2011 8-Player Final: Carsonville-Port Sanilac Wins Inaugural Title
December 16, 2011
MARQUETTE – Carsonville-Port Sanilac sophomore Dan Rickett emerged from his team’s final huddle of this season, pulled close to an assistant coach and said, “This one says MHSAA this time.”
His Tigers also celebrated a championship last season – a perfect season in fact, but unofficial title because the MHSAA has not yet instituted playoffs for the now 3-year-old sport.
This year, the first playoffs were held. And that made Friday’s 59-20 win over Rapid River at the Superior Dome – and the trophy C-PS then received – mean so much more.
The Tigers are the first MHSAA 8-player football champions.
“All the people saying last year was nothing, this will shut them up,” C-PS senior quarterback Hayden Adams said. “It means a lot more because we actually had to make a run in the playoffs. It’s that much harder, and we had to play that much better every game.
“I think we topped it off at the end of the season.”
A total of 1,433 fans – most wearing Rapid River’s purple and yellow – cheered on the teams in the inaugural game. C-PS finished 12-1 overall to move to 21-1 in coach Tim Brabant’s two seasons. The Rockets finished 11-2 in their first season of 8-player.
The sport was added by the MHSAA in 2009 to provide another option for schools with enrollments so small they had difficulty fielding an 11-player squad. Playoffs were added this season after the necessary 20 schools announced they’d be sponsoring 8-player teams.
That was not lost on either team, even for Rapid River in the loss. The Rockets had won one game each of the last two seasons playing 11-player teams.
“We had never played in the postseason at all since I’ve been here,” Rapid River senior running back Jacob Berglund said. “To make it this far, it’s awesome.”
Offense has reigned in the early stages of the MHSAA 8-player game. The Final kept to that standard.
The teams combined for 901 yards. Adams completed 12 of 17 passes for 324 yards and five touchdowns, and ran for 130 more yards and two scores. Two of his scoring passes were to his brother Trevor Adams, also a senior, including a 43-yarder on the second play of the game. Rickett ran for 78 yards and a touchdown on five carries, and also caught six passes for 133 yards and two scores.
The Tigers jumped out to a 19-0 lead and pushed it to 27-6 by the end of the first quarter. But in 8-player football, a 21-point advantage generally is not a safe one.
Rapid River outscored C-PS in the second quarter to get within 39-20 by halftime. After completing just one pass during the first quarter, Rockets sophomore quarterback Jake Pearson threw for 144 yards and two scores during the second.
But then something somewhat unimaginable happened. The Tigers held the Rockets scoreless the rest of the game.
“At halftime we made some adjustments on what we should do when they motioned. We picked it up real fast,” said C-PS senior linebacker Steven Koehler, who finished with a game-high 20 tackles, including 12 solos.
“I think that the fact they had 10 seniors, and the speed. They’re a year older, two years older in some cases,” Rapid River coach Steve Ostrenga listed as reasons his team had difficulties. “You get two more years of development in that respect as far as strength, and their speed was noticeable. I think that was the big key, their speed.”
Half of C-PS’s players were seniors who had served large roles on this and last season’s teams.
“It’s very fun to watch when we have a group of kids who are that athletic, hard working, and very polite. It’s hard for me to send these guys off,” Brabant said. “I get emotional just thinking about it. But … I know they’re going to be very successful in life.”
The Rockets, meanwhile, graduate just seven players, and also had seven freshmen and three sophomores this fall. Said Pearson, “It was a great learning experience. We know what we have to do for next year now.”
“Now all the teams are going to see what we do,” Adams said. “And they’re going to start doing all the things we do.”
Youngest Brother Bryan Closing Convertini Family's Memorable 13-Year Run at MCC
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
May 8, 2025
Bryan Convertini is nearing the end of an amazing four-year athletic career for Muskegon Catholic Central, but this swan song is not just about him.
Bryan is the last of the four “Convertini boys” at MCC, who collectively have provided Crusaders fans with plenty of big plays and thrilling wins – doing it all with their humble, no-nonsense leadership style – over the past 13 years.
“The Convertinis have really become the first family of Muskegon Catholic Central,” said MCC baseball coach Steve Schuitema, noting their father, Kolin, is an assistant varsity football coach and their mother, Jene, has served as the team mom for baseball and football for years.
“It will be different and a little sad to not have a Convertini out there for MCC anymore. All of them were leaders and a coach’s dream and really an extension of the coach on the field.”
Mason, 26, graduated in 2017 and set the sports tone for his three brothers, playing football, hockey as part of MCC’s cooperative team with Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, and baseball.
Nolan, 23, graduated in 2020 and, at 6-foot-2, is the tallest of the brothers. He played the same three sports as Mason, and was the most versatile of the boys, playing almost every position in football, including starting two games at quarterback.
Sam, 21, graduated in 2022, and also played football, hockey and baseball, but he opted to play basketball his senior year so he could play with his younger brother, Bryan.
Bryan, 18, will graduate June 1 after a standout, three-sport career, including the past three years as the starting varsity quarterback, before beginning college this fall at Grand Valley State.
“My memories at MCC go way back to when I was like 6 or 7 and the waterboy in football and the batboy in baseball,” said Bryan with a smile.
“The first word that comes to mind when I think about it is family. The whole school is like a big family that pushes and supports each other.”
Grandpa’s boys
The Convertini boys come from good stock, starting with their grandfathers.
On their mother’s side is Grandpa Bryan McLay who, at the age of 87, is still considered “Mr. Hockey” in Muskegon.
McLay, a Kenora, Ontario, native who first came to Muskegon in 1960 (the same year that the downtown hockey arena opened), tallied more than 1,000 points over his 13 seasons with the Muskegon Zephyrs and later, the Mohawks.
McLay moved in with the family after his wife, Peggy, died four years ago, and regularly regales his grandsons with his “old-time hockey” stories.
Jene picked up her father’s passion for sports and has been a natural in the Crusaders’ “team mom” role – organizing meals, carpools, fundraisers and sending out emails for game and schedule changes, among other things.
On their father’s side is Grandpa Fred Convertini, a California native who played in the 1966 Rose Bowl as an offensive lineman at Michigan State – as part of what is considered the top offensive line in MSU history.
Kolin certainly inherited his father’s athletic ability, making first-team all-state in football (running back), wrestling and track & field (pole vault) during his senior year of 1989-1990. He went on to play defensive back at Eastern Michigan University.
He also picked up his father’s humility and toughness, the latter which was put to the test in 2014 when he was diagnosed with cancer.
“Kolin’s cancer really brought us together as a family,” explained Jene. “We didn’t know how long we had, and we decided we weren’t going to do travel sports any more. I didn’t want to be in Chicago and Kolin in Detroit for the weekend and then we say hi on the way out the door to work on Monday morning. We decided to spend more time together.”
Like their grandfathers and father, all four of the Convertini boys were known for their dependability, rarely if ever missing games due to sickness or injury.
In fact, Bryan suffered an injury in the opening football game of his junior season, then played the remaining 10 games on what was later determined to be a broken left ankle – and, by the way, he earned first-team all-state as a defensive back with five interceptions.
“It hurt so bad,” Bryan said, shaking his head. “But I needed to be out there. My team needed me to be out there.”
Home cooking
The Convertini house in Norton Shores has been a gathering place for MCC athletes for years.
It all started when the boys were little, wrestling between the couches and shooting pucks at the walls in the basement.
Later on, that basement became the annual meeting spot for the MCC football team for “Selection Sunday,” when the team would learn its draw for the postseason playoffs.
Mason and Nolan, the two older boys, certainly enjoyed the most team success. Mason was part of three straight Division 8 championship football teams from 2014 to 2016. Nolan, meanwhile, played in three national championship games (with two titles) as a member of the Hope College men’s club hockey team.
The two younger boys had less team success, in large part because MCC really started struggling with numbers, but Sam and Bryan certainly did all they could and were rewarded with individual accolades.
Sam was the first of the brothers to make first-team all-state, earning the honor as a tight end in 2021. Bryan did one better, making all-state twice – after his junior year as a defensive back and his senior year as an “athlete” for his contributions all over the field.
Bryan also made first-team all-state last year in baseball, batting .478 as an outfielder.
In football, he rose above his broken ankle as a junior to rush for more than 800 yards and 11 touchdowns. In a win over Benton Harbor, he had a rushing TD, a passing TD, a receiving TD and returned an interception for yet another TD. This past fall as a senior, he threw for 880 yards and rushed for 621, while making a team-high 81 tackles in his first year at linebacker.
But when asked about the individual highlight of his football career, he doesn’t hesitate.
“That would have to be my freshman year, when I threw a halfback pass to my brother (Sam) for a touchdown,” recalled Bryan, noting a play that occurred in a victory over Muskegon Heights Academy during what ended as the 500th win in MCC football history.
Going out with a bang
Bryan hopes to tack on some additional highlights over the next month of baseball season, effectively writing a happy ending to the Convertini novel.
The Crusaders’ baseball team is off to an 11-4 start after a home sweep of Byron Center Zion Christian on Tuesday, during which MCC pitchers allowed just one run over two games.
Bryan is currently batting .375 while playing the critical position of shortstop, out of need, since he is a natural outfielder.
He would love to have a repeat of his freshman year, when he batted leadoff and helped the Crusaders to District and Regional championships. MCC had won 11 straight Districts before falling short last spring, so he said avenging that District loss is a major priority.
That would also be an appropriate ending after an uncharacteristic football season when the young Crusaders (who started three 14-year-old freshmen on the offensive line) finished 1-7.
Things went much better in basketball, as Bryan teamed with all-stater Bradley Richards to help MCC to an 11-10 record, its first winning season in six years.
Through winning or losing, MCC football coach Steve Czerwon said the strong Catholic faith of the Convertini family is always front and center.
The family will gather to celebrate in early September, when Mason and his fiancée, Sophie, get married at St. Michael’s Church in Muskegon. That is about the same time that Bryan will be off to Grand Valley, and Czerwon and the MCC football program will begin the post-Convertini era.
“Bryan and all of his brothers have an inner strength which sets them apart,” said Czerwon, who took over as MCC’s head coach in 2013, which was Mason’s freshman year. “All of them respect authority and they want to learn and get better, which is all that you can ask.
“It’s been a pleasure working with their family. We are all going to miss them.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Muskegon Catholic Central’s Bryan Convertini takes a look down the third-base line during a baseball at bat. (2) The four Convertini boys take a photo together after one of Bryan’s football games in 2023. From left: Sam, Bryan, Mason and Nolan. (3) Convertini brings the ball upcourt during basketball season. (4) Convertini (22), stands for the national anthem this past fall. (Baseball and basketball photos by Michael Banka. Football photo by Tim Reilly. Family photo courtesy of Jene Convertini.)