Sometimes, it’s not HOW you get in – it’s DO you get in. And this is one of those times for the Pioneer football program. After winning just three football games over three seasons (from 2020-2022), the Pioneers are headed to the postseason for the second consecutive year.
The reward for getting in at 5-4 is a road game at 8-1 Belleville on Friday night. The Tigers, who lost their last game of the regular season on Friday (30-29 to Howell), are looking to make their fourth consecutive trip to the state championship game.
The winner of the Pioneer-Belleville game will take on the winner of the Saline (6-3) at Northville (6-3) game next week.
The Pioneers aren’t exactly cruising into the postseason. They lost 12-7 to Pinckney on Friday night in the final regular-season game. The week before, the Pioneers lost 28-26 to rival Huron. One of Pioneer’s wins was a 50-0 loss to Saline in week three that the Hornets had to forfeit. Three of Pioneer’s wins were by a total of eight points.
Belleville is led by senior quarterback Bryce Underwood, the top-ranked player in the country and recent LSU commit.
Teams were divided into divisions before the start of play this fall. The top 32 teams in each division in 11-player and top 16 per division in 8-player, based on playoff-point average, were selected to the field. For 11-player, qualifiers were then divided into four regions with eight teams apiece, and for 8-player qualifiers were divided into four regions with four teams in each.
Pairings for the first three weeks of the tournament are based on regular-season playoff point averages, with the highest-ranked team hosting, regardless of the distance between the two schools. For 11-Player District Semifinal and 8-Player Regional Semifinal play, the top-seeded team in each bracket will host the fourth-seeded team, and the second-seeded team will host the third-seeded team.
District Finals for 11-player and Regional Finals for 8-player will follow during the weekend of Nov. 8-9, and the weekend of Nov. 15-16 will have Regional Finals in the 11-Player Playoffs and Semifinals in the 8-Player Playoffs. The 8-Player Semifinals will pair the winners of Region 1 vs. Region 2 and the winners of Region 3 vs. Region 4, at the sites of the highest-ranked team.
Semifinal games in the 11-Player Playoffs will take place Nov. 22-23, pairing the winners of Region 1 vs. Region 2 and the winners of Region 3 vs. Region 4. The MHSAA will assign 11-Player Semifinals at neutral sites.
All playoff tickets except for Finals (both 11 and 8-player) will be sold online only via GoFan at gofan.co/.
