MHSAA 2024 football preview: Niles leads southwest Michigan contingent

NILES — The back of the Niles football team’s official t-shirts for this season has one word and six numbers.

“Team 130” across the top. “7-2-1-1-1” below it. It’s the 130th season of Vikings football, and they’re hoping to add a seventh playoff appearance, second district title and first regional, state semifinal and state championship to the program’s history.

After what team 129 did last year, there’s optimism it can happen.

Niles had arguably its best season ever in 2023, going 10-2 overall and a perfect 7-0 in the Wolverine Conference . They won its first ever MHSAA district championship before a bitter 21-14 loss to Portland in a Division 4 regional final brought the Vikings’ season to an abrupt end.

With several key figures back from last year’s team, expectations have never been higher for Niles football. While most of the Michigan high school season begins Thursday, the Vikings’ season opener isn’t until Friday at Saint Joseph (Mich.).

“It’s possible I think,” Niles head coach Scot Shaw said. “We’ve had some good work in the winter and the summer. We have a lot of kids back that got a taste of it, but would enjoy getting back to it. … I’ve always said that winning the first championship in anything is easy – it’s the second that’s hard. We’re not going to sneak up on anybody.”

High school football: Complete coverage of the 2024 season in the South Bend area

For Niles, running the football is paramount. They totaled more than 4,200 rushing yards last year, and the individual leader in that category – senior Paul Hess III – returns after accumulating 1,252 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns a season ago. Other key rushers back are seniors Sam Rucker and Peyton Gordon.

“I think we’re hungry,” Gordon said. “We want to show people that we can be better than we were last year. It’s going to take a lot, but I think we can get there.”

Two anchors of the offensive line also return in juniors Brandon Hamilton and Chase Brawley. Most players for the Vikings played both sides of the ball last year, making them important pieces on defense as well.

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The newest face to the offense is senior Talen Bennett, who takes over the quarterback role after the graduation of Talon Brawley. Bennett started on defense the last two seasons, but now gets the full reigns to the high-powered Vikings offense.

“We’re going to be everyone’s ‘big game’ this year because we beat people pretty badly last year,” Bennett said. “Everyone is going to try and kill us, but we just have to stay humbled, confident and know that we can play well. I think we’ll be alright.”

Other notable area Michigan teams

Brandywine Bobcats

The Bobcats are coming off a 3-6 season, failing to qualify for the playoffs. They do return one of the area’s better all-around players in Carter Sobecki, who had 584 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on offense to go with 72 tackles on defense in 2023. He’ll be a key weapon for new quarterback Kaeden Warfield in the triple option-styled offense Brandywine implements.

“The theme of this season is going to be development,” Bobcats coach Justin Kinzie said. “We have a handful of guys with a ton of experience that we'll be relying on, but we as a staff (as well as those experienced guys) will really be relying on our ability to develop some young talent and find guys who are ready to play on Friday night.”

Buchanan Bucks

Buchanan came close to winning a Division 6 district championship last year, losing to Constantine by seven points in the district final. They graduated several key pieces from that 7-4 team, including Tribune All-Area selection Nico Finn.

Coach Mark Frey is excited about the skill players that return, though, including quarterback Jake Franklin, running backs Gabe Tompkins, Leland Payne, Jameson Pleasant and Ryan Hickok, wide receivers Tyler Baker and Brody Reed and tight end Owen Thompson. Replacing four starters from the defensive line and three from the offensive line will be critical for the Bucks.

Edwardsburg Eddies

A 5-5 record and playoff appearance in 2023 is typically viewed as a good season. With the expectations Edwardsburg has set for itself in the last decade, though, it was a step back.

The 2018 Division 4 state champions also had a state runner-up showing and numerous state semifinal appearances in recent years, including 2022. There were several “new” pieces to the Eddies last year, though, including head coach Dan Purlee. After replacing most of its production from 2022 last fall, Edwardsburg hopes to get back into the mix of best Division 4 teams in the state.

A trio of running backs return for their senior seasons in Grady Ostrander, Carson Cebera and Oscar Morris. The latter is listed as a tight end on the Eddies’ roster this fall, as well as linebacker, where he’s been a key cog on the defensive side of the ball the last two seasons. Ezekiel Pegura, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound senior, is expected to start at quarterback.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: MHSAA 2024 football preview: Niles leads southwest Michigan contingent