Football Time! Eaglets Take on South Lyon East This Week and More

Updated: Oct. 22, 6:39 p.m. with date and time of upcoming game

The Orchard Lake St. Mary's varsity football team will begin the defense of its Div. 1 state championship in the playoffs (7-2, 3-1 Catholic Central League) at home against South Lyon East at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Sunday evening announcement came just days after the Eaglets topped their division rival Novi Detroit Catholic Central in the annual Prep Bowl event at Ford Field in Detroit, 27-10.

Last year, the Eaglets kicked off the first round of the playoffs with a win Oct. 28 over Detroit Pershing, 56-6. St. Mary's would go on to a 45-7 rout in the finals over Mt. Pleasant Nov. 25.

South Lyon East (5-4 overall, 2-3 Kensington Lakes Activities Association Central division) is in the playoffs for the first time in school history.

Other local, first-round matchups include Walled Lake Western taking on Farmington and Walled Lake Northern playing Howell.

More: schedule and ticket information

This information was provided in a press release from the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association).

Qualifying teams for the Playoffs were divided into eight divisions of 32 schools each. Within each division are four regions of eight teams each; and within those regions are two districts of four teams each. Pre-district pairings are based on regular-season computer rankings, with the first-place team in each district hosting the fourth-place team; and the second-place team hosting the third-ranked team.

The weekend of Nov. 2-3 will have district finals in the 11-player playoffs and regional finals in the eight-player playoffs, at the site of the highest-ranked team which was victorious in the previous round of play.

Regional finals in the 11-player playoffs will take place Nov. 9-10, at the site of the highest-ranked team that was victorious in district final play.  The eight-player playoff semifinals will take place on Nov. 10 at pre-arranged sites, pairing the winners of region 1 vs. region 2; and the winners of region 3 vs. region 4.

Semifinal games in the 11-player playoffs will take place on Nov. 17, pairing the winners of region 1 vs. region 2; and the winners of region 3 vs. region 4 at pre-arranged sites. 

Tickets for single-session pre-district, district and regional games are $5. At regional sites where multiple games are played and a single admission is charged, tickets will be $6. Single-session semifinal tickets are $6. At semifinal sites where multiple games are played and a single admission is charged, tickets are $7.

The eight-player finals will take place at the Superior Dome in Marquette or Greenville High School on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. Admission is $8.

For the 11-player finals, tickets are $10 per day at Ford Field, allowing a fan to see all four games on a single admission. No in and out privileges are allowed. This is the schedule:

November 23

• Division 8: 10 a.m.
• Division 2: 1 p.m.
• Division 6: 4:30 p.m.
• Division 4: 7:30 p.m. 

November 24

• Division 7: 10 a.m.
• Division 1: 1 p.m.
• Division 5: 4:30 p.m.
• Division 3: 7:30 p.m.