Local Legends: HS Football Podcast

Eric Wells from Michigan Sports Radio and Adam Baxter from Grand Rapids Catholic Central sports information join Jason Hutton to discuss Week 6 of the high school football season.

CC hands TK its first loss of the season, Matt Kozika stops by after Mona Shores beats Byron Center 29-28, Hopkins beats Belding, Kenowa Hills impresses, and much more.

If you want to be the next featured athlete on the Local Legends Scouting Report, just head to scout-lens.com to get your evaluation today.

Jason Hutton is joined by Zach Harig and Matt Gard to talk about Week 5 of the high school football season.

South Christian kicks a late FG to beat Zeeland. West

West Catholic holds off Hamilton after Will Smith leaves with an injury

Odin Spencer runs wild, leading CC to a win at EGR

Plus, Hopkins head coach Cody Francis joins us to talk about his Vikings win over Godwin Heights and look ahead to an undefeated showdown with Belding

Kanon and Doak Dean from Goosepoop join Jason Hutton to discuss the results of Week 4 of the high school football season.South Christian beats Unity Christian in a thriller

West Catholic runs its OK White winning streak to 11, beating Forest Hills Eastern 42-34Plus, we are joined by Hamilton head coach Zach Harbison and North Muskegon head coach Larry Witham

Caledonia gets a big win over Rockford

Belding scores late to run OK Silver winning streak to 26

Fremont is 3-0 and alone in 1st place

Whitney Bell joins the show, and much more.

Jason Hutton and Buck Geno are talking Week 3 of the HS Football season.

Week 2 of Michigan High School Football is in the books, and Local Legends was live all over the place Friday night. Literally.

Our guest co-host, Lakewood head coach Tim Swore, joined us after the Vikings’ 52-6 win at Benton Harbor — starting the show from the team bus, continuing from his truck with his son behind the wheel, and eventually finishing up from home.

We had plenty to talk about, including big Week 2 wins by East Kentwood over Byron Center, Coopersville over West Catholic, and South Christian over East Grand Rapids, plus a ton of scores from around the area.

NorthPointe Christian head coach Brian Haveman joined us after the Mustangs 31-28 win over Calvin Christian, and Sparta head coach Ryan Patterson checked in after the Spartans rolled past Clare 45-7 to start 2-0 for the second straight season.

Plus, we break down Mason’s surprising win over DeWitt and plenty more from Week 2 across Michigan High School Football.

Jason Hutton and Zach Harig break down the best teams in West Michigan heading into the 2026 season and look ahead to some big matchups in week 1.New Northview head coach Bob Nowak is the guest in the coaches corner and discusses replacing Ryan Oshnock, who left in July to become the athletic director at East Grand Rapids.We run down our top 10 teams and list our players to watch in 2026.

The 2026 season is almost here, and there are plenty of questions surrounding the OK Conference and River Cities Alliance.On the latest episode of Local Legends, we're joined by MLive high school sports writer Patrick Nothaft for a deep dive into area teams.We discuss:Which teams could make the biggest jump in wins from 2025?Who could make the playoffs after missing out last year?Which Grand Rapids-area teams have a legitimate shot at a state championship?Who could be the MVP in each league?And which Week 1 matchups should you have circled—both Thursday and Friday?Let's get ready for Friday night lights0:00 - Comparing Kalamazoo to GR6:10 - MLive Media Days8:55 - Teams Likely to Improve11:45 - OK Red balance14:00 - Who goes from missed playoff to playoffs? 17:35 - OK White where every team is better than last year22:21 - Local Legends Scouting Report with Dan Fodroct of Scout Lens25:30 - What Grand Rapids teams have a chance to win a state championship?38:08 - MVPs of each conference1:11:38 - Games to Watch on Thursday1:18:28 - Games to Watch on Friday1:26:10 Subscribe to MLive.com1:28:22 Preseason Top 10

We welcome Essa Kellah from Prep Redzone to break down the players to watch heading into the 2026 season.

We spend time talking about the Class of 2027, including many of the top players in West Michigan, we also look ahead to some of the rising talent in the 2028 and 2029 classes.

Plus, we discuss some of the top talent from around the state and take a look at the teams that could make some noise in West Michigan and across Michigan this Fall.

If you want to know who the next big names in Michigan high school football might be, this is the episode for you.

0:00 Announcing what the season will look like on Local Legends

2:15 Playing at Godwin Heights

12:45 College playing days

17:00 Getting the job at Prep Redzone

20:15 Playmakers Association

21:30 Great Lakes Sports Card & TCG Show

23:15 East vs. West

26:30 Donald Tabron II commits to Texas A&M

29:15 Grading the class of 2027 in Michigan

33:15 Grant Adloff, East Grand Rapids - Michigan State

35:20 Caleb Pugh, Grand Rapids Christian - Indiana

37:55 Dewey Young, Kalamazoo Central - Colorado

38:50 Hunter Hankamp, Coopersville - Central Michigan

39:45 GVSU, Ferris State, Northwood

42:00 Recarder Kitchen, Muskegon - Michigan

44:21 Great Lakes Sports Card & TCG Show

46:07 Lundon Hampton, Kenowa Hills - Michigan

48:48 Elliott Neff, Thornapple Kellogg - Kansas

50:39 East Kentwood secondary

53:15 Cam Payne, Byron Center - uncommitted

54:50 Bryce Backus, Caledonia - uncommitted

57:03 DJ Hardiman, Grandville

58:22 Isziah Walker & Julius Hoskins, Godwin Heights

1:00:35 Trey Snip, Hudsonville '28

1:01:55 Martellis Forest, Godwin Heights '28

1:03:15 Jonah Hamp, Hastings '28

1:04:25 Odin Spencer, GR Catholic Central '28

1:06:25 Will Smith, West Catholic '29

1:08:25 Bryce Jackson, River Rouge '29

1:09:15 Stephon Hendrix Jr., Davison '29

1:10:55 Godwin Heights 2026

1:16:00 Best teams in the state

1:19:40 Sleeper teams

1:23:09 Prep Redzone

1:24:28 Next week preview

From just one win in 2 seasons at Montague to three State Championships as a head coach, Pat Collins has experienced just about everything high school football can offer.On the latest episode of Local Legends, West Ottawa head coach Pat Collins takes us through his remarkable football journey.Collins grew up in Montague loving the game, eventually quarterbacking the Wildcats to the State Championship game as a senior. After playing at Hope College and beginning his coaching career at Spring Lake, West Ottawa and Reeths-Puffer, he returned to his alma mater as head coach.What followed was one of the most successful runs in West Michigan high school football.Collins led Montague to back-to-back State Championships in 2008 and 2009, with star quarterback Cody Kater leading the way. We talk about the incredible battles with Oakridge and Ravenna in the West Michigan Conference, and the remarkable 2008 season when four Muskegon County schools won State Championships.We also discuss navigating the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when Collins led Montague to another State Championship — this time with his son, Drew, at quarterback.Eventually, Collins made the difficult decision to leave his hometown program and take over at West Ottawa, a Division 1 program and his wife's alma mater. He discusses helping the Panthers reach the playoffs in 2023 and the challenge of building West Ottawa into a consistent winner.And we look ahead to the 2026 season and what Collins expects from the Panthers.

Unity Christian head football coach Craig Tibbe joins Local Legends to tell the remarkable story of one of Michigan's most successful high school football programs. Coach Tibbe reflects on playing for and later coaching with legendary South Christian coach Bob Blacquiere. He shares how Unity Christian launched its football program in 2003 and eventually transformed into one of the state's premier programs.

The conversation revisits Unity Christian's three trips to the MHSAA State Finals, including the unforgettable 2018 State Championship team led by quarterback Isaac TeSlaa, who now plays wide receiver for the Detroit Lions.

Tibbe also looks back at the record-setting 2021 offense that scored more points than any team in Michigan history and the heartbreaking 55-52 State Finals loss after surrendering a 28-point second-half lead. Finally, we preview the 2026 season as Unity Christian looks to replace 18 starters from last year's State Finals team, opening the new campaign with a rematch against Divine Child.

0:00 Recapping the summer6:00 Playing and coaching at South Christian15:00 Starting the football program at Unity26:00 Getting close in 200830:20 Isaac TeSlaa and the 2018 title39:30 2021 records and heartbreak47:30 2025 run to Ford Field53:00 2026 Preview