WEST BRANCH-- In 2022, Ogemaw Heights football had a solid 7-3 season.
“We started off slow, which I didn’t like. I hope we start up quicker and we got rolling. As soon as we lost our second game [last season], we really got rolling. So, I hope we keep that momentum going the whole year this year,” senior quarterback and team captain Xander Kartes said.
Their two regular season losses came within the first three games of the season. Their third and final loss was to Gladwin, the current-defending state champions, in the district semifinals. Now, they’ll have a shot at redemption when they go head-to-head on the road in week one.
“They’re just very disciplined. And they had great athletes last year, and now a couple of those kids are returners, they say all this stuff about ‘Gladwin lost everything,’ no, they have two kids on the field that are faster than our kids. And they have the majority of their offensive line back. So, it’s going to be a test. I don’t want to get into a shootout with them. I’d rather it be a lower scoring game, but we might have to get into a shootout because they have some skill,” Falcons head coach Chad Miller said.
The Flying G’s won’t be the Falcons only tough opponent of their 2023 campaign.
Early in the season they’ll also see state runners up Traverse City St. Francis as well as Boyne City, who went 9-0 in the 2022 regular season before falling in the district semifinal to Manistee by one point. Also ahead for the Falcons is Kingsley, who gave them one of their two regular season losses in 2022.
“All of those teams are all well coached. Hard, hard-nosed kids. So yeah, I’m really excited to play them, and see how well we can compete with them,” senior captain and linebacker-running back Karter Schmitt said.
The OHHS captains say their 2023 team’s identity will be their toughness and their goals are to win every game.
“We work hard. And we do our job,” Schmitt said.
