After losing their win, the stakes are high for Snead-squared and Muskegon Heights

Now a QB clad in black-and-orange, Willie Snead IV is even more dangerous in '09

EDIT 9/15/09: Turns out the Tigers get to keep their win.  Sheesh.

One of the major stories thus far this football season has been Muskegon Heights.  After coach Willie Snead III’s defection to the Tigers from defending state champion Holland Christian, eyeballs around the Muskegon area were aimed Heights-ward.  Can Snead replicate his success with a historically less talented, or at the very least much less organized, program?

After a week-1 surprise victory over defending state champion Muskegon Oakridge (let’s not use the word upset, because that was a whooping, which proves that nobody really knew much of what they were getting with either team), eyeballs from the rest of West Michigan turned to stare, too, because the answer to that question, surprisingly, appeared to be yes.

They smoked a defending champion, and out of nowhere they appeared to have one of the top players in the state — quarterback and coach’s son Willie Snead IV.  Plus, that top player let everyone know he was good, and bragged to a certain Venerable journalist that the Tigers would go undefeated and win the state championship.  The Heights’ bandwagon grew from a red flyer to a rec vehicle overnight.  Heck, even I had a pinkie-toe onboard.

Then this leaked out.  From the Muskegon Chronicle:

Muskegon Heights has forfeited its season-opening football victory over Oakridge for using an ineligible player.

Athletic director Keith Guy said the player transferred to Muskegon Heights High School midway through his sophomore year. After investigations this week about the state eligibility rules, Guy verified that the senior player has already used up his eight semesters of athletic eligibility.

Heights won last Friday’s game 46-28, but Oakridge will be credited with the win and the Tigers will suffer the loss.

Well then.  So much for all that noise.

All eyes are on Snead III this Friday

It’s a shame, for the kid (who was not named in the article) and for the whole Muskegon Heights team, particularly given the fact that by all appearances it was a simple clerical oversight.  But what’s important now is how Snead Sr., and by extension Snead Jr. and the rest of the Tigers, bounce back from this.  There’s a lot of football left to be played.

In the grand scheme of a season, if the Heights is really as good as the Snead family would have you believe — and maybe they are — this unfortunate little setback shouldn’t be much more than a speedbump on the way to a 13-1 record and a state championship.

Or maybe even 14-0 with an asterisk.

Either way, we’ll find out soon enough.  The Heights takes on a Grand Rapids Central team tonight that is playing with nothing to lose.  Even if they shouldn’t be able to compete with the Tigers, it’s the Rams’ last season as a program, which could makes them dangerous.  The Heights goes on to win, there might be something to this yet.  But if they lose, everyone will quickly find another story to talk about.

EDIT 9/5/09: It’s tempting to throw all doubt out the window as to Muskegon Heights’ standing as one of the elite programs in the area after their 75-0 demolishing of the overmatched Grand Rapids Central Rams.  It’s made even more so when you take into account the fact that the Tigers took a knee on every offensive play in the second half except one, which means that they essentially scored 28-points on one play.  But even after having watched all that, I’m no more sold on the Tigers than I was beforehand.  They looked extremely talented.  And they looked sloppy.  Maybe they’ll clean it up against a higher caliber team, and they will therefore be able to compete with anyone (they’re that talented).  Or maybe not.  Like I said, I’m not sold.  Yet.  Talk to me in a month.

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