After a 1-3 start to the season, many analysts thought the Coyotes’ postseason chances would be in jeopardy. Coach Shankel’s team has ignored the naysayers and now will line up against the Lancers of Midland Bullock Creek this Friday night for a regional championship. In preparation for the game, here’s a full in-depth look at the matchup including the history, schemes, numbers, and bracket implications for the two programs.

HISTORY

Midland Bullock Creek and Reed City have only squared off two times in the history of the programs. Each matchup occurred in the district rounds of 2004 and 2005, with both outcomes falling in the Lancers’ favor by a combined score of 82-46. Since then, Reed City has owned the record comparison with a 148-40 record compared to the Lancers’ 64-104 mark.

For consideration of common opponents between the two teams, the Lancers recently defeated Clare 22-19 in the district opening round. The Coyotes have taken down the Pioneers in their last three matchups and hold the edge in the all-time series with 13 wins compared to Clare’s eight. Bullock Creek also faces Millington as a conference foe: the team Reed City narrowly beat 6-0 last year for the regional crown. The Lancers are 1-4 against the Cardinals over the past five matchups including a 32-10 loss this season. The Lancers and Coyotes do share one opponent that has given them fits in recent memory: Saginaw Swan Valley, who is a combined 5-1 against the two teams since 2017.

SCHEME

Based on the film, Bullock Creek likes to use a pistol formation with a variation of two-back and single-back type looks. The Lancers like to play “smashmouth” football, where they use their physicality to wear down opposing defensive lines. This worked especially against quicker, smaller teams like Clare and Chesaning where they were able to break a couple long touchdown runs. They will throw the ball on occasion, using short quick route concepts to pick up moderate gains and keep drives going on third down. Reed City’s experience against teams like Tri-County, Big Rapids, and Cadillac will certainly be used in benefit for their defensive backs and linebackers to stay disciplined after the snap.

Defensively, the Lancers have shown more of a zone-type look over the past two weeks of the postseason as opposed to Reed City’s man-to-man style. This is likely due to matchups with Clare and Chesaning, who like to spread the field out with more balanced running and passing playbooks. Against Harrison, a team that runs the “Wing-T” style offense like Reed City, they used a heavy five man front with lots of defenders condensed “inside the numbers.” The position of their linebackers will be interesting to watch if Reed City decides to stretch the field laterally using sweeps, tosses, and ither outside runs.

NUMBERS

As the ultimate underdog in this year’s playoffs, Bullock Creek is the only number four seed left across all divisions. The Lancers rank 120th in the state according to MaxPrep’s football rankings, the lowest among Division 6 teams. Reed City enters week 12 at 96 in the same rankings, which is 27 spots higher than they were a week ago. Based off playoff points, Bullock Creek ranks 26^th while Reed City sits in 7^th overall in the MHSAA.

The Lancers offensively have averaged 30.1 points per game this season. This almost doubled their output from last season at 17.2. Defensively, they have allowed opponents to only 15.4 points per game this year. Reed City, in comparison, has scored slightly more points per game offensively at 33.8 but have given up a few points more at 17.3 per contest.

BRACKET IMPLICATIONS

The Region 2 Championship winner on Friday will face the winner of Gladstone and Kingsley next week. Gladstone ranks one spot ahead of Reed City in Division 6 with 46.569 points and is amidst their second straight nine-win season. On the other side, Kingsley’s high-powered offense has scored an average of approximately 48 points per game this year and earned the Stags the number 3 seed overall.

The state semi-final matchup would take place on Saturday, Nov. 18 at a neutral facility located between the two winning schools. If Reed City were to play Kingsley, the game would potentially be played at Cadillac. If Reed City were to play Gladstone, they would likely go back to Gaylord in similar fashion to 2022 when they played Negaunee.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Brandon Wirth and Joe Nagy will be on the call for all the game action. Tune in to Y102 starting at 6:45 P.M. for the full pre-game show on 102.3 FM, WYBR.com, or the WYBR mobile app.