Now that was a fun first week of high school football!

There were great storylines everywhere!

I covered the Reeths-Puffer-Grand Haven game, and as an R-P grad, I have to admit that it was really exciting to see the Rockets win their opener for a change and look really good doing it. New head coach Cody Kater has a lot of fans on the northside right now.

Who couldn’t be excited for the Fremont Packers, who had just four wins over their prior seven seasons before knocking off Hart in their season opener? I loved it when new coach Jared Hudson told me they had to call time out near the end of the game to figure out how to do a victory formation on offense, because it wasn’t in their playbook!

How about those Whitehall Vikings! Coach Tony Sigmon told me before the season that his team was going to be pretty darned good, despite losing a lot of talented seniors, and I thought he might be exaggerating a bit. Then the Vikings went out and manhandled mighty Unity Christian, and it quickly became apparent that he was not exaggerating.

Muskegon Catholic rallied to win a tight one over North Muskegon, the Big Reds rallied to beat a stubborn East Kentwood team, and Fruitport had a fight on its hands before downing Kenowa Hills.

Mona Shores broke in a new sophomore quarterback, and he did great in a big win on the Sailors’ new turf field.

This week could bring a lot of the same, with some really interesting matchups, including Muskegon at Warren De La Salle, Mona Shores at Rockford, Oakridge at Muskegon Catholic and Montague at Ravenna. Who do you think will squeak out wins in those likely nail-biters? My guesses are below:

Beaverton (0-1) at FREMONT (1-0) – I don’t know much about the Beaverton boys, except that they are the Beavers (go figure), they lost last week and were not real good last year. So I will predict that the Packers will do something they haven’t done in a very long time – win two games in a row.

FRUITPORT (1-0) at GR Christian (0-1) – This one is kind of a tough call, because Grand Rapids Christian was ranked very high in the state in the preseason, then got slammed in Week 1. That means the Trojans will be facing a talented but angry opponent, but I still think Fruitport will pull out a close win, just like last week.

TRAVERSE CITY WEST (1-0) at Grand Haven (0-1) – I saw the Bucs play last week and came away with two impressions – they have a very good young quarterback, but the rest of the team is also very young and needs some time to develop.

St. Louis (0-1) at HESPERIA (0-1) – For anyone wondering, they are the St. Louis Sharks, they lost their first game and were 5-4 last season. Logic says they should have the upper hand over the Panthers, who have struggled for some time now. But Hesperia scored a lot of points in an opening-game loss last week, and I think its quarterback, Fremont transfer Alex Gleason, might be pretty good. This is my upset call of the week.

PERRY (1-0) at Holton (0-1) – Remember, Holton almost didn’t have a team this year, so the fact that the Red Devils are playing a home opener is a victory in and of itself. But I don’t think they will win.

CENTRAL MONTCALM (1-0) at Kent City (1-0) – The Eagles have a new coach, replacing one of our favorites, Bill Crane, and they played well last week. So did Central Montcalm, which pounded Morley-Stanwood 38-0.

HART (0-1) at White Cloud (1-0) – There’s no shame in losing to Fremont, but don’t try telling that to this band of angry Pirates. White Cloud was a playoff team last year and won its opener last week, but Hart will not start the season 0-2.

LUDINGTON (1-0) at Shelby (0-1) – There were signs of life for the Tigers last week when they scored some points, but they aren’t going to keep up with the Orioles.

MANISTEE (1-0) at Mason County Central (0-1) – The Chippewas piled up points on Holton last week, so I will give them the edge in this one based on offensive momentum.

MONA SHORES (1-0) at Rockford (1-0) – Can I borrow a quarter to flip on this one? Honestly these are two great teams and anything could happen, but the Sailors looked very confident last week with new quarterback Johnathon Pittman, so my guess is that they will win a close, high-scoring contest.

MUSKEGON (1-0) at Warren De La Salle (1-0) – Keep that quarter handy, because De La Salle, a defending state champion, rolled to a victory last week, while the Big Reds, who are loaded with talent, struggled a bit before beating East Kentwood. Muskegon rarely struggles for two games in a row, so I will give the Big Reds the very slight edge.

OAKRIDGE (1-0) at Muskegon Catholic (1-0) – This should be another great game. A very young MCC team rallied and beat North Muskegon last week, just like the Crusaders rallied and beat Oakridge last season. MCC’s luck will run out against the Eagles, who are chomping at the bit to get even with the Crusaders.

Muskegon Heights (0-1) at CALVIN CHRISTIAN (1-0) – The Tigers lost badly last week, and Calvin Christian won, and the same results are likely this week.

Montague (1-0) at RAVENNA (0-1) – This will very likely be an incredible game between two pretty evenly matched teams. The Wildcats gutted out a tough win over Spring Lake last week while the Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker to Beal City. Home field advantage is the only difference in this matchup – and it might not make a difference. Who knows?

NORTH MUSKEGON (0-1) at Orchard View (0-1) – The Norse lost a 10-point lead against Muskegon Catholic last Thursday and are probably pretty grumpy. That’s a bad omen for the Cardinals, who are still finding themselves after not having a varsity team last year.

REETHS-PUFFER (1-0) at St. Johns (0-1) – The Rockets were sky-high after beating Grand Haven last week. Coack Kater says St. Johns is a very tough place to play and R-P will have a long bus trip, but the Rockets have a new swag about them that I think will hold up.

SPRING LAKE (0-1) at Zeeland East (0-1) – The Lakers will get new coach Cody Mallory his first victory after a close call last week.

WHITEHALL (1-0) at Hastings (1-0) – Hastings is a good team, but so is Hudsonville Unity Chistian, and look what the Vikings did to that squad last week? This may be a very special Whitehall team.