Drive for Detroit: Week 2 in Review
September 5, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Why does high school football remain a community staple? Perhaps the most telling reasons are the pride or disappointment that can result from playing the neighboring school a few miles down the road. Whether that game is played early in the schedule or at the end of October – it's going to be brought up again and again during the year to come.
Week 2 featured plenty of games that will be recalled after the snow begins to fall.
For most, league play ramps up this week. But these are the best of the momentum-builders and rivalry clashes that were played all over the state over this Labor Day weekend.
West Michigan
Zeeland East 60, Zeeland West 52 (2 OT)
This is one of the top rivalry games in Michigan, no question. And this was another classic, with East scoring in double overtime and then its defense holding on to avenge last season’s 26-21 loss to the Dux. The Chix have scored a combined 124 points during their 2-0 start. It’s been a rougher one for West (0-2), which in addition to this defeat put up 58 points on opening night and still lost by one to Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central. Click to read more from the Holland Sentinel.
Also noted:
Grand Rapids Catholic Central 14, Muskegon Catholic Central 0 – This slugfest between annual powers could get cited in November if these two again make their usual deep playoff runs.
Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills 28, Greenville 22 – Kenowa Hills is winning close (see also the four-point win over Traverse City West on opening night), but winning nonetheless.
Whitehall 28, Ravenna 7 – Whitehall joined the West Michigan Conference contenders in 2011 by beating Ravenna, and this seems to indicate that wasn’t just a one-year showing.
Grand Rapids West Catholic 28, Comstock Park 0 – The Falcons rebounded from a shutout in Indianapolis to shut out a team that won 10 games in 2011.
Southwest and Border
Morenci 34, Hudson 28
Keeping in mind that Morenci pushed into the playoffs as a 5-4 qualifier in 2011, this win was maybe a close second in significance. Maybe. Hudson (1-1) had won 33 straight regular-season games and at least 12 total in each of the last three seasons. The Tigers had beaten Morenci 10 straight times. Last but not least, this is Morenci’s first 2-0 start since 2001. Click to read more from the Adrian Daily Telegram.
Also noted:
Mattawan 49, Sturgis 27 – The Wildcats avenged last season’s nine-point loss in this matchup of 2011 playoff qualifiers to start 2-0 for the first time since 2006.
Schoolcraft 42, Constantine 32 – The Eagles broke a seven-game losing streak to Constantine and now look like the favorites in the Kalamazoo Valley Association.
Jonesville 52, Springport 51 – It’s big that these two scored a combined 103 points; it’s bigger that Jonesville won just once in 2011 and Springport was a playoff team.
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 22, Kalamazoo Central 9 – This one always is significant, regardless of the talent on the two teams; Loy Norrix made it two straight in the series after previously dropping seven in a row.
Greater Detroit
Detroit East English 34, Detroit Martin Luther King 26
Make East English the favorite to finish first in the Detroit PSL East and rival Detroit Cass Tech as best in city. East English (1-1) and King (0-2) were considered the main contenders of their newly-formed division, and East English running back Desmond King averaged nearly 10 yards per carry to push his team to the forefront. King fell to 0-2. Click to read more from the Detroit Free Press.
Also noted:
Farmington 14, Southfield 6 – The Falcons have made the playoffs four straight seasons, so success is expected; this win was especially significant not only because it was the OAA White opener, but given Southfield’s impressive win over Detroit King during opening weekend.
Farmington Hills Harrison 19, Rochester Adams 7 – The OAA White is absolutely loaded, and these two are the usual favorites; Harrison sits atop the pack once again.
Dearborn Heights Robichaud 28, Dearborn 21 – This was just the third meeting between the two during the modern era, but also since 2009; it was also the first time Robichaud got the win.
Allen Park Cabrini 35, Madison Heights Bishop Foley 23 – Cabrini equaled both its total wins from last season (two) and Catholic League Intersectional wins (one).
Lower Up North
Traverse City West 16, Grand Haven 14
Aside from rivalry games victories over Traverse City Central, this might be West’s best win of the last five seasons. Grand Haven (1-1) is a force while playing in arguably the best league in the state – the O-K Red – and had beaten the Titans the last three seasons. It also was a great way for TC West (1-1) to bounce back after that four-point loss to Kenowa Hills on opening night. Click to read more from the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Also noted:
Cadillac 15, Bay City John Glenn 14 – Cadillac had lost five straight to John Glenn, including by 35 points in 2011.
Boyne City 18, Kent City 13 – Boyne City is 2-0 for the first time since 2008, also the last the last time the Ramblers made the playoffs.
Traverse City Central 50, Escanaba 6 – These longtime annual foes renewed their rivalry for the first time since 2007.
McBain 42, Manistee 40 – The Ramblers made it three straight over Manistee; the Chippewas finished just short after winning their opener by two points.
Thumb and Bay
Croswell-Lexington 27, Richmond 24
In the pecking order of the Port Huron area’s best, this combined with Richmond’s win over Marine City on opening night might mean the Pioneers are tops so far. Croswell-Lexington (2-0) didn’t take its first lead until 31 seconds remained in regulation and trailed 21-0 midway through the second quarter. But after edging the Mariners by a point, the Blue Devils (1-1) couldn’t regain the lead this time. Click to read more from the Port Huron Times Herald.
Also noted:
Flint Powers Catholic 27, Mount Pleasant 7 – The reigning Division 5 champion used a big second quarter to push ahead of the reigning Division 3 runner-up.
Saginaw Nouvel 33, Lansing Catholic 28 – The reigning Division 7 champion Panthers came back to edge the reigning Division 5 runner-up; the Cougars hadn’t lost during the regular season since 2009.
Midland 31, Davison 20 – Not too much flash and dash, just two solid wins now for the Chemics as they head into Saginaw Valley League North play.
Beaverton 14, Tawas 12 – The Beavers broke a 12-game losing streak on opening night and are 2-0 for the first time since 1984 after beating a 2011 playoff team this week.
Mid-Michigan
Lansing Everett 38, DeWitt 10
This might’ve come as a shock to those not familiar with Lansing-area football. True, the Panthers had beaten the Vikings 48-7 in 2011. But Everett (2-0) has had nearly the same starting lineup the last three seasons and was picked by its league coaches to finish first in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue now that those players are juniors and seniors. The title quest begins this week, while DeWitt (1-1) remains the heavy favorite in the CAAC Red. Click to read more from the Lansing State Journal.
Also noted:
Belding 63, Lakewood 42 – This is one of five games statewide over the first two weeks in which the teams combined for more than 100 points and the losing team scored at least 40.
Bath 19, Fulton 17 – The Bees are 2-0 for the first time since 2000 and broke a 14-game losing streak to the Pirates after falling to them by just a point in 2011.
Haslett 28, Okemos 20 – This Meridian Bowl featured old rivals not just in that Haslett and Okemos share the same township, but because Chieftains coach Jack Wallace spent most of the last three decades coaching Fowlerville.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart 49, Manistee Catholic Central 41 – The Irish made it seven straight over their former league foe, but not without 90 points being scored between the two.
Upper Peninsula
Cedarville 32, Deckerville 8
Using the transitive property of who beat who, Cedarville might now be the team to beat in 8-player football this fall. The Trojans are 2-0 after going 9-2 and making a Regional Final in 2011. Deckerville opened the season with a 32-12 win over reigning MHSAA 8-player champion Carsonville-Port Sanilac, giving Cedarville something more to feel good about heading back into league play. Click and scroll to the bottom to read more from the Soo Evening News.
Also noted:
Negaunee 12, Calumet 6 – These two had last met in the regular season in 1958, but also in two playoff games since 1995; the Miners won both of those and this long-awaited rematch as well.
Crystal Falls Forest Park 35, Norway 22 – Norway made this much closer than last season’s 34-0 shutout, but the Trojans are 2-0 as usual heading into a tough matchup with Hurley (Wis.).
Powers North Central 36, Munising 12 – Good news for a North Central turnaround; the Jets fell to Munising 45-8 in 2011, when Munising finished in the playoffs and North Central ended 4-5.
L’Anse 40, Iron River West Iron County 20 – The Purple Hornets are 2-0, equaling last season’s win total, and with 74 points are also halfway to that 2011 output.
PHOTO: Midland quarterback Alec Johnson follows his blockers during last week's win over Davison. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Pirates' Football Voice Ends 30-Year Run
November 12, 2019
By Tim Robinson
Special for Second Half
PINCKNEY — Bob Reason has been the voice of Pinckney High School football and basketball for more than 30 years.
It’s his voice you heard over the public address system, good times and bad, through wins and losses.
He’s always played it down the middle, in the style of public address announcers at Michigan Stadium.
“I get excited when Pinckney scores,” he said in the Pinckney Stadium press box last week. ‘But I don’t want to take away from the athletes.”
Reason, a 1961 Pinckney graduate who moved back to the house he was born and grew up in during the mid-1980s, announced his last football game Oct. 11, Pinckney’s homecoming game.
Fittingly, it was against Dexter, where Reason lived for more than a decade and, with former Dreadnaughts athletic director Al Ritt, helped pass a bond issue in the 1970s that built a stadium now named for Ritt.
At 76, Reason decided it was time to retire.
“I just enjoyed doing it, but at 76, I feel it’s time,” he said.
He’ll still do Pinckney basketball for at least two more seasons. His son, Tom, is the boys coach and grandson Dylan is a junior.
“I’m going to try to sucker him into announcing for the girls program when my daughter is old enough to play,” Tom said, chuckling. “But he wants to sit in the stands, and sometimes it’s nice to sit there and be a grandpa.”
It will be a well-earned retirement for Reason, whose athletic career at Pinckney ended when he tore a knee ligament on the first play of his senior football season.
He became the Pirates public-address announcer after moving back to Pinckney from the Toledo area.
“One of his first games was announcing my brother’s games,” Tom Reason said. “I remember being a rug rat running around the stands. I thought it was pretty neat. When you’re a young one, you think your dad is the coolest dad in the world because his voice is coming out of the press box.
“To this day, my daughters love it. They always go up and visit him and he gives them candy. It’s a neat thing. I’ve been around Pinckney athletics for a long time, and it’s neat to hear his voice.”
Bob Reason has been active in the community too over the last 30-plus years. He’s served on the Pinckney athletic boosters board and spent a quarter-century running Saturday morning basketball programs at Pinckney, including enlisting varsity players as referees.
And it’s the athletes that kept bringing Bob Reason back to the microphone.
Well, that, and a slight bit of chicanery the last couple of years.
“He tried to retire, but I wouldn’t let him,” former Pinckney athletic director Tedd Bradley said.
“I was going to retire five years ago,” Reason said. “(Bradley) said, ‘OK, but we’ll have to find someone, so you have to do it this year. And then the next year, they didn’t find anyone.”
Current AD Brian Wardlow finally bent to Reason’s wishes this year, hiring Pat Allen, who worked the Pirates’ final home game against Jackson this season.
“There were a lot of people there (at homecoming), and people who had been around for decades got to hear one last game,” Wardlow said. “When I was in Pinckney, Bob was our football announcer, too, so he’s the only voice I’ve ever known in football and basketball.”
And, through his years working for Pinckney athletic programs, generations of Pinckney athletes know him and say hello.
“We went to Disney World as a family a few years ago, and three people came up to us. At Disney World,” Tom Reason said. “They come up and say, ‘Hey, Mr. Reason!’ We can’t go anywhere without someone knowing him.”
Bob Reason said part of the impetus toward retirement was his eyesight, which had been slowly failing due to cataracts the last couple of years. He credits his longtime spotter in the press box, Linda Lambert, with helping him credit the right athletes at the right time.
“Some of the teams that have played have white jerseys with white numbers outlined in black, and it’s hard to see the numbers,” he said. “I could not have done the games the last two years without her.”
The man in the PA booth, so calm with his delivery, is a Pinckney Pirate through and through.
Take the 1989 season, for example.
The Pirates had made the playoffs with an 8-1 record and had drawn a home game with East Grand Rapids in the first round. Below the “Welcome to Pinckney” sign outside of town, he and some co-conspirators hung a sign that said, “Welcome, East Grand Rapids. We’ve been waiting for you.”
East Grand Rapids won the game, 37-30 on a touchdown in the final minutes, and Reason went to Flint to see the Pioneers play Oxford in the next round.
“I had a Pinckney hat on,” Reason said, “and a guy from East Grand Rapids saw my hat and talked to me about the sign.”
The gentleman, as it turned out, was more than a little chapped about the sign.
“I said, ‘We just wanted to welcome you,’” Reason said, laughing at the memory.
After all these years, he said, the games and players all roll together in memory, but the lure of high school sports remains.
“I still think high school athletes give all they’ve got,” Reason said, “every game they play, regardless of position. Athletics is not just about winning. It’s about learning to play with your teammates, developing your skills, trying to be the best you can be and learning life lessons. I think one of the most important things high school athletics gives all of our kids is never to give up. Regardless of what happens in your life, there’s tomorrow, and never give up. Keep trying and keep working, and I think that carries forward into life itself.”
“He’s always super-complimentary about every kid who’s out there trying,” said Wardlow, who grew up in Pinckney and has been employed by the school district since 2002. “It’s important in a community like Pinckney to have that guy you can always count on, and the community knows what it’s going to get.”
Reason said he’s not going anywhere.
“I don’t have any interest in moving,” he said. “I talked about moving to Florida once. I said to my kids, ‘Do any of you want to buy the house? I’ll sell it for $500,000.’ I was joking, of course, and they said, ‘No, Dad. It’s too much. We’ll give you a dollar.’”
So Bob and his wife, Dorothy, are staying in Pinckney.
“The football team gave me a cushioned seat for the stands,” he said. ‘I’ll go to the home games. I love it. I like to watch the band play at halftime.”
Bradley, who retired in 2015, looks forward to attending games with his friend next fall.
“I will enjoy standing next to him at those games,” he said. “Bob is a tremendous gentlemen. He and his family are special people.”
PHOTO: Longtime Pinckney announcer Bob Reason takes his familiar seat in the stadium’s press box. (Photo by Tim Robinson.)