Nearly two years after Mount Pleasant football's last regular season loss, Traverse City West ambushed the Oilers.
Traverse City West, coming off a convincing 28-point loss to Midland Dow in Week 6, knew it had to hit the ground running to build an early edge against a quality Mount Pleasant team that played in the Division 3 state finals a year ago.
The Titans marched down the field for a Max Geer rushing touchdown on the opening drive. Sophomore Jack Plummer picked off Mount Pleasant on the ensuing drive for the first of two interceptions. It set up a Brayden Tillman touchdown pass to Aiden Jacobs (Kent State). TC West recovered a pooch kick on the kickoff, and Tillman hit Jacobs again for another touchdown.
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In the blink of an eye, TC West led Mount Pleasant by 21.
"Going against Mount Pleasant with a Hall of Fame coach [Jason McIntyre] and a team who's just been to the state championship, we knew they weren't going to go away," Traverse City West coach James Wagner said on Saturday, Oct. 10. "I didn't know if 21 was enough, and it wasn't."
Mount Pleasant battled back and eventually took a one-point lead with a go-ahead touchdown in the final four minutes. TC West put the game's fate in the hands of Tillman, their junior quarterback who received a scholarship offer from Michigan earlier Friday.
"I trust everything that kid does," Wagner said. "His preparation and his process of how he gets ready for game day is very impressive for how young he is."
TC West (4-3) got in position for a last-second field goal. Landon Henfling nailed the game-winning 28-yarder to hand Mount Pleasant (6-1) its first regular season loss since Oct. 18, 2024, with the 31-29 decision. The kicking unit had a clean operation, from Henfling's kick to the hold by Henry Olson, who also led the team in rushing. Sawyer Kirschner ended the game with an interception to go along with his eight catches for 90 yards and a blocked extra point.
It was a big win for Traverse City West in the competitive Saginaw Valley League North division and to comfortably position themselves in the Division 2 playoff picture entering the final two weeks. TC West has two games remaining against Bay City Western and rival Traverse City Central.
"You can never underestimate anybody you are playing because anyone can win in our conference on any given night," Wagner said. "You have to show up. So, for us, it is just staying the course and believing in our abilities."
Austin Nelson does it all for East Kentwood
A hamstring injury may have limited East Kentwood junior Austin Nelson from competing for a track state title last spring, but that blazing speed is apparent on the gridiron now that he's fully healthy.
Nelson accounted for three non-offensive touchdowns in the No. 3 Falcons' 49-27 win over No. 20 Caledonia in a showdown between two of West Michigan's best. The junior defensive back had two kick returns for touchdowns and an interception returned for a touchdown, proving he is one of Michigan's most dynamic players.
"The key moments were the special teams plays made by Austin," East Kentwood coach Ty Spencer said Saturday. "Those kickoff returns were critical. And we had some guys step up, play big. It was good to see the type of character we had."
A little Friday night Deja Vu for ya! @austinnelson02 takes BACK TO BACK kickoff returns 70 yards to the house ‼️ He’s unstoppable right now pic.twitter.com/IAEW4kTQ0s
— Essa Kellah (@CoachKNoDuke) October 10, 2026
Caledonia jumped out to a 14-0 lead after returning an interception for a touchdown early. But senior quarterback Colin O'Connor settled in while the defense and special teams delivered home-run plays. Eventually, East Kentwood overwhelmed Caledonia, which found success in the screen game and with QB Bryce Backus' scrambling.
O'Connor had strong connections with receivers Steph Jones and Ezekiel Ferrell. Donovan Jones, Tyler Musen and D'Mari Love-Simmons stepped up defensively along with Nelson. O'Connor completed 18 of 28 passes for 311 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Nelson accounted for 200 return yards and four tackles along with the three touchdowns. He now has four kick-return touchdowns, two interceptions returned for touchdowns, a fumble returned for a touchdown and two receiving touchdowns this season. He is being recruited by schools across the Midwest, including Michigan and Michigan State, and visited Penn State on Saturday.
"He definitely has some burners that we like to use," Spencer said. "He is just a playmaker."
Detroit PSL city championship games set
Four familiar teams will duke it out at Ford Field on Friday, Oct. 16, for bragging rights in the city.
In the Gold Division title game, which will be played first, Detroit Central will face Detroit Denby. Central beat Denby 6-2 with a defensive masterclass on Thursday, Oct. 8 to punch its ticket. Central's win created a three-way tie between the Trailblazers, Denby and Detroit Cody.
Denby and Central advance on the second PSL tiebreaker, points allowed. Denby and Central last played in the city title game against each other in 2024, with the Trailblazers winning 22-18. Denby won the 2025 Gold title over Detroit Pershing. Central will be the home team due to its head-to-head win over Denby.
In the Blue Division, No. 2 Detroit Cass Tech (7-0) and No. 6 Detroit King (6-1) will face off in a rematch. Cass won the first meeting, 20-7, in Week 5 with a great defensive performance. The Technicians have won four straight Blue Division titles over the Crusaders and have a four-game winning streak overall in the series. Cass will be the home team.
Nominate a high school athlete for the Detroit Free Press boys and girls athlete of the week.
Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for theDetroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Traverse City West pulled out all the stops to get past Mt. Pleasant
