Both Wayland and Hopkins will open their 2017 varsity football seasons on Thursday evening, Aug. 24, but Martin will open Friday, Aug. 25.
Wayland will play play at Grand Rapids Union and Hopkins will play at home against Newaygo in nonconference contests. Martin will be host the following evening to White Cloud in a nonleague ballgame.
Martin is coming off a 4-5 record last year. Both Hopkins and Wayland were 3-6 in 2016. The Vikings defeated Newaygo 38-12 a year ago in their season opener at Davenport University’s field. The Wildcats defeated Union 54-16 in their opener a year ago at home. Martin lost 12-8 in its 2016 season debut at Fennville.
Martin now is part of the Lakeshore Division of the Southwest Athletic Conference, which was restructured after a shakeup last year. The division includes Fennville, Gobles, Galesburg-Augusta, Lawton, Martin and Saugatuck.
Hopkins remains in the O-K Silver Conference and Wayland in the O-K Gold.