Games to Watch: Week 1 of High School Football

Not only focusing on the top match-ups in the state, but also trying to get around to see some of the best players in state. These games are all week one.

Note: For any high school rankings or games to watch archived, an assortment of links is building on the rightside of the page.

7 PM 8/28/2008 Orchard Lake St. Mary's @ East Grand Rapids
In a game that rematches the two team's from last years 5 OT thriller to end the year, this one will be good. OLSM is led on offense by junior QB Robert Bolden. Bolden played well last year and will play even better as he gains experience, not to mention the slew of weapons he has at his disposal. He has one of the nation's top tightends in Dion Sims and a speedy senior receiver in Rodney Woodland. EGR is led by one of the state's most productive senior runningbacks, Joe Glendening who had over 1600 yards in his junior campaign.

7 PM 8/29/2008 Dearborn Divine Child @ Dearborn Fordson
Neither team sports extremely high level talent, but I feel this could be a very compelling contest. Divine Child is led at quarterback by junior Marty Mitchell and at receiver by junior Kyle Sampson. Fordson is not lacking in talent, senior running back Ali Alaboody is one of the fastest players in the state and many other Tractors' seniors such as Abdullah Homayed and Hassan Amen could be worthy of football scholarships.


7 PM 8/30/2008 Birmingham Brother Rice @ Oak Park
Interesting match-up in this week 1 game. A few of the states elite come together to play. The 2nd best player in-state, Edwin Baker, leads the Knights of Oak Park against one of the state's foremost program -- Brother Rice. The state power Brother Rice comes in with their share of stars as well, especially at the speed positions. Sophomore cornerback Jeremy Pickens, junior two-sport star Kevonte Martin, and seniors Shamari Benton and Kenny Watkins form the best defensiveback grouping in the state. In addition to Edwin Baker, Oak Park also has some very good players on the offensive side of the ball. Senior quarterback Brandon Woods and junior offensive tackle Timothy Jones are two key contributors for Oak Park. On the defensive side, Oak Park linebacker Noble Williams leads the Knights.

7 PM 8/30/2008 Detroit Southeastern @ Detroit (Novi) Catholic Central
Catholic Central is continually one of the better programs in Michigan. However, unlike in past years the player to watch is not on CC. Defensive end William Gholston is one of the top prospects in the state of Michigan, taking after his cousin Vernon. It will be interesting to see how the Shamrocks try to stop Gholston.


7 PM 8/28/2008 Livonia Franklin @ Livonia Stevenson
The Spartans of Stevenson feature one of the state's top juniors and overall top players in Austin White. Franklin was the only team that gave the 13-1 Spartans a challenge during their trip to Ford Field. On the Franklin side of Livonia, senior running back David Fortin is one to keep your eye open for. The 5-10 208 lb. running back will be attending a Div-1 school on a football scholarship this year. Opening up the field for Fortin will be 2010 offensive line prospect Nate Coleman who stands a mean 6'6".


2 PM 8/29/2008 Detroit Martin Luther King Jr. vs. Muskegon (At Eastern Michigan)
This game, taking place at Eastern Michigan's Rynearson Stadium as a part of the Big Day Prep Showdown is a very fascinating match-up. Muksegon takes on King in a match-up of two great programs. King went undefeated in what was an amazing run all the way to the championship while Muskegon was also dominate all year finishing 9-2.


FULL BIG DAY PREP SHOWDOWN SCHEDULE (8/29/2008)
South Lyon vs. Walled Lake Central - 11 a.m.
Detroit King vs. Muskegon - 2 p.m.
Lake Orion vs. Rockford - 5 p.m.
Ann Arbor Pioneer vs. Saline - 8 p.m.


8/29/2008 Inkster @ Zeeland West
Not a lot of details yet from this game.
We all know about the talent that Inkster has this year -- junior quarterback Devin Gardner is one of the elite players in the state already. However, there is a ton of talent on the Inkster team. A transfer from Melvindale, senior Cameron Gordon is a highly regarded WR/LB collegiate prospect. Another transfer to Inkster, this one from Wayne Memorial, is senior Alan Freeman who had over 1200 yards of total offense in his junior year. This could be one of Inkster's most difficult tests of the year, especially on defense. Zeeland West's wing-T offense averaged over 34 points per game last year, leading them to a 12-1 record.

State of Michigan -- 2009 Recruiting Class -- Prospect Rankings

These people are in their HS class of 2009 and will sign their letters of intent in February of 2009. These are my rankings and are based on my opinion only.

1. William Campbell - Defensive Tackle - Cass Tech HS - Detroit
Committed to Michigan

2. Edwin Baker - Runningback - Oak Park HS - Oak Park
Committed to Michigan State

3. Chris Norman - Linebacker - Renaissance HS - Detroit
Committed to Michigan State

4. Teric Jones - Runningback - Cass Tech HS - Detroit
Committed to Michigan

5. Andrew Maxwell - Quarterback - Midland HS - Midland
Committed to Michigan State

6. Cameron Gordon - Linebacker - Inkster HS - Inkster
Committed to Michigan

7. Dion Sims - Tightend - OLSM - Orchard Lake
Committed to Michigan State

8. Hersey Jackson - Fullback - Allendale HS - Allendale
Uncommitted

9. Larry Caper - Runningback - Battle Creek Central - Battle Creek
Committed to Michigan State

10. James Jackson - Receiver - Grand Ledge HS - Grand Ledge
Committed to Ohio State

11. Shamari Benton - Safety - Brother Rice - Birmingham
Committed to CMU

12. Blake Treadwell - offensive lineman - East Lansing - Lansing
Committed to Michigan State

13. Reid Fragel - Tightend - Grosse Pointe South - Grosse Pointe
Committed to Ohio State

14. Zac Matthias - offensive lineman - Hemlock HS - Hemlock
Committed to Wisconsin

15. Donald Spencer - Receiver - Ypsilanti HS- Ypsilanti
Committed to Michigan State

16. Charles Chapman - offensive lineman - Carleton Airport - Carleton
Committed to Indiana

17. Jeremy Gainer - linebacker - Clarenceville - Livonia
Committed to Michigan State

18. Thomas Gordon - quarterback - Cass Tech - Detroit
Committed to Michigan

19. Dana Dixon - Safety - Renaissance HS - Detroit
Committed to Michigan State

20. Dylan Farrington - Defensive end - Adrian HS - Adrian
Committed to BGSU

21. Kenny Watkins - Cornerback - Brother Rice - Birmingham
Committed to Indiana

22. Zurlon Tipton - runningback - Parkway Christian - Sterling Heights
Committed to CMU

23. Ali Alaboody - runningback - Fordson HS - Dearborn
Committed to BGSU

24. Nader Furrha - quarterback - Ann Arbor Pioneer - Ann Arbor
Committed to walking-on at Michigan

25. Bennie Fowler - receiver - Country Day - Detroit
Committed to Michigan State