Caledonia Football Set to Open Season by Welcoming Fans to New Home
By
Ron Pesch
MHSAA historian
August 25, 2025
Community banter dated back to April 1948, or before. Caledonia football followers were anxious for “an athletic plant of their own.” Members of the local Commercial Club were pushing to build a true place to call home.
At the time, home games were played on a clearing at Lakeside, a local county park in the heart of the village near Emmons Lake. Thanks to the success of the team and the popularity of games, locals felt the Scotties had outgrown the site.
Members of the Class C Bar-Ken-All league, coach Thornton K. Auwater’s squads started to win consistently, grabbing conference championships in 1945, 1946 and 1947. The league began in 1937 with the school as a charter member, along with Byron Center, Hopkins, Kelloggsville, Martin, and Wayland.
The Club proposed building a lighted field to the PTA with the thought that it could be done for between $12,000 and $15,000. According to an article in the area newspaper, the Grand Rapids Press, “It is expected the money will be raised by the sale of bonds locally.”
In 1949, a design was approved. However, in hopes of significantly lowering the cost, the plan was for volunteers to assist in the layout and construction of the site. According to the Press in April 1950, the race was on to finish the project before the arrival of the upcoming season:
“Sod, trucks, and tractors for the job have been donated by local residents. It is estimated that at least 100 more volunteers will be required to complete the field in time for regular season play.”
Auwater’s crew was expected to do well during the fall of 1950. The football team had fallen to Kelloggsville, 19-0, in the second game of the 1949 season, and the defeat meant the Scotties finished second in the league standings to the Rockets. But, of particular note, in the games that followed, Caledonia’s defense was flawless, shutting out its final six opponents. By all measures, it was an exciting time.
Come the new school year, and thanks to the efforts by the community, the field was ready for the team’s nonconference season home opener with Grant on Sept. 15.
Changes
The 1935 season was Caledonia’s first playing football, marking this as the school’s 91st year on the gridiron. Since the fall of 1970, the team has competed in the Ottawa-Kent Conference, and in 2016, moved to the league’s Red division.
Prior to the 1970s, the Scottish terrier – a breed of dog popularly known as the Scottie, originally bred to hunt vermin – was Caledonia High School’s mascot. Around 1974, students decided to change the nickname to the Fighting Scots – depicted by a Scottish warrior dressed in the school colors of purple and gold.
Fast forward to this 2025-26 school year and Caledonia is Class A and among the largest 65 high schools in the state based on enrollment. And 75 years after unveiling their first true home field, Caledonia Community Schools is debuting the team’s reimagined home.
Approved bond issues from 2020 and 2023 have funded the latest updates and renovations to the site. “Preserving the heritage” of the district, a synthetic turf system was added to the current site in 2023. This season, heated team rooms, updated seating, concessions, and restrooms will be unveiled.
For fans, the curtain opens Thursday when the team squares off against Holy Names Catholic from Windsor, Ontario.
“This stadium tells the story of Caledonia. It is a story of community, tradition, and pride,” said Kelly Clark, community and public relations coordinator for the district. “As we celebrate 75 years, we honor those who built the foundation and look forward to the next generation writing their own chapter on this field.”
A souvenir dedication program will be distributed at the home opener. Within, special thanks are extended to many who have helped bring the story to life: “We are especially grateful for the work Steve Poll has done to uncover and preserve so much of this history so that our community can fully appreciate the legacy we carry forward.”
Poll, himself, was a graduate of Grand Rapids South Christian. His dad, Gordon Poll, played right tackle and was a co-captain as a senior on the 1950 Caledonia team.
“He was not one to live in the past,” recalled Steve Poll, “so unless we were at a football game and something triggered a thought, he didn't talk much about the 1950 team accomplishments. … I met one of his teammates at my dad’s funeral, who shared a few things (with me). I intended to interview him (however) he passed away before that happened. I finally decided to dig in and find what I could.”
Poll captured details from old newspaper articles, photos, and memorabilia. “I started investigating before I knew anything about the current rebuild of the stadium,” he said.
Also planned for the celebration is a three-minute video featuring interviews with players – present and past – including a member of the 1950 team who recalled players laying sod on the field at their first practice that season.
MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl, a 1992 Caledonia graduate, will speak at the event.
A season to remember
“Grant High’s fighting team almost spoiled the dedication of a new lighted football field … last night,” reported the Press when covering the first game of the 1950 season, “throwing a real scare into the bigger, highly favored Caledonia High team before tumbling, 6 to 0.” A 30-yard pass from Bob Higley to Don Moffatt was the game’s only score.
In hindsight, it was perhaps the biggest play of the year.
A true stadium dedication ceremony was planned for the second game of the season. Among those scheduled to attend and speak were Caledonia Schools Superintendent Andrew B. Cherpes, Board of Education President Orlo Good, Village President Stan Stawski, and Coach Auwater. Also planning to make the trip from Washington was U.S. congressman Gerald R. Ford, Jr., who held Michigan’s 5th district seat in the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, due to scheduling issues, Ford was unable to attend but did send a telegram to explain his absence and, within, congratulated the community on its outstanding achievement. (Uyl will read the content during this year’s celebration.)
The opponent was Middleville. For several years, the teams had scheduled a two-game nonleague “home-and-home” rivalry series. That continued in 1950, but this time, the Trojans were now members of the Bar-Ken-All. (Kelloggsville had left the league after the 1949-50 school year. The conference expanded, adding Middleville and Delton. To allow time for scheduling transition, the 1950 opening contest of the series did not count in the league standings.)
The Scotties emerged with another slim 7-0 win. According to the Kalamazoo Gazette, the result of the game “only added fuel to the rivalry which will reach a heated state at Middleville in a regular conference game Oct. 20.”
Caledonia plowed through the remaining games. Martin fell 27-0, Coopersville was trounced, 40-0, and Byron Center was easily defeated, 27-0. The highly-anticipated rematch with Middleville was close for the first half, as Caledonia clutched to a thin 7-0 lead at the break. It turned into a rout as “the Scotties flashed a passing attack that netted three more TDs and a 26-0 win.”
Wayland was disposed of 28-0, giving the Scotties possession of the “Cowbell Trophy” donated two years previous by a Wayland merchant. Then the team completely overwhelmed Hopkins in the season’s finale, 73-0. That margin was the state’s largest of the season, according to Dick Kishpaugh of Kalamazoo, who assembled season-ending totals for consumption by the state’s media. The Scotties were also statewide news as one of 26 teams that had posted unbeaten and untied marks on the year. Caledonia was one of just two to finish the year unbeaten, untied, and unscored upon. Garden City had done the same but had played just six games.
Although not rediscovered until recently, the team’s streak of 14 consecutive shutouts with no tie games included (six to end 1949, and eight in 1950) ranks second in the MHSAA football record book, just a single game behind North Muskegon teams that straddled three seasons, 1940-42.
Dedicated to a super volunteer
Besides location, one other item remains unchanged at the “athletic plant” in Caledonia.
“Even though his children go to school in Middleville,” noted the Press back in 1950, Ralph E. Myers thought of Caledonia as “his town.” A member of the Commercial Club Committee that helped plan the project, he followed through as the site’s dedicated lead volunteer, working with others “to get the job done,” according to a community newsletter.
In July 1954, at age 46, Myers died tragically in an automobile accident. His wife, Henrietta, had died a year before. They left behind three daughters. That fall, Caledonia christened the site as Ralph E. Myers Athletic Field.
Over the years, proposals were made to rename the place in honor of others, but Caledonia Community School stood behind the original decision. In September 1998, after a $1.9 million renovation for football and track & field, the site was rededicated with new signage as Ralph E. Myers Memorial Stadium.
With the latest efforts by all involved to capture the stories and communicate the legacy, future students will have the opportunity to easily understand and appreciate the stadium’s humble beginnings and the importance of all, then and now, who pitched in to create a place to call home.
PHOTOS (Top) A sign welcomes visitors to Caledonia’s home field in 1954. (Middle) The 1950 Scotties: Back row William Price, Walter Jousma, Jack Moreland, Peterson, Harvey Jacobsen, Allan Vander Laan, Forrest Clark, Gerritt Nordhof, Arthur Benedict, Larry Schroder, Larry Lind, Donald Williams (Manager). Third row Assistant Coach Wisner, Donald Moffatt, Ramon Schantz, Bob Cisler, Bob Higley, Merle Maier, Wallace Lotterman, Bob Schultz, James Fitzsimmons, Fred Darling, Vern Kayser, Coach Thornton Auwater. Second Row Elmer Velthouse, Bernard Kilmartin, Donald Braendle, Louis Bellgraph, Marvin Eldridge, Allyn Niles, James Porritt, Benjamin Miller, Bill Jousma, Gordon Poll. First Row Gary Cherpes, Joseph Sleeman, Harold Olthouse, Rod Campbell, Garrit Keizer, Carl Yonkers, Clyde Barrett, James Ayers, Hosmer Parks. Not pictured Arnold Benedict, Bob Workman.
1st & Goal: 2024 Week 4 Review
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 23, 2024
“We’ve seen it all” surely belongs among the most overused phrases in sports. But Week 4 provided a few entertaining extremes from an otherwise typical high school football weekend across Michigan.
In what had to be a first for a Michigan school, DeWitt welcomed an opponent from West Virginia – and in a 70-63 victory combined to tie for the sixth-most points scored between two teams in state history when the losing team scored at least 40.
Conversely, Midland Dow defeated Bay City Western 3-2 – the lowest-possible winning score when both teams put points on the board.
We’ve noted several more results below, of course, including the end of some notable winning – or losing – streaks, depending on who you were cheering on, and a handful of games that very well could decide league championships next month.
Bay & Thumb
HEADLINER Croswell-Lexington 21, North Branch 17 The Broncos (3-1) led into the fourth quarter before Croswell-Lexington (3-1) moved ahead in what could prove a key result in the Blue Water Area Conference race. These two are now tied for third in the league, with Cros-Lex facing co-leader Almont this week (after losing to co-leader Armada in Week 2) and North Branch playing Almont and Armada back-to-back in October. The Pioneers’ 21 points were the first North Branch had given up this season. Click for more from the Port Huron Times Herald.
Watch list Pinconning 21, Sanford Meridian 14 With this first win over Meridian since 2008 – breaking an eight-game losing streak against the Mustangs – Pinconning (3-1) guaranteed itself a better record than a year ago and its most wins since 2018, and after winning a combined four games over the last five seasons.
On the move Davison 45, Saginaw Heritage 22 This was an important opening win for Davison in Saginaw Valley Red play as it kept the Cardinals (3-1) on pace with co-leaders Lapeer and Grand Blanc and likely left Heritage (2-2) hoping for title share at best. Birch Run 21, New Lothrop 20 The Panthers (2-2) moved to the Mid-Michigan Activities Conference this fall and lost their first two league games, but getting past last season’s runner-up New Lothrop (1-3) was a great sign heading into this week’s matchup with reigning champ Chesaning. Millington 34, Cass City 6 Millington (4-0) also switched leagues this season and is the leader of the Big Thumb Conference White after this win over last season’s Greater Thumb Conference West champ Cass City (2-2).
Greater Detroit
HEADLINER Detroit Martin Luther King 18, Detroit Cass Tech 12 (OT) A fourth-down Darryl Flemister touchdown pass to Tayshaun Henry, followed by a defensive stop, gave King the latest chapter in this rivalry and broke Cass Tech’s three-game winning streak in the series. King (3-1) is atop the Detroit Public School League Blue tied with Henry Ford and East English, with Cass Tech (2-2) and Renaissance one game back and Cass Tech not facing Ford on the league schedule. Click for more from the Detroit Free Press.
TOUCHDOWN KING!!
King gets the scoring going in OT on their first drive, Tayshaun Henry with the TD catch!
18-12 King in OT, MISSED PAT👀
Delivered by @hungryhowies
Check out all the action on the STATE CHAMPS! YouTube Page! pic.twitter.com/CYwJH7jQoH— STATE CHAMPS! Michigan (@statechampsmich) September 21, 2024
Watch list Detroit Catholic Central 27, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 22 DCC (4-0) is alone atop the Catholic High School League Central heading into this week’s massive matchup with Warren De La Salle Collegiate, thanks to this victory over St. Mary’s (2-2) and the Pilots’ 41-6 defeat against Toledo Catholic Central.
On the move Rochester Adams 28, Clarkston 10 The Highlanders’ Oakland Activities Association Red schedule opened with West Bloomfield and Clarkston, and they’ve defeated both to move to 4-0 overall after falling to both last season. Macomb Dakota 24, Sterling Heights Stevenson 9 The Cougars (4-0) and Utica Eisenhower have surged to the front of the Macomb Area Conference Red, Dakota this week handing Stevenson (3-1) its first defeat with a third-straight game giving up fewer than 10 points. Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 14, River Rouge 7 Brother Rice ended a 13-game losing streak in a big way avenging last year’s 28-16 defeat to playoff regular River Rouge (2-2).
Mid-Michigan
HEADLINER Clare 26, Gladwin 21 Clare (4-0) took a major step in the Jack Pine Conference Division 1 race thanks to an unforgettable drive at the end of this rivalry matchup. The Pioneers marched 99 yards over three minutes with Aiden Van Bonn scoring the game-winner with 53 seconds left. Gladwin had won three straight regular-season meetings with Clare (with a Clare 2021 playoff win mixed in). Click for more from the Bay City Times.
Watch list Leslie 33, Michigan Center 31 In avenging a 28-point loss from a year ago, Leslie (4-0) tied its win total from 2023 and moved closer to guaranteeing a first winning season since 2012. Michigan Center (1-3), meanwhile, has two losses by a combined three points.
On the move Hastings 31, Parma Western 17 These two decided the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference title last season, and Hastings (4-0) will continue its repeat pursuit after defeating Western (3-1) for the fourth-straight season. Corunna 48, Owosso 13 Corunna (4-0) ran its winning streak in this rivalry to six by handing Owosso (3-1) its first defeat. Mason 30, Haslett 24 (OT) Mason (3-1) sent this one to overtime with a field goal on the last play of regulation and emerged from a potential league-deciding matchup that saw neither team commit a turnover.
Northern Lower Peninsula
HEADLINER Charlevoix 26, East Jordan 20 After a couple of tough losses over the first month, Charlevoix (2-2) is moving in the right direction and will jump back into league play after handing East Jordan its first defeat. East Jordan (3-1) may very well end up the Northern Michigan Football League Legacy champion again with a key matchup this week against Maple City Glen Lake. But the Rayders can carry some momentum especially defensively back into NMFL Leaders play after containing a Red Devils offense that had scored 44 or more points in all of its first three games. Click for more from the Petoskey News-Review.
Watch list Petoskey 20, Gaylord 0 Petoskey (4-0) is off to its best start since 2011 and giving up just under eight points per game after this shutout of the reigning Big North Conference champion Blue Devils.
On the move Manton 24, Lake City 22 Manton (1-3) had lost eight straight to Lake City (1-3) and took a nice first step for this season specifically after winning once all of last fall and missing out on a Week 3 victory by eight points. Kingsley 26, Boyne City 20 Kingsley (3-1) navigated a tough obstacle in Boyne City (2-2) on the way to this week’s potential NMFL Legends-deciding matchup with Traverse City St. Francis. Oscoda 20, Elk Rapids 0 After an 0-2 start, Oscoda (2-2) is even again after avenging last year’s 30-0 defeat to the Elks.
Southeast & Border
HEADLINER Manchester 36, Napoleon 14 Manchester (4-0) took a major step opening in a strong Cascades Conference East by ending a five-game losing streak to Napoleon (2-2), which had won 11 straight league games and two straight league championships. The Flying Dutchmen see undefeated Leslie (noted above) this week. Click for more from the Jackson Citizen Patriot.
Watch list Clinton 8, Blissfied 0 Clinton (3-1) posted its second-straight shutout to start Lenawee County Athletic Association play and made a second-quarter touchdown stand against the Royals (2-2).
On the move Adrian Madison 38, Dundee 13 The Trojans (3-1) just keep building, bouncing back from a Week 3 loss to Clinton as they continue to leave behind last year’s 1-8 finish. Dexter 56, Ann Arbor Huron 19 The Dreadnaughts (3-1) have rebounded from a Week 2 loss to Saline with a pair of 50-point performances, and they’ll be rooting for Huron (2-2) against Saline this week. Tecumseh 20, Adrian 10 Tecumseh (2-2) had lost its last two games by one point and then eight, but got even by avenging last year’s 29-7 defeat to the Maples (2-2).
Southwest Corridor
HEADLINER White Pigeon 14, Decatur 6 This was as good as forecast, as White Pigeon (4-0) scored the only points of the second half to get past Decatur (3-1) and extend its regular-season winning streak to 17. Touchdowns were scored on defense, special teams and via a trick play. Click for more from the Sturgis Journal.
Watch list Kalamazoo Central 41, Stevensville Lakeshore 37 Kalamazoo Central’s first win over Lakeshore since 2018 moved the Maroon Giants to 3-1, giving them one more win than all of last season and guaranteeing their best finish since at least 2019.
On the move Bronson 34, Reading 12 Bronson (3-1) was 0-6 against Reading (1-3) since joining the Big 8 Conference in 2017, and a third win this season means the Vikings will at least tie their winningest since 2012. Constantine 28, South Haven 22 These two decided the Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore title last year, and the Falcons (4-0) showed some grit again with their second-straight one-score win this fall. Paw Paw 34, Vicksburg 7 Paw Paw has outscored its first two Wolverine Conference opponents by a combined 97-7 and has not given up more than 15 points to any opponent this fall.
Upper Peninsula
HEADLINER Kingsford 29, Negaunee 27 Last season’s Western Peninsula Athletic Conference Copper co-champions met for what could eventually decide the league title this fall, and this time Kingsford won close after falling to Negaunee 13-12 a year ago. The Miners (3-1) trailed big in the third quarter before launching a comeback, but the Flivvers held on to move to 4-0. Click for more from the Iron Mountain Daily News.
Watch list Escanaba 45, Sault Ste. Marie 0 For the second time this season, Escanaba avenged a 2023 loss. Escanaba had lost their last two recent meetings with Sault Ste. Marie, and at 2-2 already has as many wins as both of the last two seasons.
On the move Bark River-Harris 48, Gwinn 0 Bark River-Harris (2-2) is back to even after opening with two losses, and as the Broncos pursue a fifth-straight winning season. Menominee 48, Calumet 6 The Maroons (4-0) also are positioning themselves for another run at the West-PAC Copper title, in this one sending Calumet to 2-2. Houghton 39, Ishpeming Westwood 8 The Gremlins (2-2) pulled within a win of tying last season’s total.
West Michigan
HEADLINER Hudsonville 28, Rockford 21 Hudsonville (3-1) broke a nine-game losing streak against its rival that stretched back to the 2016 playoffs, and ended previously-undefeated Rockford’s Ottawa-Kent Conference Red 27-game winning streak that began in 2019. The Eagles fell to the Rams 48-0 just last season, but now sit with East Kentwood atop the early league standings. Click for more from the Grand Rapids Press.
Hudsonville stuns Rockford on home turf thanks to two big scores from Owen Haarsma. Eagles win it 28-21. @Hudsyfootball @HudsyAthletics https://t.co/SGBSdnqOWL pic.twitter.com/ku3yLWgJNy
— FOX 17 Blitz (@FOX17Blitz) September 21, 2024
Watch list Newaygo 42, Howard City Tri County 38 Newaygo (4-0) is in its second season under legendary past Rockford coach Ralph Munger, and its four wins this fall are more than the team has won in a season since 2019. Tri County (3-1) was last season’s runner-up in the Central State Activities Association Gold and had defeated Newaygo in four straight.
On the move Muskegon Mona Shores 14, Byron Center 12 Only Hudsonville’s stunner could dislodge this from West Michigan’s top billing above, as Mona Shores won this matchup of undefeated teams in a defensive showdown. Hudsonville Unity Christian 43, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 20 We already figured Unity (4-0) was back to being Unity past, but doubling up the reigning Division 3 champion FHC (3-1) speaks plenty more. Grand Rapids Northview 31, East Grand Rapids 27 Northview made the playoffs at 4-5 last season in part because of its tough schedule, and the Wildcats are looking great to build on that with this win making them 4-0. Northview had lost all five of their recent meetings with EGR (2-2).
8-Player
HEADLINER Deckerville 30, Brown City 28 Half the eight-team Big Thumb Conference Blue is 3-1 or better this fall, and Deckerville (4-0) is tied with Kingston at the top of the standings after pulling ahead of the Green Devils (3-1) to claim this meeting. Deckerville had lost both of its previous 8-player matchups with Brown City, including 46-28 last season as the Green Devils went on to a league title. Click for more from the Sanilac County News.
Watch list Burr Oak 66, Tekonsha 8 The Bobcats were a combined 2-25 the last three seasons heading into this one, but they’re 3-1 this fall and already have scored more points than during any full season since 2020.
On the move Pickford 65, Ishpeming 14 The Hematites (3-1) no doubt will become an 8-player force, but Pickford (4-0) remains one of if not the top team to chase in the Upper Peninsula. Gaylord St. Mary 56, Bellaire 8 St. Mary (3-1) bounced back from a Week 3 loss to Ishpeming to hand Bellaire (3-1) its first defeat. Portland St. Patrick 29, Morrice 12 The Shamrocks (4-0) made it two in a row over the rival Orioles (3-1), impressing especially on defense as Morrice had scored at least 44 points in all of its first three games.
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PHOTOS (Top) Linden quarterback Dylan Dreasky (7) hands off during his team’s 14-13 win over previously-undefeated Flushing on Friday. (Middle) Fowler’s Ford Phillips (15) breaks into an opening but with Bath’s Isiah Delacruz (1) closing in. The Eagles won 41-0. (Below) DeWitt’s Tyler Dusseau (65) and Max Holtz (5) bring down a ball carrier from Hurricane, WV. (Top photo by Terry Lyons, middle photo by John Johnson, and below photo by Max McCallister.)