Tuscola County Sports

Heading into Week #9, three of the four area conferences are set as far as who is in the playoffs and who is out. Only the Greater Thumb West has teams still trying to get that elusive sixth win. Tri-Valley East - In: Millington and Essexville-Garber. Out: Frankenmuth, Bridgeport, Caro, Birch Run, and North Branch. Greater Thumb East - In: Ubly, Deckerville, and Marlette. Out: Sandusky, Mayville, Brown City, and Harbor Beach. North Central Thumb - In: Dryden, Memphis, and Peck. Out: Kinde-North Huron, Kingston, Owendale-Gagetown, Akron-Fairgrove, and Carsonville-Port Sanilac. Even if North Huron gets their fifth win this week against Au Gres-Sims, it seems unlikely they will sneak into the playoffs as their playoff point average is the lowest out of all Class D teams with four wins. Greater Thumb West - Out: Reese, USA, and Bad Axe. After starting the season 2-3, Vassar has won three straight games due in no small part to the play of senior quarterback Zach Germain. In the Vulcans ...

Following are some area playoff bubble teams with my predictions of whether they will make the playoffs or not. I define a bubble team as being 3-3 after six weeks of play. In order for any of these teams to make the playoff, they will have to win three straight games. Bridgeport - A very much improved team this year. Head Coach Mel Skillman seems to being try to turn this program in the right direction. With wins over Caro, Riverview Gabriel Richard, and Birch Run, the Bearcats are attempting to make the playoffs for the first time since 1999. North Branch (2-4), Essexville-Garber (5-1), and Freeland (5-1) remain on the schedule. I do not think Bridgeport wins the last three. Probably both Garber and Freeland beat the Bearcats. They will not make the playoffs this year, but watch out for Coach Skillman and the Bearcats in the future. Frankenmuth - A down year for Coach John Blankenship and the Eagles this year coming off their Tri-Valley East championship year last year. The team on...