Pioneers Find Winning Way Again, Edge Forest Hills Eastern

By Jason Schmitt
Special for MHSAA.com

June 12, 2021

HOWELL — If East Grand Rapids senior Ted Campbell was the difference-maker for the Pioneers during the MHSAA Division 2 Final on Saturday, junior Jack Higgins had to be the answer.

Campbell scored three early goals to help East Grand Rapids build a 4-1 lead, and Higgins scored two key goals to help his team fend off comeback attempts by Ada Forest Hills Eastern during the Pioneers’ 12-10 victory.

“I think I was just in the right spot at the right time,” Higgins said. “The coaches had us going through our offense, and the ball came to me and the opportunity presented itself. I just finished.”

The first of his two goals came in the opening minutes of the second half. Forest Hills Eastern had trimmed the lead to 4-3 thanks to scores by seniors John Morgan and Kevin Sprague. Higgins scored unassisted to build the lead back to two.

Late in the third quarter, with the Hawks again applying pressure after cutting the lead to 8-6 on a goal by senior Nicholas Mesler, it was Higgins who once again stepped up and scored to make it a three-goal game.

“The coaches drill it into our minds that there are going to be ups and downs throughout the game and we just need to keep our composure, play our game and we’ll come out on top,” Higgins said after the game.

Ada Forest Hills Eastern lacrosseThe Pioneers weathered a couple more Hawks rallies in the fourth quarter. This time it was Campbell who answered the call. He scored the first two goals of the final period — giving him six for the game. Forest Hills Eastern would not get within two goals after that point.

“I just try to get everyone fired up to play every day and make things as fun as possible,” said Campbell, who finished the day with six goals. “If helping the team win means scoring goals, that’s what I’m going to do.”

The state championship was the Pioneers’ third since the 2017 season, but the first for Campbell, who was on the junior varsity team the last time his school won a title in 2018.

“It feels amazing. It was an underwhelming season in 2019 — to say the least,” he said. “We thought we had a chance last year, then the season got canceled. We had no chance, so to even just be out here on this field — let alone win it — feels so great. This is the best way to bounce back.”

Morgan finished with a team-high three goals for Eastern (15-6), which also finished runner-up in 2019. Mesler and Sprague finished with two goals apiece for the Hawks, while Samuel Bowen, Kaden Dietrich and Preston Hoexum scored one. Senior George Hoexum made six saves in goal.

Mason Margherio had three goals and two assists for East Grand Rapids, which finished the season (20-2). Kase Vandermolen also scored for the Pioneers. Junior goalie Adam Hall made 10 saves to get the win for EGR, which also beat Eastern 7-6 in their early-season matchup.

“They’re a different team. We’re a different team,” EGR interim head coach Adam Brant said. “We’ve made changes since we watched that film from a month and a half ago. I’m pretty pleased with our overall effort. I think that’s what it came down to, hustle.

“This team is just so resilient. They’re just an incredible group of guys. This is a testament to the players. I’m just so happy for them. I can’t think of a group of guys who deserve it more.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS: (Top) East Grand Rapids players celebrate during Saturday’s Division 2 championship game. (Middle) A pair of players work to gain possession.

Wolves Lacrosse Growing, Gaining While Providing Opportunities to Play

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

May 5, 2025

Eric Anderson has been sure to make the branding of his lacrosse program more representative of the make-up of his team.

Bay & ThumbThe team is under the supervision of the Bay City Central athletic department, as BCC is the primary school in the cooperative that draws players from four schools total. But while the team also carries BCC’s mascot, the Wolves, their uniforms are black, purple and grey, and their helmets white – with those color choices making “Wolves lacrosse” more a representation of the breakdown of its players: 12 from Bay City Central, 12 from Frankenmuth, two from Freeland and two from Saginaw Swan Valley.

While the players outside of Bay City Central appreciate the gesture, they’re much more appreciative of the opportunity.

“Lacrosse being my favorite sport, I didn’t really have a choice. If there wasn’t a team, I couldn’t play,” Frankenmuth senior Aidan Hubbard said. “With this opportunity, it brings a lot of joy to me, playing the sport I love, and I didn’t have to just quit it because there wasn’t a team. 

“I’m going to be honest, (the branding is) not really (important). As long as I’m playing, I don’t care what our team name is. We’re wearing the purple and playing on this field.”

The identity is important to Anderson, who built the team by going the co-op route following the pandemic. His first season as coach was set to be the spring of 2020, but a promising roster of more than 30 players never got to see the field.

By the time he was able to coach a game in 2021, that number was down to 14.

“I reached out to my AD and said that we have to do something different; we need a co-op,” Anderson said. “My son was coming in as a freshman, and I knew we had a couple lacrosse players who are hockey players at Frankenmuth High School. We reached out to Frankenmuth, and Frankenmuth grabbed a hold right away. … Between the parents and myself, we have not had a single issue. Everything has been absolutely seamless. We treat it as one. This is a Bay City Central lacrosse team. Bay City Central pays for it. But our colors are black, purple and grey, even though Central is purple and gold. We refer to it as Wolves lacrosse.”

Anderson’s son, Maveric, attends Bay City Central, and was part of that first co-op team, as were Hubbard and John Britton, who both attend Frankenmuth. 

All three are now seniors, along with Frankenmuth’s Caleb Morgan, who joined as a sophomore and is in his third year with the program.

“It’s very unique,” Morgan said. “Because it’s not people you see every day in school. You only get to see these guys this time during the year, so it’s like a very unique experience catching up after the year is over and everybody comes back after a whole year of not seeing each other.”

Maveric Anderson (8) pursues a loose ball Saturday against East Kentwood. With that backbone, the team has grown to its current number of 28, nearly to the point where Anderson can create a junior varsity squad.

“The program really wasn’t too much in the past years,” Hubbard said. “Now, it’s kind of like getting a little jumpstart. Even kids over in Frankenmuth, everyone in Frankenmuth is talking about it. It’s kind of hot in Frankenmuth right now. Lots of younger kids are wanting to play.”

It helps that the Wolves are translating those numbers into success.

Heading into tonight, the Wolves are 8-4 on the season and have won eight of their past 10 games.

Not only have they already set a school record for wins, they’re on their way to doubling the number of wins they had (five) over the previous three years combined.

“We have a bunch of younger kid stepping into roles that they’ve never really played before,” Britton said. “I kind of figured that sooner or later we’d get enough kids to put on a lacrosse field and win some games.”

It’s something Anderson could see coming, as the team had been getting more and more competitive. And, despite the fact they were consistently scheduled as a team’s ceremonial Senior Night, they weren’t making it easy for the opposition.

“This group of guys would compete in every single game,” Anderson said. “We would just lose because, in the fourth quarter, we’d run out of gas. We didn’t have enough players. We’ve been everybody’s Senior Night for the last number of years. Last year, we watched all these teams graduating 18 kids, 16 kids, all these kids, and we graduated one. You believe that these kids, they’ve kept receipts.”

Now, Anderson is seeing his senior-led team – there are 13 on the Wolves roster – not only winning more games, but controlling them. 

“You know where I see (the improvement), I see it offensively, where we’re finally able to handle the ball, make passes, and control the ball in the offensive zone,” Anderson said. “We’re not always having to be on the run and backtracking. We’re able to get the ball in the zone, maintain an offensive possession and get a quality shot.”

The Wolves already have attained the goals Anderson had set for his team, as they’re competing night in and night out and have shown massive improvement year over year. 

For the players, they simply want to keep doing that – and building up the program for which they’ve laid the foundation.

“We’ve kind of just been building,” Hubbard said. “We’ve had our little group, and it’s just been building up and everyone here has stuck it through, so I think we all deserve it. Coaches, too. They stuck it through while we were one of the worst, if not the worst, lacrosse teams in Michigan.”

Paul CostanzoPaul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Wolves lacrosse players celebrate a win this season. (Middle) Maveric Anderson (8) pursues a loose ball Saturday against East Kentwood. (Photos by Shae Lauwers/Moments by Shea.)