2024 Schedule Analysis: Airport Jets

By Frank Vajcner

The football landscape has been changing seemingly by the week.

I could go on and on about how the college scene has become the wild west with the transfer portal, NIL, nonsense conference realignment, but that would require me to make a lot of changes too.

What isn’t changing is my annual schedule analysis series, which is being brought to you for a seventh year now.

As always, this isn’t a prediction of how I think blog teams will do, but rather a deep dive into their schedule where I look at certain games. I will also look at how said games could impact a team’s season.

Also keep in mind, a lot of this is based off of what Chris, Gary, and myself know about our teams in the here and now, long before camps start in July, and before we get to writing team previews and other articles to satisfy hunger for content.

As always, we start this series at the beginning of the alphabet. Airport is coming off of their best season in 20 years, but will have a new face leading them in Derek Anderson. How will the schedule look for the start of a new era?

2024 Schedule:

Aug 29: Carlson

Sept 6: @ Riverview

Sept 13: Flat Rock

Sept 20: SMCC

Sept 26: @ Grosse Ile

Oct 4: Huron

Oct 11: Jefferson

Oct 18: @ Milan

Oct 25: @ Auburn Hills Avondale

Gut-Check Game: Much like last season, pick your poison between Weeks 1 and 4. Right off the bat, the Jets will get thrown into the fire as Carlson pays a visit to McCormick Field to open the season. The Marauders are coming off of their best season in school history, and are looking to avenge a 31-10 loss to the Jets last season. Did I mention that the Marauders are being considered a dark horse to win it all in Division 2?

The start of Huron League play is downright brutal, with a road trip to Riverview, followed by back-to-back home games against Flat Rock and SMCC. The Jets and Pirates shared the Huron League crown last season, despite the Jets getting a 48-27 win last season that ended a  23-game conference winning streak for the Pirates. Both the Rams and Falcons figure to be in the thick of the Huron League race as well. And I would be remiss not to mention the smack talk between Ram and Jet fans in the comments.

Trap Game: Look no further than a Week 5 trip to Grosse Ile. Despite being an abysmal 1-8 last season, the Red Devils have been known to bounce back in the even-numbered years. Plus this trip to “The Island” comes right after the four-game stretch from hell. Anderson will need to keep his young squad focused.

Snoozer: My criteria for this has been tweaked a little after last season (more on that later). I will not put blog teams in this category, and for teams that are not covered, there has to be more than one bad season in recent years. No one on Airport’s schedule meets said criteria.

Non-Conference Challenge: See above for info on Carlson. The Jets also upgraded their schedule by adding Auburn Hills Avondale to end the season. The Yellow Jackets went 9-2 last season, winning the Oakland Activities Association Gold Division, and have qualified for the playoffs in six of the last seven years.

Fun Facts: This will be the first meeting between the Jets and Yellow Jackets. The Jets are 0-2 all time against OAA member schools, with both losses coming in the postseason.

Thoughts from Frank: At time of writing, the Jets have a case for the toughest schedule. This could help them in terms of bonus points for making the playoffs, but they may have to steal a win or two in the first four weeks, plus survive the back half of the schedule to be playing into November.