KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Hundreds of Broncos fans lined Michigan Avenue downtown to cheer on the football team as they headed by bus to Ford Field for Friday night’s Mid-American Conference championship game.
They chanted, waved, held up signs and cheered as the buses rolled by headed east. You can view the send-off on the WKZO Facebook page.
Greg Ayers with Discover Kalamazoo organized the event.
The team will not only be playing for the MAC championship, but a chance to play in the Cotton Bowl — one of the big New Year’s six games.
The Broncos arrived safely in Detroit yesterday and coach P.J. Fleck, quarterback Zack Terrell and wide receiver Corey Davis were immediately put in front of microphones for a news conference with the Detroit Media.
It’s news in Detroit, too. For the first time, the MAC has all but sold out Ford Field, selling 46,000 tickets for tonight’s game. That nearly doubles the old record.
It’s pretty heady stuff for a group of students, having the community line Michigan Avenue to see the team off, being met by the state’s media and faced with playing the No. 1 Defense in the conference, Ohio University, in front of a packed NFL stadium.
But Davis said they are ready after a good week of practice. They have their game plan and Davis says they are “going to get after it and go out and do what we do, there is nothing really special about it, we are just going to go out there and be us.”
Terrell said “it’s pretty clear we are going to have our hands full” after watching films of the Bobcats in action.
Fleck often says the Broncos play one at a time, but he also says his players are well aware of where they are.
“They have been through a lot, they understand exactly where they are and how hard it is to get to this point,” Fleck said, elaborating that they’ve been feeling the pressure since they were 1-0 after the Northwestern game.
Western Michigan will be trying to complete a perfect season, and pick up its first MAC football championship since 1988 against perennial MAC East powerhouse Ohio University.
Just as WMU’s Football players are experiencing some of the best days in their young lives, one of the original members of that team has reached a new low. 20-year-old Bryson White finds himself in more legal trouble in Ohio.
He was only with the team for a short time when he and Teammate Ronald George were arrested for home invasion and armed robbery for allegedly stealing cash and marijuana from a woman in her apartment in Kalamazoo.
Now comes word that White has been arrested in Ohio for allegedly assaulting a co-worker, reportedly choking her at a Kohl’s clothing store in West Chester. He was free on bond pending trial for the Kalamazoo charges and may have violated that bond, which was set at $100,000.
