'All Together' Onekama Seeks 1st Football Title
November 16, 2018
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half
ONEKAMA — The Upper Peninsula is soon to be invaded by Portagers.
The village of Onekama, meanwhile, might resemble a ghost town.
A large and loyal following for the Onekama football team is geared up for a trip to the Superior Dome in Marquette, site of Saturday’s 8-Player Division 2 Football Final, where the Portagers (10-2) are taking on Rapid River (9-3) in their quest for the school’s first MHSAA football championship.
“It’s really energized the community,” said Onekama head coach John Neph. “I’m so happy that our local community has responded so well. It means so much to have this special event going on.”
Yard signs and window decorations have sprung up all over town. Residents have stepped forward to find out how they can aid the team during its journey to the championship game, while fans have shown up to games in droves as the team has advanced farther in the postseason, past the likes of Marion (22-6), Brethren (52-0) and Portland St. Patrick (28-14).
“Everyone’s supporting us. The community here is amazing, especially for the football program,” said running back/linebacker Ben Acton. “We had the most people we’ve ever had for our games in the playoffs this year. It’s awesome seeing everybody out there in the stands and after the games.”
The Portagers have given their fans plenty to cheer about. The program had four playoff wins all-time entering this season, and they have nearly doubled that total with this playoff run.
Getting to the championship game wasn’t at the forefront of Onekama’s goals this season, but it hasn’t come as a complete shock, either. The Portagers had five seniors and three top juniors returning to a squad that went 9-2 in 2017.
“We thought we could be pretty good,” said Neph. “Then we had a really good preseason camp, and we got better. We were very pleasantly surprised with the overall development of our players. Our guys have gotten better and better as the season has gone on.”
It’s a squad that has embraced the team aspect of the game. Sure, there are standouts — Acton and junior running back/linebacker Aaron Powers have been playmakers on both sides of the ball, senior Rylan Clarke has led from his tight end position, and senior Wyatt Lawson and junior Wade Sedlar anchor the offensive and defensive lines, respectively — but the Portagers relish functioning as one cohesive unit.
“This isn’t one person’s team. Or the coaches’ team. It’s our team,” said Neph. “It’s all of us together. That has made a huge difference with the morale, and the long run we’ve had. Sometimes at the end of a season you can get tired of going to practice, and I don’t think we’ve ever experienced that. It’s a group of guys that like coming out here, enjoy working with each other. We have some fun, and we’ve been winning, which helps.”
Onekama has proven it can score points, having topped the 50-point plateau four times. The Portagers like to be known as a stout defensive team, though. They’ve backed that up by shutting out four teams this year, not counting two forfeit victories.
“We really take pride in our defense,” said senior defensive back Ben Johnson, one of four defensive players to receive accolades on the all-Midwest Central Michigan Conference West teams. “We’re a defensive team but our offense — when it clicks, it clicks too.”
The Portagers finished third in the West after they had tough losses to league champion Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (28-26) and runner-up Suttons Bay (13-8). Neph felt like the loss to Suttons Bay, which came two weeks before the start of the postseason, ignited Onekama’s push through the playoffs.
“We lost it late in the game on a long pass,” said Neph. “It felt like we were about to win the game, and to have it taken away from us like that, that was tough. I’m extremely proud of our guys. That’s where the upperclassmen stepped forward and said, ‘We lost today, but we’re going to bounce back and keep going.’ I would say that was a significant turning point for us. We got back to work and moved forward from there.”
The Portagers have reeled off four straight wins and whipped the entire school and community into a frenzy.
“It’s great,” Clarke said of the atmosphere at school. “Our math teacher looked at us today and said, ‘I still can’t believe you guys are going to the Finals.’ Our student support is tremendous. For a small community like us, this is great.”
Advancing this deep into the postseason has created a lot of additional planning and extra responsibilities for Neph and his staff, including making arrangements for hotel accommodations, transportation and meals for the team. He wouldn’t want to have it any other way, with the opportunity to win a Finals championship.
“It would just be an unbelievable, historical moment for our school to win the state championship,” he said. “It would be the crowning event of a lot of people putting hours and hours and hours of work into the football program. For the players, it would be the ultimate experience for them. Something that will last the rest of their lives.”
Win or lose, this season and this playoff performance already has created a deep bond among the 18 players on this year’s Onekama squad.
“We’re brothers,” said Clarke. “We’ll probably be brothers for the rest of our lives. We’ll probably all be coaching our kids together when we’re 30 and 40.”
Chris Dobrowolski has covered northern Lower Peninsula sports since 1999 at the Ogemaw County Herald, Alpena News, Traverse City Record-Eagle and currently as sports editor at the Antrim Kalkaska Review since 2016. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Onekama’s Ben Acton (5) finds an opening among four Portland St. Patrick defenders during last week’s Semifinal win. (Middle) Luke Mauntler (7) drags along two Manistee Catholic Central defenders during a Week 6 victory. (Photos courtesy of the Onekama athletic department.)
Zeeland West Reigns Again as Hendricks Sets Pace with Record-Setting Day
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 30, 2024
DETROIT – Keaton Hendricks put his name atop the MHSAA Football Finals record book Saturday, scoring six touchdowns to lead Zeeland West to a 42-22 Division 3 victory against Detroit Martin Luther King.
But following his record-setting performance, the senior back made sure to rattle off the names of as many teammates as he could while dispersing the credit.
“The performance couldn’t have gone without my offensive line, they blocked things up perfectly,” Hendricks said. “Even the backs, Isaac (VanderZwaag), Jonah (Leslie), Brody (Maas) or Brandon (Holman), they carried out their fakes tremendously, and that’s what led to the scores. Also Trey (Sloothaak) on those beautiful throws. He just dropped it right in there.”
Hendricks finished with 129 yards and three TDs on the ground, and had three catches for 25 yards and three scores.
He passed Chelsea’s Lucas Hanifan (Division 4, 2021), Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Nolan Fugate (Division 4, 2017), Saginaw Nouvel’s Bennett Lewis (Division 7, 2011) and Ithaca’s Alex Niznak (Division 6, 2010) who had shared the record with five total touchdowns in a Finals game.
His three receiving TDs are tied for second most in a Finals game with 10 others.
“Honestly, I had no idea until everyone started coming up and screaming at me,” Hendricks said. “I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ When they told me, I was just in shock. But once again, shout out to everybody.”
The title is the fifth in program history for Zeeland West, and first since 2015.
“It’s good to be 5-for-5,” Zeeland West coach John Shillito said. “Before I got here, I was 0-for-3. It’s been good in Zeeland for me. I’m just real proud of these guys. The five is big, but for this group of kids, it’s theirs.”
The Dux (13-1) never trailed, and held at least a two-score lead for much of the game. That had a lot to do with an opportunistic defense, which forced three turnovers, including two in the red zone. But anytime King did break through, it couldn’t find a way to back it up by stopping Zeeland West’s powerful T-formation run game.
“It was very difficult to prepare for that style of offense in four days,” King coach Terel Patrick said. “We have not seen it in probably six years. We went back and looked at some things, I wish we would have had a little bit more time, but nevertheless, hats off. They executed the (heck) out of that offense today. We also had two turnovers in the red zone, and you have to be able to match them possession for possession.”
Zeeland West rushed for 327 yards in the game, averaging seven per carry. It wasn’t just Hendricks, as Sloothaak added 124 yards on 12 carries, and VanderZwaag had 54 yards on his 10 carries.
Much of the damage was done in the first half, as the Dux rushed for 194 yards during the opening 24 minutes. Hendricks had 104 yards and three touchdowns (49, 14 and 30 yards) on nine carries in the first half.
He also had a six-yard touchdown reception on a play that wasn’t designed for him. Sloothaak, the quarterback, rolled and looked to his left, but with all options covered, he made a last-second glance to his right, where Hendricks was all alone. The senior then sprinted untouched into the end zone.
Hendricks scored on a very similar play early in the third quarter, this one coming from 11 yards out and stretching the lead to three scores at 34-14.
“They were supposed to go to Isaac,” Sloothaak said with a laugh. “Coach has been telling us in practice for a few weeks now, we have to be prepared for that, and Keaton executed that well.
The final score was on purpose, as Hendricks set the record with an eight-yard reception from Sloothaak midway through the third quarter.
“I thought I had the film on fast forward, because he’s got some speed,” Patrick said. “Speed is speed. That kid is fast in every league. He outran some angles today and proved he’s a really good football player. I would like to see kids like him get more chances at the next level. That kid’s a ballplayer. I’m glad he was able to get that exposure today on a really big stage, and hopefully he can parlay that into a college scholarship.”
Despite Hendricks’ heroics and its own mistakes, King managed to remain in shouting distance thanks to a pair of second-quarter touchdowns.
The first was set up by a fumble recovery deep in Zeeland West territory, as Michael Dukes scored on a five-yard run.
The second came as the first half clock expired, with Daryl Flemister finding David Calmese for a 10-yard score. Flemister’s two-point conversion run made the score 28-14 heading into the second half.
But shouting distance was as close as King would get. Dukes would score again, on a 14-yard run midway through the third quarter.
He finished with 93 yards rushing on 14 carries. Flemister rushed for 77 yards and was 10-of-18 for 111 yards through the air. Kristian Wheeler led the King defense with nine tackles, while Gregory Keller had eight.
Sloothaak and Tyler Bauman each had six tackles to lead Zeeland West, with Sloothaak also forcing a fumble near the goal line. Hendricks also forced a fumble, while Maas had an interception.
PHOTOS (Top) Zeeland West’s Keaton Hendricks (1) breaks into the open field during his team’s Division 3 championship win. (Middle) The Dux’ Brody Maas (8) closes in on a tackle. (Below) Hendricks pulls away as King’s Kyle Ruff (30) pursues. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)