Northmen look to stay physical vs. Bay City Western, questions for area teams in Week 2

PETOSKEY — Petoskey head football coach Jim Webb felt like he heard some pads popping a bit extra during Friday’s season opening victory.

His first film session over the weekend confirmed just what he was hearing.

“I liked the fact that we played real physical and it appeared so on the film as well,” Webb said. “That was a plus. You’ve got to start there or you’re going to be in trouble.”

Webb was likely like most coaches who walked away from Friday night with a victory in their opener: Happy, relieved and ready to fix plenty still.

There’s always pieces to fix in the eyes of a coach and, while Webb saw a lot of positives, he’s like the rest in knowing there’s only one way to go.

“We felt we left some points out on the field, which we can’t afford to do,” Webb said. “We’ve got to get those things figured out real fast.”

For a team that won just 8-6 in Week 1, that’s an obvious. The Northmen played stout defense, but there’s certainly some things to correct offensively.

Much of that is just the bond on the field between new quarterback Korbin Sulitis and others.

“Trying to get a little more connection between Korbin and the receivers, that type of thing will take a little more time,” Webb said. “It’s one thing to do it in 7-on-7, it’s another to do it under the lights on Fridays. It’ll get there. It’ll just take some work and some patience.”

Along with the physicality in the opener, Webb also got to see plenty of guys step up that took on a larger role Friday night. While they weren’t all newcomers to the varsity, they did take advantage of some new playing time.

“(Devin) Marvin came through and tackled the guy on the two-point conversion and was also the guy that created the fumble at the end,” Webb said. “He had a couple big plays.

“Offensively, Connor Berg got thrown in there as a sophomore starting (along the offensive line) in his first varsity game against a nose guard in a 50-defense and I thought he did a heck of a job. He did a great job with it. Adam Goodwin played well, Brad Flynn had his best game as a varsity player. It’s good to see them stepping up as seniors, getting their opportunity and running with it.”

In Week 2, Petoskey welcomes in a Bay City Western team that pitched a shutout in their opener, topping Holly in a 20-0 final on the road.

The Northmen and Warriors have now met for three straight seasons, splitting between the two previous. The Warriors earned a 26-6 victory last season, though it was just a one-score game much of the night.

Webb expects much of the same physical Western they’ve seen in recent seasons, along with a couple quarterbacks and some big guys along the lines.

“They’ve got a few more wideouts, they rotate some quarterbacks in, but there isn’t a real pattern to it,” he said. “They’re still pretty big size. Their defensive line has two huge tackles.”

Win or not, a lot can change from Week 1 to Week 2 on the high school football field. Little things will get corrected, changes made offensively and defensively will come.

But, what will remain the same is a team’s drive and ability to play fast and physical. And more often than not, that’s the team that wins.

“We’ve just reminded them what’s on the line, what their goals are and they’ve got to take each game serious and prepare for them,” Webb said. “But they’re dialed in here.”

Questions for around the area:

Boyne City at Elk Rapids

Can the offense get going against the Elks again?

The offense struggled some to get going in the opener for the Ramblers, so a Week 2 matchup against a team they scored 57 points against a season ago could be just what they need.

In fact, the last four matchups between Boyne and Elk have come with a 197-14 point differential in favor of the Ramblers.

Charlevoix at Oscoda

How do the Rayders respond?

Charlevoix isn’t used to being on the wrong end of the kind of game that sent them to an 0-1 start in Week 1.

This is a whole new group of athletes, however, so what kind of response will they have when they get the chance to take the field again in Week 2?

They’ll meet an Oscoda team they defeated 44-6 last season and open conference play in the process.

The Owls dropped a 17-14 game against Roscommon in Week 1.

East Jordan at JoBurg

Can another conference season get started off right?

The last three seasons have opened with a victory for the Red Devils at the start of conference play, with all three of those wins coming vs. Johannesburg-Lewiston. In two of those years, the season closed with the ‘Devils on top of the league.

On Friday, they’ll try to make it four straight over league foe J-L on the road when league play begins.

Harbor Springs at Farwell

Is this the week the streak is broken?

Harbor Springs has dropped 18 straight games dating back to 2022, so the question has to be asked until it happens. Now, a trip to Farwell comes for the Rams to give it a try.

The Eagles are on their own struggle bus ride, coming off a 1-8 season and 13-0 loss to Hesperia in the opener.

The Rams did show some fight in Week 1, battling back late at JoBurg to make things closer in the end of a 30-18 loss.

Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Northmen look to stay physical vs. Bay City Western, questions for area teams in Week 2