Clarkston Kicker Grabs QB Opportunity
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
October 13, 2015
CLARKSTON – This season seemed to be going from bad to worse for Clarkston.
The Wolves were blitzed by Macomb Dakota, 35-10, in the opener and in their third game were tied 14-14 with West Bloomfield when starting quarterback Anthony Reiner suffered a broken hand.
The two-time defending Division 1 champion went on to lose that game, 35-21, to fall to 1-2.
As poorly as Clarkston started the season, its fortunes changed. Alex Kessman, a senior who will in all likelihood be a place kicker at a Division I college next season, got an opportunity he really didn’t expect.
Kessman hadn’t played quarterback since the ninth grade, when he led Clarkston’s freshmen team to an undefeated season. When Reiner went out last month, coach Kurt Richardson went to Kessman – and he’s responded as if he was an experienced quarterback.
Kessman couldn’t rescue Clarkston against West Bloomfield, but the Wolves are 4-0 since with Kessman as the starter. He’s thrown seven touchdown passes including three in a 28-0 over Troy Athens.
If Kessman wasn’t such a fine place kicker and punter he likely would have started the season at quarterback. Instead he was in the secondary, kicked and was Reiner’s backup.
“We wanted to groom (Kessman) during the summer but he was always at kicking camps,” Richardson said. “The other guy was working real hard and we went with (Reiner).
“When Anthony got hurt it was a natural thing. I told him he was our best quarterback. At first it didn’t come quick. He’s gotten better every week. He’s got a very strong arm. We still run the same offense. We’re throwing more (with Kessman).”
Kessman no longer plays defense but he is still kicking, and kicking well. He kicked a 56-yard field goal against Dakota and has since kicked one from 53 yards out.
Kessman made his third visit to University of Pittsburgh last weekend and said the Panthers are at the top of his college list at this point. Mississippi State has offered Kessman preferred walk-on status and other schools such as Michigan, Florida and Tennessee also are in the mix.
Physically, Kessman is not your typical kicker. He’s 6-3 and weighs 185 pounds. He played basketball until his sophomore year, when he decided to concentrate on his kicking.
Kessman started playing football in the seventh grade and was a kicker even back then. As a sophomore he played safety and kicked as a member of the junior varsity. Last season Kessman was the punter and place kicker on varsity but did not play defense.
Now he’s showing he’s more than just a kicker, at least at this level.
“I wasn’t really rusty,” he said. “I was prepared if Anthony went down. I didn’t practice a lot (at quarterback). I threw occasionally. The first couple of plays I was nervous. I got comfortable. It was at halftime of the West Bloomfield game. Thanks to my teammates I have no trouble getting comfortable now.”
As one would guess, one of his biggest challenges was learning an extensive playbook. Richardson’s quarterbacks have much responsibility making proper decisions on read option plays and checking down on second and third receivers.
“I know the ins and outs now,” Kessman said. “That comes from off-the-field stuff. I put a lot of time in on my own. The toughest part is reading the corners and reading the safeties.”
Clarkston is averaging 40 points a game in Kessman’s four starts but it would be unfair to give him all the credit. The five offensive linemen who started in last season’s MHSAA Final graduated, and Clarkston is starting three underclassmen up front including two sophomores. The line struggled early on, but is playing much better now.
Then there’s Nolan Eriksen, a senior running back. Eriksen suffered a high ankle sprain in Clarkston’s inter-squad game during the preseason and made his season debut against Troy Athens. He scored four touchdowns in last week’s 42-0 victory over Troy.
“Eriksen is obviously fantastic,” Kessman said. “I know when I hand it off to him he’ll get at least five yards or take it all the way.”
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Clarkston’s Alex Kessman lines up for a punt during last season’s Division 1 Final at Ford Field (Middle) Kessman signals before another punt. (Below) Kessman is considered a Division I college prospect as a kicker.
Much Different Story, Same Final Result as Lenawee Christian Repeats
By
Travis Nelson
Special for Second Half
November 20, 2021
MARQUETTE — It was a different stadium, but the same end result Saturday as Adrian Lenawee Christian defeated Suttons Bay for the second consecutive season, this time 31-20, to repeat as 8-player Division 1 champion.
But Saturday’s game at Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome proved a much tougher test for the Cougars, who needed two fourth-quarter touchdowns to finally take down the Norsemen.
Lenawee Christian had won last season’s championship game 47-0 at Legacy Center in Brighton.
“What a tremendous game; my hat’s off to Suttons Bay,” Adrian Lenawee Christian coach Bill Wilharms said. “To make it here three straight years in a row, man what an amazing program coach (Garrick) Opie has.
“To all of the fans, it was so cool in this environment. It was so loud. This is what small-town football is all about. I can’t say enough about the venue and just having the opportunity to be here. I appreciate that a great deal.”
The game couldn’t have started better for the Cougars, as on the second play, Ashur Bryja intercepted a Suttons Bay pass and returned it 22 yards for the opening score. Suttons Bay had multiple scoring chances in the first quarter with drives reaching the Lenawee Christian red zone, but the Norsemen turned the ball over on downs.
The second quarter came with better fortunes for Suttons Bay, with Hugh Periard taking a handoff 90 yards for a score. Shawn Bramer’s two-point conversion run was sniffed out by the Cougars’ defense, and Suttons Bay trailed 7-6 with 6:44 left in the half. Lenawee Christian had a nice drive going inside the Norsemen 10-yard line before a pass was tipped and intercepted at the goal line by August Schaub, and returned it 99 yards for a score. Another Suttons Bay two-point attempt was no good, but the two touchdowns built a 12-7 lead with 4:58 to go in the half.
But Adrian Lenawee Christian didn’t fold because of the momentum changes, and responded with a six play, 65-yard drive capped off with a Bryja 11-yard touchdown run to take the lead back. The Cougars led 14-12 at halftime, and responding to Suttons Bay’s punches went back to being tested throughout the season, Wilharms said.
“I think this year, we’ve been tested a couple times,” Wilharms said. “Colon did it to us at their place, we had to weather some storms there as well, so I think we were tested. BD (Britton Deerfield) on the first play of the game in Week 9 comes out and scores on us. These kids have weathered the challenge on it and they understand, they play together as a team.”
Suttons Bay had another turnover on downs in Lenawee Christian territory in the third quarter, which turned into three points for the Cougars as Brady McKelvey nailed a 28-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-12 with 2:02 remaining in the period.
Defense continued to carry the second half well into the fourth quarter, when the first touchdown of the half was scored with only 6:21 left in the game. Clay Ayers, who battled injury, ran the ball in for the Cougars to extend the lead to 24-12. Ayers was limited to only seven carries, but he showed well when it mattered most.
Suttons Bay fired back just 1:06 later with a deep pass from quarterback Dylan Barnowski to Periard for a 55-yard touchdown to cut the Cougars’ lead to 24-20 after Bramer’s ensuing two-point run. In his third consecutive Final, Periard had 209 yards from scrimmage. In also his final high school game, this loss was the most heartbreaking.
“Obviously, the previous two hurt pretty bad, but I think this one was the most because it’s my last time ever playing football and we were so close to pulling this one off,” Periard said. “So this year’s definitely the worst, in my opinion.”
Any doubt of the game’s finish was put away with a 33-yard run from Bryja to slam the door. Bryja, also Lenawee Christian’s quarterback, threw for 229 yards and ran for 161 and two touchdowns, in addition to his interception return.
At the end of the day, the Norsemen didn’t falter, but it was tough to overcome the Cougars.
“Sometimes you have the cards falling your way, and sometimes you don’t,” Suttons Bay coach Garrick Opie said. “Today was one of those days where timing mixed with lack of execution or otherwise. Or the fact that Lenawee Christian is just a very good team, was just very tough.”
The 2022 Adrian Lenawee Christian senior class finished 24-0 in leading the program’s first two seasons of 8-player football.
“They’re going to leave as the all-time winningest group in school history. They will have the single-season win record. They will have a ton of stuff,” Wilharms said. “As a collective group, oh my goodness, what a wonderful, wonderful group.”
PHOTOS (Top) Lenawee Christian’s Ashur Bryja (15) breaks into the open on the way to a second-quarter touchdown. (Middle) Suttons Bay’s Hugh Periard (1) makes a cut as the Cougars’ Clay Ayers (2) attempts to wrap him up. (Photos by Cara Kamps. Click for more.)