Plymouth put up 34 first-half points and beat Novi 55-30 on the road Friday, Oct. 9, to improve to 4-3 on the season.

The win was the Wildcats' highest-scoring game of 2026, topping their 40-28 season-opening win over Monroe, according to the team's MaxPreps schedule. The Plymouth Football account posted on X that the Wildcats led 34-0 at halftime.

Novi scored 30 second-half points but could not erase the deficit.

The victory snaps a two-game skid after Plymouth lost 49-14 to Northville on Sept. 25 and 43-37 to Crestwood on Oct. 2.

Playoff picture

MHSAA playoff selection is Sunday, Oct. 25, according to the association’s football page.

Penn's first-year turnaround

The season has been a turnaround under interim head coach Matt Penn, who took over in July after Greg Souldourian resigned about six weeks before the opener. Souldourian went 14-38 in six seasons before accepting a teaching job in another district. Athletic director Chaka Johnson promoted Penn, then the defensive coordinator, to lead the program, Hometown Life reported.

Penn, who also works as Plymouth's head of maintenance and has been on the football staff since 2016, spoke in July about what drew him back to coaching when he was named interim head coach. "Flag took me back to the purity of football," Penn told Hometown Life, referring to his experience coaching flag football in the spring. He said that experience renewed his enthusiasm for leading the boys’ team.

The Wildcats opened 3-1 before the losses to Northville and Crestwood.

Around the PCEP campus

Salem also won Friday, Oct. 9, beating Westland John Glenn 15-8, per True North Radio Network scores. Canton fell to Dearborn Fordson 35-13.

This is Plymouth's final season in the KLAA before the Wildcats move to the Southeastern Conference in 2027-28 as part of a league merger. Northville and Novi will leave for the Oakland Activities Association.

Plymouth hosts Belleville on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m., according to MaxPreps.