda just posted some good two-way tape. [player_tooltip player_id='253244' first='Stellan' last='Bowman'] remains one of the best linebackers in all of Michigan. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(3-0) Hamilton @ (3-0) Allendale </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(3-0) West Catholic @ (1-2) Unity Christian </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(2-1) Coopersville @ (3-0) Spring Lake</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(1-2) Muskegon @ (2-1) Mona Shores</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Muskegon has to find a way to get this offense going consistently. With their elite O-Line including [player_tooltip player_id='253306' first='Karl' last='Brooks'], [player_tooltip player_id='253307' first='Miguel' last='Botello'], [player_tooltip player_id='602233' first='N-Kye' last='Wynn'], alongside a great backfield consisting of M'Khi Guy, [player_tooltip player_id='253303' first='Destin' last='Piggee'], and [player_tooltip player_id='241282' first='Jake' last='Price'], 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 [player_tooltip player_id='253308' first='Chris' last='Jones'] to go to work against a great Mona Shores offensive line. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mona Shores has a great opportunity on their home field. The X-Factor 100% is QB [player_tooltip player_id='602245' first='Jonathan' last='Pittman']. 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 [player_tooltip player_id='602240' first='Micah' last='Carefelle'] also made a few phenomenal plays last week. Defensively, [player_tooltip player_id='824219' first='Andrew' last='Baker'] will be critical in stopping the run. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(2-1) Comstock Park @ (2-1) Belding</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->