Drive for Detroit: Playoff Week 3 Preview
November 7, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first MHSAA football finalists of this fall will celebrate this weekend, as four 8-player Semifinals will determine which teams move on to Marquette’s Superior Dome a week from Saturday.
And 64 11-player teams have completed half of the “Drive for Detroit,” with this weekend’s Regional Finals setting up next weekend’s Semifinals and opportunities to visit Ford Field for extended Thanksgiving.
Below are the matchups in all 10 divisions this weekend, with a quick look at one from each 11-player bracket and all four 8-player Semifinals. We suggest seeing them live, of course. But we have more opportunities to watch online as well.
This week’s FOX Sports Detroit Prep Zone matchups are Dearborn Fordson at Clinton Township Chippewa Valley and Clarkston at Lapeer in Division 1, and Warren DeLaSalle at Port Huron Northern in Division 2. Those all will stream free of charge on FOXSportsDetroit.com and on the FOX Sports app. At least five more games will be viewable on MHSAA.tv, either live with subscription or free after 72 hours.
Games are Friday unless noted. “Drive for Detroit” is powered by MI Student Aid.
Division 1
Dearborn Fordson (10-1) at Clinton Township Chippewa Valley (11-0)
The Tractors showed they’re capable of beating anyone with last week’s 41-14 stunner of Detroit Cass Tech. Fordson is scoring 38 points per game while playing seven against playoff teams, and is a three-point Week 6 loss to Belleville from being undefeated. Chippewa Valley is the next giant up, coming off a 51-10 rematch win over Macomb Dakota and giving up only 15 points per game despite also playing seven against playoff qualifiers.
Other Regional Finals: FRIDAY Clarkston (9-2) at Lapeer (11-0), West Bloomfield (9-2) at Belleville (11-0). SATURDAY Rockford (7-4) at Saline (10-1).
Division 2
Portage Northern (9-2) at Muskegon Mona Shores (10-1)
The Huskies have won seven straight games and last week celebrated their first District title. The defense has shined; Northern is giving up 12 points per game and allowed more than 21 once, in a Week 4 loss to East Lansing. The Sailors beat Jenison last week for the second time this season, extending the margin from seven points in the first meeting to 39 in the rematch. Averaging 44 points per game, they may present the toughest offensive challenge the Huskies have faced.
Other Regional Finals: FRIDAY Livonia Franklin (7-4) at Birmingham Groves (9-2), Midland (8-3) at Walled Lake Western (8-3), Warren DeLaSalle (9-2) at Port Huron Northern (10-1).
Division 3
Cedar Springs (10-1) vs. Muskegon (11-0) at Grand Haven
After eliminating Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold co-champs East Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Christian the last two weeks, Muskegon takes on O-K White winner Cedar Springs. The Red Hawks last week won their first District title since 2000 and boast a defense giving up 10.5 points per game. The opportunity to make history in this one is even greater – the reigning Division 3 champ Big Reds have won 25 straight games and scored at least 42 points nine weeks running.
Other Regional Finals: FRIDAY Parma Western (10-1) at Zeeland East (10-1), Detroit Martin Luther King (9-2) at Allen Park (9-2). SATURDAY Farmington (8-3) vs. DeWitt (11-0) at Lansing Catholic.
Division 4
Escanaba (9-2) at Grand Rapids Catholic Central (10-1), Saturday
Grand Rapids Catholic Central has fared well against the Eskymos the last two seasons, winning their 2016 Regional Final 34-0 and last season’s Semifinal 24-0 on the way to claiming Division 4 championships both years. But Escanaba can find encouragement in a couple of places. The 24 points in last year’s meeting were the fewest GRCC scored in the playoffs. And four of the Escanaba offense’s six highest-scoring games this fall have come over the last five weeks.
Other Regional Finals: FRIDAY St. Clair (9-2) at Williamston (9-2). SATURDAY Holland Christian (8-3) at Edwardsburg (11-0), Chelsea (8-3) at Farmington Hills Harrison (8-3).
Division 5
Reed City (11-0) at Saginaw Swan Valley (11-0), Saturday
Reed City is playing in a Regional Final for the fourth time in five seasons, and as an undefeated team for the second time in three. Adding to that familiarity with the big stage is a familiar foe – Swan Valley defeated the Coyotes last year 29-14 in a Semifinal. Reed City has lost only three regular season games this decade, but there’s definitely something different this fall – notably a defense that is giving up 6.2 points per game. That unit will be key against a Vikings team scoring 43 points per and giving up only 8.9.
Other Regional Finals: FRIDAY Detroit Denby (9-2) at Marine City (9-2). SATURDAY Hudsonville Unity Christian (9-2) vs. Kalamazoo United (11-0) at Vicksburg, Frankenmuth (9-2) at Portland (11-0).
Division 6
Montague (9-2) at Schoolcraft (9-2)
The Eagles are playing for their first trip to the Semifinals since 2001, and have been in the mix making the Regional Final in 2013 and suffering their only losses of the season in District Finals in 2012 and 2016. Schoolcraft has played eight games against playoff teams this fall and still is averaging 45 points per game. Montague, playing in its second straight Regional Final, is averaging 44 points per contest with seven against playoff teams – and losses to only undefeated Division 5 contenders Reed City and Portland. Schoolcraft’s defeats also came to Division 5 playoff teams; Kalamazoo United is still alive.
Other Regional Finals: FRIDAY Kingsley at Traverse City St. Francis (11-0), Blissfield (7-4) at Jackson Lumen Christi (10-0). SATURDAY Montrose (9-2) at Flint Hamady (11-0).
Division 7
Pewamo-Westphalia (11-0) vs. New Lothrop (10-1) at Chesaning
An interesting note about P-W’s back-to-back Division 7 championship runs the last two seasons: Of six playoff games not including Semifinals, only three were played at home. The Pirates had to win District and Regional titles on the road last season, and beat the Hornets 35-14 to clinch the former. New Lothrop beat the first (Cass City) and second-place (Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker) teams from the Greater Thumb Conference West the last two weeks to set up this rematch.
Other Regional Finals: FRIDAY Roscommon (10-1) at Lake City (11-0), Riverview Gabriel Richard (7-4) at Madison Heights Madison (11-0). SATURDAY Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (9-2) at Cassopolis (11-0).
Division 8
Breckenridge (11-0) at Ishpeming (11-0), Saturday
The Huskies will head north seeking their first Regional title and hoping a defense giving up just 4.3 points per game can lock down an Ishpeming offense scoring 42. Breckenridge also made the Regional Final last season, in Division 7, losing to Lake City by just two points. The Hematites shut out 2017 semifinalist Iron River West Iron County for the second time in five weeks to win the District title.
Other Regional Finals: FRIDAY Flint Beecher (8-3) at Harbor Beach (10-1). SATURDAY Mendon (7-4) at Holton (7-4), Detroit Southeastern (8-3) vs. Reading (11-0) at Hillsdale High School.
8-Player Division 1
SEMIFINALS
AuGres-Sims (11-0) at Pickford (11-0), Saturday
Before last week, these teams stacked up even more similarly than their records might indicate – Pickford’s six-point win over Suttons Bay in their Regional Final was its first close game since Week 3, and AuGres-Sims hasn’t allowed an opponent to get closer than 38 points all fall. Quarterback Caden Zeien has thrown for 1,928 yards and 34 touchdowns with only one interception for AuGres-Sims (plus run for 673 yards and 10 TDs), while his Pickford counterpart James Storey has thrown for 1,527 yards and 28 touchdowns and run for 782 yards and 15 scores. The Panthers also made the Semifinals the last two years and this will be their fifth time total trying to make the MHSAA Finals for the first time. For the Wolverines, this Semifinal is a first.
Colon (10-1) at Morrice (11-0)
Morrice is coming off its first Regional title since 1996 – although the Orioles did give up their first points since mid-September last week to Wyoming Tri-unity Christian in a 44-14 win. They are allowing 5.4 per game points overall while gaining nearly 360 yards in total offense. Colon’s lone defeat was to Tri-unity, 22-14 three weeks ago, but the Magi rebounded quickly to make their first Semifinal. Quarterback Hunter Nowak leads the Orioles' attack with 1,757 yards and 30 touchdowns rushing and 517 yards passing. Colon boasts a pair of 1,000 backs in Brandon Crawford (1,607 yards, 21 TDs) and quarterback Philip Alva (1,035/16 rushing, 461/8 passing).
8-Player Division 2
SEMIFINALS
Cedarville (7-4) at Rapid River (8-3)
Three of seven Great Lakes Conference East teams are still alive for MHSAA championships, and these two met in Week 7 with Rapid River claiming a 28-20 win to help lock up third place in the league. Rapid River downed reigning 8-player Division 2 champ Crystal Falls Forest Park last week and will be aware of the possibilities of a rematch disappointment – the Rockets opened these playoffs by beating Engadine by two after losing to the Eagles by 18 only two weeks prior. Cedarville is rolling again, having won its two playoff games by a combined 88-6 score, and led by quarterback Tristan Masuga (1,730 yards/21 TDs passing).
Portland St. Patrick (7-4) at Onekama (9-2), Saturday
The Shamrocks seemed all but forgotten a month ago and tied for fifth in the Southern Central Athletic Association A. But with four straight wins they’re back in the Semifinals for the second straight season and looking to get back to Superior Dome after finishing runner-up in Division 2 a year ago. Onekama, meanwhile, will be playing in its first Semifinal to continue an impressive five-year climb. The Portagers are giving up only 7.4 points per game and lost this fall only to Division 1 playoff teams Tri-unity and Suttons Bay – by a combined seven points. They've run for nearly 1,900 yards over nine games (two wins were forfeits) with Aaron Powers averaging 11.5 yards per carry and Ben Acton 8.9.
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PHOTO: A Reed City ball carrier breaks through an opening during the Coyotes’ 38-7 District Final win over Clare last week. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Family Coaching Tree Grows to 3 Generations
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
September 13, 2018
Like father like son, like grandson.
The Grignon football family continued its progression in the coaching ranks this season when Alex Grignon got his shot at being a head coach. Grignon was hired in June as head coach at Walled Lake Western to replace Mike Zdebski, who resigned to take a coaching position in Arizona.
Alex Grignon, 31, represents the third generation from a family of past and present high school head football coaches. And one can’t talk football in Wayne County communities like Dearborn and Lincoln Park without mentioning the Grignon family.
Ted Grignon was the athletic director and head football coach at Lincoln Park in the 1980s. His two sons, Ted and Jamie, played football at Dearborn Edsel Ford and then in college – Ted, a quarterback at Western Michigan University and Jamie, a safety at Grand Valley State. Jamie Grignon is in his third stint as Lincoln Park’s head coach. He was hired in 1994 and stepped aside after the 1999 season, but never left the sport as he went to Dearborn High as an assistant under Dave Mifsud in 2000. Grignon went back to Lincoln Park in 2013 as the head coach and, after taking another brief hiatus, came back last season and remains in that position.
His two sons, Andrew and Alex, played for Mifsud at Dearborn; and in 2004, Alex’s senior season, Dearborn reached a Division 2 Semifinal before losing to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 6-0. It marked the first time the program advanced that far in the MHSAA Playoffs.
Andrew switched sports and played lacrosse in college (at Grand Valley), but his younger brother stuck with football. After playing four years at Northern Michigan, Alex was a graduate assistant there working with the offense before joining his father’s staff at Lincoln Park.
The Railsplitters have had their struggles of late, starting this season 0-3 and last making the playoffs in 2015. But in 2013, with Jamie as the head coach and Alex as the defensive coordinator, Lincoln Park ended a 66-game losing streak by defeating Taylor Kennedy, 34-20.
After five seasons at Lincoln Park, Alex went to South Lyon last season as the offensive coordinator, and this season he made the big jump. Walled Lake Western is one of the top programs in the Detroit area and a member of the Lakes Valley Conference, and Grignon has the Warriors off to a 2-1 start.
“He was proud that he was the third generation (of head coaches),” Jamie Grignon said. “When he coached with me, it was a growing process for him. There isn’t anyone who works harder than Alex. Whether it’s watching film, working with the kids after practice or what. He’s full-go.”
Like father like son. Jamie is not one to toot his own horn, but when he was the defensive coordinator at Dearborn people in the Downriver area, and in other football strongholds in the county, knew Mifsud had one of the best coaches calling his defense.
Mifsud is in his sixth season as the head coach at Parma Western after serving 16 in the same position at Dearborn. He was an assistant coach at Dearborn for four seasons before being named head coach in 1997.
Remember those dates. Before Mifsud was able to hire Grignon, the two met as adversaries on the field. Lincoln Park defeated Dearborn, 14-0, during Dearborn’s homecoming, no less, in 1999. That was Grignon’s last season during his first stint at Lincoln Park.
Mifsud didn’t have to twist Grignon’s arm to join his staff at Dearborn. Grignon’s oldest son, Andrew, was set to play for Mifsud in 2000. Alex is two years younger, so Mifsud was secure knowing the Grignons had his back.
“I was in my fourth year when Andrew came through, I hired Jamie and Keith Christnagel, who’s the coach at Woodhaven now,” Mifsud said. “We grew up together, the three of us, as coaches. We racked our brains learning the ropes. I always coached the offense. Keith had the offensive and defensive lines and Jamie the defense. The working relationship with Jamie was excellent. We split up the special teams, though he probably did more there.
“People know of Jamie, and he worked his tail off. On Sundays I’d stop by, you know, just to drop some film off or just to touch base, and his entire dining room would be spread all around with notes on breaking down the other team’s offense and such. Jamie’s a high-energy guy. He’s always thinking.
“Looking at Alex, yeah, I think they are similar. They can’t sit still. They’re always looking for something better. What a great hire (for Walled Lake Western). Alex is so great with the kids. He’s young (31). He’s got great football intelligence. Jamie was like that. He would tweak things in practice. He’d never be satisfied. Alex has that. He’s Jamie but at a different level.”
Mifsud and Jamie Grignon both said that what makes Alex a cut above is his leadership. As good as Alex was athletically as a player, his father said it was his leadership qualities that set him apart.
Mifsud recalled a story, a 2-3 week period, actually, during the 2004 season. The staff had yet to elect captains, and as preseason practices wore on Mifsud and his staff were taken aback by the actions of three seniors, Alex among them.
The coaches didn’t have to blow a whistle to start practice. Those three would have the players ready.
“I looked at my coaches,” Mifsud said. “And said those are our captains.”
Alex said he never thought about being a leader. It just came naturally. He grew up watching football from the sidelines, and later as a water boy, and then at home watching his father gather notes and dissect film footage.
“I was on the sidelines my entire life,” he said. “The leadership, you see it. You watch the players. You know what it takes to be a leader. I tell my players at Western, people want to be led.
“As a youth you don’t realize what level dad is coaching at, but you remember going to coffee shops exchanging film. I’d have my ninja toys with me, and the next minute I’d be holding dummies. Dad didn’t push us. He wanted us to do what we wanted to do. Heck, I was a big-time soccer player. I didn’t start playing football until middle school. For two years I did both.”
By his freshman year, Alex was all in for football. His was one of best classes the school has had for the sport, and Alex recalls that 40-50 of his classmates showed their dedication by increasing their work in the weight room.
Playing with his brother for two years and with his father for all four only made Alex more determined.
“I can’t talk football and family without getting emotional about it,” he said. “Watching your dad work 18 hours on the weekend, turning the pages of his legal pad, he was always doing something. I remember eating eggs for breakfast every day and peanut butter sandwiches for lunch to try and get as much protein in our bodies. I’d get up as a child, and he’d be on his third cup of coffee. He never stopped. He saw us wanting to be around the game, and he helped in any way he could to make us better.
“Everything I know, I’ve seen him do.”
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) Walled Lake Western coach Alex Grignon is in his first season as head coach at Walled Lake Western. (Top middle) Alex, left, and father Jamie Grignon when Alex was assisting Jamie at Lincoln Park. (Middle) Current Parma Western and former longtime Dearborn coach Dave Mifsud. (Below) Alex and Jamie Grignon, when both were coaching Lincoln Park, and Alex with his family now as coach at Walled Lake Western. (Photos courtesy of Grignon family; Walled Lake Western photos by Teresa Presty Photography.)