By Staff
Tonight, three out of the six schools that Leader Publications covers on a regular basis will kick off the Michigan High School Athletic Association football playoffs on the road.
Dowagiac will be heading to Three Rivers to try and avenge a 19-14 loss to the Wildcats back in the second week of the season.
Cassopolis will travel to Decatur to take on a Raider squad that eliminated the Rangers from the post season two years ago.
The Buchanan Bucks will head north to face a Hopkins squad that has been to the playoffs 14 out of the last 16 seasons.
But these are not the only sports that will be in action this weekend.
The MHSAA will be holding its cross country finals at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn on Saturday, while the Wolverine and Big 16 conferences will be holding their league tournaments.
The schools of Leader Publications will be represented at all three events.
Niles' Mark Calhoun and Madie Rodts will run in the Division 2 cross country state finals, while Buchanan's entire girls' team will compete for the Division 3 championship.
Dowagiac will of course play in the Wolverine Conference Volleyball Tournament at Otsego High School, while Niles will compete in the Big 16 event at Battle Creek Harper Creek High School.
You can find out more about the tournaments at the top of this page.
The Lakeland Conference tournament wrapped up last night with Coloma capturing the overall league title, while Buchanan finished third after defeating Edwardsburg.
The Cassopolis volleyball team, which upset Brandywine on Tuesday night, finished sixth after falling to Bridgman.
Brandywine took seventh place with a win over River Valley.
Again, you can find out more about that tournament if you move your eyes slightly to the left.
With the league tournaments out of the way, it's time for our six volleyball teams to focus on the upcoming district tournaments next week.
Niles will have to travel to Mattawan to play in a very competitive Class A district, while Dowagiac will make the short trip over to Edwardsburg, where Buchanan will also be competing.
Brandywine will compete in the Class C tournament over at River Valley High School in Three Oaks, while the Lady Rangers will make the farthest drive, as they have to play in Centreville.
Although I won't go out on a limb and predict a district championship from one of our schools, I do have a good feeling about at least one of our teams advancing to the district championship game in football and to the regional round in volleyball.
I also expect at least one of our runners, if not several to crack the top 25 in their respective races at the state cross country finals.
While this is an exciting time for our student-athletes, it also is a time of reflection.
Some of our teams have already packed up their equipment and uniforms and are looking ahead to the winter sports season.
There were some exciting times for all of our schools this past fall.
While not all of the teams found success in the form of wins versus losses, they all showed the competitive spirit that I love to see.
I have said it before and I will say it again, I do not judge our area kids by how many games they win or how many games they lose.
I always judge them on how much effort and dedication they put into their sport.