Drive for Detroit: Week 2 in Review
September 5, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
We're only two weeks into this football season, and of course there has been plenty to talk about.
But our 8-player football divisions experienced a season's worth of highlights over this Labor Day weekend.
See below for Week 2's most significant results from every region of the state in 11-player football, but also check out the 8-player highlights – which include the first win ever for one team and the first loss in forever for another.
Bay & Thumb
Bay City Central 22, Midland Dow 21 (OT)
After falling a score short in its opener against Frankenmuth, Bay City Central (1-1) blocked an extra point and then got the game-winner from kicker Austin Welter to beat Dow (1-1) for the first time since 2011 – and after falling to the Chargers both during the regular season and playoffs in 2016. Those two losses last year were by 20 and then 31 points, respectively. Click for more from the Bay City Times.
Also noted:
Algonac 28, Almont 7 – After opening with a big loss to Marine City, the Muskrats (1-1) got a needed bounce-back against another of the Port Huron area’s elite in Almont (1-1).
Freeland 34, Chesaning 25 – The Falcons (2-0) kept their regular-season winning streak intact at 23 straight against an Indians that team opened with a shutout but fell to 1-1.
Flint Powers Catholic 37, Saginaw Heritage 34 (2 OT) – Andrew Simon was another kicking hero as Powers (2-0) won a second straight close game and sent the Hawks to 1-1.
Lake Fenton 21, Montrose 0 – This Genesee Area Conference Red opener was a big one to get out of the way for the reigning champ Blue Devils (1-1), with Montrose (1-1) always in the league title mix as well.
Greater Detroit
Bloomfield Hills 28, West Bloomfield 24
The “new” Bloomfield Hills burst on the scene with its first winning campaign in 2016, starting 9-0 before falling to West Bloomfield 31-14 in a Division 1 playoff opener. To finish off this avenging, however, the Black Hawks needed to drive nearly the entire field over the final two minutes. Bloomfield Hills now sits 2-0 with both wins by four points or fewer, while West Bloomfield fell to 0-2 with two losses by five points or fewer. Click for more from the Oakland Press.
Also noted:
Warren DeLaSalle 31, Grandville 0 – The Pilots (1-1) traveled to face a second straight Ottawa-Kent Conference reigning champion, landing a stunning defeat on last season’s Red co-leading Bulldogs (1-1) after falling to Lowell in Week 1.
Clarkston 17, Southfield Arts & Technology 7 – The Wolves (2-0) have given up 14 points total in two impressive wins, while Southfield A&T might be the best 0-2 team in Michigan after another close loss to a power.
Utica Eisenhower 42, Macomb Dakota 16 – Eisenhower (2-0) ran its streak in this rivalry to three straight after also ending last season for Dakota (1-1) in a District Final.
Gibraltar Carlson 42, Trenton 14 – A week after taking a giant step forward in the Downriver League race with a win over Allen Park, Trenton (1-1) fell for the second straight season to Carlson (2-0), which is coming off a 4-5 finish but won three of its final four games last fall.
Mid-Michigan
DeWitt 14, Grand Ledge 7
The combination of Grand Ledge’s sizable Week 1 win over Hudsonville, DeWitt’s loss to Grand Rapids Christian and the Comets’ victory in the first game of this quickly-building rivalry last fall makes the Panthers victory all the more impressive. DeWitt held Grand Ledge scoreless until late in the fourth quarter – and to its fewest points in a regular-season game since 2013. Click for more from the Lansing State Journal.
Also noted:
St. Johns 56, Cadillac 43 – The Redwings (1-1) especially on offense bounced back after scoring 20 in a one-point loss Week 1 to East Lansing; Cadillac (1-1) also put up its highest tally since midway through 2015.
Ionia 35, Hillsdale 14 – This could eventually come into play as Hillsdale (1-1) tries to get back to the playoffs after seeing its 15-year streak end last fall and Ionia (1-1) tries to get in for the first time since 2013.
Lansing Sexton 20, Portland 14 – This provided an exciting preview of Capital Area Activities Conference White matchups to come, as the Big Reds (2-0) are set to join annual favorite Portland (1-1) in that division next year.
Saranac 27, Fowler 21 – The Redskins are 2-0 for the first time since 2011 with a win over Fowler (1-1) also for the first time since that fall.
Northern Lower Peninsula
Traverse City St. Francis 35, Maple City Glen Lake 9
St. Francis enjoyed the debut of Glen Lake’s new artificial turf field by handing the Lakers their sixth straight loss in this rivalry. The Gladiators (2-0) ran their regular-season winning streak to 24 after also beating Glen Lake 35-9 last fall. But Glen Lake would love to repeat history – in 2016 it rebounded and won 10 of its next 11 to reach the Division 6 championship game. Click for more from the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Also noted:
Rogers City 14, Indian River Inland Lakes 7 – Inland Lakes (1-1) got to celebrate last week its first win since 2015, but Rogers City (1-1) ended the fun with its first victory since Week 6 a year ago.
Alpena 27, Sault Ste. Marie 26 – The Wildcats (1-1) stopped a two-point conversion to get a win for the second straight season over the Blue Devils (1-1).
Gaylord St. Mary 28, Newberry 21 (OT) – The Snowbirds are off to a 2-0 start for the second straight season but this time with wins over two teams that made the playoffs the year before; Newberry is 1-1 coming off an 8-3 finish.
Petoskey 14, Escanaba 7 – The Northmen (1-1) got their first win, both equaling last year’s total and avenging last season’s 39-0 defeat to the Eskymos (1-1).
Southeast & Border
Milan 41, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central 18
The Big Reds (1-1) didn’t enjoy a great start falling by 20 two weeks ago to Chelsea, but made up for it by avenging last season’s only regular-season loss. That 2016 10-point defeat to St. Mary cost Milan an outright Huron League championship, but this win broke a three-year losing streak against the Falcons (1-1). Click for more from the Monroe Evening News.
Also noted:
Parma Western 32, Battle Creek Pennfield 20 – The Panthers are enjoying their third 2-0 start in four seasons but also went 0-2 a year ago; the Panthers, a playoff team in 2016, now must battle back from a winless start.
Homer 52, Concord 12 – These two and Springport shared the Big 8 Conference title last season, but this big win by Homer (2-0) means Concord (0-2) will need to catch up quickly to stay in the mix.
Reading 34, Springport 7 – Staying in the Big 8, Reading made a statement to move to 1-1 after two straight 3-6 finishes, while Springport (1-1) also finds itself now a win back in its title defense.
Chelsea 10, Pinckney 7 – Chelsea (2-0) scored all of its points over the final few minutes to stun Pinckney (1-1) in the latter’s second game in the Southeastern Conference White.
Southwest Corridor
Berrien Springs 27, Schoolcraft 14
Defense has been Berrien Springs’ strength in three straight playoff seasons, and the Shamrocks (2-0) earned one of their most impressive regular-season wins in some time by holding Schoolcraft (1-1) to its fewest points since Week 8 of 2014. The Eagles also hadn’t lost a regular-season game in more than two years. Click for more from the St. Joseph Herald-Palladium.
Also noted:
Climax-Scotts 52, Sand Creek 21 – A week after seeing their 19-game regular-season winning streak end, the Panthers (1-1) started anew by handing a first loss to a Sand Creek team that went 9-2 a year ago.
Delton Kellogg 34, Lawton 21 – Despite starting 1-1, Delton has put up 72 points over two games, with 34 the second-most Lawton (0-2) has given up during the regular season since 2014.
Coldwater 28, Marshall 7 – After losing to Marshall (1-1) by 10 last year and losing out on a share of the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference title because of that defeat, Coldwater (2-0) has jumped the first obstacle a tough league road.
Richland Gull Lake 10, Portage Northern 9 – The Blue Devils (1-1) have won two games in each of the last two seasons, but now own their first of this fall over a 2016 playoff team in the Huskies (0-2).
Upper Peninsula
L'Anse 32, Lake Linden-Hubbell 12
Lake Linden-Hubbell (1-1) hadn’t fallen during the regular season since 2014 and hadn’t lost to L’Anse since a 2013 District opener. But the Purple Hornets – 2-0 coming of a 2-7 run last fall – appear to have turned things around as they look to break a three-season playoff drought. Click for more from the Houghton Daily Mining Gazette.
Also noted:
Gwinn 30, Iron Mountain 24 – The Modeltowners (1-1) bounced back from a rough Week 1 defeat to Gladstone to quickly put Iron Mountain down 0-2 after the latter finished 8-3 a year ago.
Calumet 28, Negaunee 21 – This was a nonleague game but a great confidence builder for Calumet (2-0), which went 10-2 last season despite splitting with the Miners (0-2).
Norway 35, Ishpeming 22 – The Hematites (1-1) came out on a roll with a big Week 1 victory, but Norway (2-0) took that momentum away with a second straight win in the series.
Munising 20, St. Ignace 8 – The Mustangs (1-1) struggled to only two wins last season, but handed 2016 Division 8 semifinalist St. Ignace a rare early second loss.
West Michigan
Lowell 14, Rockford 0
Lowell handed the Rams (1-1) their first shutout since Week 5 of 2014 and scored all the points it needed during the first half to extend its regular-season winning streak to 19. The Red Arrows (2-0) didn’t have a penalty or a turnover in holding an opponent scoreless for the first time since Week 5 of 2015. Click for more from the Grand Rapids Press.
Also noted:
Muskegon Catholic Central 31, Frankfort 6 – The Crusaders (1-0) won this rematch of last season’s Division 8 Regional Final by a nearly identical score and remains the only team to have beaten Frankfort (1-1) since 2015.
East Kentwood 21, Orchard Lake St. Mary's 0 – The Falcons (2-0) put themselves into the thick of O-K Red talk with a surprising shutout of the reigning Division 3 champion Eaglets (0-2).
Muskegon Mona Shores 42, Zeeland West 20 – The Sailors moved to 2-0 by avenging last season’s four-point loss to West (1-1), which hasn’t won its first two games for the first time since 2013.
Muskegon 28, Lincolnshire Stevenson (Ill.) 7 – Muskegon traveled to Illinois to avenge its only regular-season loss of 2016, a three-pointer to Stevenson on the way to finishing Division 3 runner-up.
8-Player
Crystal Falls Forest Park 66, Powers North Central 58 (OT)
The Trojans (1-1) can argue they were the second-best 8-player team in the state last year, losing twice to North Central while giving the Jets their toughest games. Forest Park now also can boast that it handed North Central (1-1) its first 8-player loss, ending the Jets’ winning streak at 27 since making the switch in 2015. Click for more from the Escanaba Daily Press.
Also noted:
Deckerville 52, Lawrence 0 – The Eagles (2-0) have outscored their first two opponents by a combined 94-6, with this especially impressive against a Lawrence program that is 37-8 since moving to 8-player in 2013.
Atlanta 28, Fife Lake Forest Area 18 – Two weeks ago, Atlanta won its first game since 2014; on Thursday it moved to 2-0 for the first time since 1992 against a Forest Area team that is 1-1 but was 7-3 in 2016.
Rapid River 50, Eben Junction Superior Central 42 (2OT) – Combined with Forest Park’s win over North Central, Rapid River (2-0) looks like the team to beat in the Western Eight Conference after surviving Superior Central (0-2) and beating the Trojans in Week 1.
Bear Lake 44, Baldwin 28 – The Lakers (1-1) earned their first win ever in handing Baldwin (1-1) its first loss since moving from 11-player before this season.
PHOTO: A Newberry ball carrier is chased by Gaylord St. Mary defenders during the Snowbirds' overtime win Friday. (Photo by Jeff Rochefort.)
Caledonia Football Set to Open Season by Welcoming Fans to New Home
By
Ron Pesch
MHSAA historian
August 25, 2025
Community banter dated back to April 1948, or before. Caledonia football followers were anxious for “an athletic plant of their own.” Members of the local Commercial Club were pushing to build a true place to call home.
At the time, home games were played on a clearing at Lakeside, a local county park in the heart of the village near Emmons Lake. Thanks to the success of the team and the popularity of games, locals felt the Scotties had outgrown the site.
Members of the Class C Bar-Ken-All league, coach Thornton K. Auwater’s squads started to win consistently, grabbing conference championships in 1945, 1946 and 1947. The league began in 1937 with the school as a charter member, along with Byron Center, Hopkins, Kelloggsville, Martin, and Wayland.
The Club proposed building a lighted field to the PTA with the thought that it could be done for between $12,000 and $15,000. According to an article in the area newspaper, the Grand Rapids Press, “It is expected the money will be raised by the sale of bonds locally.”
In 1949, a design was approved. However, in hopes of significantly lowering the cost, the plan was for volunteers to assist in the layout and construction of the site. According to the Press in April 1950, the race was on to finish the project before the arrival of the upcoming season:
“Sod, trucks, and tractors for the job have been donated by local residents. It is estimated that at least 100 more volunteers will be required to complete the field in time for regular season play.”
Auwater’s crew was expected to do well during the fall of 1950. The football team had fallen to Kelloggsville, 19-0, in the second game of the 1949 season, and the defeat meant the Scotties finished second in the league standings to the Rockets. But, of particular note, in the games that followed, Caledonia’s defense was flawless, shutting out its final six opponents. By all measures, it was an exciting time.
Come the new school year, and thanks to the efforts by the community, the field was ready for the team’s nonconference season home opener with Grant on Sept. 15.
Changes
The 1935 season was Caledonia’s first playing football, marking this as the school’s 91st year on the gridiron. Since the fall of 1970, the team has competed in the Ottawa-Kent Conference, and in 2016, moved to the league’s Red division.
Prior to the 1970s, the Scottish terrier – a breed of dog popularly known as the Scottie, originally bred to hunt vermin – was Caledonia High School’s mascot. Around 1974, students decided to change the nickname to the Fighting Scots – depicted by a Scottish warrior dressed in the school colors of purple and gold.
Fast forward to this 2025-26 school year and Caledonia is Class A and among the largest 65 high schools in the state based on enrollment. And 75 years after unveiling their first true home field, Caledonia Community Schools is debuting the team’s reimagined home.
Approved bond issues from 2020 and 2023 have funded the latest updates and renovations to the site. “Preserving the heritage” of the district, a synthetic turf system was added to the current site in 2023. This season, heated team rooms, updated seating, concessions, and restrooms will be unveiled.
For fans, the curtain opens Thursday when the team squares off against Holy Names Catholic from Windsor, Ontario.
“This stadium tells the story of Caledonia. It is a story of community, tradition, and pride,” said Kelly Clark, community and public relations coordinator for the district. “As we celebrate 75 years, we honor those who built the foundation and look forward to the next generation writing their own chapter on this field.”
A souvenir dedication program will be distributed at the home opener. Within, special thanks are extended to many who have helped bring the story to life: “We are especially grateful for the work Steve Poll has done to uncover and preserve so much of this history so that our community can fully appreciate the legacy we carry forward.”
Poll, himself, was a graduate of Grand Rapids South Christian. His dad, Gordon Poll, played right tackle and was a co-captain as a senior on the 1950 Caledonia team.
“He was not one to live in the past,” recalled Steve Poll, “so unless we were at a football game and something triggered a thought, he didn't talk much about the 1950 team accomplishments. … I met one of his teammates at my dad’s funeral, who shared a few things (with me). I intended to interview him (however) he passed away before that happened. I finally decided to dig in and find what I could.”
Poll captured details from old newspaper articles, photos, and memorabilia. “I started investigating before I knew anything about the current rebuild of the stadium,” he said.
Also planned for the celebration is a three-minute video featuring interviews with players – present and past – including a member of the 1950 team who recalled players laying sod on the field at their first practice that season.
MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl, a 1992 Caledonia graduate, will speak at the event.
A season to remember
“Grant High’s fighting team almost spoiled the dedication of a new lighted football field … last night,” reported the Press when covering the first game of the 1950 season, “throwing a real scare into the bigger, highly favored Caledonia High team before tumbling, 6 to 0.” A 30-yard pass from Bob Higley to Don Moffatt was the game’s only score.
In hindsight, it was perhaps the biggest play of the year.
A true stadium dedication ceremony was planned for the second game of the season. Among those scheduled to attend and speak were Caledonia Schools Superintendent Andrew B. Cherpes, Board of Education President Orlo Good, Village President Stan Stawski, and Coach Auwater. Also planning to make the trip from Washington was U.S. congressman Gerald R. Ford, Jr., who held Michigan’s 5th district seat in the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, due to scheduling issues, Ford was unable to attend but did send a telegram to explain his absence and, within, congratulated the community on its outstanding achievement. (Uyl will read the content during this year’s celebration.)
The opponent was Middleville. For several years, the teams had scheduled a two-game nonleague “home-and-home” rivalry series. That continued in 1950, but this time, the Trojans were now members of the Bar-Ken-All. (Kelloggsville had left the league after the 1949-50 school year. The conference expanded, adding Middleville and Delton. To allow time for scheduling transition, the 1950 opening contest of the series did not count in the league standings.)
The Scotties emerged with another slim 7-0 win. According to the Kalamazoo Gazette, the result of the game “only added fuel to the rivalry which will reach a heated state at Middleville in a regular conference game Oct. 20.”
Caledonia plowed through the remaining games. Martin fell 27-0, Coopersville was trounced, 40-0, and Byron Center was easily defeated, 27-0. The highly-anticipated rematch with Middleville was close for the first half, as Caledonia clutched to a thin 7-0 lead at the break. It turned into a rout as “the Scotties flashed a passing attack that netted three more TDs and a 26-0 win.”
Wayland was disposed of 28-0, giving the Scotties possession of the “Cowbell Trophy” donated two years previous by a Wayland merchant. Then the team completely overwhelmed Hopkins in the season’s finale, 73-0. That margin was the state’s largest of the season, according to Dick Kishpaugh of Kalamazoo, who assembled season-ending totals for consumption by the state’s media. The Scotties were also statewide news as one of 26 teams that had posted unbeaten and untied marks on the year. Caledonia was one of just two to finish the year unbeaten, untied, and unscored upon. Garden City had done the same but had played just six games.
Although not rediscovered until recently, the team’s streak of 14 consecutive shutouts with no tie games included (six to end 1949, and eight in 1950) ranks second in the MHSAA football record book, just a single game behind North Muskegon teams that straddled three seasons, 1940-42.
Dedicated to a super volunteer
Besides location, one other item remains unchanged at the “athletic plant” in Caledonia.
“Even though his children go to school in Middleville,” noted the Press back in 1950, Ralph E. Myers thought of Caledonia as “his town.” A member of the Commercial Club Committee that helped plan the project, he followed through as the site’s dedicated lead volunteer, working with others “to get the job done,” according to a community newsletter.
In July 1954, at age 46, Myers died tragically in an automobile accident. His wife, Henrietta, had died a year before. They left behind three daughters. That fall, Caledonia christened the site as Ralph E. Myers Athletic Field.
Over the years, proposals were made to rename the place in honor of others, but Caledonia Community School stood behind the original decision. In September 1998, after a $1.9 million renovation for football and track & field, the site was rededicated with new signage as Ralph E. Myers Memorial Stadium.
With the latest efforts by all involved to capture the stories and communicate the legacy, future students will have the opportunity to easily understand and appreciate the stadium’s humble beginnings and the importance of all, then and now, who pitched in to create a place to call home.
PHOTOS (Top) A sign welcomes visitors to Caledonia’s home field in 1954. (Middle) The 1950 Scotties: Back row William Price, Walter Jousma, Jack Moreland, Peterson, Harvey Jacobsen, Allan Vander Laan, Forrest Clark, Gerritt Nordhof, Arthur Benedict, Larry Schroder, Larry Lind, Donald Williams (Manager). Third row Assistant Coach Wisner, Donald Moffatt, Ramon Schantz, Bob Cisler, Bob Higley, Merle Maier, Wallace Lotterman, Bob Schultz, James Fitzsimmons, Fred Darling, Vern Kayser, Coach Thornton Auwater. Second Row Elmer Velthouse, Bernard Kilmartin, Donald Braendle, Louis Bellgraph, Marvin Eldridge, Allyn Niles, James Porritt, Benjamin Miller, Bill Jousma, Gordon Poll. First Row Gary Cherpes, Joseph Sleeman, Harold Olthouse, Rod Campbell, Garrit Keizer, Carl Yonkers, Clyde Barrett, James Ayers, Hosmer Parks. Not pictured Arnold Benedict, Bob Workman.