Battle Creek Game of the Week: Mattawan @ Battle Creek Central

An exciting 2024 high school football season in Southwest Michigan comes to a close tonight. WBCK will head to C.W. Post Field for the first and only time this season to see the Battle Creek Central Bearcats wrap up the year against the Mattawan Wildcats.

It's been a difficult season for BC Central. A small senior class, injuries and a difficult schedule have pushed the Bearcats down to a 1-7 record entering the final week.

The spirit of the Bearcats is still admirably high heading into the final game of the season. Still, Mattawan comes in off a three-game winning streak - including dominant wins over Kalamazoo Central and St. Joseph, teams that throttled the Bearcats in the same period.

It's All Love in BCC

We attended practice at Central on Wednesday and caught the last hour or so of the day. The guys were bouncing around and having fun in what was the last practice of the year.

The plays ended during a redzone drill where a Bearcat defensive back looked to swat away a pass intended for senior leader California Bey, but the ball dropped directly into Bey's hands for the score - a fitting end to the day.

Bey and the six other seniors on the squad then went through their senior ceremonies and the team was locked in - proud of their leaders.

While chatting with Bey, he kept that same smile on his face. His class has seen the highs and lows of high school football. But they inspire one another to continue to play for one another.

The season has been more than difficult for these guys, but they show a heart that many teams lack in similar circumstances.

Mattawan will prove to be a difficult task as they look to make a final argument for the postseason. But anything can happen on the blue turf of C.W. Post.

How to Listen

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Tune into 95.3 WBCK at 6:30 p.m. for the Battle Creek Game of the Week. The pre-game hosted by Mike Miller will air for 30 minutes prior to kickoff at 7 p.m. Myself (Jacob Harrison) and Da'Jzon Hughes will be on the call providing play-by-play and color commentary respectively. Mike Miller will follow the game with a postgame show recapping the game and the action from around the area.