The 2022 Michigan high school football regular season has ended and seven St. Joseph County schools have earned a berth into the MHSAA playoffs. Full brackets were released Sunday and statewide pairings can be found here. All St. Joseph County teams will have their first round games at the standard 7 p.m. Friday start time.
In Division 3, Sturgis (5-4) made it in by the thinnest margins as the Trojans were the 32nd and final team in the field by playoff points. Not counting the expanded all-in 2020 field, it’s Sturgis’ first playoff berth since 2015.
The Trojans will be traveling to Mason (9-0), whose only prior meeting was in the 2011 pre-district. The other side of the district is Jackson and Parma Western.
In Division 4, Three Rivers (5-4) advanced with their second consecutive winning season. The Wildcats end up drawing a home game against Wolverine Conference rival Niles (5-4), who they beat 27-21 in week four. The other side of the bracket has Wolverine champ Edwardsburg as the top seed hosting Paw Paw.
In Division 6, Constantine (8-1) finished with the sixth highest playoff point total in the field and moved to the postseason for the 23rd time in the last 24 years. Despite the sixth most points, they’re the two-seed in the district with top-ranked Grand Rapids West Catholic on the other side of the district facing Watervliet.
The Falcons do get to host their pre-district, but against a fellow 8-1 squad in Buchanan. Constantine defeated the Bucks 55-28 in the 2020 district championship.
In Division 8, a 6-3 record was enough to put both Centreville and White Pigeon into the bracket against each other. It’s the fifth straight appearance for both teams with the Chiefs a defending district champ and the Bulldogs the state champ two seasons ago.
The week five meeting went to Centreville 40-28, giving the Bulldogs the slight edge in playoff points to host the pre-district game against WP. The winner faces either district top seed Reading or Decatur.
In eight-player Division 2, undefeated Colon (9-0) has the highest playoff point total of all teams in the field. The Magi were state-runner up last season and won it all in 2019. Colon’s first round match is against Camden-Frontier (5-4), a league foe the Magi beat 73-34 in week eight.
Mendon (7-2) picked up a 16th consecutive playoff berth and their 34th playoff berth in the last 36 years. The Hornets will travel to Climax-Scotts (8-1) with the winner advancing to the regional final against the Colon/C-F winner. It’ll be the first meeting between Mendon and the Panthers since the 2017 postseason.