LAKE ODESSA, Mich. -- The Lakewood Vikings have had quite the turnaround since 2013 when they went 0-9 on the year. Last year, they started the season 7-0, but lost three straight, including the first round of playoffs. Week three, they’re facing the team that knocked them out, Unity Christian.
“Unity Christian - they’re a great program," said head coach Nick Boucher. "They’re extremely well coached, they’re very disciplined on offense, and they’re solid on defense. I don’t know if we learned a lesson last year it was more just experience. This year we’re just gonna try to play our game, keep the ball moving, and limit their big plays. And if all those things happen, the game could go our way.”
“There’s a lot of hype, " junior Parker Smith said. "We have to keep cool minded. We have to focus this week. We have to do everything right. We have to prepare ourselves. Offensive line and defensive line have to step up. They have a great wing T system - linebackers are gonna have to fill holes. We have to keep everything cool, we have to keep our minds straight and I think we have a chance to win this football game."
And with Smith stepping up after last year’s starting quarterback Kyle Willette was injured in week eight, this team’s first playoff win is even more incredible.
“Yeah it’s tough when you lose your quarterback and your defensive back all in the same play," coach Boucher commented. "We’ve been fortunate enough to have a very capable backup he’s now had three or four games under his belt and he’s doing an excellent job. We couldn’t ask for anything more out of Parker and we’re hoping that we can keep rolling and we’ll eventually see Kyle back.”
Smith said, “I just moved here this year and it’s been amazing… being the first team in school history to win a playoff… first playoff game was amazing… you know we were pumped we wanted to keep going obviously. We won the second game and now we’re here we’re ready to keep going, we want to keep winning."
