BERRIEN SPRINGS, Mich. -- Football is back in Michigan, and week one sees a Berrien County matchup between Berrien Springs and Benton Harbor, two schools separated by less than 20 miles.
Shamrocks head coach Ben Iliff enters his fourth season at the helm for Berrien Springs, enjoying the luxury of experience.
Nearly all of his starters this season saw varsity playing time last year, something Iliff says is already paying dividends.
"We're hopefully where we want to be, and we've got the experience in the right spots, getting the best 11 out there, and getting the best experience for everybody out there," says Iliff.
In addition to experience, Iliff says his team is coming together in all the right ways ahead of their season opener, something that starts before the players even step foot on the field.
"Our culture is starting to come together to the point where it's more player-driven and less coach-driven. We're not all the way to where we want to be yet, but we're taking strides in that respect, and these guys kind of understand that discipline, commitment, toughness are the things that are keys to success in life, not just on the field but in life as well," says Iliff.
Junior quarterback Braelin Hurst is one of the guys who saw action on varsity last year, and it's that experience keeping Hurst confident as his Shamrock squad prepares to kick off the 2026 season.
"It's just a lot of work in the off season, a lot of preparation, a lot of work in the weight room just leading up to this point, getting that experience under my belt. It's just more comforting and slows the game down, I'm ready for a breakout year," says Hurst.
But before Hurst can sling the rock down field, or juke a defender out of their shoes, he has to have time in the pocket. That's where guys like Carson Tripp and the rest of the big boys up front come into play.
"We've been working for years, I've known these guys up front from middle school, we've been working for a long time and we've been able to mesh together really well and develop this chemistry so I'll have no problem leading these guys because this is a great group of guys and being able to pick out fronts and communicate that, we do stuff on the field, off the field together," says Tripp, senior left tackle and defensive tackle.
The Shamrocks and Tigers will kick things off Friday at 7 p.m. from Benton Harbor.