'It doesn't feel real' yet, but BCC can clinch SMAC title with win over St. Joseph
Battle Creek Central coach Lorin Granger has been preaching to his team: "Just go 1-0 every week ... the rest will take care of itself."
That mantra has brought the Bearcats to this point in the season. And if BCC goes 1-0 one more time this week, they will be league champs.
Battle Creek Central will host St. Joseph at C.W. Post Field on Friday in what is, in effect, a championship game. Both teams are tied for first and undefeated in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference and the winner will walk out of this final regular-season contest as league champion.
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"It's a big game. But the thing I like about our team, they are never too high or too low. Just a well-focused team," Granger said. "From one week to the next, all they care about is going 1-0. That's what we talk about. It doesn't matter who we are playing.
"Now, we realize if we go 1-0 this week, it will be pretty special and mean a little bit more than the past weeks. But I really don't think the guys are letting that get to them. They are staying balanced like they have all season."
BCC is in a position to win a championship for the first time since 2015, when the program tied for first in the SMAC East Division with two other teams in a season in which the Bearcats were only 4-5 overall.
This season has a much different feel. BCC has won seven straight to go to 7-1 overall and is ranked No. 7 in Division 2 in the Associated Press poll. The Bearcats are 6-0 in the SMAC. It is the first winning season for BCC since 2018, coming off a 2021 campaign in which it went 3-6.
"It doesn't feel real to be in this position. We went from 3-6 to 7-1. It's just amazing," BCC senior Ronnie Blankenship said. "We are really excited to be in this position. It's a really big game and we are trying to prepare as well as we can to play well in this game."
The 7-1 mark is also the best start ever under Granger and the best beginning to a season since BCC went undefeated in 2002.
"We are just playing really good football. I feel like we are locked in, have some good stuff going," Blankenship said. "Looking to end the season strong, get that 'chip and go into the playoffs and play well there, too."
To finish the regular season at SMAC champs, BCC has to get past a St. Joseph team that is also playing well and ranked No. 6 in Division 3. Like BCC, the Bears lost their first game of the year and have since rolled off seven straight wins.
"They are very well coached and have a great coaching staff over there that we really respect," Granger said. "They have really good athletes. They are really physical up front. They have some advantages in some areas. But we have some good athletes and we have some advantages in some areas. I think these teams are very evenly matched and it will come down to strategy and who wants it more."
The strength of the St. Joseph team is on offense, as the Bears lead the SMAC in points scored, at 38 points a game, but have pumped that up to 46 points a game in the last three outings, including a 34-14 win over Mattawan last week. They are led by quarterback Matthew Lanier, who hurts teams with his arm and his legs and had running scores last week of 29 and 75 yards. The Bears lost star running back Trey McGinnis to injury last week and it is unknown if he will play. However, backup Joron Brown stepped in for 30 carries and 181 yards and two scores after McGinnis left the game.
BCC can put up some points as well and is averaging 30 per game. Quarterback in junior Devoine Newton is closing in on a single-season school record for passing at 2,034 yards through eight games after exploding for 427 yards in a win over Lakeview last week. He has 16 passing touchdowns against just three interceptions. Newton has spread the ball around to a balanced receiving group, led by Jesse Coffey with 29 receptions for 462 yards and four scores and Nisean Alexander 514 yards on 17 catches. Newton also leads the team in rushing at 445 yards with eight touchdowns. Helping to carry the load on the ground is Kailan Brown, who has 386 yards rushing and six scores.
In recent weeks, BCC has leaned on its defense as well. The Bearcats are among the league leaders in points allowed, giving up just 19.5 per game – and only 16 per contest in the past four. Linebacker Kalifornia Bey leads the way with 62 tackles, including seven for loss and five sacks. Alexander has four interceptions from his defensive back spot.
"They run the veer, run power," Granger said about St. Joseph. "But they really do a little bit of everything on offense. You try to stop the run, they will spread you out, go five wide and they have a quarterback that can hurt you that way. They are a team with the best offense in the conference and it will be a great challenge for our defense, which has been called one of the best defenses in the conference the last few weeks."
Playing big games this time of the year is nothing new for St. Joseph, which has qualified for the postseason every year since 2015 and has finished in the top half of the league each of those seasons. That run included a final four appearance a year ago in Division 3.
Prior to this year, BCC has had just two winning regular seasons since 2008. But Granger says those results have little to do with the 2022 version of the Bearcats.
"In high school football, every team, every year is unique," Granger said. "Even though St. Joe made that run last year, they have a fair number of kids who haven't been in a game like this, even though they have seen some of their teammates do it. Teams, players don't want to be compared to the past. I think each team, each player wants to create their own legacy and that's what we hope to do this week."
Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @billbroderick.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: 'It doesn't feel real' yet, but BCC can clinch SMAC title with win
