Cadillac Freshmen Wing, Westinghouse Become Wingmen for Each Other
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
October 18, 2024
Lawson Westinghouse has a wingman.
He really has several, but arguably no one closer than Dominic Wing, the 6-foot-5 freshman starting quarterback at Cadillac High School.
Westinghouse is also a freshman at Cadillac. A couple of other freshman, lineman Tanner Johnson and wide receiver/linebacker Will Howell, also are standing ready and willing to support.
Westinghouse, an avid long distance runner, likely will never play a down on the football field for the Vikings. But he’s usually helping the quarterbacks with drills at practice and looks like a member of the coaching staff on the sidelines during games.
He’s taken all road trips with the Vikings, sitting right next to Wing on the bus. Unfortunately, the road trip string is likely to end tonight when the Vikings head to Marquette for a matchup with league and playoff implications. Cadillac goes into the game 4-3 overall with a 3-2 Big North Conference record. Marquette is 5-2, 4-1.
Westinghouse can’t make the trip because he’s battling sickness complications from chemotherapy. He was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer called Ewing Sarcoma a few years back.
He got good news earlier this season indicating he was cancer free, but had to return to chemo this week.
Wing, Johnson and Howell spend time daily with Westinghouse reading. Westinghouse had goals of reading the book “The Twin Thieves” by the end of the school year and trying to stay in school every day.
The boys try to get Westinghouse through a few pages every day. Wing is his primary reading partner, having developed a close bond with Westinghouse since transferring to Cadillac from Morley Stanwood this fall.
They first met at a basketball game last winter at Cadillac. They reconnected on the first day of school this fall and sat side by side during road trips to Midland, Gaylord, Sault Ste. Marie and Greenville as Cadillac recovered from an 0-2 start winning four of its last five games heading into tonight’s contest.
“I had a bunch of friends (at Cadillac), so I came up for a game,” Wing recollected. “(Lawson) saw me there, and he came up and introduced himself.
The friendship started to really take off with the first day of school, the two freshmen said. “(Lawson) wanted to be on the field, and we started reading in the mornings, which was really nice,” Wing recalled.
The special bond has led to a looser game warm-up and become a key to Wing’s mental preparations. It may be even more critical than Wing’s off-field opportunities to consult with a former NFL quarterback, John Wolford.
“We both talk the whole time on the bus rides,” Westinghouse said.
Wing treasures the conversation.
“We connect on the bus,” Wing said. “Once we get off the bus, he’ll get my warm-up ball and he’ll come over and watch me warm up, and I think it is pretty cool.”
Second-year coach Nick Winkler, who also serves as a special education teacher for Cadillac, loves how the new quarterback has connected with Westinghouse, who may rank as the most popular kid in school.
“Dom does a really good job of looking out for opportunities to take some time with Lawson during games and practice,” said Winkler. “Playing quarterback is hard enough as it is, so to intentionally do that speaks a lot to Lawson and a lot of people in the program.”
Westinghouse said he loves football and running. He recently asked his parents to buy him a football, and he’s been secretly practicing away from the football field. He also has run the Mackinac Bridge Labor Day event both ways every year.
One of the most memorable moments for Winkler, Wing, Howell, Tanner and Westinghouse is far from the best one though. Lawson found himself sick on the way back from the Sault victory, and the boys had an opportunity to comfort him and practice a little caregiving.
“It was a late-night bus trip back, and Lawson gets sick,” Winkler said. “Those guys really helped him out — I think that speaks to their character.”
Another freshman, Ty Pettit, cannot play football due to a health condition, but also has been welcomed to the team. He participates in quarterback drills and serves as an equipment manger. He also serves as the resident prankster on the team, according to Winkler.
“I mostly hang out with the team and encourage them to do their best,” Pettit said of his role.
Without Westinghouse tonight, Wing will rely more on his consultation with Wolford, who first connected with Winkler in Green Bay. Wing is coming off completing 14 of 18 attempts for 200 yards in last week’s win. He has one touchdown pass and no interceptions.
Wolford played for the Los Angeles Rams from 2019-2022 and then during then during the 2023 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His first NFL start was in place of injured Jared Goff in the 2020 regular-season finale, and he led the Rams back into the playoffs with a 10-6 victory. He became the first quarterback to pass for more than 200 yards and rush for more than 50 in his NFL debut. He also backed up Matthew Stafford as the Rams won the 2021 Super Bowl.
‘‘Dominic’s grooming as a quarterback has not been normal,” said Winkler. “He has the opportunity to talk with an NFL quarterback every week if he wants to, and I would say that relationship would come second to what he and Lawson have developed.”
Wing will miss Westinghouse every time the offense comes off the field tonight.
‘I usually like to look for him and we give each other a little fist bump when I come off,” Wing said.
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. 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) From left, Ty Pettit, quarterbacks KaLenn Harsh and Dominic Wing, Lawson Westinghouse and Cadillac football coach Nick Winkler take a moment for a photograph during a recent practice. (Middle) Tanner Johnson, Will Howell and Westinghouse read “The Twin Thieves” together. (Below) Westinghouse keeps an eye on the action. (Practice photos by Tom Spencer; reading photo courtesy of the Cadillac athletic department.)
Friday's Game-Winner Latest, Greatest Highlight for Adrian Kicker Hassan
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
September 30, 2025
When Zack Hassan was a freshman, he decided to play two sports at Adrian High School – soccer and football.
Because he was a soccer player, the Maples’ football coaches decided he would be a good candidate to be a kicker.
“I had never really kicked a football before, but they thought I could because I played soccer,” Hassan said. “I thought, ‘Sure, why not?’”
Fast forward four years and Hassan is no longer a soccer player. He not only is the Adrian kicker – he is eying a college football scholarship and Friday had the biggest moment of his career when he booted a 37-yard field goal as time expired to give Adrian its biggest football win in years.
“I love the pressure moments,” Hassan said. “I like having all of the eyes on me and going out there and kicking.”
Hassan also played receiver and defensive back the last couple of years, but is focused entirely on kicking this season because of a knee injury suffered toward the end of basketball season. He’s delayed surgery because he didn’t want to miss his senior year of football.
“I could have played receiver this season, but I wanted to be safe,” Hassan said. “I had a choice. I could have had surgery before the season or in the middle, but I just wanted to finish out my last year.”
The injured knee part of his kicking leg – but that’s probably for the best if he had to be injured at all.
“As a kicker its almost better because I don’t have to worry about planting,” he said. “That would be constant impact on it. It’s not super bad. I think I will recover quickly. I should be 100 percent by April or May. I should probably try to save the leg, but I enjoy kicking. I like to kick as much as possible in practice.”
Hassan handles all placekicking duties for Adrian, but doesn’t punt. Maples coach Joel Przygodski said Hassan would make a good punter, though.
“He has a strong leg,” he said. “He regularly kicks off to the 10-yard line. It’s a nice weapon to have.”
Hassan’s family moved to Adrian from Sylvania, Ohio, when he was in middle school.
“When I was growing up, I thought I was going to be a basketball player,” he said.
After he joined the varsity football team as a freshman, he decided he liked kicking.
“After freshman year I thought maybe I could get some free tuition out of this,” he said.
He’s made two college visits already – to Baldwin Wallace in Ohio and Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minn., which has offered him a scholarship. He’s headed back to Macalester in a few weeks to check out what it’s like on game day.
“They are a very good school to get an education,” said Hassan, who has a grade point average above 4.0.
Hassan’s siblings stayed on the soccer route. His older sister was a college goalkeeper and his younger sister plays soccer for Adrian.
On Friday, Adrian was locked in a 0-0 tie with unbeaten Ypsilanti Lincoln. In the fourth quarter the two teams exchanged punts, swapping field position. Adrian got the ball back with fewer than 40 seconds left.
“As coaches, we talked about whether or not we wanted to play it safe, play for overtime,” Przygodski said.
After an incomplete pass on first down, running back Luke Bruggeman carried the ball up the middle and broke a tackle to put the ball past midfield. He even got out of bounds to stop the clock.
“I was thinking, okay, we are in business,” Przygodski said.
After quarterback Jaxon Dowling connected with receiver Adam Parker to reach the Lincoln 25-yard line, Przygodski knew the Maples had a chance. Hassan was warming up.
“We were telling him to be ready,” Przygodski said.
Hassan had missed two field goals earlier in the game. One of those attempts was from 48 yards out.
“My coaches just told me to get ready and told everyone else to stay away from me,” Hassan said.
With less than 1.5 seconds to play, Adrian reached the 20-yard line and called timeout. Hassan trotted out onto the field. The snap was a little slower than he was used to, he said, but he lined up perfectly and hit the 37-yarder, sending the Maples into a frenzy and stunning the home crowd of about 3,000 people at Lincoln’s homecoming.
Hassan was carried off the field by teammates – and not because of an injury.
“After we shook hands, we went into huddle and everyone was like, ‘Lift him up, lift him up,’” he said.
The win was a big one for Adrian, which continues to make strides under Przygodski’s leadership. Adrian is 4-1 with chief rival Tecumseh coming up this week. The Maples have a lot of momentum for the rest of the season.
“Going into the season we were really unsure how we were going to be, because we lost a lot of seniors last year,” Hassan said. “It’s good. We’ve had a lot of people step up. We are turning a lot of eyes right now.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Adrian kicker Zack Hassan is carried by his teammates after making the game-winning field goal Friday against Ypsilanti Lincoln. (Middle) Hassan steps into his winning kick. (Photos by Marnette Sutherland.)