Cass City Chases History in Rematch
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 8, 2019
Sandyn Cuthrell and his Cass City teammates have a simple way to make sure they are properly prepared for each game – treat every week like it’s Laker week.
As they prepare for their District Final, the Red Hawks won’t have to pretend, as for the second time this season, it’s actually Laker week.
The Red Hawks will host archrival Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker at 7 p.m. Friday for the Division 7 Region 4, District 1 championship. The winner will advance to the Regional Final against either Madison Heights Madison or Detroit Loyola.
The win-or-go-home nature of the postseason adds more to this rivalry game, but it’s also a chance at some program firsts for the Red Hawks. A win would give them their first ever District championship and first ever 10-win season.
“This one, it’s probably the biggest game in Cass City history,” said Cuthrell, a four-year starter at quarterback for the Red Hawks. “We’re not going to let it be ruined.”
Plenty is on the line, but what the Red Hawks have accomplished to this point already puts them among the best teams in school history.
Cass City won nine straight games after a season-opening 16-14 loss against Montrose – a team that is still alive in the Division 6 playoffs – and won the Greater Thumb Conference West for the second straight season.
It has also allowed 50 points. Total. All season.
“We’re not like huge; we’re all just super fast,” said Cuthrell, who also plays defensive back. “All these years building up to this year, we’ve been really heavy on the weight room every year. We’re all not huge guys, but we’re all really quick and fast. We can swarm to the ball, and there’s not a lot of big plays that can happen when the defensive backs are quicker than the receivers.”
Outside of the Montrose game, the Red Hawks haven’t allowed more than eight points in a game this season and had four shutouts. During six conference games, they allowed a total of 22 points. It’s the program’s best defensive performance since the 1950s.
“Coach does a really good job preparing us throughout the week,” junior running back and linebacker Alex Perry said. “We’ve been able to communicate with each other really well. The line gets a good push, so the linebackers can come in and clean it up. And the defensive backs shut down the pass.”
The offense has done its fair share, as well, averaging 40.1 points per game despite scoring just 14 in Week 1. So, while the defense’s numbers are eye-popping, most of the season has seen the Red Hawks be dominant in all phases.
“When you coach this long, hopefully you come across a team that gels really well, and that’s what happened this year,” Cass City coach Scott Cuthrell said. “We have a good group of kids, and they all get along really well on and off the field, and they all have a common goal. This is a group of kids that I’ve enjoyed going to coach every night.”
Players vouch for the camaraderie on and off the field and cited that as a main reason this year’s team has been special and capable of doing what no team at Cass City has ever done.
“We’re more than a team. We hang out all the time,” Perry said. “This year, we just flow and really mesh together.”
Perhaps at no time this season did the Red Hawks mesh together as well as they did the first time they lined up against Laker. A 51-0 win in Week 4 marked the second-straight year Cass City had defeated its rival, but prior to the 2018 win, Laker had won nine straight in the series.
“Last season’s win meant a lot to us,” senior halfback and cornerback Hadyn Horne said. “We’re 10 minutes apart, and it’s just a battle for our area. It’s always been a really big game around here, probably the biggest game in the Greater Thumb Conference. We know in the playoffs it’s pretty much like coming in with a 0-0 record. They’re going to be a lot better than what they were when we played them the first time. Obviously we beat them bad last time, but it’s all about who wants it more.”
The two teams have met twice in a District Final (2014 and 2017). Some of the current players were on the field for the 2017 loss, including Sandyn Cuthrell, who said it was “like getting stabbed in the heart.”
Not wanting to have that feeling again is quite the motivation, but so is making program history.
“That would mean a lot,” Horne said. “I think down the road, I’ll look back at that and know, ‘That was our team that did that.’”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Cass City defenders including Alex Perry (44) pursue the Laker quarterback during this season’s first game against their rival. (Middle) Sandyn Cuthrell (6) breaks through the line for the Red Hawks. (Photos courtesy of the Cass City athletic department.)
2021 MHSAA Football Playoff Pairings Announced
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 24, 2021
Here are the pairings for the 2021 MHSAA Football Playoffs, which begin Oct. 29-30 with District Semifinals in the 11-Player Playoffs and Regional Semifinals in the 8-Player Playoffs.
For 11- and 8-player, teams were divided into divisions before the start of play this fall. The top 32 teams in each division in 11-player and top 16 per division in 8-player, based on playoff-point average, were selected to the field. For 11-player, qualifiers were then divided into four regions with eight teams apiece, and for 8-player qualifiers were divided into four regions with four teams in each.
Pairings for the first three weeks of the tournament are based on regular-season playoff point averages, with the highest-ranked team hosting, regardless of the distance between the two schools. For 11-Player District Semifinal and 8-Player Regional Semifinal play, the top-seeded team in each bracket will host the fourth-seeded team, and the second-seeded team will host the third-seeded team.
District Finals for 11-player and Regional Finals for 8-player will follow during the weekend of Nov. 5-6, and the weekend of Nov. 12-13 will have Regional Finals in the 11-Player Playoffs and Semifinals in the 8-Player Playoffs. The 8-Player Semifinals will pair the winners of Region 1 vs. Region 2 and the winners of Region 3 vs. Region 4, at the sites of the highest-ranked team.
Semifinal games in the 11-Player Playoffs will take place Nov. 19-20, pairing the winners of Region 1 vs. Region 2 and the winners of Region 3 vs. Region 4. The MHSAA will assign 11-Player Semifinals at neutral sites.
All playoff tickets except for Finals will be sold online only via GoFan at https://gofan.co/ to provide for a cashless and contactless purchasing process.
For 11-Player, tickets to District Semifinals and District Finals cost $7.30, tickets to Regional Finals are $9.40, and tickets to Semifinals cost $10.45. For 8-player, tickets for Regional Semifinals are $7.30, tickets for Regional Finals are $9.40, and tickets for Semifinals cost $10.45. Prices for all of those rounds include a convenience fee.
The 8-Player Finals will take place Nov. 20 at Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome in Marquette, and the 11-Player Finals will be played Nov. 26-27 at Ford Field in Detroit. An all-day ticket for 8-Player Finals costs $10 and includes admission to both games, and an all-day ticket for the 11-Player Finals costs $20 and includes admission to that day’s four games.
Pairings for both the 11 and 8-Player brackets are as follows:
11-Player Pairings
DIVISION 1
REGION 1
DISTRICT 1
Grand Ledge (6-3) 57.222 at Rockford (9-0) 84.222
Traverse City West (6-3) 58.333 at Grandville (6-3) 64.111
DISTRICT 2
Holt (7-2) 68.444 at Grand Blanc (9-0) 81.111
Howell (7-2) 69.333 at Hartland (7-2) 70.778
REGION 2
DISTRICT 1
Lapeer (7-2) 64.556 at Rochester Adams (9-0) 79.389
Oxford (5-4) 66.000 at Clarkston (8-1) 73.000
DISTRICT 2
Novi (5-4) 54.667 at West Bloomfield (8-1) 76.889
Detroit Catholic Central (7-2) 75.333 at Bloomfield Hills (9-0) 76.444
REGION 3
DISTRICT 1
Utica (5-4) 55.000 at Romeo (8-1) 82.333
New Baltimore Anchor Bay (7-2) 65.556 at Macomb Dakota (6-3) 66.333
DISTRICT 2
Fraser (6-3) 53.667 at Sterling Heights Stevenson (7-2) 74.222
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley (6-3) 68.778 at Troy (8-1) 71.667
REGION 4
DISTRICT 1
Canton (6-3) 65.333 at Saline (9-0) 82.333
Ann Arbor Huron (8-1) 74.222 at Belleville (8-1) 77.444
DISTRICT 2
Detroit Cass Tech (6-3) 54.931 at Dearborn Fordson (7-2) 73.556
Dearborn (6-3) 65.444 at Brownstown Woodhaven (8-1) 70.417
DIVISION 2
REGION 1
DISTRICT 1
Saginaw Heritage (4-5) 50.222 at Traverse City Central (8-1) 71.222
Bay City Western (7-2) 56.556 at Midland Dow (6-3) 63.778
DISTRICT 2
Byron Center (7-2) 62.333 at Caledonia (8-1) 76.444
Muskegon Mona Shores (7-2) 62.639 at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (8-1) 69.556
REGION 2
DISTRICT 1
Jackson (5-4) 48.889 at Portage Central (7-2) 64.556
Dexter (5-4) 58.000 at Battle Creek Lakeview (6-3) 58.236
DISTRICT 2
Swartz Creek (5-4) 47.556 at South Lyon (9-0) 78.014
East Lansing (6-3) 65.000 at Milford (7-2) 65.444
REGION 3
DISTRICT 1
Waterford Mott (5-4) 54.222 at Berkley (7-2) 66.333
Walled Lake Western (6-3) 58.333 at White Lake Lakeland (6-3) 62.889
DISTRICT 2
Dearborn Heights Crestwood (6-3) 48.778 at Livonia Churchill (7-2) 69.444
Livonia Franklin (4-5) 53.333 at Temperance Bedford (7-2) 67.444
REGION 4
DISTRICT 1
Roseville (5-4) 50.583 at Harrison Township L'Anse Creuse (7-2) 64.333
Port Huron (6-3) 59.778 at Port Huron Northern (7-2) 63.028
DISTRICT 2
Detroit U-D Jesuit (4-5) 49.667 at Warren De La Salle Collegiate (8-0) 80.833
St. Clair Shores Lakeview (5-4) 51.667 at Grosse Pointe South (5-4) 55.944
DIVISION 3
REGION 1
DISTRICT 1
Ionia (5-4) 41.556 at DeWitt (8-1) 76.667
Marquette (7-2) 57.222 at Mount Pleasant (9-0) 70.444
DISTRICT 2
Lowell (4-5) 48.778 at Muskegon (8-1) 69.194
Coopersville (6-3) 49.222 at Cedar Springs (7-2) 58.556
REGION 2
DISTRICT 1
Zeeland East (5-4) 50.014 at Stevensville Lakeshore (6-3) 57.778
St. Joseph (5-4) 51.778 at Zeeland West (6-2) 57.264
DISTRICT 2
Richland Gull Lake (5-4) 42.222 at Battle Creek Harper Creek (6-3) 52.222
Mattawan (4-5) 45.270 at Parma Western (6-3) 48.000
REGION 3
DISTRICT 1
South Lyon East (3-6) 42.556 at Mason (7-2) 56.111
Pinckney (6-3) 52.556 at Haslett (7-2) 54.333
DISTRICT 2
Auburn Hills Avondale (4-5) 46.889 at Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (6-3) 62.208
Orchard Lake St. Mary's (5-4) 51.417 at Flint Kearsley (6-3) 52.556
REGION 4
DISTRICT 1
Warren Fitzgerald (8-1) 53.222 at Detroit Martin Luther King (8-1) 76.722
River Rouge (6-2) 56.319 at Harper Woods (7-2) 61.597
DISTRICT 2
Trenton (5-4) 54.667 at Gibraltar Carlson (8-1) 72.111
Riverview (9-0) 62.889 at Allen Park (7-2) 64.667
DIVISION 4
REGION 1
DISTRICT 1
Fruitport (4-5) 43.667 at Cadillac (7-2) 57.111
Whitehall (7-2) 46.222 at Sparta (7-2) 49.792
DISTRICT 2
Ada Forest Hills Eastern (5-4) 45.778 at Hudsonville Unity Christian (9-0) 67.444
Spring Lake (6-3) 50.889 at Grand Rapids Christian (6-3) 59.111
REGION 2
DISTRICT 1
Charlotte (6-3) 47.333 at Hastings (8-1) 59.000
Grand Rapids South Christian (6-3) 51.000 at Plainwell (6-3) 51.667
DISTRICT 2
Paw Paw (5-4) 45.556 at Edwardsburg (9-0) 64.889
Three Rivers (5-4) 46.111 at Vicksburg (8-1) 61.667
REGION 3
DISTRICT 1
Ortonville Brandon (6-3) 48.472 at Lake Fenton (8-1) 61.556
Goodrich (7-2) 56.889 at Freeland (8-1) 57.889
DISTRICT 2
North Branch (7-2) 48.000 at St. Clair (7-2) 57.361
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (7-2) 50.347 at Croswell-Lexington (8-1) 53.444
REGION 4
DISTRICT 1
Detroit Country Day (5-3) 46.889 at Redford Union (8-1) 59.444
Madison Heights Lamphere (7-2) 50.778 at Livonia Clarenceville (8-1) 55.556
DISTRICT 2
Romulus Summit Academy North (7-2) 45.222 at Chelsea (9-0) 70.556
New Boston Huron (5-4) 47.889 at Milan (7-2) 50.889
DIVISION 5
REGION 1
DISTRICT 1
Clare (6-3) 42.444 at Gladwin (9-0) 50.222
Kingsford (6-3) 46.778 at Kingsley (8-1) 48.667
DISTRICT 2
Carrollton (5-4) 35.889 at Frankenmuth (9-0) 62.111
Saginaw Swan Valley (5-4) 42.667 at Essexville Garber (5-4) 44.222
REGION 2
DISTRICT 1
Grant (4-5) 35.944 at Howard City Tri County (8-1) 48.111
Big Rapids (5-4) 39.778 at Muskegon Oakridge (7-2) 47.476
DISTRICT 2
Belding (5-4) 43.389 at Grand Rapids Catholic Central (9-0) 70.333
Comstock Park (9-0) 58.903 at Grand Rapids West Catholic (8-1) 62.667
REGION 3
DISTRICT 1
Parchment (6-3) 35.875 at Berrien Springs (9-0) 51.667
South Haven (6-3) 40.111 at Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep (6-3) 43.458
DISTRICT 2
Hopkins (5-4) 43.569 at Portland (7-2) 58.444
Olivet (7-2) 45.667 at Williamston (6-3) 55.222
REGION 4
DISTRICT 1
Richmond (4-5) 36.333 at Armada (6-3) 46.778
Corunna (5-4) 42.111 at Flint Powers Catholic (3-6) 43.111
DISTRICT 2
St. Clair Shores South Lake (5-4) 37.778 at Marine City (9-0) 62.889
Dundee (5-4) 39.889 at Macomb Lutheran North (6-3) 40.903
DIVISION 6
REGION 1
DISTRICT 1
Gladstone (4-5) 36.778 at Negaunee (7-2) 41.014
Calumet (7-2) 37.667 at Menominee (5-4) 39.583
DISTRICT 2
Maple City Glen Lake (4-5) 31.681 at Standish-Sterling (7-2) 44.111
Boyne City (8-1) 42.097 at Grayling (7-2) 42.375
REGION 2
DISTRICT 1
Manistee (5-4) 36.907 at Reed City (8-1) 55.444
Central Montcalm (5-4) 38.222 at Montague (6-3) 43.143
DISTRICT 2
Durand (6-3) 36.333 at Lansing Catholic (8-1) 59.556
Ovid-Elsie (6-3) 37.333 at Millington (9-0) 46.333
REGION 3
DISTRICT 1
Watervliet (5-4) 34.778 at Constantine (9-0) 51.653
Michigan Center (8-1) 38.444 at Jonesville (9-0) 42.778
DISTRICT 2
Erie Mason (5-4) 31.302 at Ida (7-2) 45.000
Clinton (7-2) 39.347 at Dearborn Heights Robichaud (5-4) 39.444
REGION 4
DISTRICT 1
Clinton Township Clintondale (5-4) 40.403 at Warren Michigan Collegiate (7-2) 49.944
Almont (5-4) 42.444 at Clawson (7-2) 44.000
DISTRICT 2
Detroit Pershing (5-4) 34.778 at Detroit Southeastern (6-3) 44.736
Detroit Edison (6-3) 36.125 at Ecorse (6-3) 39.736
DIVISION 7
REGION 1
DISTRICT 1
East Jordan (7-2) 29.940 at Ishpeming Westwood (8-1) 43.569
Mancelona (5-3) 30.694 at Charlevoix (7-1) 39.264
DISTRICT 2
Harrison (6-3) 32.667 at Traverse City St. Francis (9-0) 56.111
McBain (6-3) 34.042 at Evart (7-2) 36.264
REGION 2
DISTRICT 1
Ithaca (6-3) 38.333 at Pewamo-Westphalia (9-0) 49.444
New Lothrop (6-3) 40.000 at Montrose (7-2) 40.000
DISTRICT 2
Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker (7-2) 34.889 at Reese (8-1) 38.333
Bad Axe (7-2) 36.556 at Hemlock (5-4) 36.556
REGION 3
DISTRICT 1
Delton Kellogg (5-3) 34.014 at Muskegon Catholic Central (8-1) 48.222
North Muskegon (4-5) 34.032 at Ravenna (6-3) 39.587
DISTRICT 2
Homer (5-4) 31.000 at Lawton (9-0) 44.125
Niles Brandywine (4-5) 32.333 at Union City (5-4) 32.556
REGION 4
DISTRICT 1
Detroit Leadership Academy (5-4) 32.000 at Jackson Lumen Christi (8-1) 59.778
Lutheran Westland (8-1) 37.222 at Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (8-1) 59.000
DISTRICT 2
Detroit Community (6-3) 35.958 at Detroit Central (9-0) 50.722
Detroit Loyola (4-4) 39.847 at Madison Heights Bishop Foley (8-1) 44.792
DIVISION 8
REGION 1
DISTRICT 1
Bark River-Harris (6-3) 27.014 at Beal City (8-1) 42.000
Frankfort (6-3) 31.778 at Iron Mountain (6-3) 36.792
DISTRICT 2
White Cloud (4-5) 24.486 at Carson City-Crystal (8-1) 39.222
Holton (5-4) 25.931 at Muskegon Heights Academy (5-4) 30.778
REGION 2
DISTRICT 1
Vassar (4-5) 24.778 at Breckenridge (7-2) 34.111
Fowler (6-3) 31.500 at Flint Beecher (4-5) 32.917
DISTRICT 2
Harbor Beach (6-3) 30.597 at Ubly (9-0) 40.708
Cass City (5-4) 31.333 at Marlette (6-3) 32.597
REGION 3
DISTRICT 1
Decatur (4-5) 26.444 at White Pigeon (8-1) 35.667
Saugatuck (5-4) 29.625 at Cassopolis (5-4) 29.681
DISTRICT 2
Reading (6-3) 32.778 at Hudson (9-0) 51.222
Centreville (7-2) 35.569 at Addison (8-1) 42.667
REGION 4
DISTRICT 1
Petersburg Summerfield (6-3) 29.190 at Ottawa Lake Whiteford (8-1) 46.111
Whitmore Lake (6-3) 30.444 at Sand Creek (6-3) 34.667
DISTRICT 2
Mount Clemens (5-4) 26.778 at Clarkston Everest Collegiate (7-2) 36.333
Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest (5-4) 27.556 at Marine City Cardinal Mooney (7-2) 31.486
8-Player Pairings
DIVISION 1
REGION 1
Rudyard (7-2) 30.861 at Munising (7-2) 33.194
Newberry (7-2) 31.528 at Pickford (7-2) 31.861
REGION 2
Mesick (5-4) 29.079 at Suttons Bay (9-0) 39.250
Rogers City (8-1) 32.722 at Indian River Inland Lakes (9-0) 34.333
REGION 3
Tekonsha (7-2) 29.778 at Martin (9-0) 36.125
Lawrence (7-2) 30.569 at Mendon (7-2) 32.569
REGION 4
Vestaburg (6-3) 29.286 at Adrian Lenawee Christian (9-0) 41.375
Britton Deerfield (8-1) 33.431 at Deckerville (7-1) 33.458
DIVISION 2
REGION 1
Pellston (7-2) 30.444 at Powers North Central (9-0) 36.667
Crystal Falls Forest Park (7-2) 31.111 at Lake Linden-Hubbell (7-2) 31.111
REGION 2
Gaylord St. Mary (5-4) 25.972 at Marion (8-1) 36.079
Mio (6-3) 28.333 at Hillman (6-3) 29.000
REGION 3
Peck (6-3) 28.000 at Au Gres-Sims (9-0) 35.667
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (7-2) 32.028 at Kinde North Huron (9-0) 35.333
REGION 4
Climax-Scotts (6-3) 29.833 at Morrice (9-0) 36.875
Colon (8-1) 33.306 at Portland St. Patrick (9-0) 35.029
PHOTO Week 9 opponents Livonia Churchill and Novi both were selected to this season's playoff field. (Photo by Douglas Bargerstock.)