FRANKFORT -- Thursday wasn't the start to the football season that the Northwest Conference may have been looking for, as five of the six teams suffered losses.
The lone winner: Glen Lake, who was picked last in the pre-season coaches poll. The Lakers had a 27-19 victory over East Jordan and extended their opening-game streak against the Red Devils to five games.
Perhaps the biggest surprise from the first-week losses was Marion's 13-8 win over Frankfort. The Panthers were picked No. 1 in the coaches poll and had lofty expectations for the season.
"I can assure you, you won't see a display of Frankfort football like that ever again," Frankfort coach Matt Stapleton said after the loss.
The Panthers tried to rally from a 13-0 halftime deficit and the defense did their part by holding Marion to only 5 yards in the second half. But, Frankfort's offense could only muster one touchdown drive, scored by Kyle Brouillet on a 14-yard run.
WEST WORLD: TC West unveiled its new helmets, which feature a large gold and white "T" on the left side and the players' number on the right. There's a gold stripe down the middle of the helmet, with white stripes on either side. The team also wore white pants instead of gold with its normal green jerseys.
The Titans struggled in a couple areas, namely the return game. West averaged just 13.6 yards on seven kickoff returns.
Anthony West led the Titans with 11 tackles and Britten Shink -- who had five stops -- recovered a fumble by Hudsonville's Jordan Keur in the second quarter with the Eagles knocking on West's door.
John Purdy looked comfortable in his first start at quarterback, completing seven of 10 passes for 66 yards. Most of his incompletions came when he was rolling out and wasn't able to set his feet before throwing.
Purdy also ran for a team-high 102 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries as the Titans averaged 5.9 yards a carry as a team. Halfback Jon Flynn gained 84 yards and scored a TD on 17 attempts and caught three passes for 16 yards.
Hudsonville was without star running back Jordan Jonker, but behind a huge offensive line the Eagles averaged 7.2 yards a carry anyway, the same average per attempt Jonker had a season ago.
Flynn said playing top-notch competition like Hudsonville -- despite a 42-14 setback -- will help the team in the long run.
"This prepares us for other tough teams like Grandville," he said.
The Titans travel to Granville this Friday.
STAG-ERING: Kingsley dropped Jason Leonard's head coaching debut, but the coach was happy with how his team played.
Rick Jones and Tyler Lajko had eight tackles each to lead the Stags' defense. Lajko and Josh Nicks each had interceptions as the Stags limited Royal Oak Shrine to 138 rushing yards.
"I thought our kids played with great intensity in the second half after coming out a bit slow," Leonard said. "They played until the whistle."
ELK HUNT: Tyler Smith and Jared Isenhart led Elk Rapids in tackles and Henry Smith added a blocked punt as the Elks limited Mancelona to eight points.
Ryan Farfinski kicked five extra points for the Elks.
Elk Rapids coach Ed Schindler said quarterback Derek Sentieri should return for Friday's game at Oscoda after leaving the Mancelona game in the second quarter with an undisclosed injury.
BOYNE OFF TO NICE START: Boyne City got out of the gates quickly this season.
In their 43-14 win over McBain, the Ramblers' Drew Nohel returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a TD.
Trever Kruzel led the team with 13 tackles, with Dalton Looze adding 10 and Steven Robinson nine. Nohel added an interception.
The Ramblers host Newberry -- a team that has won two games in the previous two seasons -- this Friday.
GRAYLING LOSES TOP WR: Grayling receiver Spencer Dean is likely out for the season after breaking his collarbone on his second catch of the game on Thursday.
Expected to be the top wideout on a team that threw 32 times in a 46-13 win over Roscommon, the loss of Dean could be big for the Vikings. He gained 85 yards on his two catches.
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