By John Raffel
Correspondent
The regular season has ended and now local teams are getting ready for the playoffs.
Paw Paw, Gobles, Lawton, Mattawan and South Haven have qualified for the football postseason which starts on Friday.
Mattawan is in Division 2 and is home for the first round against Lansing Everett.
Paw Paw is in Division 4 and plays at Niles in the first round.
“Our first round opponent is a fast and physical team who wants to run the football,” Paw Paw coach Dennis Strey, adding the key for his team is continuing to play great defense, taking care of the football and finishing scoring drives. The team is very excited for the playoffs and the opportunity to start a second season. They are a great group of guys that love to come to practice everyday.
“Our team has done a great job defensively this season and have scored a lot of points spreading the ball around to several different players. The front seven of the offense and defense have been dominant.”
South Haven is in Division 5 and will be playing at Kalamazoo Hackett.
Lawton is in Division 7 and will be home against Coloma.
“We have played Coloma already this season (3 weeks ago) so we are familiar with them,” Lawton coach AJ High said. “They have good athletes and will play hard. We need to execute our game plan and be disciplined, dominate them physically, and take care of the ball.
“We are always excited to be in the playoffs. It’s our favorite time of the year.”
The keys for success High said, will be “Physicality, execution of the game plan, and taking care of the football.”
Gobles is in the 8-player Division I and will be home against Martin.
“We always expect our playoff opponents to play their best game,” Gobles coach Greg Eichler said. “This is win or go home, so both teams will be playing with a major sense of urgency. Mistake free football is going to be the big key. We need to ensure we limit penalties as much as possible. At the same time, our job includes playing a physical and aggressive brand of football.
“We love being in the playoffs, but this is an expectation for us now. As it’s our third year in a row being in the playoffs, we are not satisfied at this point. We have several more goals and we are going to attack them each and every day.
“Our kids have done an excellent job preparing each and every week. Also, we have played together as a team and we take care of each other. This team has stayed close through any adversity we have faced. Even when we have had our bad moments, the kids and staff stay positive. I also feel that our coaching and athletic training staff have done a good job managing our kids and making sure they are at their best going into Friday night so they can perform at a high level.”
DIVISION 2
REGION 1
DISTRICT 1
Traverse City West (6-3) 57.556 at Muskegon Mona Shores (8-1) 74.361
Grand Rapids Northview (9-0) 68.444 at Byron Center (8-1) 71.361
DISTRICT 2
Portage Northern (5-4) 56.222 at Portage Central (6-3) 62.222
Lansing Everett (6-3) 60.333 at Mattawan (6-3) 61.222
DIVISION 4
REGION 2
DISTRICT 1
Edwardsburg (6-3) 50.556 at Battle Creek Harper Creek (8-1) 62.000
Paw Paw (8-1) 61.556 at Niles (8-1) 61.667
DISTRICT 2
Lansing Sexton (5-4) 42.889 at Portland (9-0) 60.778
Ionia (6-3) 51.000 at Hastings (8-1) 60.222
DIVISION 5
REGION 2
DISTRICT 1
Muskegon Oakridge (4-5) 35.111 at Grand Rapids West Catholic (6-3) 54.889
Hopkins (6-3) 43.208 at Grand Rapids Catholic Central (5-4) 54.730
DISTRICT 2
South Haven (5-4) 37.222 at Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep (7-2) 49.222
Dowagiac (6-3) 39.486 at Berrien Springs (6-3) 43.111
DIVISION 7
REGION 3
DISTRICT 1
Coloma (4-5) 28.889 at Lawton (7-2) 40.333
Bronson (6-3) 32.222 at Schoolcraft (8-1) 37.931
DISTRICT 2
Napoleon (6-3) 36.556 at Hudson (8-1) 48.222
Union City (8-1) 37.889 at Hanover-Horton (8-1) 40.889
8 Player
REGION 4
Martin (7-1) 34.083 at Gobles (9-0) 37.500
Mendon (8-1) 34.889 at Climax-Scotts (8-1) 35.556
