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.)
QB Follows Mentors in Leading Montague
October 4, 2017
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Sebastian Archer didn’t have to look far to find role models as Montague’s starting quarterback.
Pat Collins, Montague’s 14th-year head coach, was the quarterback who first brought the Wildcats to the promised land, culminating a dream season at the Pontiac Silverdome with a 12-7 loss to powerhouse Detroit dePorres in the 1992 Class CC championship game.
Cody Kater, now the Wildcats’ quarterbacks coach, took it a step further and led Montague to back-to-back Division 6 titles with wins over Leslie (41-20) in 2008 and Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (24-21) in 2009.
“I’m pretty lucky that I get to learn from both of them every day,” said Archer, a 5-foot-9, 175-pound junior who is off to an impressive start, following in the footsteps of recent Montague quarterbacks Jacob Buchberger and Dylan Stever. “They push me pretty hard, but I know it’s only to make me better.”
Archer will try to glean all he can from Collins and Kater this week, as the 6-0 Wildcats (ranked No. 3 in Division 6 by The Associated Press) prepare to host 5-1 Muskegon Oakridge (ranked No. 6 in Division 5) in a key battle for the West Michigan Conference championship and playoff seeding.
Montague has bolted to its 6-0 start behind one of the highest-scoring offenses in the state, averaging 57 points per game. Collins said the key for his team to stay unbeaten with a grueling final three games against Oakridge, Ravenna and then Montague’s first-ever meeting against unbeaten and four-time reigning Division 8 champion Muskegon Catholic Central, is for Archer to continue his dynamic play while taking care of the ball. Archer has thrown for 945 yards, 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
“Sebastian distributes the ball well and makes good decisions,” Collins said. “We anticipated having a good team this year and hoped to be in the position where we are right now, but this is where things get really tough and we’ll see what we’re made of.”
While Archer is continuing the Montague tradition of strong quarterback play, he is a completely different style of QB than his two mentors.
Collins engineered the tightly-packed, wing-T offense during his playing days, which usually meant about one or two passes per game.
Kater was more of a prototypical pocket passer, standing 6-4 and throwing 79 touchdown passes over his career. Kater played college quarterback at University of Cincinnati, Grand Rapids Community College and finally Central Michigan. He worked his way up to the starting job for the Chippewas as a junior, but broke his collarbone in the first quarter of CMU’s 2013 season-opening game against Michigan in “The Big House.”
Archer, meanwhile, is described by Collins as more of a “point guard” on the football field.
“He is definitely a dual threat,” Collins said. “Like a good point guard, he is capable of taking it into his own hands if need be. But first and foremost, he’s looking to get our other guys involved.”
That supporting cast, many like Archer part of Montague’s loaded junior class, has been stellar through the first two-thirds of the season.
Bryce Stark is explosive out of the backfield, rushing for 625 yards and 13 touchdowns this fall. Kenyan Johnston is the team’s most prolific receiver, highlighted by his nine catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns in a thrilling 46-44 win at rival Whitehall on Sept. 22. The main downfield threat is burner Jake Jancek.
For the past 40 years, the road to the WMC title has gone through Oakridge, a perennial playoff team which has qualified for the postseason 21 of the past 22 years and won MHSAA championships in 1997, 2005 and 2008. The main rival for Oakridge for many years, particularly the 1990s, was Ravenna, but since the turn of the century the biggest challenges have come from the White Lake area duo of Whitehall and, especially, Montague.
Montague edged Oakridge 29-26 two years ago and led 28-14 last year at Oakridge before the Eagles rallied for a 31-28 win.
Archer expects another classic game.
“I can’t wait for Friday night,” said Archer, who, in addition to his quarterback duties, starts at safety and punter and hold on kicks. “It will probably be like the Whitehall game where the stands are full and people are sitting on the grass. Those are the games we love to play in.”
Part of the reason for the year-in, year-out success at Montague and Oakridge is coaching stability. Montague has had just two head coaches in the past 32 years, with Ken Diamond coaching from 1986-2003 and Collins from 2004 to present. Oakridge has had an even longer stretch with just two head coaches, led by Jack Schugars from 1979 to 2010 and now Harger from 2011 to present.
Montague has made the playoffs in 12 of 13 seasons under Collins, with the back-to-back championships in 2008 and 2009 capping an amazing stretch which saw the Wildcats make it at least to the Semifinals five straight years from 2005 to 2009.
Getting back to that elite level is what motivates Archer to come in to “Camp Kater” on Monday and Friday mornings before school. Kater emphasizes building up arm strength on Mondays, and switches the focus to pocket awareness on Fridays. Those sessions have transformed Archer from a running back playing quarterback to a well-rounded QB, Collins said.
Archer grew up idolizing Kater in small-town Montague, but he lists his favorite professional quarterbacks as Tom Brady and Doug Flutie, the 5-10 quarterback who was an inspiration to little guys everywhere. Flutie retired in 2005 when Archer was just 4 years old.
“The roster lists me as 5-9, but I’m 5-7; I’m not gonna lie to you,” said Archer, who also plays basketball and baseball for Montague. “I’ve watched old films of Flutie, and I love how he found a way to make things happen even though he was a little guy. That’s what I try to do.”
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 junior quarterback Sebastian Archer, a true dual-threat for the unbeaten Wildcats, looks for running room Sept. 22 during his team's 46-44 victory over rival Whitehall. (Middle) Archer tries to throw over 6-4 Whitehall defensive end Brandon Rake; Archer completed 14 of 20 passes for 217 yards, four TDs and no interceptions in the win. (Below) Montague coach Pat Collins played quarterback for the Wildcats in the early 1990s, leading them to the Class CC championship game in 1992. Collins, now in his 14th year, has a 121-38 record at Montague, highlighted by back-to-back MHSAA titles in 2008 and 2009. (Photos by Tim Reilly.)