The Zeeland West football team has successfully fought its way through an extremely difficult conference schedule.
It took the Dux to the semi-finals of the state championship, where Zeeland West was just a few meters away from reaching the state final.
Now that the Dux have a newly formed OK Green, the schedule isn’t going to get any easier – especially considering the teams the Dux have lined up in the non-conference portion of their schedule.
“To be honest, our schedule is our biggest challenge. We start with Muskegon and play five teams that won at least 10 games last year, plus West Ottawa, Zeeland East and Unity Christian. That’s eight big games in nine weeks. In my opinion, that’s the most challenging schedule in my 41 years as a head coach,” said Zeeland West coach John Shillito.
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It starts on opening night with former conference rival Muskegon, just like the Dux, one of the best programs in the state year after year.
Then the Dux will face West Ottawa for the first time in history in a duel between two local teams.
Next up is Whitehall, a 10-1 team last year, before the Dux face rival Zeeland East to open the OK Green season.
In Week 5, Unity Christian will face the team that won the state championship just a few years ago, followed by Forest Hills Central, the team that knocked out the Dux in the state semifinals last year.
Then there’s Wyoming and Grand Rapids South Christian, another team with 10 wins last year.
The regular season ends with a non-league game against Grand Rapids West Catholic, which had an 11-1 record last year.
“The key to success for us is developing depth around a very strong core of veterans and developing a relatively young group on the offensive line,” Shillito said.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’[email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSportp.
