We're only a day of the way from arguably the state's Game of the Week for the second week of the prep football season, as Farmington Hills Harrison will play at Southfield on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Of course, many think Harrison is too good for anybody, and they might be right. The Hawks are one of the top teams in the nation and destroyed a good Detroit Cass Tech team in the season opener last week.
But Kosmo has a feeling that Southfield can win this game, and here's three reasons why.
1. Southfield can match Harrison's speed. There aren't many teams around the state that can say that, and there's definitely no team in the OAA White that can say that. But the Bluejays are pretty fast of their own and can keep up with the Hawks athleticism. Keep in mind, Ron Thompson, Leviticus Payne and Brandon Watkins are all going to play college football for Division I programs as well.
2. Southfield has beaten Harrison in the past. The Bluejays won't be intimidated because they've had success against the Hawks in recent years. Most notably, Southfield beat Harrison two years ago in the Division 2 state playoffs after Harrison won the regular season game.
3. Timing of the game. This could definitely work in Southfield's favor. For one, the game is on Thursday, so Harrison had only four days to prepare after beating Cass Tech last Saturday. Southfield had a normal full week. Second, the game is at 4 p.m. instead of the normal 7 p.m. time, and Southfield is much more used to early start times than Harrison. We'll see if that plays a factor.

Kosmo usually as clear of a Krystal ball as anyone, but even he is way off occassionally (OK, a lot, but who's counting?).
Your seer obviously seriously underestimated Oxford, which sent a message with its dominant 41-20 win over Lake Orion on Friday on its new navy blue field.
In Kosmo's eyes, the biggest message the win sent was this: Bud Rowley still is a great coach.
There are some in the community who probably are frustrated that Rowley hasn't changed his ways over the years instead of maybe going to a more pass-happy offense.
However, as Oxford proved on Friday, blocking and tackling are still the keys to winning football.
Oxford was a well-prepared squad, and that credit goes to a coaching staff led by Rowley that proved running the football and winning the battle on the trenches is still the keys to success.
There are few coaches in the state who coach those traits better than Rowley, so for those in the community hoping Oxford adapts to the changing times, stop hoping.
Attributes that Rowley preaches and coaches are timeless and it's why he's one of the state's best.

After waiting all spring and summer, the first week of the high school football season is finally here, with games starting on Thursday.
There will be lots of games people will feel is the "Game of the Week" throughout the area.
Of course, the biggest event in terms of atmosphere will be at Oxford, which was already geeked at the prospect of hosting rival Lake Orion for the first time in almost 30 years.
But add the fact Oxford will be debuting its new navy blue artificial surface, and it'll be an electric atmosphere with maybe most of each town in attendance.
Clarkston at Rochester Adams are usually two of the area's most consistent programs, and it's always great when they open the season against each other, which they'll do on Friday at Adams.
But for Kosmo's money, the biggest game of the first week will be Saturday night at Eastern Michigan between Farmington Hills Harrison and Detroit Cass Tech.
It's fitting that the game is in a college stadium, because there will be big-time college recruits all over the field.
Those fans of the University of Michigan should have a particular interest in this game, since four players in the game have committed to play for the Wolverines, those being Mario Ojemudia and Devin Funchess of Harrison, and Royce Jenkins-Stone and Terry Richardson of Cass Tech.
In addition, Aaron Burbridge of Harrison has committed to Michigan State, and Ruben Lile of Cass Tech is another coveted recruit.
This should no doubt be a lot of fun.

The OAA Red in football will likely be dominated by Clarkston and Lake Orion, and while Farmington Hills Harrison is clearly the team to beat in the OAA White, although Southfield and Oak Park might have something to say about that.
However, Kosmo can't get a grip on who is the team to beat going into the season in the OAA Blue.
About the only team that likely won't be in contention is Bloomfield Hills Andover, which is on the right track under coach Jim DeWald, but still developing.
Every other team can be in the mix in the league, so it should no doubt be an interesting league to watch.
Kosmo thought Birmingham Groves and Birmingham Seaholm would be the favorites in the league each year after they were bumped down from the White, but both struggled to losing seasons last season.
However, both have the talent to be in the mix this year. Auburn Hills Avondale has the best quarterback in the league, Mitch Robinson, and Hazel Park is the defending champion with a nice system in place that has bred success over the years.
Bloomfield Hills Lahser could return to its winning ways after a couple of down years, and Berkley, Ferndale and North Farmington won't be pushovers either.
This should be one of those years where every game is a big one in the OAA Blue.

Friday is the first day boys soccer games around the state can be contested, so yet another sign that summer is fast dwindling.
Given that, Kosmo has a few things he's looking out for as the soccer season gets going.

Who will emerge as the dominant player in the area?
Last year, there multiple "superstar" players from the area, whether it was Caleb Stanko of Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, Sean Cunningham of Troy, Jarret Kersten of Clarkston or Eric Webberman of NOrth Farmington, just to name a few.
This year, Kosmo hopes similar Dream Team candidates can emerge. Dylan Knott of Rochester Adams for Matt Habrowsky of Birmingham Brother Rice might be the best, but we'll see.

How will Todd Heugh do in his first year at Troy Athens?
Very well. Even though the only coach Athens has ever known, Tim Storch, retired from the district and is now at Alpena, don't expect the Red Hawks to have much of a dropoff with what is the perfect successor. Heugh played at the school (he was a part of the 1989 team that won a state title) and knows the tradition, and he's a great coach at both the club and high school level. He led the Rochester boys to a state title in 2002 and the Rochester girls to the state final in 2007.

Which team has the best chance to win a state title?
Not sure. Troy and Rochester Adams should be the best in the top division of the OAA, but that league is balanced each year and several teams could emerge. An OAA Red team usually makes a deep run in the state tournament. Beyond that, Birmingham Detroit Country Day in Division 2 is a solid bet also.

For the past few years, Kosmo has seen the Flint Metro conference be ruled by non-county opponents such as Linden, Lapeer East or Lapeer West.
Well, this year, there's a chance that it'll be a battle of the two Oakland County teams for supremacy.
Holly and Ortonville Brandon met in the final game of the regular season last year with identical 5-3 records (Holly ended up winning to make the playoffs) and both could be more improved this year.
Brandon has a big offensive line led by potential college player Justin Mezsets and a returning quarterback capable of throwing for lots of yards in senior Shane Mahaffy.
Holly put it all together late last season and with a lot of returnees, could have its best team in school history.
Yes, Linden and the Lapeer schools should be solid again. But Kosmo feels there'd be nothing better than to have the Flint Metro title come down to the Week 9 showdown between Holly and Brandon at Brandon.
Hopefully the famous A & W will be open for business for that one.

Every year, there seems to be one position that stands out most in regards to the talent in the county during a given football season.
This season's top position?
No doubt, it's linebacker.
Kosmo probably can't count on two hands the number of great linebackers that'll be on the area gridiron.
The best of the bunch of course is Orchard Lake St. Mary's senior James Ross, who has committed to Michigan. But St. Mary's has two other potential college players in Joe Eroyan and David Talley at the position as well.
Southfield-Lathrup senior Jamal Lyles has committed to Michigan State, while Clarkston might have the best tandem of linebackers in the state, seniors Matt Dellinger and Zach Collins.
Prescott Line of Oxford will play at Southern Methodist as either a linebacker or running back, Brent Zdebski of Walled Lake Western had a state-best 149 tackles last season, while there a couple of probably Division I college linebackers in the junior class, Jon Reschke of Brother Rice and Eddie Huckleby of Harrison.
Trust Koz when he says there are many more. Just look at the top players list in the upcoming football preview section just to see how many outstanding linebackers there will be in the county this fall.

Yesterday was one of the most anticipated days on the high school sports calendar with the first official day of high school football practice. Yes, teams have been conducting camps and scrimmages all summer, but there's still something special about the first official day.
Unfortunately, the excitement didn't seem to be felt by a couple of the state's best players. Kosmo has heard through the grapevine that two of the "Big Three" players at Farmington Hills Harrison, Devin Funchess and Aaron Burbridge, showed up late for the first day of practice on Monday.
Kosmo rarely calls out kids, but this is an exception because Funchess and Burbridge are two big-time recruits who will be playing Division I college football next year.
Funchess is going to Michigan and Burbridge to Michigan State, so talents like these two are held to a loftier standard, especially since they're now senior leaders.
To be fair, there might be a legitimate excuse that Kosmo doesn't know about. If that's the case, then disregard this words and accept an apology from Kosmo.
But still, this is not the way to open up a season and a state title defense to have two senior leaders showing up late to the first day of practice.
That's never a good sign to have two of your best players and leaders do that.
Hopefully the two learned their lesson and make up for it, because their one chance to make an impression on the first day of practice is gone.

The official start of high school football practice is on Monday, and while it's the most exciting time of year for all coaches, it's especially thrilling for the coaches who will be leading their teams for the first time this year.
There are plenty of new faces this year who will hope to either continue the foundation of success that's been laid, or turn a program around.
Birmingham Seaholm has a new coach in Jim Pobursky, who was named the head coach after Nick Deane, the replacement for the head coach of the previous five years, Chris Fahr, died tragically of a heart attack in the summer.
After longtime coach Jim MacDougall turned around yet another program at Berkley, the Bears will welcome in Jeff Burnside to take over after MacDougall retired.
In its fourth year as a program, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian has a new coach in Bill Schaffer.
At Oak Park, legendary coach Greg Carter, who won state championships with Detroit DePorres and helped turn Inkster into a state power, is now the head man for the Knights.
Finally, an old Fox returns to the sidelines. After a three-year hiatus from coaching, Pat Fox is back on the sideline at Milford. He takes over for Jeff Hill, who is the new head coach at Royal Oak.

One of the worst-kept coaching secrets is now official. Ever since Tim Storch announced he was retiring as a teacher in the Troy School District and as soccer coach at Athens back in the spring so he could move to Alpena, Kosmo figured Storch would be landing a coaching gig up there.
Sure enough, he has.
According to a good friend of the Oakland Press, Dan Stickradt of www.northoaklandsports.com, Storch has been named the boys and girls soccer coach at Alpena High School.
Alpena has never been a soccer power, but the K-Man has a feeling that'll change now that the state's best coach is in charge up there.
It's a great hire for Alpena and it's nice to know such a great man like Storch will stay in coaching.

First of all, Kosmo is sorry for his extended absence. Even he needs time away from his cave and to go for an extended cruise in the Kozmobile, particularly in the dead period for high school sports.
Anyway, the K-Man is back and ready to roll and has some breaking news. Weeks after another senior girls basketball player in the Troy district, Troy point guard Karin Moss, announced she was committing to Buffalo, another upcoming senior in the district has made a commitment.
Sinclair Russell of Troy Athens, an outstanding forward/center for the RedHawks, has announced she has committed to Oakland University.
It's a fine catch for OU head coach Beckie Francis and it's always nice to see great local players will indeed stay local.
Now that their commitments are out of the way, here's hoping Russell and Moss will have big senior seasons.