Davison Earns 1st-Time Football Glory
November 30, 2019
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
DETROIT – Davison senior wide receiver Latrell Fordham strolled into the postgame press conference with his left arm in a sling, and an enormous smile on his face.
Fordham played a huge role in Davison’s 35-25 victory over Brighton in the MHSAA Division 1 Final on Saturday at Ford Field – before landing awkwardly and fracturing his left elbow late in the second quarter.
“It hurts a lot, and I need surgery, but winning a state championship overrides all of that,” said Fordham, a 6-foot-3 Ball State commit who had four catches for 88 yards before his injury, including an electrifying 74-yard sprint along the Davison sideline that helped his team assume control in the second quarter.
Davison (12-2) won the first football Finals championship in school history and the first title for a Saginaw Valley League school since 1999 Saginaw High, which was led by Charles Rogers and also featured LaMarr Woodley.
The Cardinals, who had won their first four playoff games in come-from-behind fashion powered by their running game, shifted gears completely Saturday.
Davison never trailed and pulled away behind an impressive passing attack, as 6-3 junior quarterback Brendan Sullivan completed 14-of-19 passes for 290 yards. He connected with six receivers.
Brighton coach Brian Lemons said after the game that his team was committed to shutting down the run, which made it susceptible through the air.
“We had to pick our poison,” said Lemons, whose team stunned top-ranked Belleville 22-19 in the Semifinals to earn its first Finals appearance. “We had some single coverage, and they did a great job of connecting in those situations.”
Sullivan opened the scoring on a one-yard plunge in the first quarter set up by a crucial two-yard, fourth-down completion to Fordham and a 14-yard pass to Harrison Terry on the next play. Terry led all receivers with six catches for 94 yards.
After a Brighton field goal narrowed the lead to 7-3 in the second quarter, second-year Davison coach Jake Weingartz seized on an opportunity to go for a home run.
“We had trips (three receivers) to one side and Latrell by himself on the other side,” explained Weingartz. “He had single coverage and the safety shaded to the trips side. We had to take a shot. We’re not going to beat our head against the wall and try to run against a loaded front.”
Fordham took off on a straight go route along the Davison sideline and Sullivan delivered a strike, which Fordham caught in stride as he sprinted the rest of the way for a 74-yard score and 14-3 lead.
“We were waiting for the right moment, and on that play we had the matchup we wanted,” explained Fordham, who expects to miss a good portion of basketball season, but hopes to be back by March. “Brendan made a perfect throw. I just had to grab it and take it to the house.”
That play brought the huge crowd from Davison to its feet and seemingly opened the floodgates. The Cardinals scored on a one-yard run by Carter Cryderman before halftime and a 10-yard scramble run by Sullivan early in the third quarter to take a seemingly comfortable 28-3 lead.
Brighton (11-3) showed no quit, however, led by dual-threat senior quarterback Colby Newburg and junior running back Nicholas Nemecek.
The Bulldogs scored 16 points in a row – on a one-yard run by Nemecek and a 27-yard pass from Newburg to Nemecek (along with a pair of 2-point conversions) – to close to within 28-19 with four minutes remaining, bringing the orange-clad Brighton fans to life.
Newburg, a 6-0, 190-pound senior, completed 16-of-28 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran 22 times for 83 yards.
“All I can say is that I’m super proud of everybody,” said Newburg. “We fought to the end.”
With Brighton back within striking distance, Sullivan took his turn in the quarterback shootout.
He connected with senior Caleb Smith on a 63-yard pass down to the 1-yard line, which Cryderman took in on the next play to push the lead back to 35-19.
Even then, Brighton was still not done, as Newburg completed six passes on the next drive, including a three-yard TD connection with Austin Lin with 43 seconds remaining. It wasn’t until the ensuing 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete that the game was decided.
Davison finished with a slight 441-425 edge in total yardage, but it was the efficiency of Sullivan through the air which proved to be the difference.
“I told my coach to trust me in this game,” said Sullivan, who stepped up as a junior on the biggest stage. “I want the ball in my hands in those pressure situations.”
The game featured two schools making their first appearances in the Finals, which is becoming more and more rare after 45 years of MHSAA Playoffs, which began in 1975.
That first-time excitement was apparent as both communities turned out in droves at Ford Field, Brighton in orange and Davison in gold.
Adding to the excitement was the fact neither team was expected to make a long playoff run after finishing second in their respective conferences – Davison in the Saginaw Valley League Red (behind Lapeer) and Brighton in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West (behind Plymouth).
Davison senior linebacker Logan Pasco was all over the field with a game-high 16 tackles, while Smith had nine tackles and defensive end Harry Unger made seven stops. Ian Hummel led Brighton with eight tackles, and Cole Riddle and Carson Billig each made six.
PHOTOS: (Top) Davison celebrates its first MHSAA Football Finals championship Saturday at Ford Field. (Middle) Brighton’s Ruben Salinas (1) keeps his eyes on a pass as Davison’s JayLen Murray Flowers works to deflect it.
Physical & Powerful, Beal City Rumbles to 1st Finals Title Since 2009
By
Brad Emons
Special for MHSAA.com
November 29, 2024
DETROIT – No stranger to an MHSAA Finals appearances, Beal City put an exclamation point on its 2024 season by upending Riverview Gabriel Richard, 43-14, for the Division 8 title Friday at Ford Field.
The Aggies (12-2), using a highly-effective ground attack, secured their third championship in 10 tries matching the feats of their 2009 (D8) and 1994 (Class D) title teams.
Beal City racked up 315 yards on the ground led by senior Drew Block, who finished with 112 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. Owen McKenny chipped in with 12 carries for 88 yards and a TD, while Garrison Zuker contributed seven for 64.
“Our offensive line was just outstanding today,” Block said. “We really couldn’t do anything without them. They’re the heart-and-soul of our team. They continually got us chunks and chunks of yards. We were going to let them just do their job and march down the field. We’ve got a lot of great talent on this team. Each guy has his own specific thing ... just a bunch of dogs, really.”
Beal City’s Brad Gross, in his 10th season as head coach, has been part of the program for nearly 23 years. He was a player on that ’94 team and was the offensive coordinator in 2009.
“They all mean a lot,” Gross said. “To be the head coach and get your first one ... it’s just awesome. I’m a Beal guy; when I’m done coaching, it will be at Beal.”
Gabriel Richard quarterback Nick Sobush was 9 of 18 passing for 120 yards and a TD for the Pioneers (11-2). He also added 51 yards rushing on 12 carries with a score.
Gabriel Richard, making its inaugural Finals appearance, scored first taking its opening possession 72 yards in just three plays. The drive was capped by Sobush’s 53-yard TD toss down the sideline to Derek Lesko followed by Joey Calhoun’s 2-point conversion run to make it 8-0 just 1:19 into the game.
Beal City answered on its first offensive possession to make it 8-all after Drake Gatrell returned the ensuing kickoff to the 50. Six plays later Block scored on a two-yard run and McKenny added the 2-pointer after the Pioneers jumped offsides on the extra point attempt with 7:48 to go in the first.
With 4:39 remaining in the opening quarter, the Pioneers went for it on 4th-and-4 at their own 49 only to turn the ball over as Block intercepted a pass on his own 13. That led to a nine-play, 77-yard TD drive for the Aggies capped by Block’s five-yard TD run followed by Kyle Martin’s PAT to give Beal City a 15-8 advantage with 39 seconds remaining in the first.
On its next possession Gabriel Richard, going for it on 4th-and-9 from the Beal City 40, came up empty on an incomplete pass, which led to the Aggies increasing their lead to 22-8. Quarterback Cuyler Smith connected with McKenny, who made a leaping grab just over the goal line for an eight-yard TD catch on 4th-and-2 with 2:30 to play in the first half.
“The ball was thrown perfectly, I just came back and grabbed it,” McKenney said. “I was snag. It was 4th-and-2 and changed the momentum of the game. It was a real tone setter.”
Gabriel Richard did thwart another Beal City scoring threat just before the first half ended when Lesko intercepted a pass at his own 4 with just four seconds remaining.
Beal City outgained the Pioneers 195-158 in total offense over the first two quarters.
McKenny returned the opening kickoff of the second half 44 yards, and the Aggies’ star running back scored just six plays later on three-yard TD run to increase Beal’s lead to 29-8 with 8:30 to go in the third quarter.
Gabriel Richard answered with a 16-play, 76-yard drive that chewed up 7 minutes and 37 seconds and finished on a one-yard keeper by Sobush, but the Pioneers were unable to convert the 2-pointer and trailed 29-14 with 47 seconds to play in the third.
The Pioneers then tried an onside kick that was recovered by Zuker at the 50. With a short field to play with, Beal City put the game away on flanker Austin Small’s 29-yard TD run with 9:14 to go.
Neil Finnerty also got into the scoring act with a five-yard TD run to give the Aggies a 29-point cushion with only 2:21 left.
“Today they caught us at the right time,” Gabriel Richard first-year coach Mark Shea said. “We went through a gauntlet of teams. We were really beat up coming into this. Honestly, we had three or four guys that we didn’t think would be able to play, but they came out and played. Taking absolutely nothing away from Beal City. They played a great game, but we were beat up and you could see it. We lacked some of the explosiveness that we generally have. And when we don’t have the balance in our attack, it puts us in a bad situation. But as far as effort goes, they gave me everything they could do.”
“Joey (Calhoun) got a little banged up first drive on defense; that’s an all-state kid,” Sobush added. “And (Beal City) kind of just took our passing game away. I made a bad throw that kind of changed the momentum of the game.”
Beal City had opened this postseason with a 47-0 win over Frankfort, but then had to get past Glen Lake (21-14), Iron Mountain (14-7) and Fowler (17-16).
“It was nice to get this one,” Gross said. “I wouldn’t say easier, but the word I’m looking for is that it wasn’t as stressful. These guys have done everything we asked them to do.”
Six weeks ago, and just prior to the playoffs, Gross said the Aggies “had to play physical football with bad intentions.
“These guys took it to heart,” the Beal City coach said. “We just got more physical.”
Gross said the beauty of this newly-crowned Aggies championship team was the cohesiveness between the seniors, juniors, sophomores and even their freshmen.
“And these guys treat those guys like they’re just like any other player,” he said. “That’s what makes our team special, because we’re more of a team. I think our model all year was, ‘Teams win championships, individuals win awards,’ so we kind of stuck by that and that’s what got us here. It means a lot to me, but it’s all about these guys and that’s the most important thing.”
PHOTOS (Top) Beal City’s Austin Small (2) looks to cut back Friday as Gabriel Richard’s Aidan Valatka (13) pursues him. (Middle) Beal’s Drew Block follows the block of Jace Faber. (Below) Aggies coach Brad Antcliff raises the Division 8 championship trophy as his players celebrate. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)