It’s hard to believe, but the 2023 high school football season has arrived.
Seems like yesterday when Whitehall’s football team played in that classic Division 4 regional final against Grand Rapids South Christian. It felt like 20 degrees on that early-November evening at East Kentwood’s Falcon Stadium.
It’s late-August now and we’re pushing back kickoff times because of an unbearable heat index. The two season openers tonight in the White Lake area — Hudsonville Unity Christian at Whitehall and Spring Lake at Montague — have been pushed to 7:30 p.m. kickoff times. At Whitehall, it’s a junior varsity and varsity doubleheader with the JV starting at 5 p.m.
Speaking of turning up the heat, CatchMark’s Cal VanSingel did just that in his first season of picking winners as an “On the Mark” panelist. VanSingel finished with a 70-12 record in the 2022 season, a glittering 85.4 percent efficiency rate. Yours truly went 66-16, which is good for 80.5 percent.
In the 2023, the CatchMark “On the Mark” panel will feature six regulars and a weekly guest picker. Let’s meet the regulars:
- Scott DeCamp: CatchMark Sports product lead.
- Justin Durga: Partner for Durga Insurance Group, title sponsor for 2023 On the Mark.
- Jordan Durga: Partner for Durga Insurance Group, title sponsor for 2023 On the Mark.
- Jon Russell: Play-by-play voice and reporter for CatchMark SportsNet.
- Cal VanSingel: Color commentator and reporter for CatchMark SportsNet.
- Bill O’Connell: Volunteer reporter for CatchMark SportsNet.
Our guest picker for Week 1 is Jeff Burel, directing partner for CatchMark Tech Services.
Each week, the “On the Mark” panel picks the winners. Yours truly also offers more in-depth analysis on select games.
Without further ado, here are the Week 1 picks, including games involving West Michigan Conference teams but also others in the Greater Muskegon area.
DECAMP’S DISSECTION
Hudsonville Unity Christian at Whitehall, 7:30 p.m. Thursday: Last season, Whitehall made a statement with a 54-26 season-opening road victory over perennial power Unity Christian. The Vikings put on a clinic in the second half of that game, setting the tone for an historic season. Whitehall finished 11-1 with a heartbreaking 28-21 regional loss to eventual state champion South Christian.
Whitehall is deep and very talented in the skill positions with three-year starting quarterback Kyle Stratton leading the way. The Vikings are a little more inexperienced up front, but they have some size. Defensively, they’ll again be athletic and physical.
Unity Christian has featured a good deal of talent in recent seasons, plus the Crusaders run their wing-T to near-perfection. It’s the type of program where it plugs in new parts but continues to hum along like a well-oiled machine.
Some believe that this Whitehall team could be better than last year’s. That’s a big statement. Time will tell, but the Vikings should be fun to watch again this fall.
Prediction: Whitehall 48, Hudsonville Unity Christian 28
Spring Lake at Montague, 7:30 p.m. Thursday: In last year’s season opener, Montague pulled out a hard-earned 20-17 road victory over Spring Lake. That was the second season for Wildcats head coach Justin Dennett and first at Spring Lake for Lakers head coach Cody Mallory.
The 2022 season was a struggle for the proud programs, which both finished with three wins. Montague and Spring Lake enter 2023 with a good deal of optimism, but they’re also relatively unproven in some respects.
Keep an eye on Montague senior Isaiah Atchison. The 6-foot-8, 190-pound receiver is a unicorn — a rare combination of length, speed, and coordination for somebody of his frame. He is committed to Division I Central Michigan University, so obviously others have recognized his massive potential.
This game could be relatively telling to Montague’s season and the Wildcats need to get off to a strong start. They have Spring Lake, Ravenna, and Orchard View in the first three weeks before hosting rival Whitehall in Week 4.
Prediction: Montague 26, Spring Lake 23
Reeths-Puffer at Grand Haven, 7 p.m. Thursday: CatchMark has released Episode 1 of its three-part series titled “Behind the Helmet: 2023 Reeths-Puffer Football.” (You can watch the episode below.)
We’ve shown you some behind-the-scenes footage of second-year head coach Cody Kater and his Rockets team. Now it’s time to apply those training-camp lessons to a game situation.
R-P beat Grand Haven in last year’s season opener, 32-20. The Buccaneers have a new head coach in Andrew Biedenbender, who recently worked with former Montague head coach Pat Collins at West Ottawa.
Prediction: Reeths-Puffer 28, Grand Haven 20
Rockford at Muskegon, 7 p.m. Friday: On offense, Muskegon has all sorts of speed in the backfield and a big, experienced line to pave the way. Defensively, the Big Reds appear to have a stout front seven.
For years, Rockford has been as consistent as they come — the model program of a very deep OK Red Conference.
Muskegon’s lofty goals have not changed even though the Big Reds have bumped up to Division 2 this season. They expect to be playing for a state title at Ford Field in November.
This is definitely a tone-setter, but so will be next week’s showdown when two-time Division 2 defending state champion Warren De La Salle — coached by Orchard View alumnus Dan Rohn — pays a visit to Hackley Stadium.
Prediction: Muskegon 34, Rockford 24
Pewamo-Westphalia at North Muskegon, 7 p.m. Friday: What a great season-opener for the Norsemen, taking on this perennial power. It should do nothing but help the Norse down the road, win or lose.
North Muskegon has some history with P-W. In the teams’ most recent meeting, the Division 7 district finals in 2020 at Pewamo-Westphalia, North Muskegon suffered a tough 18-17 loss.
This should be a tone-setter for the Norsemen, who visit Muskegon Catholic Central next week.
Prediction: North Muskegon 27, Pewamo-Westphalia 21
