Drive Completed: 2014 Finals in Review
December 1, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A total of 56,303 fans attended this weekend’s 11-player Football Finals at Ford Field, the most to watch the event live since 2010 and more than 9,000 more fans than only two years ago.
They witnessed five games decided by 10 points or fewer. Four games where the eventual winner was not the first to score. Three repeat champions, but also a first-time winner and the ends of two of the longest winning streaks in MHSAA history.
Second Half covered all nine championship games including the 8-player Final on Nov. 21, with quick recaps and links to those stories below followed by notations of performances entered into the MHSAA record book and a report on some of the biggest and best stories to emerge from the 2014 Finals.
Finals in Review
D1: Clarkston 33, Saline 25
The Wolves took over as holders of the longest MHSAA winning streak at 27 straight after claiming a second consecutive Division 1 championship. Junior running back Nolan Eriksen followed up the starring 2013 Finals performance of his brother Ian with 28 carries for 172 yards and three touchdowns. Saline finished 12-2 in making its first MHSAA championship game. Click to read more.
D2: Warren DeLaSalle 44, Muskegon Mona Shores 8
DeLaSalle came back from a 3-3 start to this season to win its first MHSAA championship. The Pilots shut down a Mona Shores offense averaging 39.5 points per game and got plenty of offensive boost from sophomore running back Allen Stritzinger, who ran for 175 yards and a touchdown. Mona Shores made its first championship game appearance after making the playoffs in 2013 for the first time. Click to read more.
D3: Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 7, Muskegon 0
This final game of the weekend was decided by one touchdown – scored by a player courageously carrying on only two days after his mother’s death. Brandon Adams scored the deciding points on a first-quarter run; his mother Katie died Thursday after fighting lung cancer. The Eaglets returned to the playoffs after missing in 2013; Muskegon finished MHSAA runner-up for the third straight season after falling to Birmingham Brother Rice in the Division 2 Finals in 2013 and 2012. Click to read more.
D4: Grand Rapids South Christian 28, Lansing Sexton 27
Sailors quarterback Jon Wassink capped his career and the team’s third straight trip to Ford Field with a second title over those three seasons. He threw for 179 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 122 yards and another score, and South Christian’s defense hung on late as Sexton made a pair of last attempts at the lead in its first MHSAA championship game appearance. Click to read more.
D5: Grand Rapids West Catholic 24, Lansing Catholic 20
West Catholic quarterback Travis Russell led a 17-play, 64-yard drive over the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter to bring the Falcons back to win their second straight MHSAA title and finish the season perfect for the first time since 1976. West Catholic opened with 17 straight points before Lansing Catholic took the lead with 7:38 to play. Click to read more.
D6: Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central 22, Ithaca 12
The Falcons put an end to Ithaca’s national-best 69-game winning streak, adding some heavier impact to the team’s first MHSAA title since 1991. The Yellowjackets actually had defeated St. Mary in 2010 for their first of four straight championships, and fell just four wins shy of breaking the MHSAA record for consecutive football victories, held by Hudson. Click to read more.
D7: Detroit Loyola 29, Ishpeming 8
In the third straight Division 7 Final meeting between these two, Loyola won its first title and finished 14-0 thanks to 29 unanswered points and 297 yards rushing. Ishpeming had won 33 straight games, tied for the eighth-longest streak in MHSAA football history. Click to read more.
D8: Muskegon Catholic Central 31, Munising 6
The Crusaders became the first repeat champions in Division 8, running away after Munising scored the game’s first points. MCC had never trailed this season, but got three second-half touchdowns from senior Tommy Scott and held Munising to only 39 yards on the ground. Click to read more.
8-Player: Lawrence 56, Cedarville 12
Lawrence completed a turnaround from 1-17 over its final two seasons of 11-player in 2011 and 2012 to 8-player champion keyed by senior quarterback Derek Gribler and a speedy defense that locked down Cedarville, which also made its first 8-player Final appearance. Lawrence became the first program to win both 11 and 8-player championships. Click to read more.
Records Report
A number of team and individual entries have been added to the MHSAA Football Finals record book, found by clicking here. A breakdown:
- Warren DeLaSalle kicker Jake Townsley tied his career long field goal of 41 yards and set an MHSAA Finals record with three total, also making from 23 and 29 yards out. He also made the listing for connecting on all five of his extra-point attempts.
- DeLaSalle also became the 20th team to play in a Final and not punt in the game.
- Also in Division 2, Muskegon Mona Shores’ Darece Roberson caught what tied for the fifth-most receptions in a Final, 10.
- Muskegon Catholic Central’s Tommy Scott set the record for longest Finals kickoff return, bringing one back 99 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter of the Division 8 game against Munising. He also became the latest in a long list to score at least four touchdowns in a championship game, running for three more.
- Detroit Loyola’s Marvin Campbell also joined that list of players with at least four TDs in a Final, running for four in his team’s Division 7 victory over Ishpeming. His 215 rushing yards on 21 attempts made the championship game rushing list.
- Four quarterbacks joined the total offense list: Saline’s Josh Jackson with 319 yards – 82 rushing and 237 passing – against Clarkston in Division 1, Grand Rapids South Christian’s Jon Wassink with 312 yards – 122 rushing and 179 passing – in Division 4, and Lansing Catholic’s Tony Poljan (60 rush, 269 pass = 329) and Grand Rapids West Catholic’s Travis Russell (134, 203 = 327) in Division 5. Poljan’s 269 passing yards also made that list, and his 24 completions were fourth most for a Final.
- Muskegon Catholic Central became the sixth program in MHSAA history to play in 13 football championship games, and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s became one of nine to play in 12. Muskegon played in its eighth Final, South Christian in its seventh, Ishpeming and Monroe St. Mary in their sixth each, and West Catholic and Ithaca in their fifth each. Muskegon Catholic Central also became one of six with 10 MHSAA titles, and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s won its sixth.
- Lawrence quarterback Derek Gribler made the 8-player total offense list with 359 yards – 256 passing and 103 rushing. Lawrence as a team became the first to be listed for rushing offense – 341 yards – and set the 8-player Final record with 597 total yards and 23 first downs. Lawrence also made the most points in a quarter list with 28 in the first against Cedarville.
Stories behind the scores
End of an era: Ithaca’s winning streak began on opening night 2010 and just this month included a fourth-quarter comeback victory over Madison Heights Madison in the Regional Final and a near-goalline stand late against Boyne City in the Semifinal. The Yellowjackets’ magic ran out against Monroe St. Mary, but the streak will be remembered for years to come. Although Ithaca fell short of breaking the MHSAA football consecutive wins record, it did set a record for most in a row during the playoff era; Hudson’s 72-game winning streak ended in 1975 and included only one playoff win as that was the first season with an MHSAA tournament in the sport.
Repeat by 3: Clarkston in Division 1, Grand Rapids West Catholic in Division 5 and Muskegon Catholic Central in Division 8 all repeated after winning 2013 championships. Although MCC became the first repeat champ in Division 8, winning back-to-back has become relatively common during the 16-season division era. There have been 25 repeat champions winning back-to-back in the same division since 2000, the first season a team could accomplish the feat.
QB Power: As explained above, four quarterbacks were added to the MHSAA Finals records listing for most total yards in a championship game. Two of those signal-callers – Saline’s Jackson and Lansing Catholic’s Poljan – are juniors expected to lead teams next season with good chances of returning to Ford Field.
Loyola Wins Round 3: With a group of players who also were standouts in the first two matchups, Loyola claimed its first MHSAA football title by defeating Ishpeming in their third straight face-off in Division 7. Bulldogs senior linebackers Paul Engram and Darryl Clemons had been their team’s leading tacklers in the 2012 loss and two of the top three last season, and senior running back Marvin Campbell was the team’s leading rusher in the 2013 defeat and second-leading rusher the year before.
PHOTOS: (Top) Nine champions celebrated MHSAA titles over the last two weekends. (Middle) A jubilant Monroe St. Mary and disappointed Ithaca pose for team pictures after the Division 6 Final. (Below) Clarkston and Saline prepare to accept their trophies after the Division 1 Final. (Click to see more like the middle photos on the MHSAA Instagram page.)
Youngest Brother Bryan Closing Convertini Family's Memorable 13-Year Run at MCC
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
May 8, 2025
Bryan Convertini is nearing the end of an amazing four-year athletic career for Muskegon Catholic Central, but this swan song is not just about him.
Bryan is the last of the four “Convertini boys” at MCC, who collectively have provided Crusaders fans with plenty of big plays and thrilling wins – doing it all with their humble, no-nonsense leadership style – over the past 13 years.
“The Convertinis have really become the first family of Muskegon Catholic Central,” said MCC baseball coach Steve Schuitema, noting their father, Kolin, is an assistant varsity football coach and their mother, Jene, has served as the team mom for baseball and football for years.
“It will be different and a little sad to not have a Convertini out there for MCC anymore. All of them were leaders and a coach’s dream and really an extension of the coach on the field.”
Mason, 26, graduated in 2017 and set the sports tone for his three brothers, playing football, hockey as part of MCC’s cooperative team with Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, and baseball.
Nolan, 23, graduated in 2020 and, at 6-foot-2, is the tallest of the brothers. He played the same three sports as Mason, and was the most versatile of the boys, playing almost every position in football, including starting two games at quarterback.
Sam, 21, graduated in 2022, and also played football, hockey and baseball, but he opted to play basketball his senior year so he could play with his younger brother, Bryan.
Bryan, 18, will graduate June 1 after a standout, three-sport career, including the past three years as the starting varsity quarterback, before beginning college this fall at Grand Valley State.
“My memories at MCC go way back to when I was like 6 or 7 and the waterboy in football and the batboy in baseball,” said Bryan with a smile.
“The first word that comes to mind when I think about it is family. The whole school is like a big family that pushes and supports each other.”
Grandpa’s boys
The Convertini boys come from good stock, starting with their grandfathers.
On their mother’s side is Grandpa Bryan McLay who, at the age of 87, is still considered “Mr. Hockey” in Muskegon.
McLay, a Kenora, Ontario, native who first came to Muskegon in 1960 (the same year that the downtown hockey arena opened), tallied more than 1,000 points over his 13 seasons with the Muskegon Zephyrs and later, the Mohawks.
McLay moved in with the family after his wife, Peggy, died four years ago, and regularly regales his grandsons with his “old-time hockey” stories.
Jene picked up her father’s passion for sports and has been a natural in the Crusaders’ “team mom” role – organizing meals, carpools, fundraisers and sending out emails for game and schedule changes, among other things.
On their father’s side is Grandpa Fred Convertini, a California native who played in the 1966 Rose Bowl as an offensive lineman at Michigan State – as part of what is considered the top offensive line in MSU history.
Kolin certainly inherited his father’s athletic ability, making first-team all-state in football (running back), wrestling and track & field (pole vault) during his senior year of 1989-1990. He went on to play defensive back at Eastern Michigan University.
He also picked up his father’s humility and toughness, the latter which was put to the test in 2014 when he was diagnosed with cancer.
“Kolin’s cancer really brought us together as a family,” explained Jene. “We didn’t know how long we had, and we decided we weren’t going to do travel sports any more. I didn’t want to be in Chicago and Kolin in Detroit for the weekend and then we say hi on the way out the door to work on Monday morning. We decided to spend more time together.”
Like their grandfathers and father, all four of the Convertini boys were known for their dependability, rarely if ever missing games due to sickness or injury.
In fact, Bryan suffered an injury in the opening football game of his junior season, then played the remaining 10 games on what was later determined to be a broken left ankle – and, by the way, he earned first-team all-state as a defensive back with five interceptions.
“It hurt so bad,” Bryan said, shaking his head. “But I needed to be out there. My team needed me to be out there.”
Home cooking
The Convertini house in Norton Shores has been a gathering place for MCC athletes for years.
It all started when the boys were little, wrestling between the couches and shooting pucks at the walls in the basement.
Later on, that basement became the annual meeting spot for the MCC football team for “Selection Sunday,” when the team would learn its draw for the postseason playoffs.
Mason and Nolan, the two older boys, certainly enjoyed the most team success. Mason was part of three straight Division 8 championship football teams from 2014 to 2016. Nolan, meanwhile, played in three national championship games (with two titles) as a member of the Hope College men’s club hockey team.
The two younger boys had less team success, in large part because MCC really started struggling with numbers, but Sam and Bryan certainly did all they could and were rewarded with individual accolades.
Sam was the first of the brothers to make first-team all-state, earning the honor as a tight end in 2021. Bryan did one better, making all-state twice – after his junior year as a defensive back and his senior year as an “athlete” for his contributions all over the field.
Bryan also made first-team all-state last year in baseball, batting .478 as an outfielder.
In football, he rose above his broken ankle as a junior to rush for more than 800 yards and 11 touchdowns. In a win over Benton Harbor, he had a rushing TD, a passing TD, a receiving TD and returned an interception for yet another TD. This past fall as a senior, he threw for 880 yards and rushed for 621, while making a team-high 81 tackles in his first year at linebacker.
But when asked about the individual highlight of his football career, he doesn’t hesitate.
“That would have to be my freshman year, when I threw a halfback pass to my brother (Sam) for a touchdown,” recalled Bryan, noting a play that occurred in a victory over Muskegon Heights Academy during what ended as the 500th win in MCC football history.
Going out with a bang
Bryan hopes to tack on some additional highlights over the next month of baseball season, effectively writing a happy ending to the Convertini novel.
The Crusaders’ baseball team is off to an 11-4 start after a home sweep of Byron Center Zion Christian on Tuesday, during which MCC pitchers allowed just one run over two games.
Bryan is currently batting .375 while playing the critical position of shortstop, out of need, since he is a natural outfielder.
He would love to have a repeat of his freshman year, when he batted leadoff and helped the Crusaders to District and Regional championships. MCC had won 11 straight Districts before falling short last spring, so he said avenging that District loss is a major priority.
That would also be an appropriate ending after an uncharacteristic football season when the young Crusaders (who started three 14-year-old freshmen on the offensive line) finished 1-7.
Things went much better in basketball, as Bryan teamed with all-stater Bradley Richards to help MCC to an 11-10 record, its first winning season in six years.
Through winning or losing, MCC football coach Steve Czerwon said the strong Catholic faith of the Convertini family is always front and center.
The family will gather to celebrate in early September, when Mason and his fiancée, Sophie, get married at St. Michael’s Church in Muskegon. That is about the same time that Bryan will be off to Grand Valley, and Czerwon and the MCC football program will begin the post-Convertini era.
“Bryan and all of his brothers have an inner strength which sets them apart,” said Czerwon, who took over as MCC’s head coach in 2013, which was Mason’s freshman year. “All of them respect authority and they want to learn and get better, which is all that you can ask.
“It’s been a pleasure working with their family. We are all going to miss them.”
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) Muskegon Catholic Central’s Bryan Convertini takes a look down the third-base line during a baseball at bat. (2) The four Convertini boys take a photo together after one of Bryan’s football games in 2023. From left: Sam, Bryan, Mason and Nolan. (3) Convertini brings the ball upcourt during basketball season. (4) Convertini (22), stands for the national anthem this past fall. (Baseball and basketball photos by Michael Banka. Football photo by Tim Reilly. Family photo courtesy of Jene Convertini.)