The 2016 season saw six of the fourteen Friday Night Victor’s teams qualify for the playoffs. The longest run was made by Bedford as they fell in the Division 2 Regional to eventual State Champion Martin Luther King. Other qualifiers were Grosse Ile, Huron, Ida, Jefferson and Milan. League Champions were Grosse Ile, Ida and Milan. Huron and Carlson saw their high expectations diminished with the departures of their respective coaches just days before practice started. The Chiefs managed to qualify for the playoffs, but the Marauders never recovered. SMCC managed their way to their first losing season since 2011 while Airport finished with back to back 1-8 marks for their worst two year record since the mid 80’s. Riverview’s promising season was decimated by injuries to key players while Erie Mason continued a decade of at the bottom of the LCAA. Let’s look at each of the individual teams and how they fared in 2016.
AIRPORT(1-8, 0-7 HURON)
Airport opened 2016 with a nice victory over LCAA foe Dundee. However, that win was followed by 8 consecutive losses. Defense seemed to be the main reason for their struggles, giving up nearly 30 points per game. Offense wasn’t exactly a strong suit, scoring 15.5 points per game, the Jets lowest output since 1994. Airport has won 3 Huron League games over the last 3 seasons, a league low. With a new coach at the helm for 2017, the Jets will look to change their fortune.
BEDFORD (9-3, 4-1 SEC RED)
2016 saw Bedford get back to it’s playoff winning ways after missing the playoffs the previous 2 seasons. The Mules finished 9-3 with a season ending loss to eventual D2 Champion Detroit King 21-7. Bedford’s 3 losses were to Detroit King(D2 State Champ), Detroit Country Day(D4 State Runner-up) and Saline(D1 Regional Finalist). Bedford averaged 33 points per game while giving up 16.
CARLSON (4-5, 4-5 DOWNRIVER LEAGUE)
Carlson coach Kent Sikora stepped down a week before the season began due to health issues and in stepped Ryan Buttson as the head coach. Carlson would play perennial Downriver League power Wyandotte Roosevelt in week 1 and was handed a 34-6 drubbing at the hands of the Bears. The Marauders would go on to lose 4 of their first 5 games as the offense sputtered. The season and the offense turned around after week 5 as Carlson was able to win 3 of their final 4 games and finish with a 4-5 record.
Carlson Highlights—> Click Here
DUNDEE (4-5, 3-4 LCAA)
Dundee started 2016 with a promising 2-1 record with wins over Whitmore Lake 40-6 and Hillsdale 37-23. The offense took a hiatus over the next 3 weeks, averaging 7.5 points per game with losses to Hudson 28-6, Ida 47-13 and Blissfield 20-6. The Vikings did get back on track winning 2 of their last 3, with the loss coming to eventual playoff team Brooklyn Columbia Central by a meager 2 points. Dundee averaged 28 points per game while giving up 23.
Dundee Highlights—> Click Here
ERIE MASON (1-8, 0-7 LCAA)
Erie Mason opened with Summerfield for the 5th consecutive year with the same losing result. Week 2 showed reason for optimism as the Eagles knocked off Britton-Deerfield 23-20 for their first win of the season. From there the season fell apart as the Eagles dropped 7 straight games to finish the season. Defensively, the Eagles gave up a school record 440 points on the season.
FLAT ROCK (4-5, 2-5 HURON)
Flat Rock opened the 2016 season with optimism and walloped hapless Summit Academy in week 1 by a score of 48-0 in a score that wasn’t that close. The Rams would quickly come back down to earth facing three of the best teams in the Huron league which resulted in 3 losses. Struggling Airport was just what the Rams needed in week 5 as they won the jug by a score of 22-3. Powerful running games proved to be too much for the Rams as they fell hard to league foes Riverview and Jefferson. Flat Rock was able to end the season on a positive note with a 1 point victory over arch-rival Huron and a blowout victory over 2-7 Hazel Park in week 9.
Flat Rock Highlights—> Click Here
GROSSE ILE (8-2, 6-1 HURON)
2016 was a great year for the Red Devils of Grosse Ile as they tied for the Huron League Championship with Milan before falling to Adrian in Week 1 of the playoffs. The Islanders boasted a high powered offense and a good enough defense most weeks. This was the first league championship for Grosse Ile in the new millennium and the first for veteran coach Jon Bodner.
Grosse Ile Highlights—> Click Here
HURON (6-4, 4-3 HURON)
Huron started the 2016 football season with head coach Dan Kalbfleisch leaving to take an administrative job with Carlson. The Chiefs never fully recover as the offense sputtered most of the season. Huron did have highs and lows during the season. The highs were beating SMCC for the first time since 1986 and qualifying for the playoffs for the third straight year and the lows were getting drubbed by Milan and losing to arch-rival Flat Rock.
IDA (10-2, 6-1 LCAA)
2016 saw Ida finish with an impressive 10-2 record that would include league and district championships. The Bluestreaks suffered a 1 point loss to Hudson in the LCAA, but were able to hold serve in the conference to secure a share of the league title with the Tigers who had lost to Hillsdale in week 6. Ida set a school record with 593 points scored on the season, but couldn’t score enough against Algonac in the Regional final.
JEFFERSON (5-5, 4-3 HURON)
2016 saw the Bears qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2006 and end the regular season with a winning record for the first time since 2008. Jefferson’s biggest win of the season was over SMCC just 7 days after the Falcons had shocked Huron League leader Milan. The Bears had a high powered running game, but the defense could rarely stop anyone when needed.
Jefferson Highlights—> Click Here
MILAN (9-2, 6-1 HURON)
Milan finished 2016 with their 3rd Huron League title in the last 5 years and their 9th trip to the playoffs in the last 12 years. The Big Reds had a high powered offense and a defense that was better than most. Of Milan’s 9 victories, 5 of them came against playoff teams.
MONROE (3-6, 2-3 SEC RED)
The Trojans started the season with a 3-2 record, but a close 13-10 loss to Bedford in week 6 started a 4 game losing streak that left Monroe with a 3-6 record after qualifying for the playoffs 4 of the previous 5 years. Monroe Averaged 15.7 points per game, their lowest output in 25 years. The defense gave up 26 ppg.
RIVERVIEW (2-7, 2-5 HURON)
Riverview was optimistic entering 2016 with plenty of experience and a young yet talented core of players. Injuries to key players and adapting to a new offense slowed the Pirates down. Riverview struggled with every team that had good team speed and struggled to score against the 6 playoff teams that they lost to.
SMCC (4-5, 4-3 HURON)
The Falcons showed flashes at times during 2016 with a impressive victory over Huron League Champion Milan and took Division 7 State Champion Pewamo-Westphalia to the 4th quarter before falling in mid-Michigan. Losses to Grosse Ile, Huron and Jefferson sealed the Falcons first losing season since 2011.
That’s how things unfolded for all 14 FNV teams in 2016. As practice starts up, look for upcoming previews of each team and much more. 22 days ’til kickoff!
People have to step up , there's going to be an opportunity for someone or some people… understand that !!! 2017 is a new season and the person I'm talking about was a big time starter last year and going to be this year …I understand your guys spin !!!
Yep, I agree with that. As the great coach Norman Dale once said, "I would hope you support who we are, not who we are not."
2017 is a new fooball season. You can't lose what you never had.
I heard SMCC lost another big time starter ? Is it true ?
You are correct, both Bedford and Ida went the same distance in the playoffs. Both losing in the Regional final. The first paragraph should have made note of that. Thank you.
Just correcting you here, but the longest playoff runs last season were made by Bedford and Ida. Both teams lost in the Regional Finals. Only seems fair to give them both that credit. I know you mention Ida losing to Algonac in the Regional Finals in your Ida write up; just seemed odd that you only mentioned Bedford as having the longest run and Ida as just a qualifier.
On a separate note, I look forward to following the blog this season. Keep up the good work.
110 is a lot. I'm guessing that might be the most in our area.
Don't know about other teams but Huron is at an all time high with over 110 kids
Already hearing about major injuries for some teams. Not gonna share any of that info, but it just really sucks. We saw how it really hurt teams last year. Hoping there are very few across the league this year, especially with numbers being down with most of the teams in the league.
The Falcons will be their typical selves. Hard working, disciplined and talented. If they can survive the schedule they could make a solid run come playoff time and I fully expect that they will.
I'm looking forward to watching some great games again this year. Tough to pick the winner of the Huron League. Time will tell. Can't hardly wait.
Does SMCC have anything this year that will challenge for the league ?
I understand why. I think Riverview could be very good. I think the Huron League will be solid this year.
So excited for a healthy view team this year! Year 2 in the T for most teams is a huge improvement (CC is a prime example), over 3/4 of the starters last year are back(although I'll admit they lost 3 really good lineman in Boike, Chevillet, and Begeman), harder summer workouts than they've ever had (old weight room was so small it is now the Athletic Directors office), and the guys are out for blood after feeling embarrased from how last year went down.
Also sorry for maybe putting to much im just so excited for football!!
View hopeful