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Attending to Football

November 29, 2013

The interscholastic football season comes to an end this weekend with the MHSAA Finals at Ford Field, but the most talked about sport in high schools today will continue to make headlines for many months into the future.

Some of the headlines will introduce topics that are merely footnotes compared to what is really most important, that being the efforts to keep school-sponsored football the safest and sanest brand of football in America.

At the center of these efforts has been a task force appointed by the MHSAA to work throughout 2013 to advance these two objectives:  “To promote the value of interscholastic football and to probe for ways to make the sport safer in Michigan.”

The tangible results of the task force’s four meetings are these:

    • A proposal to the MHSAA Representative Council to revise football practice policies to improve acclimatization of players and to reduce head trauma. The proposal goes to the Representative Council Dec. 6 for discussion, then to the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association and MHSAA Football Committee in January and to the MHSAA League/Conference meeting in February, before returning to the Representative Council for action on March 22.

    • Three proposals to the NFHS Football Rules Committee to modify playing rules to promote player safety.

    • A variety of print, online and broadcast promotions on behalf of the value of interscholastic football and its safety record and to encourage healthier out-of-season activities by students in all sports.

MHSAA research informs us that participation in 11- or 8-player football in member high schools this fall was down 3.0 percent compared to 2012, and down 7.63 percent since the 2008 season. The biggest reasons cited by those surveyed are, in declining order, safety issues, declining enrollment, athletes playing other school or non-school sports, cultural changes and pay-to-participate.

It is important to note that participation is not declining everywhere, not even everywhere where enrollments are down and participation fees are up. It is important to note also that some other sports are in much greater decline than football in terms of high school participation.

It is difficult for me to imagine my life without football as a part of it. It’s difficult to imagine schools and communities without football. I very much doubt that the absence of football would have improved my life or the schools and communities I’ve been a part of. It’s a sport that needs our attention, not its extinction.

Highlight Reel: Friday Football Finals

November 26, 2016

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director 

A pair of repeat champions took center stage Friday at the first day of the MHSAA 11-Player Football Finals, powered by the Michigan Army National Guard, at Ford Field in Detroit.

Division 8 

Muskegon Catholic Central 35, Ottawa Lake Whiteford 6

Due to technical difficulties, highlights of this game will be posted at a later date. 

Division 2

Detroit Martin Luther King 18, Walled Lake Western 0 

Finn Hits Thomas for King TD - Late in the first half, Dequan Finn hit Ambry Thomas with a 9-yard touchdown pass for Detroit Martin Luther King.

Tip Drill Turns Into King TD - A tipped ball turned into a pick-six for Detroit Martin Luther King, as Jesse Scarber came up with this second interception of the game returned this one 56 yards for a score. 

More Pick-Six Action By Morton - Detroit Martin Luther King returned a second interception for a score in the fourth quarter when Jay-Veyon Morton took this pick back for a TD.

Division 6

Jackson Lumen Christi 26, Maple City Glen Lake 14 

Lakers Back In The Game - Trailing in the second quarter, Maple City Glen Lake gets back into the Division 6 Final when QB Cade Peterson finds a streaking Nick Rice going down the sideline for 57 yards and a score.

Ring The Bell - Jackson Lumen Christi's Bo Bell came up big with 238 yards rushing. Here's his longest run of the day, a 46-yard jaunt in the third quarter which set up a 3-yard scoring run – his lone TD of the game.

Division 4 

Grand Rapids Catholic Central 10, Detroit Country Day 7

Yellowjackets Score On The Interception - Trailing in the second quarter, Detroit Country Day seized the lead when Roy McCree intercepted a pass and returned it 82 yards for a score. 

Finding Its Offense At The Right Time - Early in the fourth quarter, Grand Rapids Catholic Central gets its lone first down of the Division 4 title game on this 44-yard pitch-and-catch from Jack Bowen to Michael Brown.

The MHSAA Football Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard. 

PHOTO: Detroit Martin Luther King players hoist the Division 2 championship trophy Friday at Ford Field.