2015 Week 5 Football Playoff Listing
September 22, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Here is a list of Michigan High School Athletic Association football playing schools, displaying their win-loss records and playoff averages through the fourth week of the season.
Schools on this list are in enrollment order for 11-player teams, with 8-player teams ordered by playoff average. An asterisk (*) beside a record indicates a team has eight or fewer games scheduled. A caret (^) beside a school’s name indicates a team is one win away from playoff qualification.
Those schools with 11-player teams with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules, or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer, will qualify for the MHSAA Football Playoffs beginning Oct. 30. Schools with 5-4, 4-3 or 4-4 records may qualify if the number of potential qualifiers by win total does not reach the 256 mark. Schools with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer may be subtracted from the field based on playoff average if the number of potential qualifiers exceeds the 256 mark.
Once the 256 qualifying schools are determined, they will be divided by enrollment groups into eight equal divisions of 32 schools, and then drawn into regions of eight teams each and districts of four teams each. Those schools with 8-player teams will be ranked by playoff average at season’s end, and the top 16 programs will be drawn into regions of eight teams each for the playoff in that division, which also begins Oct. 30.
To review a list of all football playoff schools, individual school playoff point details and to report errors, visit the Football page of the MHSAA Website.
The announcement of the qualifiers and first-round pairings for both the 11 and 8-player playoffs will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 25 on the Selection Sunday Show on FOX Sports Detroit. The playoff qualifiers and pairings will be posted to the MHSAA Website following the Selection Sunday Show.
11-Player Playoff Listing
1. Macomb Dakota, 2921, 3-1, 72.750
2. Grand Blanc, 2727, 3-1, 64.750
3. Utica Eisenhower, 2669, 3-1, 74.500
4. Sterling Heights Stevenson, 2634, 3-1, 66.500
5. Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, 2611, 3-1, 76.500
6. East Kentwood, 2581, 4-0, 94.000
7. Howell, 2567, 4-0, 90.000
8. Detroit Cass Tech, 2285, 4-0, 90.000
9. Northville, 2281, 4-0, 86.000
10. Brighton, 2211, 4-0, 101.111
11. Detroit Catholic Central, 2138, 3-1, 45.167
12. Utica Ford, 2080, 3-1, 68.750
13. Canton, 2076, 4-0, 92.000
14. Monroe, 2066, 3-1, 66.750
15. Lapeer, 2059, 4-0, 80.000
16. Plymouth, 2057, 3-1, 64.500
17. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 2025, 4-0, 84.000
18. West Bloomfield, 1932, 4-0, 92.000
19. Saline, 1879, 4-0, 84.000
20. Livonia Stevenson, 1831, 4-0, 92.000
21. Warren Mott, 1810, 4-0, 94.000
22. Hudsonville, 1763, 3-1, 68.500
23. Belleville, 1735, 3-1, 66.250
24. Romeo, 1673, 4-0, 96.000
25. Grand Ledge, 1663, 4-0, 80.000
26. Walled Lake Northern, 1611, 3-1, 66.750
27. Warren DeLaSalle, 1572, 3-1, 58.750
28. Sterling Heights, 1561, 4-0, 78.000
29. Detroit Martin Luther King, 1537, 4-0, 94.000
30. Warren Cousino, 1514, 3-1, 64.500
31. Waterford Kettering, 1512, 3-1, 62.750
32. Detroit U-D Jesuit, 1486, 3-1, 45.417
33. Traverse City Central, 1474, 4-0, 86.000
34. Walled Lake Western, 1462, 4-0, 98.000
35. Midland, 1419, 4-0, 84.000
36. Lincoln Park, 1363, 3-1, 68.750
37. Portage Central, 1351, 4-0, 95.778
38. Wyandotte Roosevelt, 1346, 3-1, 72.500
39. Detroit East English, 1338, 3-1, 64.750
40. Southfield, 1269, 3-1, 74.750
41. Midland Dow, 1256, 3-1, 62.500
42. Berkley, 1248, 3-1, 54.250
43. Birmingham Groves, 1248, 4-0, 82.000
44. Jackson, 1244, 3-1, 58.250
45. Flushing, 1242, 3-1, 68.500
46. Muskegon Mona Shores, 1239, 4-0, 90.000
47. Farmington Hills Harrison, 1218, 3-1, 64.750
48. Farmington, 1176, 3-1, 70.500
49. Lowell, 1168, 3-1, 72.750
50. Gibraltar Carlson, 1140, 3-1, 62.500
51. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 1124, 4-0, 90.000
52. Muskegon, 1113, 3-1, 76.500
53. Fenton, 1108, 3-1, 68.250
54. Byron Center, 1070, 3-1, 64.750
55. Mt. Pleasant, 1061, 3-1, 70.750
56. Ortonville-Brandon, 1060, 3-1, 64.500
57. Allen Park, 1058, 3-1, 64.500
58. St. Johns, 1053, 3-1, 74.500
59. Zeeland East, 1040, 3-1, 70.500
60. Orchard Lake St. Mary's *^, 1032, 4-0, 90.400
61. St. Joseph, 980, 3-1, 70.500
62. East Grand Rapids, 975, 3-1, 70.500
63. Petoskey, 970, 3-1, 58.250
64. DeWitt, 960, 4-0, 96.000
65. Romulus, 956, 3-1, 62.750
66. Trenton, 953, 4-0, 86.000
67. Linden, 947, 3-1, 66.750
68. Gaylord, 940, 4-0, 76.667
69. Sturgis, 926, 3-1, 54.250
70. Grand Rapids Christian, 905, 3-1, 64.500
71. Haslett, 875, 3-1, 68.500
72. Stevensville Lakeshore, 874, 3-1, 72.750
73. Coldwater, 863, 4-0, 84.000
74. Marshall, 863, 3-1, 64.750
75. Vicksburg, 858, 3-1, 58.750
76. Edwardsburg, 851, 4-0, 74.000
77. Sault Ste. Marie, 850, 3-1, 71.833
78. Chelsea, 845, 4-0, 78.000
79. Zeeland West, 840, 4-0, 82.000
80. Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 828, 4-0, 72.000
81. Milan, 820, 3-1, 60.500
82. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 794, 4-0, 68.000
83. North Branch, 758, 3-1, 54.250
84. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 728, 4-0, 84.000
85. Detroit Country Day, 685, 3-1, 56.500
86. Comstock Park, 682, 3-1, 70.750
87. Detroit Cesar Chavez Academy, 681, 3-1, 40.750
88. Croswell-Lexington, 668, 3-1, 52.750
89. St. Clair Shores South Lake, 668, 4-0, 86.000
90. Hudsonville Unity Christian, 665, 3-1, 48.250
91. Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 658, 3-1, 65.667
92. Williamston, 657, 3-1, 62.500
93. Corunna, 656, 3-1, 56.250
94. Whitehall, 656, 3-1, 64.556
95. Detroit Collegiate Prep, 632, 4-0, 72.000
96. Lake Fenton, 625, 3-1, 50.750
97. Lake Odessa Lakewood, 624, 4-0, 60.000
98. Saginaw Swan Valley, 613, 3-1, 56.500
99. Dowagiac, 611, 3-1, 54.500
100. Flint Powers Catholic, 610, 3-1, 68.500
101. Big Rapids, 609, 4-0, 68.000
102. Richmond, 605, 4-0, 78.000
103. Remus Chippewa Hills, 600, 3-1, 54.500
104. River Rouge, 593, 4-0, 82.000
105. Clawson, 592, 3-1, 44.000
106. Dearborn Heights Robichaud, 573, 4-0, 78.000
107. Freeland, 563, 4-0, 76.000
108. Portland, 563, 4-0, 84.000
109. Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, 556, 3-1, 56.500
110. Southfield Bradford Academy, 550, 3-1, 46.250
111. Ida, 548, 4-0, 74.000
112. Kingsford, 547, 3-1, 59.417
113. Marine City, 540, 3-1, 50.750
114. Muskegon Oakridge, 538, 3-1, 43.833
115. Algonac, 532, 4-0, 68.000
116. Frankenmuth, 529, 4-0, 66.000
117. Olivet, 524, 3-1, 48.000
118. Detroit Henry Ford, 523, 3-1, 44.000
119. Lansing Catholic, 517, 3-1, 60.750
120. Almont, 513, 4-0, 62.000
121. Onsted, 509, 3-1, 44.750
122. Berrien Springs, 495, 4-0, 68.800
123. Parchment, 493, 3-1, 42.000
124. Stockbridge, 493, 3-1, 54.750
125. Ovid-Elsie, 491, 3-1, 56.750
126. Reed City, 491, 4-0, 56.667
127. Grayling, 489, 3-1, 50.750
128. Clinton Township Clintondale, 486, 3-1, 62.750
129. Menominee, 480, 4-0, 76.800
130. Harper Woods, 476, 3-1, 50.500
131. Manistee, 469, 4-0, 68.667
132. Brooklyn Columbia Central, 463, 4-0, 68.000
133. Buchanan, 459, 4-0, 66.000
134. Harrison, 430, 3-1, 50.250
135. Jackson Lumen Christi, 426, 4-0, 80.000
136. Lakeview, 417, 3-1, 48.250
137. Sanford Meridian Early College, 408, 4-0, 66.000
138. Ithaca, 402, 4-0, 62.000
139. Byron, 399, 3-1, 48.500
140. Delton Kellogg, 398, 3-1, 50.500
141. Millington, 398, 4-0, 74.000
142. Montague, 396, 4-0, 60.000
143. Burton Bendle, 393, 3-1, 46.750
144. Oscoda, 391, 3-1, 34.000
145. Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, 389, 4-0, 82.000
146. Negaunee, 385, 4-0, 64.000
147. Maple City Glen Lake, 384, 3-1, 38.500
148. Boyne City, 383, 4-0, 60.000
149. Vassar, 377, 3-1, 38.750
150. St. Louis, 374, 3-1, 44.250
151. Laingsburg, 373, 3-1, 42.750
152. Watervliet, 372, 3-1, 48.750
153. Madison Heights Madison, 367, 3-1, 62.750
154. Manchester, 365, 3-1, 44.750
155. Schoolcraft, 357, 4-0, 64.000
156. Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, 345, 4-0, 64.000
157. Lawton, 342, 4-0, 56.000
158. Vandercook Lake, 341, 4-0, 56.000
159. Clinton, 335, 4-0, 60.000
160. Traverse City St. Francis, 320, 4-0, 68.000
161. Hesperia, 310, 4-0, 58.000
162. Sandusky, 310, 4-0, 56.000
163. McBain, 307, 3-1, 50.750
164. Cass City, 304, 3-1, 40.500
165. Bridgman, 303, 4-0, 60.000
166. Gobles, 301, 3-1, 48.000
167. Marlette, 298, 3-1, 42.500
168. Union City, 298, 3-1, 40.500
169. Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker, 296, 3-1, 44.500
170. Homer, 294, 3-1, 40.500
171. Pewamo-Westphalia, 292, 4-0, 60.000
172. Flint Hamady, 291, 4-0, 54.000
173. Dansville, 289, 3-1, 40.750
174. Saginaw Nouvel, 285, 3-1, 45.417
175. Riverview Gabriel Richard, 284, 4-0, 56.000
176. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 282, 3-1, 46.250
177. Harbor Springs, 281, 3-1, 28.500
178. Flint Beecher, 278, 4-0, 70.000
179. Ishpeming *^, 278, 4-0, 60.000
180. Detroit Loyola, 276, 3-1, 60.750
181. New Lothrop, 276, 4-0, 68.000
182. Saugatuck, 271, 4-0, 56.000
183. Ubly, 271, 3-1, 48.500
184. Cassopolis, 270, 3-1, 40.750
185. Concord, 267, 3-1, 50.500
186. Decatur, 266, 3-1, 44.250
187. Lincoln Alcona, 265, 4-0, 40.000
188. Unionville-Sebewaing, 262, 3-1, 46.750
189. Ottawa Lake Whiteford, 255, 3-1, 36.500
190. Indian River Inland Lakes, 251, 3-1, 38.750
191. Onekama, 250, 4-0, 48.000
192. Petersburg-Summerfield, 240, 3-1, 42.750
193. Beal City, 228, 4-0, 60.000
194. Johannesburg-Lewiston, 226, 4-0, 50.000
195. St. Ignace, 225, 4-0, 48.000
196. Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary, 223, 4-0, 62.000
197. Mayville, 217, 3-1, 40.750
198. L'Anse, 215, 3-1, 50.250
199. Newberry, 211, 3-1, 42.750
200. Pittsford, 211, 3-1, 34.750
201. Vestaburg, 205, 3-1, 36.500
202. Bark River-Harris, 194, 4-0, 54.000
203. Morenci, 191, 4-0, 64.000
204. Munising, 191, 3-1, 43.700
205. Fowler, 183, 4-0, 52.000
206. Adrian Lenawee Christian, 170, 3-1, 28.750
207. Climax-Scotts, 163, 4-0, 48.000
208. Frankfort, 160, 3-1, 46.500
209. Waterford Our Lady, 157, 4-0, 66.000
210. Lake Linden-Hubbell, 155, 4-0, 47.067
211. Colon, 153, 3-1, 36.750
212. Hillman, 146, 3-1, 28.250
213. Bay City All Saints, 118, 3-1, 28.500
8-Player Playoff Listing
1. Rapid River, 111, 4-0, 46.000
2. Owendale-Gagetown, 49, 4-0, 45.333
3. Deckerville, 178, 4-0, 44.000
4. Battle Creek St. Philip, 144, 4-0, 42.000
5. Powers North Central, 198, 4-0, 42.000
6. Posen, 84, 4-0, 40.000
7. Waldron, 88, 4-0, 40.000
8. Cedarville, 144, 3-1, 36.750
9. Webberville, 184, 4-0, 34.000
10. Peck, 152, 3-1, 32.500
11. Lawrence, 189, 4-0, 32.000
12. Morrice, 169, 3-1, 30.750
13. Pickford, 164, 3-1, 28.500
14. Baraga, 164, 3-1, 28.250
15. Portland St. Patrick, 87, 3-1, 26.750
16. Akron-Fairgrove, 99, 3-1, 26.333
17. New Haven Merritt Academy, 148, 3-1, 24.750
18. Stephenson, 186, 2-2, 23.000
19. Marion *, 145, 2-2, 22.583
20. Bellaire, 134, 2-2, 21.500
21. Kingston, 187, 2-2, 21.500
22. Onaway, 196, 2-2, 21.250
23. Engadine, 85, 2-2, 19.250
24. Kinde-North Huron, 147, 2-2, 18.750
25. Tekonsha, 148, 1-3, 12.000
26. Ontonagon, 129, 1-3, 9.750
27. Burr Oak, 75, 1-3, 9.500
28. Caseville, 91, 1-3, 9.500
29. St. Helen Charlton Heston Academy, 108, 1-3, 9.500
30. Eben Junction Superior Central, 123, 1-3, 9.250
31. St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran, 103, 0-4, 2.750
32. Ewen-Trout Creek, 126, 0-4, 2.250
33. Litchfield, 92, 0-4, 2.250
34. Carsonville-Port Sanilac, 120, 0-4, 2.000
35. Big Rapids Crossroads Academy, 190, 0-4, 1.833
36. Flint Michigan School For The Deaf *, 47, 0-3, 1.750
37. Covert *, 91, 0-3, 1.583
38. Hale, 132, 0-4, 1.333
39. Pellston, 170, 0-4, 1.250
40. Brimley, 142, 0-4, 1.000
Vandercook Lake Football Returns, Growing Despite School's Decreased Enrollment
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
September 17, 2024
A few weeks ago, Daniel Midena noticed someone watching his Vandercook Lake football team practice in Jackson.
Upon some quick investigation, he discovered it was a friendly visit.
“I found out it was one of our alumni,” Midena said. “Turns out he just wanted to congratulate our guys on that win. I told our kids, if we do this right, the community is going to support you.”
The Jayhawks had defeated East Jackson 43-28 on Sept. 6 to win their first 11-player varsity football game since 2018.
“I’m just so proud of the kids,” he said. “They put in a lot of hard work. To just experience that win and to know, ‘Yeah, we can do this.’ That was great for the kids. This is what winning feels like. So many people reached out with congratulations – some people that I don’t even know.”
The last winning season for Vandercook Lake was in 2015. It’s been a rocky road since for the football program, which has struggled to field full varsity teams and win games for the last decade. The Jayhawks moved to 8-player football in 2020 in an effort to save the program, but by 2022 the team was down to 10 players or fewer at times. They lost games that fall by scores of 79-0, 58-0, 65-0 and 70-0 before halting the season.
Midena, 32, a physical education and health teacher at Vandercook Lake, has been the architect of the rebuild. A Brooklyn Columbia Central graduate, Midena took over the Vandercook Lake Middle School football program a couple of years ago and saw some success. One of his teams went undefeated.
Once he entered the picture, the team more than doubled its turnout for football, from 11 players in 2022 to 30 players last season. This year he has nearly 40 athletes participating on the varsity and JV.
“We were at rock bottom,” he said. “I said, ‘Let’s see if we can change this. I was able to reach some of the kids in the hallways. We were able to double the numbers. There were a lot of kids who should have been playing. They just expected to lose here and didn’t want to play. I am trying to change that – to get an expect-to-win mentality.”
He’s also teaching the game to some athletes who never had the opportunity to play youth football or learn the game growing up.
“Still today, I’m teaching things I wouldn’t think I would have to,” he said. “From not playing football, some of these just need to be taught the simple rules. Every day we teach the game more than we play it. They must know the game before they can do it. That was a big thing. We’re literally teaching basic rules and schemes.”
Midena has no trouble teaching the rules of the game. He’s officiated basketball, baseball and football for the MHSAA for several years. Last year he was one of the officials for the 11-player Division 4 Final at Ford Field.
“I think that helps big-time with the rule knowledge and teaching the kids,” he said of his referee background.
Most of all, he’s building relationships with a new era of football players at the Jackson County school. When he was asked to take over the program once the school decided to return to 11-player football, he decided to take off his referee hat and pick the coaching whistle. Having coached several of the current varsity players while they were in middle school was an advantage.
“I feel we have done a tremendous amount of growth from last year to this year,” he said. “I had relationships with them; they knew my expectations.
He is now looking to build consistency in the program.
“Most challenging is consistency,” Midena said. “That is our big word. I still fight numbers every day. Monday, we finished the JV game with 11 players, and we won. That is still a problem. The kids have to learn that you have to show up every day for practice. It’s the process over the outcome. You can’t just show up and think we are going to do okay on Friday.
“We’re still trying to drive home to the kids you have to be consistent in everything you do.”
The Jayhawks are focused on building a foundation for football teams of the future. The current team has two seniors, six juniors and more than 30 freshmen and sophomores.
While he hopes there are more wins on this year’s schedule, he is not taking anything for granted.
“We take things on a game-by-game basis,” he said. “Our goal is to go out and compete and see how we are going to do.”
Some players are pulling double duty, participating in cross country or marching band this fall.
“They run in, I give them some details, and they go out and perform in the band. We share athletes in other sports,” he said.
The Vandercook Lake school district is going through a steady decline in enrollment, something Midena says keeps him up at night. In 2008, the high school enrollment was two students shy of 400. This fall, the enrollment is 190.
“I have to keep reaching the kids that we have here,” he said. “I can only concentrate on the kids we have here at the school. That’s what I am going to continue to do – try to get more kids to come out and play football.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Vandercook Lake’s Leland Barton carries the ball against East Jackson this season. (Middle) Jayhawks coach Daniel Midena, middle, high-fives his players. (Photos by Jeff Steers.)