Copyright M Live Michigan
The Michigan high school football postseason officially kicks off tonight, and the opportunity that players and coaches have been working toward since the start of fall practice is within their grasp. Thirty-two teams in each of the eight divisions of 11-player football will hit the field either Friday night or Saturday after with their collective seasons hanging in the balance. Before the action gets underway, we’ve got you covered with everything you need to know about the upcoming district tournaments, as well as local highlights from the Muskegon area, such as our Player of the Week award for the final week of the regular season and predictions on how the opening round of the playoffs will go for all the Muskegon-area competitors. Grab your wool socks, a winter jacket and a hot cup of coffee – it’s going to be a long weekend of football. --- NORTH MUSKEGON QB REPEATS AS PLAYER OF THE WEEK North Muskegon quarterback Bryce Colbert earned top billing in our Player of the Week showcase last week and the senior standout for the Norsemen retained his title belt this week after a strong performance against Oakridge. Colbert finished 24-for-39 passing for 347 yards and three touchdowns and added a 1-yard rushing score to pace the North Muskegon offense in his team’s loss to Oakridge. In Week 8, the senior quarterback threw for 282 yards and five touchdowns to power North Muskegon to a 56-34 win over Newaygo. He finished the regular season with 1,985 yards passing and 22 touchdowns, led the Norsemen to a 6-3 record, and a fourth straight West Michigan Conference River Division title. The readers of MLive and Muskegon Chronicle remained impressed with Colbert’s prolific passing attack this season, as they flocked to the polls in support of the senior standout for the Norsemen after he was nominated for the MLive Muskegon High School Football Player of Week 9. When the dust settled on the final results, Colbert pulled away from the competition with nearly 12,000 total votes to earn the MLive Muskegon Player of the Week award for his performance. The readers of MLive and Muskegon Chronicle were impressed with Colbert’s prolific passing attack, as they flooded the polls in support of the senior standout for the Norsemen after he was nominated for the MLive Muskegon High School Football Player of Week 8. When the dust settled on the final results, Colbert pulled away from the competition with more than 81 percent of the total votes to repeat as the MLive Muskegon Player of the Week award winner for his performance. Kent City senior quarterback Andre Meade finished runner-up in the voting process after he finished with 100 yards rushing and one touchdown in his team’s win over Grant. Orchard View senior quarterback Peyton Babbitt finished third overall after he finished 6-for-17 passing for 205 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 105 yards and two more scores to power his team to an incredible 35-34 comeback win over Shelby after trailing by 21 points in the fourth quarter. To see all of this past week’s nominees, click here. Below are the final results from our MLive Muskegon Player of the Week poll for Week 9. --- MUSKEGON-AREA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE --- DIVISION 2 --- REGION 1 DISTRICT 1 Mona Shores (5-4) at Muskegon (6-3), 7 p.m. Friday Traverse City Central (5-4) at Traverse City West (5-4), 7 p.m. Friday --- DIVISION 4 --- REGION 1 DISTRICT 1 Freeland (7-2) at Escanaba (8-1), 2 p.m. Saturday Big Rapids (8-1) at Ludington (9-0), 7 p.m. Friday --- DISTRICT 2 Holland Christian (5-4) at Hudsonville Unity Christian (8-1), 7 p.m. Friday Spring Lake (6-3) at Wyoming Godwin Heights (7-2), 7 p.m. Friday --- DIVISION 5 --- REGION 1 DISTRICT 2 Clare (6-3) at Saginaw Swan Valley (8-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday Howard City Tri-County (5-4) at Whitehall (5-4), 7 p.m. Friday --- REGION 2 DISTRICT 1 Wyoming Kelloggsville (6-3) at Grand Rapids Catholic Central (9-0), 7 p.m. Friday Oakridge (6-3) at Grand Rapids West Catholic (8-1), 7 p.m. Friday --- DIVISION 6 --- REGION 1 DISTRICT 2 Sanford Meridian (6-3) at Reed City (7-2), 7 p.m. Friday Montague (5-4) at Central Montcalm (7-2), 7 p.m. Friday --- REGION 2 DISTRICT 1 Ovid-Elsie (7-2) at Belding (8-1), 7 p.m. Friday Kent City (9-0) at Olivet (8-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday --- DIVISION 7 --- REGION 1 DISTRICT 2 Morley Stanwood (3-6) at Harrison (7-2), 7 p.m. Friday Shelby (5-4) at LeRoy Pine River (6-3), 7 p.m. Friday --- REGION 2 DISTRICT 1 Ravenna (4-5) at Pewamo-Westphalia (8-0), 1 p.m. Saturday Saranac (7-2) at North Muskegon (6-3), 1 p.m. Saturday --- PREDICTIONS MLive Muskegon football predictions: Scary-good matchups for playoff openers --- TOP 5 TAKEAWAYS 5 Muskegon-area takeaways entering 2025 Michigan high school football playoffs --- ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Recognizing top Muskegon-area fall sports athletes for Oct. 14-28 --- STATEWIDE RANKINGS Final Associated Press high school football state rankings for 2025 season --- LOCAL SPORTS NEWS Mona Shores freshman tennis star caps off 30-win season with Top 4 finish Two champions headline Muskegon-area girls cross country state qualifiers Three champions headline Muskegon-area boys cross country state qualifiers Muskegon-area highlights: Fremont soccer claims first-ever regional title ---
