District Finals Preview.

Written Saturday November 1st at 9:05 AM

Here is the preview for the district finals that surround the OAA. This will also be on the website https://aroundtheoaa.weebly.com/ and the ONTV blog.

Harper Woods Chandler Park at HARPER WOODS: The Eagles are off to their best start in five years after going 11-24 the previous four years and they knocked off Center Line 33-11 last week. This will be their biggest test of the season traveling a short distance to Beaconsfield Street to take on Harper Woods. The Pioneers had no issue with Macomb Lutheran North winning 45-16. The last time these two neighbors clashed was in 2009 when Harper Woods beat Harper Woods Chandler Park 15-12, they were supposed to play in 2022 but the Eagles were forced to forfeit the game. This is a matchup that the city of Harper Woods has been waiting for in a long time, this could be very exciting. The winner will likely see Dearborn Divine Child in the regional finals.

Warren Cousino at GROVES: There really is not a lot of familiarity between the Falcons and the Patriots heading into their district finals clash in Beverly Hills. Warren Cousino took Seaholm out of their veer offense scoring 28 points and winning 28-7. Groves hammered Warren Mott 49-14 in Beverly Hills. Jeremiah Whitley will be key again for the Falcons after he had an impressive 322 yards rushing and six touchdowns. The winner will get St. Clair Shores Lakeview or Grosse Pointe South on the road most likely in the regional finals. This should be a very interesting game.

Grand Blanc at CLARKSTON: This is the first meeting between the Bobcats and the Wolves since 2020 when Grand Blanc went into Clarkston and won 42-35 in the second round of districts. The Wolves are 5-2 against the Bobcats in their last seven meetings. This is looking like this could be an offensive shootout between Jake Murrow and Alex Waszeczeko. Waszeczeko was very instrumental in Clarkston's 52-14 win over Davison. Murrow was instrumental in their 49-30 win over Oxford. This will be the Wolves biggest defensive test since the Harper Woods game with the offense that Grand Blanc has. The winner will see Brighton or most likely Novi Detroit Catholic Central in the regional finals.

STONEY CREEK at ADAMS: This is a rematch of a 26-20 Highlanders win over the Cougars in week six. Stoney Creek also fell to Adams 44-14 in the first round last season. The Highlanders are 15-2 against the Cougars in their last 17 games but most of those games have been very competitive. Adams had no issues with Rochester winning 34-10 while Stoney Creek had a wild matchup with Macomb County neighbor Utica Eisenhower winning 35-31. This should be a really interesting matchup which the winner could see Romeo or Macomb Dakota in the regional finals which that too is also a rematch.