Game Day Bay City! Setting the stage for Week 9 on the prep football stage

BAY CITY, MI — Setting the scene for Week 9 of the high school football season on MLive’s Bay City coverage for Friday, October 25, 2024.

Game Day Bay City!

SCHEDULE: 9 WEEK

Friday, October 25

Atlanta in Mio

Bay City Central and Bay City Western

Beaverton on Houghton Lake

Brethren at Whitmore-Prescott

Brown City in All Saints Bay City

Croswell-Lexington at Ogemaw Heights

Essexville Harbor in Linesburg

Ewart in Harrison

Gladwin in Frankenmuth

Marlette in Laker

Oskoda in Frankfurt

Ovid-Elsie in Standish-Sterling

Petoskey in Clare

Saginaw MLS in Cass City

Saginaw Valley Lutheran in Pinconning

Sandusky in Reese

St. Helen Heston in O Gre

Swartz Creek at John Glenn

Tawas at Grayling

Unionville-Sebevain at Genesee

NEWS AND NOTES

*Bay City Central and Bay City Western meet for the 50th time in their history as neighbors, facing off at the Cornfield. Central owns the all-time series 34-15, but Western has won the last four meetings.

*Gladwin at Frankenmuth is a rematch of the 2022 Division 5 state championship game, which Gladwin won 10-7 in the final game.

*All Saints can reach the eight-win mark for the first time since 2008 when they host Brown City.

*Pinconning (5-3) can match its most wins in a season since 2009 when it hosts Saginaw Valley Lutheran.

*John Glenn can get its first regular season win since 2017 with a win over Swartz Creek.

*Harrison’s loss to Ogemaw Heights in Week 8 means no regional team can go through an undefeated regular season. Accordingly, no local team went winless either, with the exception of Hale, who played a partial schedule.

*This is senior night at Akron-Fairgrove, Laker, Reese and John Glenn, and Standish-Sterling is having a parent night.

*While nothing is certain, the following regional teams look set to earn a playoff spot with a win but be eliminated with a loss: John Glenn, Laker, Oscoda and Reese.

*Bay City Central and Pinconning both have playoff hopes, but must win out and hope a few other factors work in their favor.

*Ogemaw Heights, Clair, Gladwin, Standish-Sterling, Harrison, Cass City, All Saints and O’Gres look pretty safe as playoff contenders. Mio wins, but could end up on the bubble if he loses.

PROJECT GAME

It was split almost evenly, but Bay City Western was picked as the favorite to win the Week 9 clash with Bay City Central. MLive asked fans to predict the winner of the draw each week, and they responded with a 6-2 record. Western was picked to win on 53.3 percent of the ballots.

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