2022 Schedule Analysis: Ida Blue Streaks

By Frank Vajcner

It’s now time for a visit to my alma mater. Ida is coming off of an 8-3 campaign, and they also won a playoff game for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. Will the schedule allow for an opportunity to continue the run?

2022 Schedule:

Aug 25 Airport

Sept 1 Whiteford

Sept 9 @ Clinton

Sept 16 @ Hudson

Sept 23 Hillsdale

Sept 30 Onsted

Oct 7 @ Blissfield

Oct 14 @ Columbia Central

Oct 21 Dundee

Gut-Check Game: You will not find a tougher three-game stretch for any blog team than Weeks 2-4 for Ida. Jeff Potter and company open September with a visit from Whiteford, then follow up with back-to-back road trips to Clinton and Hudson. The Bobcats were a State Semifinalist who came within a whisker of reaching Ford Field. The Red Wolves, despite losing to the Streaks in the regular season, ended up with the last laugh in the playoffs. All Hudson did was put together an unbeaten season en route to the Division 8 State Championship. And to make matters tougher, Clinton’s Wegener Field and Hudson’s Thompson Field are two places that have not been historically kind to Ida. 

Trap Game: The obvious answer is Hillsdale, as the Hornets visit Hemelgarn Field after Ida faces the aforementioned murderer’s row. Despite the fact that the Hornets went 3-6 last season, Potter will need to keep his team focused after a brutal stretch.

Snoozer: Columbia Central went 0-9 and was outscored 315-60. Enough said.

Non-Conference Challenge: In addition to Whiteford, the Streaks also welcome Airport to Hemelgarn Field. The Jets went 4-5 last season, and were defeated by the Streaks 43-26.

Notable: The Backyard Brawl against Dundee will mark the regular-season finale for Ida for the first time since 1984…Ida also does not see any different opponents from last season.

Thoughts from Frank: I know I said this in the Dundee entry, but please, LCAA scheduling powers, I beseech thee. Keep the Backyard Brawl in Week 9 permanently. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, Ida’s schedule is heavily front-loaded, and doesn’t leave much room for error if they go anything less than 2-2 in the first four weeks. If they get through better than 2-2, you can probably consider the Streaks a dark horse to make a deep postseason run.

Thoughts from Chris: The first 4 weeks of the season are extremely tough. Dare I say that week 1 is a must-win for the Streaks? Things get more manageable in the latter half of the season, but week 9 against arch-rival Dundee could be a game that determines if Ida makes the playoffs.

Thoughts from Gary: Ida has a front-loaded schedule if I’ve ever seen one. Week 1, playing 2 divisions up, weeks 2-4 vs perennial state powers. The Bluestreaks best have a great 3 weeks of practice leading up to the opener, or things might get ugly out of the gate. Ida, being who they are, will always have a fighting chance vs most teams. I think they will hold up and find themselves in the playoffs week 10.