Week 9 of the high school football season is upon us.
The Holland area will see all of its games on Friday, Oct. 23.
Here is a look at the scouting reports and predictions for each game:
West Ottawa at Caledonia
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23
WHERE: Caledonia High School
RECORDS: West Ottawa 2-6 (1-5 OK Red), Caledonia 6-2 (5-1 OK Red)
LAST WEEK: West Ottawa lost 63-31 to No. 3 East Kentwood, Caledonia beat Grand Haven 41-20
LAST MEETING: West Ottawa won 33-30 in 2025
SERIES HISTORY: Caledonia leads 6-4
SCOUTING REPORT: The Fighting Scots have been a dominant force this season, only losing to two of the top three teams in the state in Portage Northern and East Kentwood. Meanwhile, it has been a tough year for the Panthers. West Ottawa nearly beat Grandville, Hudsonville and Grand Haven - by six points combined. The Panthers could very easily be 5-3 and headed to the playoffs, but have instead lost five games in a row and are out of the playoff picture. History will show two wins, but those on the team will remember how close the team really was to being a playoff team.
PREDICTION: Caledonia 31, West Ottawa 21
Holland at Hopkins
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23
WHERE: Hopkins High School
RECORDS: Holland 4-4 (3-4 OK Silver), Hopkins 7-1 (7-0 OK Silver)
LAST WEEK: Holland beat Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian 35-0, Hopkins beat Wyoming Kelloggsville 48-6
LAST MEETING: Hopkins won 45-0 in 2025
SERIES HISTORY: Hopkins leads 2-0
SCOUTING REPORT: The Dutch need a win to have a shot at the playoffs. But unfortunately the final game is against the OK Silver league champion who has dominated everyone except a non-conference loss to Berrien Springs. Holland needs this win but again will be without starting quarterback Eli Wolters. The Dutch will give it everything they have, but will need some turnover help and some big plays by Finn Galloway and the receiving corps.
PREDICTION: Hopkins 35, Holland 24
Holland Christian at Grand Rapids Christian
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23
WHERE: Grand Rapids Christian High School
RECORDS: Holland Christian 3-5 (1-4 OK Blue), Grand Rapids Christian 3-5 (3-2 OK White)
LAST WEEK: Holland Christian lost to No. 1 Grand Rapids Catholic Central 21-20, Grand Rapids Christian beat Hamilton 41-13
LAST MEETING: Holland Christian won 35-22 in 2025
SERIES HISTORY: Holland Christian leads 2-1
SCOUTING REPORT: Last week was completely baffling involving both of these teams. A Holland Christian team that has struggled to score was a made two-point conversion from pulling the upset of the year against top-ranked Catholic Central. This is the same team that could barely move the ball in Week 1, then showed promise at times without delivering many wins. But they can obviously play with anyone. On the flip side, the Eagles have managed just three wins as well, but beat state power West Catholic 29-28 in Week 7 then crushed Hamilton 41-13 in Week 8. That is a Hamilton team that beat Holland Christian pretty soundly. So both teams have played better than their records indicate the past two weeks, but did so likely too late to make the playoffs.
PREDICTION: Grand Rapids Christian 21, Holland Christian 17
Hamilton at Zeeland East
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23
WHERE: Zeeland Stadium
RECORDS: Hamilton 3-5 (1-4 OK White), Zeeland East 4-4 (1-4 OK Gold)
LAST WEEK: Hamilton lost 41-13 to Grand Rapids Christian, Zeeland East lost to South Christian 45-14
LAST MEETING: Zeeland East won 28-21 in 2025
SERIES HISTORY: Zeeland East least 18-4-1
SCOUTING REPORT: The Chix currently hold the final playoff spot according to the MHSAA playoff rankings. They need to win to keep that. If Hamilton wins, they could have an outside shot at sneaking in as well, but would need some help. Both teams have an elite offensive playmaker and strong defenses.
PREDICTION: Zeeland East 27, Hamilton 20
Zeeland West at Spring Lake
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23
WHERE: Spring Lake High School
RECORDS: Zeeland West 7-1 (4-1 OK Gold), Spring Lake 4-4 (2-3 OK White)
LAST WEEK: Zeeland West beat Forest Hills Central 56-20, Spring Lake lost 17-14 to Forest Hills Northern
LAST MEETING: First meeting
SERIES HISTORY: First meeting
SCOUTING REPORT: In another interesting turn of events, Spring Lake lost convincingly to Hamilton earlier this season only to beat Grand Rapids Christian (a team that crushed Hamilton) the following week. The OK White was kind of wild this season. Meanwhile, the Dux have been nearly unstoppable except for a last-second field goal against South Christian.
PREDICTION: Zeeland West 44, Spring Lake 20
Benton Harbor at Saugatuck
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23
WHERE: Saugatuck High School
RECORDS: Saugatuck 5-3 (4-3 SAC B), Benton Harbor 2-6
LAST WEEK: Saugatuck lost 34-14 to Cassopolis, Benton Harbor lost 70-0 to Buchanan
LAST MEETING: First meeting
SERIES HISTORY: First meeting
SCOUTING REPORT: Saugatuck is coming off of a tough loss to Cassopolis. A halftime Hail Mary and a costly turnover led to the loss. The Trailblazers are likely in the playoffs win or lose, but would rather win and make it official, of course. Benton Harbor has struggled this year and was defeated by NorthPointe Christian, which Holland crushed without its starting quarterback. Should make for an interesting matchup.
PREDICTION: Saugatuck 24, Benton Harbor 20
Marcellus at Fennville
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23
WHERE: Fennville High School
RECORDS: Fennville 5-3, Marcellus 6-2
LAST WEEK: Fennville beat Bangor 28-12, Marcellus beat Eau Claire 42-6
LAST MEETING: Marcellus won 44-18 in 2022
SERIES HISTORY: Tied 12-12
SCOUTING REPORT: This should be a pretty good matchup. Both teams beat Twin Cities and Bangor handily. It could come down to special teams, which has benefitted Fennville this season. The Blackhawks have a winning record for back-to-back seasons for the first time in nearly a decade and want to finish strong. They are ineligible for the playoffs since their school size is too large for 8-player football.
PREDICTION: Fennville 34, Marcellus 31
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Week 9 high school football scouting reports and predictions for Holland area