Fenton Coach Jeff Setzke knew this day was coming.
Linden-Fenton for all the marbles. Linden-Fenton for the Metro League Stripes Division title.
Linden-Fenton for the right to play in the Flint Metro League championship game.
They will roll up the streets and shut down downtown Fenton as Fenton (4-2 overall, 4-0 in conference play) faces off with rival Lindon (5-1 overall, 3-1 in conference play) Friday night at Fenton High School with everything at stake.
“It always comes down to blocking and tackling,” Setzke said. “And the team that makes the fewest mistakes. I know that is coach speak and clichés, but at the end of the day that’s football. That’s what its all about.”
Setzke knew this day would come even after Fenton struggled through an 0-2 start in part due to injuries and partly because the Tigers faced two of the top teams in the state. The Tigers were thrashed by Midland Dow (5-1) 38-6 and came within a missed chip-shot field goal of beating Hastings (4-2) the next week.
The Tigers played with a third-string quarterback during the early part of the season. Now all star quarterback Noel Schiel is slinging the ball all over the field. The Tigers have won four in a row, outscoring division foes 185-41, and are healthy for the first time all season.
The Tigers also come into the game with revenge on their mind. The score 42-14 is plastered all over the locker room. That was the score of the last Linden-Fenton game, won by Linden, in the first round of the 2024 state playoffs.
Fenton players may have come into the game fat and sassy after beating Linden earlier in the season.
“Our kids know what’s at stake,” Setzke said. “Our kids were born in Fenton understanding they have to beat Linden. That’s just the reality of what it is. Our kids did not forget (the Linden loss). Our kids have been waiting for this game.”
This obviously is a big game for Linden, a program that struggled for years against the Tigers. However, the Eagles are 2-2 against Fenton since Chad Williams took over the program.
Linden expected to come into this game unbeaten, but a 34-13 hiccup to Flushing two weeks ago ruined that. Outside of that game Linden has averaged 44 points a game this season.
“When we come ready to play, we can do this to anybody,” Williams said. “This is our most explosive team.”