What a great weekend of high school sports.

Between the beginning of the football playoffs and the completion of the cross country season, there was plenty of action, and plenty of success for our area schools.

I have been covering sports for Leader Publications for more than 30 years now, and I cannot remember our cross country runners enjoying as much success as they did on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. This past season our runners enjoyed a lot of success, but I never imagined they would place as well as they did at the state finals.

Dowagiac senior Shawn Little wrapped up a stellar four-year career with a seventh-place finish in the Division 2 championship race. Little and the Dowagiac cross country team went through some changes with a new coach, which led to a limited scheduled this season. But it appears to have paid off in a big way as Little ran at 15:58 on a challenging course and earned Division 2 All-State honors for the second consecutive year.

Cole Parker also ran well at the state meet, as did Edwardsburg’s Jack Leman and Niles’ Adam Shepherd. Kaylee Thompson, also of Niles, also ran well in Brooklyn.

Over in Division 3, Buchanan’s Walker Barz and Kelsey Brown turned in solid performances at the state finals, as did Cassopolis’ Cole Millirans, Robert Ward and Lauren Anderson.

The Rangers have an up and coming cross country program, which is growing its numbers with young, talented runners. I cannot wait to see how they improve over the next couple of years.

The night before the state cross country finals, four of our six football teams opened up postseason play in football. Our teams went 2-2 on the night with defending state champion Edwardsburg and defending state semifinalist Cassopolis continuing their undefeated seasons with lopsided victories.

Brandywine and Dowagiac were not as fortunate against perennial state powerhouses Constantine and Hopkins. Neither team played their best on Friday night, but they have nothing to hang their heads about. The Bobcats went undefeated for only the second time in school history, while the Chieftains returned to the playoffs after missing them in 2018.

I am confident that coaches Mike Nate and Randy Brooks will get their teams into the weight room quickly and start preparing for the 2020 season.

As the playoffs continue for the Eddies and Rangers in Division 3 and Division 8 respectively, the challenges get a lot bigger Friday night when they face Zeeland West and Reading. Zeeland West is the team that helped teach Edwardsburg how to win its vaunted Wing-T offense, which as decimated its previous 24 opponents in a row. Reading is the defending Division 8 state champion.

Many believe that if Cassopolis can find its way past the Rangers of Reading, they can reach Ford Field in Detroit on Thanksgiving weekend. Hopefully, the Cassopolis Rangers can get a little healthier this week before facing this challenge.

The Eddies, if they find their way past Zeeland West, they would face either St. Johns or DeWitt. The good news for Edwardsburg is that Muskegon, who everyone is predicting will win the Division 3 state championship, and Byron Center, are in the top half of that bracket. That means the Eddies would see them in a state semifinal.

I am a bit disappointed that we have to travel more than an hour to cover both the Rangers and the Eddies. I know how the playoff system works and how they come up with the points, but being undefeated and hitting the road to face teams with one or more losses seems a bit wrong to me. I am happy to do it, but I would have much rather had home games for both teams, mainly for their fans.

The good news is that both communities travel well, and I expect to see the stands filled at both sites.

I want to wish the Rangers and Eddies good luck. I would love nothing more than to see both of these schools in the state finals, and for me to have to spend Thanksgiving weekend in Detroit.

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com.