St. Joseph will be at Battle Creek Central on September 19th.
An unexpected change awaits the Bearcats in 2008 as the team will take to the field with a new head coach for the first time in over 20 years.  Al Slamer left to become the head coach at Holt High School.  Taking Slamer's place is longtime assistant Doug Bess.   The Bearcats will have the services of Michigan State bound Larry Caper, Jr. and they will be able to make full use of his speed on the brand new artificial turf at a renovated C. W. Post Field.

2007 Record: 6-4 (3-1 Central)
2008 Key Games: 8/29 vs. JLC, 9/19 vs. SJ, 10/10 vs. LKSH

Battle Creek Harper Creek be at St. Joseph on August 29th.
The 2007 season was supposed to be a "rebuilding year" for Coach Ed Greenman and his Beavers.  Losing a few Division 1 prospects made it look like the Beavers were in for a rough season.  It looked like that after being blanked by St. Joe and Portage Central to start the season, but Harper Creek rolled off six straight wins to clinch a playoff spot before falling to Jackson Lumen Christi in the final week of the season.

2007 Record: 6-4 (4-1 East)
2008 Key Games: 8/29 at SJ, 9/26 at BCL, 10/10 vs. MAR, 10/24 vs. JLC

Battle Creek Lakeview will not face St. Joseph this season
For the last two seasons, Battle Creek Lakeview has had to think about "what if..."  In 2006, what if they didn't allow Lakeshore to score with just seconds remaining.  The same thought repeated in 2007 as Lakeshore scored 11 fourth quarter points en route to a 11-8 Lakeshore win.  Lakeview finished both 2006 and 2007 at 5-4, falling just short of the playoffs.   Lakeview will get a chance at payback against Lakeshore again this year in week 3.

2007 Record: 5-4 (3-2 East)
2008 Key Games: 9/5 at BCC, 9/12 vs. LKSH, 9/26 vs. BCHC, 10/10 vs. JLC

St. Joseph will be at Benton Harbor on October 10th
Benton Harbor coach Maurice Burton got a late start in preparing for the 2007 season as the Tigers finished 0-9.  This year coach "Mo" has the Tiger football players involved with other sports and a very physical off season conditioning program.  The Tiger's talent will be enhanced by a team that is much better prepared physically.  With Coach "Mo," the Tigers should be sharp on the mental side of things as well.

2007 Record: 0-9 (0-4 West)
2008 Key Games: 9/26 at LKSH, 10/10 vs. SJ, 10/17 vs. KLN

Coldwater will not face St. Joseph this season
It took more than a year for Cardinals head coach Mark DeMeester to pick up his first win as coach.  Coldwater broke a 10 game losing streak when they defeated Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 28-21 in overtime.   Coldwater also picked up a win against Sturgis later in the year.  Coldwater will have a tough opening game as Coldwater plays the first game on the new turf at Lakeshore's Kohn-Lehman Field at Al Stockman Stadium.

2007 Record: 2-7 (1-4 East)
2008 Key Games: 8/28 at LKSH, 10/3 at BCHC, 10/10 vs. STG

Jackson Lumen Christi will not face St. Joseph this season
The Titans made their 10th straight playoff appearance, and made most of it as Lumen Christi made their 6th MHSAA Finals appearance.  They were defeated by Menominee 21-7 in the Division 5 Title game.   Herb Brogan enters his 29th season at the helm of one of the state of Michigan's most dominant football programs.   Lumen Christi will get a shot at a little payback for one of their regular season losses as Lakeshore comes for a visit for a Saturday night battle on September 6th.

2007 Record: 12-2 (5-0 East)
2008 Key Games: 8/29 at BCC, 9/6 vs. LKSH, 10/3 at MAR, 10/24 vs. BCHC

St. Joseph will be at Kalamazoo Central on October 24th.
Not long after the Maroon Giants concluded the 2007 season with a loss at St. Joseph, KC head coach Dob Drake resigned.   It took until mid-May before the Giants found a new coach, in the form of former NFL defensive end Lamanzer Williams.  Williams was an assistant coach/defensive coordinator for Willow Run high school.  Williams will try to bring life back to a program that has not made the playoffs since the 2004 season.

2007 Record: 3-6 (1-3 Central)
2008 Key Games: 9/26 vs. BCC, 10/10 at KLN, 10/24 vs. SJ

Kalamazoo Loy Norrix will not face St. Joseph this season.
Like their cross-town rivals, the Knights faced a coaching change in the offseason after the departure of Duane Young.  Young spent two seasons as the head coach with a record of 2-16 (1 win was a forfeit win).  Enter former Benton Harbor graduate Sean Bergan, Bergan previously served as an assistant coach at Benton Harbor and Wyoming Godwin Heights.  Bergan's first task will be to walk the halls of Loy Norrix high school and try to find more players than the 17 the Knights fielded late in the season.

2007 Record: 1-8 (0-4 West)
2008 Key Games: 9/5 at CLD, 10/10 vs. KC, 10/24 at BH

St. Joseph will be at Lakeshore on October 3rd.
Will Denny Dock's team turn the tables on what was less than a spectacular 2007 season?  Not only were the Lancers defeated by the Bears ending 15 years of domination in the series, but the Lancers also suffered a 35 point loss again to the Bears to end the season.  Lakeshore will have a number of options for the coming year, bringing up many players on the Lancers unbeaten JV team.  The Lancers will be playing 7 of their 9 games on artificial turf as Al Stockman Stadium will feature a new field turf playing surface.  Road games at Jackson Lumen Christi and Battle Creek Central will also be on the synthetic surface.  Only games at Battle Creek Lakeview and Niles are on grass.

2007 Record: 7-4 (3-1 West)
2008 Key Games: 9/6 at JLC, 10/3 vs. SJ, 10/10 at BCC

Marshall will be at St. Joseph on September 5th.
The Redhawks find themselves in a very unfamiliar position, trying to rebuild after a disappointing season.  Marshall finished at 4-5, the school's first below .500 season since 1982.  Marshall also missed the playoffs for a second straight season after 5 consecutive playoff appearances.  Marshall will have to find a replacement for RB Maurice Ansley who was a major part of the Redhawks offense. As well as D-1 offensive lineman Trevor Smolinski.

2007 Record: 4-5 (2-3 East)
2008 Key Games: 8/29 at PC, 9/5 at SJ, 10/3 vs. JLC, 10/17 at BCL

Mattawan will be at St. Joseph on October 17th
Mattawan is looking to rebound after a disappointing 2007 season.  After making playoff appearances in 2005 and 2006, Mattawan finished the 2007 at 3-6.  Mattawan's three wins came against non playoff teams (Coldwater, Sturgis, and Benton Harbor).  The Wildcats biggest disappointing loss was a 21-20 loss at Niles, a game where the Wildcats scored three touchdowns in 4 1/2 minutes and after scoring a touchdown on a blocked punt, the Wildcats failed on a 2 point conversion, which was all that separated the Wildcats from a the win.

2007 Record: 3-6 (1-3 West)
2008 Key Games: 9/26 vs. PC, 10/17 at SJ, 10/24 at LKSH

Niles will be at St. Joseph on September 26th.
To say that Niles has some big shoes to fill would be an understatement.  The Vikings will have to contend with the loss of one of the top running backs in the Big 16, Ben Brandstatter.   Brandstatter seemingly had 1,000 yards rushing by the third game each of the last two years.   The Vikings had a bit of a youth movement as Niles lost their starting quarterback midway through the season and sophomore quarterback Cameron Sly came up from the JV team to assume the responsibilities.  Niles unbalanced offense provided 2,250 yards on the ground and the combination of three quarterbacks were 42 of 113 passing for 629 yards and six touchdowns.  Brandstatter had 1,649 by himself last year and 16 touchdowns.

2007 Record: 4-5 (2-2 West)
2008 Key Games: 9/19 at MAR, 9/26 at SJ, 10/17 vs. LKSH

Portage Central will not face St. Joseph this season.
It took a 40 yard field goal with 68 seconds left by Jackson Lumen Christi to keep Portage Central from an undefeated regular season.  Now the Mustangs will have to try to make a run at the 2008 season without running back Jerrod Sherrod.  Much of the success of the Mustangs came on the back of Sherrod.   After a rough first season, head coach Brett Foerster led the Mustangs to the playoffs each of the last two years. 

2007 Record: 8-2 (4-0 Central)
2008 Key Games: 8/29 vs. MAR, 9/12 at JLC, 10/10 at PN, 10/24 vs. BCC

St. Joseph will be at Portage Northern on September 12th.
With the departure of Al Slamer from Battle Creek Central, Pete Schermerhorn is now the only coach who remains from the coaching ranks from the old Big 8.  Schermerhorn begins his 15th season on the sidelines.   The Huskies will be looking for a replacement for one of the league best running backs a year ago, Teddy Frommann.   Schermerhorn will get one more year of service from his son Josh who will be a senior in 2008.

2007 Record: 6-4 (2-2 Central)
2008 Key Games: 9/12 vs. SJ, 9/19 at LKSH, 10/10 vs. PC, 10/24 vs. BCC

Sturgis will not face St. Joseph this season.
When Greg Brooks took over control of the Sturgis football team in 2004, it seemed it was going to be easy to keep the Sturgis football team at the top of the East Division, but it has been far from that.  Sturgis has 8 wins over the last three season combined.  Sturgis was 9-3 in Brooks first season.  The Trojans won their first game last year against Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, and lost the last 8 straight.  Sturgis will open the 2008 season at Loy Norrix.

2007 Record: 1-8 (0-5 East)
2008 Key Games: 9/26 at JLC, 10/3 vs. BCL, 10/10 at CLD, 10/17 vs. BCHC, 10/24 at MAR