New leadership in the Mariner football program took over this year due to former HC Troy Bytwork’s retirement. Bytwork led Manistee to four straight playoff appearances to round out his coaching career.
Playoffs were the expectations up north for the Mariners, and newly minted head coach and former defensive coordinator set out to take them back. A season ago, Rischel and his defensive unit held opponents to just 16 points a game on average, the lowest for the program since 2006.
Rischel was the picture-perfect hire for the Mariners as it now marks five straight playoff appearances.
With its lowest enrollment number dating back to 1985, Manistee came away with some big wins over some bigger schools.
In its WMC opener, Manistee went on the road to Fremont to take on the Packers. Fremont came to play scoring the game’s first 12 points and had Manistee on its heels for most of the first half. Sophomore quarterback Dayvion Neal-Berry had other ideas however, Neal-Berry and his offense went on to score 22 unanswered and came away with a win.
Following a loss to Oakridge in week three, Manistee would bounce back with a dominating win and a shutout over Orchard View 41-0.
The Mariners then faced its toughest stretch of the season with Whitehall in week five and Ludington in week six. Against the division champ, Whitehall, Manistee looked out matched in every level in the game losing 49-6 and falling to (3-2, 2-2) on the season.
Ludington would then edge out Manistee in an absolute dog fight 39-38.
At this point of the season Rischel and his troops needed to regroup, and that’s exactly what they did. The offense went on an absolute tear scoring 149 points in the final three games of the season.
Wins over Shelby and Montague would propel them to (5-3, 3-3). A lost to Mason County Central didn’t have much of a factor in deciding whether or not Manistee was going to make the playoffs.
The regular season would come to a close and the Mariners would finish (5-4, 3-3) heading into its pre-district game against Reed City.
Reed City would come into the ball game at (7-2) and looking to make another run at a state title after losing in the regional semifinal a year ago.
Soon enough, Manistee would find themselves trailing 27-6 heading into halftime. Senior Kaden Kott would do everything he could to keep them from getting eliminated, rushing for over 150 yards and two scores. Unfortunately, the strong performance from the whole Mariner squad would fall short, losing 41-20.
Final Season Results
- Week 1 – Manistee defeated Kalkaska 47-12.
- Week 2 – Manistee defeated Fremont 22-12.
- Week 3 – Oakridge defeated Manistee 49-22.
- Week 4 – Manistee defeated Orchard View 41-0.
- Week 5 – Whitehall defeated Manistee 49-6.
- Week 6 – Ludington defeated Manistee 39-38.
- Week 7 – Manistee defeated Shelby 62-14.
- Week 8 – Manistee defeated Montague 65-32.
- Week 9 – Mason County Central defeated Manistee 36-22.
- Pre-district – Reed City defeated Manistee 41-20.
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