Battle Creek Central jumps into Division 3 playoff picture after 36-23 win

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Battle Creek Central broke a three-game losing streak Friday with a 36-23 win over Kalamazoo Central, a result the Michigan High School Athletic Association flagged in its Week 6 review as a playoff-picture mover.

The Bearcats improved to 3-3. MHSAA.com said the victory jumped Central 15 spots in the Division 3 playoff-point average rankings, landing the team at No. 32 — the last qualifying slot if the season ended today. Central is chasing its first postseason berth since 2022.

WSJM’s Week 6 scoreboard listed both Central teams at 3-3 after the crossover. Across town, Battle Creek Harper Creek stayed in the Interstate 8 title chase at 5-1 after a 38-19 win over Coldwater, also noted in the MHSAA review.

Harper Creek trails Marshall in the Interstate 8 and will be watching Coldwater’s remaining schedule, MHSAA.com wrote. Central’s focus is simpler: keep stacking playoff points over the final three weeks before Selection Sunday on Oct. 25.

Sources:
MHSAA.com, “1st & Goal: 2026 Week 6 Review,” Oct. 5, 2026, https://www.mhsaa.com/sports/football/stories/1st-goal-2026-week-6-review
WSJM, “High School Football Scoreboard – Week 6,” Oct. 3, 2026, https://www.wsjm.com/2026/10/03/high-school-football-scoreboard-week-6-2/
Photo: Gpwitteveen, “Battle Creek Central High School,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), cropped and color-corrected; derivative under the same ShareAlike license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_Creek_Central_High_School.jpg

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Tags: Battle Creek · Sports · Battle Creek Central · High School Football