Drive for Detroit: Week 2 in Review
September 4, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
For the second year in a row, storms crashed the second week of Michigan's high school football season.
But the rain could only postpone about 70 games and some dramatic early-season finishes that surely will be difference-makers in the standings in weeks to come.
See below for our look at the most significant of the week's results from every region and our 8-player teams.
Bay & Thumb
Marlette 28, Bad Axe 27
Bad Axe (1-1) stormed into the fall with a big season-opening win over Harbor Beach, and looked like it would add a second victory over a 2014 playoff team before Marlette went ahead during the fourth quarter on a 67-yard scoring pass. Click for more from the Port Huron Times-Herald.
Also noted:
Bay City John Glenn 28, Cadillac 14 – After a nice bounce-back last season for John Glenn (2-0), the Bobcats continued to surge by avenging last season’s 31-7 loss to Cadillac (0-2).
Port Huron 28, New Baltimore Anchor Bay 26 – The Big Reds (1-1) bounced back from a tough loss in Week 1 by keeping a five-game streak going against Anchor Bay (1-1).
Byron 14, Carson City-Crystal 7 – Byron (2-0) is starting nicely after last season’s 4-5 finish, this week avenging last season’s loss to the Eagles (1-1), who are coming off three straight playoff appearances.
Clio 7, Stanton Central Montcalm 6 – The Mustangs are 2-0 for the second straight season with a second straight one-point win over Central Montcalm (0-2).
Greater Detroit
Macomb Dakota 28, Clinton Township Chippewa Valley 21
One of the best football rivalries in all of the Macomb Area Conference, this annual matchup continues to meet expectations. Dakota (2-0) has won 11 straight over the Big Reds during the regular season, but was coming off a one-point loss to Chippewa Valley (1-1) in last season’s District Final. Click for more from MLive-Detroit.
Also noted:
Wyandotte Roosevelt 23, Allen Park 14 – Both of these teams are regular contenders in the Downriver Conference, with Roosevelt (2-0) now taking the upper hand after finishing third last season when Allen Park (1-1) was league runner-up.
Detroit Loyola 42, Muskegon Oakridge 13 – Reigning Division 7 champion Loyola (1-1) looks up to another run after winning big over solid Oakridge (1-1).
Farmington 20, Oak Park 19 – Farmington (2-0) had lost three straight to Oak Park (0-2), including in last season’s playoff opener.
Detroit U-D Jesuit 23, Detroit Country Day 13 – Jesuit (2-0) equaled last season’s win total by beating a second playoff team from a year ago; Country Day is 1-1.
Mid-Michigan
Mason 21, Eaton Rapids 6
The build-up made this the premier game in the Lansing area Thursday, as both teams made the playoffs the last two seasons. But the result remained the same as it's been going back to 1993, the last time Mason fell to Eaton Rapids (1-1). The teams played to only a 10-7 win for Mason last season, but the Bulldogs (2-0) broke away this time relying again on an experienced offense and stout defense. Click for more from Mason Today.
Also noted:
Portland 37, Hillsdale 14 – The Raiders (2-0) are bouncing back nicely from their first losing season since 2002, knocking off the Hornets (1-1), who had won 13 of their last 15 regular-season games.
Stockbridge 53, Sand Creek 48 – Panthers quarterback Mason Gee-Montgomery threw himself into the MHSAA record book with seven touchdown passes as Stockbridge (2-0) went over 50 points for the second time in two games in dropping Sand Creek to 1-1.
Beal City 43, Clare 36 (OT) – These two have played classics two straight seasons, with Beal City (2-0) adding to last year’s one-point win by outlasting Clare (0-2) this time.
Corunna 19, Montrose 13 (OT) – This might be the best win for the Cavaliers (2-0) since at least 2007, or longer ago, as they’ve made the playoffs just once over the last decade while the Rams (1-1) are an annual contender.
Northern Lower Peninsula
Gaylord 45, Grayling 6
These rivals took nearly 20 seasons off before reviving their annual game last fall, and it’s been all Blue Devils so far with both victories by a combined score of 80-6. The score this time wouldn’t make this seem like a big game aside from the neighborly connection, but it could have a bearing on both teams’ futures. Gaylord (2-0) is trying to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2005, and this could be huge toward achieving that goal after the team started 3-0 nonleague last season but went only 2-4 in Big North Conference play. Grayling (1-1) missed the playoffs last fall for the first time in five seasons and faces a tough road ahead starting with Maple City Glen Lake this week. Click for more from the Gaylord Herald-Times.
Also noted:
Kalkaska 40, Elk Rapids 23 – It was quite a comeback by the Blazers (1-1), who fell to Elk Rapids 48-0 only a year ago but this time dropped the Elks to 0-2.
Houghton Lake 12, Lakeview 7 – Not only did this avenge a 45-6 loss to Lakeview (1-1) last year, but it set up Houghton Lake (1-1) to surpass its one-win finishes of 2014, 2013 and 2012.
Manistee 40, Muskegon Orchard View 14 – The Chippewas are 2-0 for the first time since 2009 and after losing to Orchard View 34-7 a year ago; the Cardinals are 0-2.
Maple City Glen Lake 26, Suttons Bay 14 – Glen Lake (2-0) needs one more win to equal last season’s 3-6 finish and now has victories this fall over two 2014 playoff teams and five straight wins over Suttons Bay (0-2).
Southeast & Border
Morenci 26, Hudson 20 (3 OT)
This quickly is turning into one of the top rivalry games from this corner of the state. Morenci (2-0) now has won the last two meetings (by a combined 11 points) after losing 11 in 12 to the Tigers (1-1) from 2002-13. Click for more from the Adrian Daily Telegram.
Also noted:
Concord 44, Union City 36 – The Yellow Jackets (2-0) haven’t won two games total since 2010, and hadn’t beaten Union City (1-1) since 1988.
Napoleon 13, Grass Lake 8 – Napoleon (1-1) had lost 10 straight to Grass Lake (1-1), but now is 1-0 to start the Cascades Conference schedule for the first time since 2010.
Jackson 56, Lansing Everett 27 – Jackson (2-0) has its most win since 2010 and got there by adding a victory over Everett (0-2), a playoff team the last three seasons.
Onsted 21, Adrian Madison 20 (OT) – The Wildcats needed a little extra to survive Madison (1-1) for the second straight season and to start 2-0 for the second straight.
Southwest Corridor
Portage Central 28, Battle Creek Lakeview 21
These two may end up champions of their separate divisions of the Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference, but regardless this will be remembered as one of the league’s marquee battles of 2015. Portage Central came back from a second-half touchdown deficit and now has a little more momentum to ride heading into next week’s SMAC West opener against Stevensville Lakeshore. Click for more from the Kalamazoo Gazette.
Also noted:
Benton Harbor 14, Battle Creek Central 9 – Not only did the Tigers (1-1) break a 20-game losing streak, but they did so against a Central team that’s only a combined 15 points from being undefeated instead of 0-2.
Cassopolis 41, Mendon 6 – This has started like a rare down season for Mendon, which is 0-2 for the first time since 2006; but Cassopolis is 2-0 for the first time since 2010.
Constantine 21, Decatur 20 (OT) – The landscape this season is drastically different for the Falcons (1-1) with a new league and six new opponents, but a win over usually-powerful Decatur (1-1) is a great way to bounce back from a three-point loss on opening night.
Schoolcraft 34, Watervliet 33 – The Eagles will hop into a new league next week 2-0 after edging a Watervliet team that has started 1-1 but won 10 games each of the last two seasons.
Upper Peninsula
L’Anse 30, Iron River West Iron County 26
This was quite a reversal from last season’s 54-8 win by West Iron, with L’Anse (2-0) handing the Wykons their first loss in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference since 2012. West Iron also hadn’t started 0-2 since 2002. Click for more from the Iron Mountain Daily News.
Also noted:
Escanaba 16, Petoskey 7 – The Eskymos are 2-0 for the first time since 2011 after beating a Petoskey team that won nine game a year ago but fell to 1-1.
Newberry 47, Felch North Dickinson 36 – The Indians (2-0) got their first win in four tries against North Dickinson since joining the Nordics (1-1) in the Mid-Eastern Conference.
Lake Linden-Hubbell 35, Hurley (Wis.) 6 – The Great Western Conference is a team fewer this season, but Lake Linden-Hubbell (2-0) is a game up after avenging last season’s 28-6 loss to Hurley.
Negaunee 21, Calumet 14 – Make that three of the last four meetings between these two decided by eight points or fewer, with Negaunee (2-0) winning all four matchups and dropping Calumet this time to 1-1.
West Michigan
Muskegon 42, Grand Rapids Christian 14
There weren’t a lot of better ways the Big Reds (1-1) could’ve bounced back from a three-point loss to Detroit Catholic Central on opening night. Christian (1-1) itself was coming itself off a nice nail-biter win over Grand Rapids South Christian. Now Muskegon will face Grandville this week trying to become the first team in Michigan high school history to win 800 games. Click for more from the Grand Rapids Press.
Also noted:
Montague 70, Ravenna 48 – This goes down as one of the more interesting recent chapters in this West Michigan Conference rivalry, with Montague (2-0) scoring its most points since 2010 and Ravenna (1-1) scoring enough to beat most.
Caledonia 23, Grand Rapids South Christian 7 – The Fighting Scots (2-0) have outscored two teams that went a combined 18-7 last season by a combined score of 63-10; South Christian fell to 0-2.
Grandville 38, Lansing Sexton 25 – Grandville is 2-0 after handing reigning Division 4 runner-up Sexton its second loss, which was absolutely necessary as the Bulldogs might face the toughest schedule of any team in Michigan over the next seven weeks.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern 40, Byron Center 28 – The Huskies finished last season on a 1-3 spiral, but are 2-0 after beating 2014 playoff team Byron Center (1-1) for the second straight year.
8-Player
Kingston 20, Kinde-North Huron 12 Kingston still has been outscored 54-20 after two games, but came back strong after a big opening night loss to Deckerville. North Huron entered off a big win over Carsonville-Port Sanilac; this gave Kingston a 3-2 advantage in the series since the two schools first started playing 8-player in 2012. Both are 1-1 this season. Also noted: Cedarville 34, Pickford 20 – Pickford (1-1) is new to 8-player this fall, but gave Cedarville one of its few close games since this the Trojans (2-0) made the switch in 2011. Webberville 34, Tekonsha 32 – The Spartans are 2-0 but have walked the edge, with both wins by two points; this one dropped Tekonsha to 1-1. PHOTO: Detroit East English (on offense) downed Detroit Renaissance 40-7 in their Week 2 matchup. (Photo courtesy of the Detroit Public School League.)
Menominee Caps Powerful Ford Field Return with 1st Championship Since 2007
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
November 30, 2025
DETROIT – Menominee’s football program has been known a long time for its single-wing offensive scheme, which certainly has served the Maroons well over the years.
The secret to their success goes way deeper than that, however, and it has nothing to do with X’s and O’s. Call it grit, tenacity, resolve – the Maroons have built their program around those characteristics – and now they’re back on top.
Menominee defeated Schoolcraft, 34-6, in the Division 7 Final on Sunday at Ford Field, where the word “grit” has been stamped into the fabric of the Detroit Lions by head coach Dan Campbell.
With a comprehensive effort, Menominee (14-0) captured its first Finals title since 2007, the fourth in program history, and the first for an Upper Peninsula 11-player football team since Ishpeming claimed the Division 7 championship in 2015.
“Just grit and just hard work. I mean, you saw it out there, we’ve got 30 guys on our sideline. Growing up in Menominee, you’re going to have 30 guys on your team, if that,” said Menominee senior Tanner Theuerkauf, starting quarterback and safety.
“You look at our offensive line, we have our guard, he’s 150 pounds – you don’t ever see that, and he just does his job and all those guys do their job in the trenches. … Our want to win is just something you don’t see.”
Theuerkauf and some of his teammates were part of Menominee’s Division 7 runner-up squad two years ago, when the Maroons battled powerhouse Jackson Lumen Christi but fell just short, 34-30.
In last week’s Semifinal, Menominee showed great resolve in erasing a two-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter and securing a 32-28 victory over Pewamo-Westphalia in a matchup of teams ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the final regular-season Division 7 poll.
“Different mentality this year with these seniors,” said fourth-year Menominee coach Chad Brandt, who coincidentally did his student-teaching at Schoolcraft starting in 1996. “Times that I’m not around and they’re running to the locker room and grabbing the footballs and I drive by and they’re out there. That means a lot. And we have linemen that text me, ‘Can we have extra weight-room sessions?’ and those kind of things.
“It takes a lot of work, and these guys have put it in and I just couldn’t be prouder of this group of guys and for our town and for our school of Menominee because they deserve and they appreciate it and they support us in every way possible.”
Menominee senior Clayton Miller helped set the tone Sunday with his hard-nosed running. The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder scored the first three TDs of the game for the Maroons, who took a 7-0 lead on his five-yard run less than four minutes into the contest, went up 13-0 on his two-yard run midway through the second, and led 20-0 on his 31-yard sprint four minutes into the third quarter.
Miller finished with a game-high 112 rushing yards on 25 carries.
“He’s the greatest running back that I’ve ever played with. He’s one of the greatest in Menominee history,” Theuerkauf said about Miller. “He’s not the biggest guy in the world, but he just runs so hard – he runs through guys. … Just for him to want to win, he shows so much energy out there. He’s not the most talkative guy, but he gets the job done and I love that.”
Several Menominee players got the job done, but senior Maverick Geniesse was another who stood out. With Menominee leading 7-0 late in the first quarter and Schoolcraft threatening to score, Geniesse intercepted a pass at the 1 on a Schoolcraft first-and-10 from the 12 to snuff out the Eagles’ opportunity.
Menominee embarked on an 18-play, 79-yard drive that chewed up 8:17 of the clock and was capped by Miller’s second TD run as the Maroons took command with a 13-0 lead.
Geniesse also got into the scoring act, catching a two-yard TD toss from Theuerkauf early in the fourth quarter for a 28-0 Maroons lead. Junior Jackson Myszak capped the Menominee scoring with an eight-yard TD run with 2½ minutes left.
“It feels great. I mean, I’ve dreamed about stuff like this. The ultimate goal is to just be the best team player I can and help the team in any way I can,” Geniesse said. “Of course, the interception, that got our morale going the other way; and the touchdown (reception), it felt pretty good.”
Schoolcraft (11-3) got on the board midway through the fourth quarter on senior TJ Luteyn’s four-yard scoring run.
Both teams displayed offensive balance – Menominee was just more effective throughout the game. Menominee tallied 358 total yards (198 rushing, 160 passing), while Schoolcraft totaled 248 (100 rushing, 148 passing).
“Good, physical team,” Schoolcraft first-year coach Dan DeVries said about Menominee. “Their scheme is a challenging scheme. They can hit the edge hard and you’ve also got to watch for something up the middle and their quarterback can throw as well, so a lot of dimensions to their game. I think they played a fantastic game today. They didn’t make mistakes and we did, and that certainly showed in the score.”
Theuerkauf completed passes to six receivers and finished 7-of-11 for 160 yards. Schoolcraft junior QB Jack DeVries was 12-for-26 for 148 yards.
Schoolcraft seniors Evan Feller and Dane Ostlund paced all defenders with 12 and 11 tackles, respectively. Junior Nathan Nelson notched nine tackles to lead Menominee.
Going back to the late-1980s, Schoolcraft has been a small-school football power, but Sunday marked the Eagles’ first Finals appearance since 2001. They’ve made seven Finals appearances overall and captured titles in 1988, 1989, and 2001.
“Just to see the support and what it means to the town and stuff like that after 24 years – I mean, that’s a long time to not make it back after we’ve had a history of having good football teams and stuff like that,” Jack DeVries said.
“It’s great to do it with the group of seniors we have. Great group of guys – been playing with them for as long as we can remember. (We’ve been) talking about (Ford Field) since we were kids, and getting to go do it was a special thing.”
Sunday signified Menominee’s seventh Finals appearance overall as well. The Maroons also seized championships in 1998, 2006, and 2007 under legendary coach Ken Hofer.
This Menominee teamed restored some of that “UP Power” that Maroons and others north of the Mackinac Bridge take such great pride in.
“That does mean something when we head back across that bridge and it’s ‘UP Power’ and we’ll go through other towns and they’ll be honking horns or happy out on the street …,” said Brandt, a Gladstone native, who spent 20 years as head coach at Stephenson in the UP.
“The UP is someplace special, and it means something.”
For Theuerkauf, this one was a bit personal, too. His older brother, Trevor Theuerkauf, was the starting QB and a two-way standout on the Menominee team that made it to the Finals in 2023.
“He just told me, ‘Go out there and play (your) game. (You) don’t have to worry about anything else,’” Tanner Theuerkauf said. “I kind of had the edge on some of these guys because I’ve been here before. I played in this game – didn’t go our way, but today, come out and get the job done, it’s just the greatest feeling of my life.”
PHOTOS (Top) Menominee’s Brayden Daigneau (73) hoists a teammate into the air Sunday as they celebrate their team’s Division 7 title. (Middle) Tanner Theuerkauf (3) follows Clayton Miller (15) around the edge. (Below) The Maroons’ Jackson Myszak (6) puts pressure on Schoolcraft quarterback Jack DeVries.