Thursday night recap

Thursday night was volleyball night in the area. I went to the Sterling Heights vs. St. Clair match, which the Stallions won in four games.
It was a tough battle for the Stallions, who lost the first game 25-23 before winning the next three against a scrappy Saints team.
In other games, Eisenhower defeated Grosse Pointe South in four games, while Stevenson disposed of Utica in three games. Ford II defeated host Anchor Bay in four games. You can read a recap of each of these games on our website on Saturday morning.

Friday night I will be at arguable the biggest football game of the season as Stevenson plays host to Dakota. The game features two teams who are ranked in the top-5 in the state. It should be a dandy. If you're going to the game, I would suggest getting there early as a huge crowd is expected.

Hope to see you there.

Kevin

Thursday roundup and Friday preview

Hello fellow bloggers.
Thursday night only featured two area teams playing volleyball and that was Utica playing at Ford II.
The Falcons rallied from a 23-20 deficit in Game 4, winning the game 25-20 on five straight service points by Emily McKay. That win gave Ford the match over Utica, 3-1.
It was a great comeback by Ford and the Falcons are headed in the right direction under second-year coach Jamie Baker. The win improved Ford's record to 9-2 overall.
First-year Utica coach Mark Ott was pleased with his team's effort and said they made positive strides on Thursday night, despite suffering the loss that dropped his team to 0-3 overall.

On Friday night, I will be attending the Fraser/Romeo football game. This game will be played to raise money to fight cancer. Romeo will wear pink jerseys with each player donning a name of someone they know who has either died, has had or is battling cancer. Fraser will wear white jerseys with pink numbers and the back of their jerseys will honor someone they know who has battled cancer. Each player had to raise a certain amount of money for the jersey, and after the game it will be given to the person or family member on the field for whom they were playing in honor of. It should be a very emotional evening.

If you're going to a game on Friday night, let me know where you're heading and what your thoughts are in regards to the game.

Talk to you later.

Friday night football recap

It's hard to believe the football season is 33 percent of the way done after Friday night's aciton.
I was at the Romeo vs. Dakota game tonight where the host Cougars rallied from a 10-0 first-quarter deficit to defeat the Bulldogs 33-17.
Romeo only trailed 19-17 at halftime, but this game was won in the trenches where the bigger and more physical Cougar team just wore the Bulldogs down.
Dakota looks like its worthy of its top-10 ranking in the state. The Cougars are a very physical team up front with a ton of speed at the skill positions and on defense.
Romeo battled, though, but only managed to get the ball to its horse, running back Ben Brown 14 times for 86 yards. Dakota, though, did a good job limiting him to short runs in the second half.

In other games tonight, Source associate editor Don Chamberlain covered Sterling Heights 21-14 loss to Grosse Pointe South.
That game was scoreless through the first three quarters. The Stallions led 14-0, but couldn't hold on. A Blue Devil interception with just over a minute to play led to a touchdown pass with 18 seconds left, giving GPS the thrilling victory.

You can read both of these stories along with Thursday night's five-game volleyball match between Eisenhower and Stevenson on our website at www.sourcenewspapers.com

In other games on Friday night, Stevenson trounced Ford II 51-7 in the battle of Runkel Field, while Chippewa Valley rallied from a 13-0 deficit to defeat Eisenhower 14-13. Utica rallied from a 28-6 third-quarter deficit, but fell short in a 35-30 loss to Grosse Pointe North, while Parkway Christian scored 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat visiting Lutheran Westland 23-12 at Fraser High School.

What game were you at tonight? Let me know who you saw and your thoughts on the game. Let's blog.

Have a good weekend.

Sports talk

Hey there bloggers.
It's been a slow start to the local sports week due to the Labor Day holiday. However, things getting rolling in high gear starting on Wednesday night. I will be at the Stevenson vs. Ford II soccer game at Stevenson. This game will be for the Pantaleo Cup, which was started last year in memory of David Pantaleo, a former Titan soccer player who passed away in 2008.

However, let's jump to our beloved Motor City Cats (no, not the Lions), the Detroit Tigers. They lost to Kansas City tonight 7-5, but their magic number to win the Central Division fell by a game as Minnesota lost to Toronto 6-3. I think the magic number is down to 19 now and I don't see anyone stopping the Tigers from winning the division.

I believe the success of this team is based around its starting pitching, especially the young arms of Verlander, Jackson and Porcello. These guys just throw strikes and get people out. It shouldn't come as a surprise because Rick Knapp is their pitching coach. Prior to coming to Detroit, he was with the Minnesota Twins in their farm system, training their young pitchers. If you remember, prior to this year, the Twins success on the mound was due to a lack of walks. See the similarities to this year's Tiger team. Walks will kill a baseball team, as it did to the Tigers last year.

Also, the Tigers have improved their defense a ton this year. Many disliked the moves the Tigers made in the off-season, bringing in Adam Everett and Gerald Laird. Offensively, these two players don't offer much, except a key hit here and there. However, defensively, both are beyond solid. Everett fields everything within his reach and Laird leads the American League in throwing out base-runners. Those little things don't show up in the box scores, but they sure do in the win column.

What do you think about this year's Tiger team? Do you think they'll hold on and win the division? Do you think they'll have enough to make it to the World Series? Let me know your thoughts.

I'll check back tomorrow and have a good night.