Football Game Preview: Kalamazoo Central Maroon Giants vs. Howell Highlanders + How To Watch

The Kalamazoo Central Maroon Giants will square off against the Howell Highlanders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Kalamazoo Central is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Norrix: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that the Maroon Giants blew the Knights out of the water with a 54-10 final score. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 26-0.

Kalamazoo Central's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Emmanuel Carter (Kc 10) led the charge by rushing for 45 yards and two TDs.

Kalamazoo Central didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Geramiah Crawford and Curtis Whitfield.

Meanwhile, Howell had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 33 points) and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They were the clear victors by a 57-36 margin over the Tigers. The Highlanders pushed the score to 43-20 by the end of the third, a deficit the Tigers cut but never quite recovered from.

Kalamazoo Central better keep an eye on Bryce Kish. He was instrumental in Howell's win, rushing for 54 yards and three scores. Kish has been hot recently, having posted three or more rushing touchdowns the last three times he's played. Brody Stack also deserves some recognition as he posted his first receiving yards of the season.

Howell was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 253 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 94.8 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last five contests they've averaged 227.3.

Howell's win bumped their record up to 8-1. As for Kalamazoo Central, their victory bumped their record up to 6-3.

Kalamazoo Central suffered a grim 35-12 defeat to Howell in their previous meeting back in November of 2024. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point the Maroon Giants were down 28-6.