By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
With new head coaches leading both teams, the football squads from Otsego and Plainwell were slated to start the 2023 campaign with home games on Thursday, Aug. 24.
Mother Nature had other ideas.
With temperatures reaching the mid-90s and the heat index well above 100, both schools opted to push back kickoff from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
With temperatures still high, Otsego moved the start time back another half hour to 8:30 p.m. But the game was stopped with 9:19 remaining in the first quarter due to lightning and, after the thunder and lightning continued for the next hour, was scheduled to restart the following day at 1 p.m.
The Bulldogs trailed 14-0, as Coopersville scored on its first two offensive plays.
Plainwell, meanwhile, ultimately decided to postpone the game due to the continued heat and potential for storms.
That game ended up being rescheduled for 4 p.m. the next day. It was also moved to Hamilton “to accommodate schedules and officials.”
Neither game ended in favor of the local teams, as Otsego fell 49-6 in Scott McDougall’s coaching debut and Plainwell lost 41-6 in Brian Huberty’s first game as head coach.
The second half was much better for Otsego, as the Bulldogs held Coopersville scoreless.
“We responded the way I hoped we would in the second half,” McDougall said. “Halftime was a pivotal moment for us to decide who we wanted to be this year. I felt we responded the way we needed to in order to set ourselves up to get better throughout the year.”