Kosmo can feel impending winter hibernation coming on
You’ll have to pardon Kosmo if he yawns.
No, he’s not bored, he’s just feeling the impending winter hibernation coming on, which means we’re getting DEEEEEP into the football playoffs now.
Two wins separate the remaining teams from Ford Field, and teams are starting to feel it.
So is Kosmo.
Of the local teams that remain, there’s plenty of experience making that trip down to Brush Street, too. Only two — Everest Collegiate and Groves — would be making their first trips, if they make it that far.
Division 1
Rochester Adams at Clarkston, Friday 7:30 p.m.:
The Highlanders have been aiming toward this Friday’s potential rematch since Sept. 9, the day Clarkston came into their place and handed them a 45-35loss. The Wolves avenged one of their own regular-season ‘L’s, with a 4940 win over Davison, another game in which Kosmo’s main man, Ethan Clark, was brilliant. Parker Picot’s been just as brilliant, all season. Maybe the only difference is that this game is at Clarkston’s Jungle.
Kosmo says: Clark … err, Clarkston.
Detroit Catholic Central at Belleville, Saturday 1 p.m.: The Road ‘Rocks put their 7-0 record away from the Elm on the line in a Saturday matchup between D1powerhouses. The Shamrocks haven’t lost since the Boys Bowl, but the defending D1 champs from Belleville haven’t lost since Sept. 10… Sept. 10, 2021. Kosmo knows CC has been stellar on the road this season, but this one might be a hill just a smidge too high to climb.
Kosmo says: Belleville.
Division 2
Birmingham Groves at Livonia Franklin, 7 p.m.: Both of Birmingham’s public schools were coming off forgettable
2021 seasons, and while Seaholm had the more memorable 2022 regular season, Groves has taken over in the playoffs. And taken off. The Falcons have won five straight since a Week 7loss to Rochester, but Franklin’s only loss came in Week 8, to the defending D1 champion, Belleville. Most of the Falcons’ meetings against Franklin date back to the old Northwest Suburban League in the 1960s and ‘70s, and Groves’ only win against the Patriots came in the 2018 regionals.
Franklin.
Kosmo says:
Division 3
Birmingham Brother Rice at Detroit Martin Luther King, 6:30 p.m.:
Doesn’t seem to matter to the Warriors how many kids they’ve got on crutches or in street clothes. They just step in and step up. Kosmo’s just about given up trying to accurately predict Rice’s games. If he picks the Warriors to lose, they win. If
he picks them to win, they lose. Hard to pick against a guy with heart like Blake Marrogy, but … also hard to pick against King’s Dante Moore. Maybe Kosmo can reverse jinx Rice.
Kosmo says: King.
Division 4
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s at Goodrich, 7 p.m.:
Kosmo used to call it the George Porritt special: Make it into the playoffs with a handful of losses, roll your way all the way to the finals. The Eaglets’ old coach took OLSM to the finals with a two-loss team in 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014, and a four-loss team in ’09 and 2016. A five-loss team would be new, at least, but Kosmo doesn’t put it past new Eaglets boss Jermaine Gonzales. Flint Metro champ Goodrich is really, really, good, but so was the Cros-Lex team that OLSM beat on the road in Round 1.
Kosmo says:
OLSM.
Division 5
Detroit Country Day at Flat Rock, Friday 7 p.m.:
It’s the fourth straight regional final for the troops of Kosmo’s main man, Dan MacLean, and the ninth since 2011, and they’re facing a Flat Rock team that hasn’t been this deep in the playoffs since making it to the Class C finals in the second year of the MHSAA playoff system. Experience counts for a lot. And so does having guys like Gabe Zeldes.
Kosmo says: Country Day.
Division 8
Sterling Heights
Parkway Christian at Clarkston Everest Collegiate, Friday 6 p.m.: Everest has been knocking on the door the past handful of years, making the regionals in 2017, 2020, 2021 and again this year. A beefed up schedule, which produced two early losses, kept the Mountaineers from being considered among the top handful of contenders, but also prepared them to be where they are. Parkway has won five straight since a 1-5 start. Kosmo may have mentioned it before, but experience counts for a lot. Kosmo says: Everest Collegiate.