the game started off somewhat even, with the 'Ridge going into halftime with a slight lead after scoring at the end of the half. The Eagles were up 28-20 in the 3rd quarter and just when you thought the Tigers were going to fold and run out of gas like they did in the past games against the Eagles, they found another gear, played with a lot of heart and crushed Oakridge in the 4th quarter.
Willie Snead IV could not be stopped by the Eagles and I have to mention that this game showed me the most athleticism and speed and excitement that I have seen at a Michigan hs football game since Lowell vs Muskegon in 2006. Muskegon Heights was flat out FAST! Oakridge had a good power game going on but they could not match the Eagles speed although Shoop put on a strong show on both offense and defense, including a bone jarring hit in the 4th quarter on a Tiger receiver who miraculously held onto the ball.
The Tigers have some kinks to work out and they need to have a little more discipline on the field as they ended up with about 4 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, a couple of which were shared by Oakridge. Plus they also had too many stupid procedure and holding calls go against them, but they eliminated most of that in the 4th quarter.
As far as Oakridge goes, they are a good football team and I would not count them out just yet. I would hate to be their next opponent as I think they will bounce back strong from this loss, and Shugars will pull out all of his tricks and will have these guys well motivated when I am sure they will meet again in the playoffs.
I have never seen the spread offense so well executed in Michgan hs football as MH and particularly Snead ran it. Score one for the spread and scratch one for the T as it looked slow compared to the spread. This was Florida football vs Midwestern football and the Midwest lost out and looked slow. Having said that however, not many qb's in hs football can execute it like Snead did last night.
One last thought: I have to believe after last night that Muskegon Heights is the best team in D5 right now and should be ranked in the top 20 in the state in my opinion.
