Lakes prepare for life in a new conference

LAKE LINDEN — Back in October of last year, the Lakes announced that would move from the Great Western Conference to the Mid–Eastern Conference, which features some of the best teams in the U.P.

“We’re familiar with most of them. Outside of Newberry and Munising, we’ve played the other teams in that conference before. But with a lot of the schools dropping to 8–man football, the quality of Class D football has really, really gone up. There are no easy games for us anymore. Everything is a challenge and it’s something that we’re looking forward to,” head coach Andy Crouch said.

Lake Linden–Hubbell is coming off a year where they went 9–0 in the regular season, only to lose their first playoff game in districts to Forest Park. A strong senior class moves on but Coach Crouch has confidence in the new leadership on the team.

“We lost a senior class that was pretty special to us, that had a pretty good work ethic and a lot of success not just in football, but in other sports as well. It’s an opportunity for other kids to step up this year. Those other seniors that graduated, they made the blueprint. Now our kids have to follow it. That’s how you’re successful,” said Crouch.

The Lakes will open the season at Hancock on August 26th.