EVART – Houghton Lake and Evart will open a Division 7 district with a Highland Conference rematch as our Sports Overtime Game of the Week Friday.
Evart plays host to Houghton Lake in a Division 7 Region 1, District 2 first round game as the Wildcats seek their season win of the season over the Bobcats and their second postseason win in program history.
“We have a huge challenge in front of us,” Evart coach Pat Craven said. “We’re preparing hard and we know we can’t take anything for granted.
“Houghton Lake is a tough matchup for us. They’re a physical team, they really run the football and establish the run game at the line of scrimmage. It’s difficult to beat a team twice in the season.”
Evart (4-2) handed Houghton Lake its only Highland Conference loss of the season with a 29-22 victory in Week 3. The win sparked a four-game win streak for the Wildcats who rolled big in the last two weeks with wins over Roscommon (55-12) and Pine River (46-0).
“From that game we learned there was a few things that we need to work on,” Houghton Lake senior Sean Patti said. “We addressed those in practice and this week it’s the same thing. We’ve seen them before so we know exactly what to plan for and just have to execute.”
Houghton Lake concluded its regular season with a 24-6 loss to undefeated Oscoda, but became the first team to score on the Owls all season in the defeat, with Oscoda previously shutting out opponents 274-0 through eight games.
A win Friday would give Houghton Lake (4-2) its fourth playoff victory in program history and second since 2017.
“Just to get to the playoffs and just knowing that you’re guaranteed that and knowing you can make a run, you don’t know what you’re going up against exactly at the start, but knowing that you can make that run is just a great feeling,” Houghton Lake senior Joe Sharrow said.
Last 5 Meetings in Houghton Lake-Evart Series
2020 – Evart 29, Houghton Lake 22
2019 – Houghton Lake 20, Evart 6
1981 – Houghton Lake 28, Evart 14
1980 – Houghton Lake 38, Evart 14
1979 – Houghton Lake 3, Evart 0
The winner of Friday’s matchup advances to face top-seed McBain in a district semifinal next week. McBain (7-0) picked up a forfeit win against Farwell following positive COVID-19 cases within Farwell Area Schools.
Friday’s contest kicks off at 7 p.m.
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