It’s officially playoff season for Michigan high school football teams. The Michigan High School Athletic Association playoff pairings were announced on Bally Sports Detroit Sunday night, with 12 local teams hearing their names called. 

The list of first round playoff games for the Muskegon area includes games in six different divisions, a rematch between West Michigan Conference foes and three total games featuring a pair of local teams. 

For the third straight season, the Fruitport football program watched its name appear as the brackets were announced.

The Trojans spent the evening watching the selection show from Whitlow’s Forerunner with parents and fans. Coach Nate Smith said having the community together to see the reveal was a meaningful moment. 

“It’s huge,” he said. “I had a chance to briefly thank people and I felt myself getting choked up. It’s what high school football is about with getting the families and community together. These are nights we’ll remember the rest of our lives.”

WATCH: Fruitport football team reacts to playoff bracket announcement

When the Division 4 bracket was revealed the Trojans, who finished the regular season 7-2 overall, found out they’ll be hosting Ludington, also 7-2 overall, in the opening round of playoff action.

“One of the goals was to get back to the playoffs,” Smith said. “Getting a home playoff game for the community and the school is huge. It’ll be special on Friday night for sure.”

The winner of the Fruitport-Ludington game could face another local team. Either Whitehall or Big Rapids will be waiting in the next round. The undefeated Vikings will play host to the 7-2 Cardinals.

The Trojans and Orioles used to match up as members of the Lakes 8 Activities Conference. While they haven’t played since 2015, Smith is aware of what the Orioles will bring to the matchup.

“They’re a well coached, spread team who throws the ball around. They’ll do some things up front that we’ll have to prepare for,” he said. “I haven’t had a real chance to dive into the film yet, but they’ve had a heck of a year and they’ll bring us everything they got.”

The game time has yet to be determined but Fruitport fans can trust that Smith and his team will be ready when the ball is kicked off.

“We had a staff meeting and a team meeting before we came here. The message to the guys was it’s a one-week season and they’ll be a great football team.”

Reeths-Puffer is officially in the playoffs for the first time since 2013, save for the 2020 season when the postseason was expanded to every team in the state.

The Rockets are no stranger to big challenges.They had to face three powerful conference opponents this season — Muskegon, Zeeland West and Mona Shores — and lost all three games by fairly close margins.

Now they have another tall order, playing undefeated Forest Hills Central in the first round of districts on the road, with the winner playing the winner of the Mona Shores-Traverse City Central  district semifinal.

The Rockets are excited to be back in the postseason, and they are not intimidated by FH Central or any other team they might play.

“The hard doesn’t get any easier,” said R-P head coach Cody Kater, whose team heads into the postseason with a 6-3 record. “It just keeps getting harder. But it’s great just having the opportunity to get into the playoffs and compete against great programs.

“We understand being in an O-K conference that we have the opportunity to play really good squads that will prepare you for the playoffs. It’s all about Puffer pride from here on out.”

Mona Shores will look to make a deep playoff run in Division 2 after having a three-year streak of state finals appearances snapped last year. 

The Sailors will face Traverse City Central (5-4) to open up districts. Coach Matt Koziak thought his team might play TC Central, but was surprised how the district was constructed.

“I thought that we were going to possibly play Byron Center or that Midland was going to be in our district,” Koziak said. “Crazy to see all of these three-win teams get in.”

Coach Koziak is excited to get another chance to make another run at a state championship.

“We had three goals this season and we achieved two of them already,” Koziak said. “We were disappointed that we had to share the conference with Muskegon and Zeeland West but now we are focusing on the playoffs. It’s a blessing to get another week with these kids.”

The Sailors know that sometimes it takes a little health and luck to get back to Ford Field.

“We need to get healthy and stay healthy, especially after our physical game against Muskegon last Friday,” Koziak said. “There is also some luck that is involved. We need to limit our mistakes and take advantage of other teams’ mistakes.”

Ravenna (6-3) and North Muskegon (8-1) will meet for the second time this season in the first round of the playoffs. The Norse won the first meeting 28-7 en route to a West Michigan Conference Rivers division championship. 

The final all-local match up in round one will see Kent City (7-2) travel to Muskegon Catholic Central (7-2). Whichever team wins will take on the winner of Montague (3-6) and Reed City (8-1), which beat Kent City in Week 7. 

See below for a full list of games involving the 12 playoff qualifiers in the MuskegonSports.com coverage area. Dates and times for first round games will be announced in the coming days. 

Division 2

Region 1 District 1

Reeths-Puffer (6-3) vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (9-0)

Traverse City Central (5-4) vs Mona Shores (7-2)

Division 3

Region 2 District 1

Sparta (6-3) vs. Muskegon (7-2)

Division 4

Region 1 District 1

Big Rapids (7-2) vs Whitehall (9-0)

Ludington (7-2) vs. Fruitport (7-2)

Division 5

Region 1 District 2

Shepherd (6-3) vs Oakridge (8-1)

Division 6

Region 2 District 1

Montague (3-6) vs. Reed City (8-1)

Kent City (7-2) vs. Muskegon Catholic Central (7-2)

Division 7

Region 1 District 2

Ravenna (6-3) vs. North Muskegon (8-1)