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NILES — Three local football teams learned their postseason fates Sunday night.

Niles, Edwardsburg and Buchanan knew Sunday morning that they had qualifies for the Michigan High School Athletic Association playoffs. During Sunday night’s Selection Sunday Show on Balley Sports Detroit, they found out who their first-round opponents will be.

Only the Vikings (8-1) will host a playoff game in the opening round as Niles will take on Wolverine Conference foe Vicksburg (4-5) at 7 p.m. Friday night.

Edwardsburg (5-4) will also meet a Wolverine Conference opponent in the first round as the Eddies head to Paw Paw (8-1) Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Buchanan (6-3) will take on Kalamazoo United (Kalamazoo Hackett/Christian) (5-4). The game will be played at 7 p.m. Friday at Gull Lake High School.

 

Vicksburg at Niles

The No. 8-ranked Vikings are coming off a 56-18 rout of No. 3-ranked Paw Paw in their regular-season finale Friday night. Niles captured the Wolverine Conference championship with the win, which is the first title of any kind for the Vikings since 2003.

Niles is making back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since it made three consecutive postseason appearances between 2001 and 2003.

The Vikings faced five playoff-bound teams during the regular season, going 4-1 against those squads. Niles blanked St. Joseph (Division 3) 55-0, was upset by Lakeshore (Division 3) 15-14, defeated Vicksburg 50-0, defeated Edwardsburg 49-0 and defeated Paw Paw.

The Bulldogs faced three playoff teams, losing to Paw Paw 40-17 and Edwardsburg 34-20, but defeated Portage Northern (Division 2) 54-17.

Niles Coach Scot Shaw said his team looks forward to continuing where it left off last season.

Shaw, who is in his third year as the Vikings’ head coach, turned around a program that had finished with a losing record in 16 of the 17 years before he arrived. Niles went 5-4 in 2021 and 7-5 in 2022, qualifying for the playoffs and winning its opening-round game against Shaw’s former team — Three Rivers.

Shaw said Niles is happy to be opening the playoffs at home this season.

“It’s always nice to be in familiar surroundings,” he said. “Hopefully, we can duplicate what we did against these guys in week six. We are eager. The taste they got of it last year is something they want to repeat, but I know they want a little bit more of it.”

Shaw said that the Vikings have accomplished two-thirds of their season goals.

“We wanted to win the opener and then win the conference,” he said. “This is the third leg of that particular goal stool if you will. It is to make a deep run in the playoffs. I truly believe that they’re our good teams in the playoffs, but I told them, and I hold true to this belief: there is nobody in our division that we aren’t capable of beating. But also, I told them, they are capable of beating us too.”

Niles is led by a trio of top-notch running backs — Paul Hess, Julian Means-Flewellen and Sam Rucker — and quarterback Talon Brawley.

Heading into the final week of the regular season, Hess had rushed for 743 yards and 17 touchdowns, while Means-Flewellen had 533 yards and Rucker 413 yards.

On Friday night, Means-Flewellen exploded four 219 yards on eight carries and scored four touchdowns in the win over Paw Paw.

Brawley has been efficient when asked to throw the football. He entered Week 9 with 379 yards passing and 15 touchdowns. His favorite target is 6-foot-4 Brenden Olsen, who had 15 receptions for 293 yards.

On the defensive side of the football, Alex Cole entered the game against the Red Wolves with 62.5 tackles. Means-Flewellen had 2.5 sacks, and Rucker had a pair of sacks. Rucker also has a fumble and an interception return for touchdowns. Jaden Ivery also has scored two defensive touchdowns for the Vikings.

A Niles victory would mean the Vikings would host the district champion game Nov. 3. Niles could also host the regional championship game if it wins the first two games.

“I hope we just continue to play loose and just come to play,” Shaw said. “Our kids love to play. I am sure we will show up in a good mood and have fun, and hopefully get a win out of it.”

Edwardsburg at Paw Paw

The Eddies’ 5-4 record is a bit deceiving as they have played a challenging schedule while trying to adjust to a new head coach and losing 28 players to graduation.

Edwardsburg faced five playoff team, including defending state champion Grand Rapids West Catholic in its season opener, former state champion Chelsea in Week 2, and then Paw Paw, Niles and Vicksburg.

“We had some tough ones for sure,” first-year Coach Dan Purlee said. “Right out of the gate, we had West Catholic and Chelsea and then we had two really good teams in our league with Paw Paw and Niles.”

Those opponents helped mold Edwardsburg as the season went along.

“We had to be resilient at times,” he said. “Our kids have just shown up to work every day; they never quit, and I think we are playing our best football right now. It has made us better by just continuing to put our heads down and doing the right things and keep working. Because of that, we got healthy, and we are playing pretty good football right now.”

The Eddies were defeated by West Catholic 56-12, Chelsea 27-14, Paw Paw 45-0 and Niles 49-0. Edwardsburg defeated Vicksburg 34-20

This will be the Eddies’ 14th consecutive appearance in the postseason. Edwardsburg knocked the Red Wolves out of the playoffs last year with a 36-0 win.

While the faces on the field may have changed and the Eddies had a new coach in Purlee, some things remain the same.

In Friday night’s regular-season finale, Edwardsburg rushed for 501 yards, led by Zac Zache, who had 112 yards and a touchdown. Carson Cebra added 111 yards and a score, while Grady Ostrander finished the night with 102 yards and a touchdown.

After using two quarterbacks early in the season, Purlee and his staff settled on Zeke Peguara as its signal caller. Pegura is not asked to throw the ball often, he has been proficient when he does. Against Sturgis he was 2-for-2 for 55 yards and two touchdowns. Grant Griffin is one of his favorite targets.

In its regular-season meeting with Paw Paw snapped Edwardsburg’s 43-game Wolverine Conference winning streak.

The Red Wolves dominated both sides of the football, especially along the offensive and defensive lines.

The Eddies managed just 27 yards on 22 carries. On the flipside, Paw Paw finished with 345 yards of total offense.

After that game, Edwardsburg went 2-1, outscoring its opponents 93-53.

“I am excited about it,” Purlee said when asked about playing the Red Wolves again. “We would be excited no matter who we were playing. We know what Paw Paw is going to do, and now we just need to figure out how to stop it.”

In its win over Vicksburg two weeks ago, the Eddies had 251 yards rushing against the Bulldogs.

 

Buchanan at Kalamazoo United

The Bucks are in the postseason for the second time in three seasons.

Buchanan is making back-to-back playoff appearances since 2015-16. This will be the first meeting between the two schools since 1960, when the Bucks defeated Kalamazoo Hackett 26-13.

“We kind of followed the points and all the Twitter experts, and we were excited to see the draw we got,” said Buchanan Coach Mark Frey. “I think our kids are excited to come out and not have to face a common opponent right away. We get to come out against someone fresh who has a similar record as us and just try and get a playoff win under our belt.”

Like Niles and Edwardsburg, Buchanan’s 2023 schedule was full of playoff-bound opponents.

The Bucks faced five playoff qualifiers — Saugatuck, Kent City, Benton Harbor, Berrien Springs and Union City. Buchanan went 1-4 against those teams, but blanked Union City 34-0 Friday night in its regular-season finale.

Frey said his team has learned plenty about itself facing such a strong schedule.

“Our schedule was packed full of playoff teams,” he said. “We faced five this year. That got our guys ready for the size and speed of some bigger teams. I think United is talented, but they don’t have the size that a Berrien Springs had or the speed that Benton Harbor had.”

Nico Finn is the Bucks’ “Swiss Army knife” as he leads the team on both sides of the football.

Finn has rushed for 597 yards on 122 carries with five touchdowns, while he has also caught 502 yards on 32 receptions and six touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, Finn leads the Bucks with 80 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and an interception.

Buchanan’s offense improved each week as its new quarterback became more comfortable.

Jake Franklin replaced long-time starter Conner Legault this season. Through nine games, Franklin has thrown for 1,143 yards with 14 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He has completed 104-of-199 passes for a completion percentage of 52.6 percent.

Frey said that their offensive game plan has been based on each opponent.

“I kind of go with whatever the defense is giving me,” he said. “Union City loaded the box, and so we saw a lot of one-on-one matchups. But then, you look back three weeks ago against Bronson, they had everybody off the line of scrimmage, so we rushed for over 200 yards.”

On offense, Leland Payne also is effective in the running game, as he has 472 yards on 86 carries with four touchdowns. Tyler Baker and K Lewis are also key figures in the passing game, with 234 and 172 yards receiving on a combined 34 receptions.

On defense, the Bucks also have Kyle Lewis-Schadler (71 tackles), AJ Camille-Mcleod (58 tackles), Dean Roberts (55 tackles) and Baker (51 tackles).