'Battle for the Bell' Rings for 110th Tilt
October 5, 2016
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
The Whitehall vs. Montague football game actually begins on Thursday night far away from any football field, with a huge crowd from each town, bands, cheerleaders, players, coaches and school officials.
For the coin toss.
In a scene reminiscent of a Revolutionary War battle, the aforementioned delegations marched toward each other on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 22, and met – Whitehall in red and Montague in blue – on the bridge over the White River, which separates the two northern Muskegon County towns.
No shots were fired or punches thrown, but simply a coin was tossed high in the air by veteran MHSAA official Chuck Hulce (who, by the way, coached Montague from 1969 to 1977 and then Whitehall from 1979 to 1981) and the 110th edition of the “The Battle for the Bell” was underway.
“This is something I’ve been dreaming about my whole life – playing Whitehall, the cross-town rival where I know everyone, my senior year,” said Montague senior wide receiver Josh Weesies. “It’s huge for me. We’ve been grinding all summer just thinking about this game.”
Montague, with a population of 2,361 and covering 3.27 square miles, boasts the World’s Largest Working Weathervane and 1961 Miss America Nancy Fleming – and boasted a 59-48-2 edge in the all-time series over Whitehall heading into this year’s game.
Whitehall, with a population of 2,706 and covering 3.79 square miles, counters with the historic Howmet Playhouse and 11-year Major League Baseball player and Gold Glove winner Nate McLouth, who quarterbacked the Vikings to back-to-back wins in the series in 1998 and 1999.
The game has always been about bragging rights, but this year’s clash was much more. For the first time since 1985, both teams came into the game undefeated and both were state-ranked. Whitehall was 4-0 and ranked eighth in the Associated Press Division 4 poll, while Montague was also 4-0 and ranked sixth in Division 5.
The pre-game festivities on Sept. 22 were all about White Lake area unity as the two communities came together for a “Pink Out” event to raise money for St. Jude’s Hospital and the fight against cancer – and the marching bands even performed together on the field before the game.
Then it was time to take sides.
“This rivalry is very special for me,” said Whitehall senior quarterback Casey Huizenga. “I know all the Montague kids. We’re friends, but during this game we’re going all out.”
Huizenga and Whitehall actually struck first in the game, which was played on a perfect early fall night in front of 5,000 fans at Montague.
Whitehall junior Tylor Russell returned the opening kickoff deep into Montague territory, setting up a 1-yard plunge by Huizenga for a quick 6-0 Vikings’ lead.
But it didn’t take long for Montague’s myriad offensive weapons to come out. On the ensuing possession, Montague senior quarterback Dylan Stever (good friends with Huizenga, incidentally) connected with junior Jake Jancek on a 16-yard touchdown pass to tie the score.
Jancek was the first of six Wildcats to score touchdowns in the game, which featured 40 points in the first quarter alone, with Montague holding a 27-13 edge. Also scoring for the Wildcats were junior Eddie Caviedes, sophomore Bryce Stark, Weesies, sophomore Kenyon Johnston and Stever.
The difference in the game was Montague’s defense completely shutting down the Whitehall offense after the first quarter.
Whitehall’s only score after the first 12 minutes was a 90-yard interception return by junior Justin Brown in the fourth quarter, which completed the scoring in a decisive 41-20 Montague victory. The night ended with fans heading for their cars and the Wildcats ringing the red, white and blue victory bell for the ninth time in the last 11 years.
“It’s fun to be here with the whole community at one game,” said 13th-year Montague coach Pat Collins, who played quarterback and led the Wildcats to the 1992 Class CC championship game at the Pontiac Silverdome, where they lost to Detroit dePorres, 12-7. “It’s a real special moment every year up here.”
Collins has turned Montague into a state football powerhouse, as it’s made the MHSAA Playoffs in 11 of his first 12 seasons as head coach. What is more impressive is what his teams have done once they get there. Montague made it at least to the third round of the playoffs eight straight years from 2004 to 2011, at least to the Semifinals five straight years from 2005 to 2009 and won back-to-back Division 6 championships in 2008 and 2009.
Montague (5-1), which was upset by North Muskegon in the rain on Sept. 30, is heavily favored at Hart this week, which would set up a showdown at Muskegon Oakridge (5-1) on Oct. 14 for the West Michigan Conference title. For the playoffs, Montague’s enrollment has increased to 414 and the Wildcats are now considered a “bubble team” which could end up in either Division 5 or Division 6.
Whitehall (4-2), a larger school with 654 students, could clinch its third-straight Division 4 playoff berth with two wins over its final three games, starting with this week’s showdown at Ravenna (4-2).
While Montague has been a model of stability with just two head football coaches during the past 31 years (Ken Diamond from 1986 to 2003 and Collins from 2004 to present), Whitehall has been just the opposite.
The Vikings have had five different head coaches since 2002, but it appears they have found their man in Dewitt native Tony Sigmon, who has a 19-9 record over the past three seasons after a 1-8 start in his first season in 2013.
For Sigmon, the first step to competing for West Michigan Conference titles and MHSAA playoff victories is being able to consistently go toe-to-toe with rival Montague.
“This game, this rivalry is what high school football is all about,” Sigmon said. “It’s a game that has become a huge community event, and it drives both teams to keep getting better.”
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) Montague players gather to ring the trophy bell after Montague defeated Whitehall, 41-20, in the "The Battle for the Bell." (Middle) Montague junior Jake Jancek elevates to grab this 16-yard touchdown pass from Dylan Stever in the first quarter, while Whitehall's JoJo Dowdell defends. (Below) The Whitehall and Montague bands performed together before the big game between the two northern Muskegon County schools. (Photos by Tim Reilly.)
Champion Coaches - Including Local Legends - Unite to Restore Ravenna Glory
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
October 8, 2026
RAVENNA – Whether they want to or not, Ravenna seniors Joel Kantola and Colton Rolison hear about the glory days of Bulldogs football from their fathers.
Kantola’s dad, Brandon, watches old games from the 1994 season when he was a two-way starter on Ravenna’s first MHSAA Finals championship team.
“He can’t remember very well, but he’ll see a play and he’s like, ‘Oh, I remember doing that play!’” Joel Kantola said. “It’s one of the best things to hear something (from that era). He loves it, too.”
Rolison’s dad, Willy, shares memorable stories from back in the day when he was a dynamic running back on the Bulldogs’ 1997 Class C title squad.
“It’s just insane that he still has all these stories that I’ve never heard. He’s still bringing them up, new ones every day,” Colton Rolison said with a smile.
Three decades have passed since the 1990s heyday of Ravenna football, when the Bulldogs won three of their program’s four Finals titles. But in the small town located on the eastern edge of Muskegon County, the band is back together, one might say.
Steve Czerwon was hired in March as Ravenna’s head football coach, coming from a highly successful 13-year tenure at his Muskegon Catholic Central alma mater where he guided the Crusaders to Division 8 championships all of his first four seasons (2013-16).
One of Czerwon’s first orders of business in Ravenna was securing the commitments of legendary coaches Dusty Fairfield and Randy Helsen – architects of the Bulldogs’ championship teams in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2003 – to bring their wisdom and serve as a link from the storied era to this current one.
They agreed, others from the old guard hopped aboard, and a couple more experienced coaches joined Czerwon’s staff. Now, entering the final third of the 2026 regular season, the Bulldogs appear to have regained a little traction despite coming off three straight losing campaigns.
Ravenna carries a 5-1 overall record and five-game winning streak into this Friday’s West Michigan Conference Rivers home game against Hesperia.
Next week, Ravenna plays at North Muskegon with at least a share of the WMC Rivers title on the line. Should the Bulldogs win this Friday, they’ll take on the Norsemen for the outright league championship.
Since the WMC expanded and split into two divisions in 2022, North Muskegon has not lost a Rivers football game. Meanwhile, Ravenna has not won a conference title since sharing one with two teams in 2001.
In their football history, the Bulldogs have as many Finals titles as they do conference championships (four), illustrating the enduring strength of the West Michigan Conference.
This pack is hungry to etch its own history: Winning a conference title and making a run in the Division 7 playoffs. But, as Helsen laid out, there’s a price to pay.
“Steve addressed the fact (with the players),” Helsen recalled. “‘You wanted these guys to come back and you wanted what they had in the ’80s through the ’90s into the 2000s, and what it’s going to take is every effort you’ve got and even take it up from where you are. If you want to leave a legacy, that’s what you have to do. These guys (have) a legacy.’”
When Helsen says “these guys,” he’s referring to Fairfield and himself, but also other connections from the days of Ravenna football prominence.
In 20 seasons as Ravenna’s head coach covering two stints – the second ending in 2010 – Fairfield sported a 164-55 record. He’s a Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Famer.
Helsen served as Ravenna’s defensive coordinator for all of those seasons, and then some. He and Fairfield are both Ravenna Athletic Hall of Famers, their plaques side-by-side on the wall of the high school’s athletic wing.
Fairfield and Helsen are both retired and they’re volunteer assistants on Czerwon’s staff. They are not at every practice, but they fill critical roles: The former works with the secondary and quarterbacks, plus he’s on the headset in the press box on game days, while the latter coaches defensive linemen.
“They have so much knowledge, and I think it really does connect the past to the current,” said Czerwon, who did his student teaching at Ravenna in the early 2000s and was a member of the Bulldogs coaching staff during their most recent state title season in 2003. “A lot of kids here, they heard from their uncles and their fathers about some really good teams that Ravenna had in the ’90s and early 2000s, and those guys are the actual link.
“I talk to Dusty daily, and he just reinforces the importance of relationships you have with the kids,” Czerwon added. “He’s second to none at that, and it reinforces to me the importance of that.”
Geoff Nelson, who was a starting lineman on Ravenna’s 1994 team, coaches the offensive line. Neil Sladick, who helped the Bulldogs win Finals titles in 1996 and 1997, works with linebackers. Mark Jacobs, who starred on Ravenna’s first Finals group in 1988, helps coach defensive backs.
Canaan Groff is Ravenna’s defensive coordinator, and Nate Smith specializes in offense. Both bring experience to the table, including as head coaches. Czerwon, Groff, Sladick, and Smith all work in Ravenna school buildings, which is an advantage for coaches.
“I think that we’re bringing back a lot of accountability. I think we don’t settle,” Nelson said about Ravenna’s coaching staff. “This has been a great group. We had to break a lot of bad habits, but they’re starting to form new habits and starting to go in the right direction.”
Ravenna got a reality check to start the season in a 33-7 loss to Division 8 top-ranked Beal City, a perennial small-school power. Czerwon admitted he may have asked too much of his players right away in terms of new schemes and such.
Since then, the Bulldogs have exhibited gradual improvement, including winning a couple of one-point games, and now they’re starting to establish an identity of physical football. That was at its peak in last week’s 28-0 win at Mason County Central, which by the way is coached by Ravenna alumnus David Smith, a former Bulldogs head coach who was a member of Class C championship teams in 1994 and 1996.
Things are moving in the right direction for Ravenna.
“There hasn’t really been a lot of drama or anything like that. We love each other. That wins games,” said Rolison, a linebacker who suffered a fractured collarbone in Week 3. Chances of a return this season are up in the air, he said.
“(The coaches have all) worked together before and nobody motivates like Dusty Fairfield – there’s not a single person out there who does,” Rolison added. “Coach Randy Helsen, he knows his stuff. He knows more than I probably ever will about football.”
According to Helsen, getting to know young people at the ground level is Fairfield’s specialty: Types of music they like, their hunting spots, etc.
In terms of accountability, everybody is responsible for that.
“We get after them if they’re not getting it done,” Helsen said. “Kids that were not getting after it five, six weeks ago and kind of rolling their eyes at me when I’m coaching them on scout defense, they’re now in the starting lineup. I said, ‘You’re getting coached by a guy that coached defense here for 27 years. I’m giving you the same coaching that our all-staters and all-conference players got.’”
Fairfield’s goal in returning was to help lay building blocks for current and future success. He believes the overall health of football in Ravenna is strong considering participation numbers from high school to youth levels, especially at a time when similarly small communities across the state are canceling varsity seasons or not fielding enough players to form junior varsity squads.
“It’s been a good experience, and it’s made me realize, you know, what we did in the past really meant something, and it made me realize how hard we worked because I’m totally invested in the team right now. It is fun with the camaraderie with not just the boys but also the coaches,” Fairfield said.
“You know, it’s my last hurrah where I get to experience what I did for a living for over 30 years. I get to experience it one more time before I, you know, go off into the sunset,” he added with a chuckle.
For families such as the Kantolas and Rolisons, things are coming full circle – and they could not be more excited. Brandon Kantola is enjoying his son’s senior season while also reminiscing about the good ol’ days.
“I think he was invested back then,” said Joel Kantola, Ravenna’s starting center, “but he’s more excited for us than I think he was back then.”
Scott DeCamp has worked more than 25 years in sports media, including 21 at MLive Media Group as a reporter and editor. He is founder and owner of DeCamp Creative Solutions. Email him at [email protected] with story ideas for Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, and Oceola counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Ravenna head coach Steve Czerwon addresses the team following a 28-14 victory over Shelby on Sept. 25. (2) Ravenna assistant coaches Randy Helsen, left, and Dusty Fairfield are pictured in the Bulldogs' locker room in August. (3) Joel Kantola, left, is a senior center for the Ravenna football team, and Colton Rolison is a senior linebacker. (4) Fairfield, left, and Czerwon look at an iPad during halftime of a 28-0 victory over Mason County Central on Friday. (Photos by Scott DeCamp.)