Both Traverse City Central and Kingsley High School managed big football wins Friday night to clinch district titles and continue their post-season runs. The Trojans toppled No. 2-ranked Muskegon 16-14 to win their first Division 2 district title since 2021, while the Stags routed Traverse City St. Francis 57-6 to win the District 6 district championships.

For Central, the win marked the second unexpected victory in as many weeks. Two weeks ago, at the annual Patriot Game crosstown rivalry game against Traverse City West, the Trojans lost to the Titans for the third year in a row, thanks to a missed extra point in overtime that left the score at 20-21. Just a week later, though, the Trojans got their revenge in the district semifinals, utilizing a fake extra point trick play to win the game 15-13. The victory ended West’s season, and gave Central a shot at top-dog status for the district.

The Trojans made good on that chance Friday night, upsetting the higher-ranked Muskegon by yet another two-point margin. Central kept the opposing team on the ropes throughout, scoring the first touchdown of the game and at one point going up 13-7. But a missed extra point and a touchdown by Muskegon before the first half ended meant the Trojans were down one point going into the locker rooms. It didn’t matter: strong defense from both teams in the second half meant no more touchdowns – and made it so a third-quarter field goal from Central senior Carter Gle was enough to seal the 16-14 win.

The win marks Central’s first triumph against Muskegon since 1995, and the first time the two teams have met in a decade. At their last matchup, in 2015, the Big Reds knocked the Trojans out of the playoffs.

Next up, Central (now 7-4 for the season) will face off against Portage Central, a team with a perfect 11-0 record, for the regional crown. That game is scheduled for 7pm this coming Friday, November 14, and will take place in Portage.

Kingsley were 8-2 coming into Friday’s district championship game, but St. Francis had dealt the Stags one of those two losses back in September, winning 21-20.

There were extenuating circumstances in that game, though – namely, the fact that all three of Kingsley’s starting running backs were dealing with injuries at the time – and having those three players back made for a very different game on Friday. By halftime, the Stags were already up 50-6. The team added an extra touchdown in the second half to serve up the final score of 57-6 – the fifth straight game that Kingsley has scored 40 points or more, and their fourth this season in the 50s.

The Stags will take on Reed City at 7pm on Friday, on their Kingsley home turf.