Drive for Detroit: Week 9 in Review
October 25, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The MHSAA football playoffs are upon us. From 617 teams that began this season, we’re down to watching our final 272.
But before we get too far ahead, there’s plenty to review from the final week of the regular season – including a number of upsets that altered the playoff field and brackets created Sunday.
Bay & Thumb
Fenton 28, Linden 21
The Tigers (7-2) scored with three minutes to play to move past Linden (6-3) for good and claim an outright Flint Metro League championship; a Linden win would’ve created a three-way tie for the title with these two and Ortonville Brandon. Fenton has won 29 straight league games and opened this season with two nonleague losses. Click for more from the Flint Journal.
Also noted:
Lapeer 24, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 14 – Carman-Ainsworth (6-3) won the Saginaw Valley League Blue and Lapeer was only second in the Red, but the Lightning (7-2) did remain undefeated in their three-year series with the Cavaliers.
Freeland 7, Frankenmuth 3 – The Tri-Valley Conference Central champion Falcons (9-0) made it three wins in two years over TVC East winner Frankenmuth (8-1), with a chance they could meet again in a Division 5 District Final.
Pinconning 20, Whittemore-Prescott 6 – The Spartans (6-3) claimed their first playoff berth since 2009, which also was their last season with a winning record; Whittemore-Prescott (5-4) did still make the postseason with an at-large bid.
Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary 24, New Lothrop 20 – The Cardinals (7-2) got a major boost heading into the playoffs, handing New Lothrop (8-1) its first regular-season loss since 2009.
Greater Detroit
Detroit Catholic Central 17, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 14
The last 11-player game of Michigan’s high school regular season had drama right until the end. The undefeated Shamrocks (9-0) were less than a minute from falling to St. Mary’s (5-4) in a Prep Bowl A-B Final rematch of the Detroit Catholic League Central first and second-place teams this fall. DCC scored with 21 seconds remaining for its second win over the Eaglets in three weeks after losses to them the last two seasons. Click for more from the Detroit News.
Also noted:
Bloomfield Hills 21, Lake Orion 0 – The 4-year-old Black Hawks (9-0) bounced back from 1-8 last season to win the Oakland Activities Association Blue title and make the playoffs for the first time; Lake Orion (5-4) did earn an at-large bid with four losses to teams that are a combined 27-9.
Detroit Cass Tech 41, Detroit Martin Luther King 20 – The Technicians (9-0) finished off another tremendous regular season with a second win over Martin Luther King (7-2), this time in the Public School League I final at Ford Field; Cass Tech has beaten all opponents by at least 13 points.
Detroit Denby 8, Detroit Mumford 0 – The Tars (8-1) guaranteed their best record since 2006 and claimed a PSL I/II championship by handing Mumford (7-2) its first loss since opening night.
Dearborn Divine Child 35, Detroit Loyola 24 – The Falcons (7-2) had lost seven times to Loyola (7-2) over the last five seasons including 34-24 in Week 5, but came back to break the streak in the Catholic League Prep Bowl.
Mid-Michigan
Williamston 38, Lake Fenton 35
Williamston needed to win its final regular-season game and some help to earn an at-large bid to the playoffs – but really helped itself by upsetting previously-undefeated Lake Fenton (8-1). A late defensive stand kept the Hornets (5-4) in the playoff mix, and they were selected to the field after missing at 4-5 a year ago. Lake Fenton, meanwhile still finished two wins better than 2015. Click for more from the Tri-City Times.
Also noted:
Holt 30, Grand Ledge 20 – The Rams (5-4) missed the playoffs by one spot among at-large teams from Class A, but the rebounding program can go into the offseason having handed Grand Ledge (6-1) the latter’s only loss in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue.
Ionia 35, Lake Odessa Lakewood 30 – The Bulldogs (4-5) mostly struggled in league play, but started this season with two wins and ended with two straight including this upset of longtime rival and Greater Lansing Activities Conference champion Lakewood (8-1)
Lansing Catholic 42, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central 20 – The Cougars (8-1) won their fifth straight, good momentum for this week’s matchup with reigning Division 5 champion Grand Rapids West Catholic, and also might have eliminated SMCC (4-5).
Fowler 27, Merrill 14 – The Eagles (6-3) continued their string of eight straight playoff berths by holding Merrill (6-3) to its second-fewest points this season.
Northern Lower Peninsula
Traverse City St. Francis 22, Boyne City 0
St. Francis (9-0) repeated as Northern Michigan Football Conference Legends champion with a second straight shutout and by ending a six-game winning streak by runner-up Boyne City (6-3). It was the second straight season this matchup determined the league title winner. The Gladiators have won 22 straight regular-season games. Click for more from the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Also noted:
Frankfort 46, Onekama 20 – The Portagers (9-0) completed their first perfect regular season since 2004 and an outright title in the NMFC Leaders by avoiding a spoiler attempt by Onekama (6-3).
Traverse City Central 49, Cadillac 6 – Central (8-1) bounced back from a Week 8 triple-overtime loss to Birmingham Brother Rice to finish a Big North Conference championship run against third-place Cadillac (6-3).
Grayling 34, Kalkaska 27 – The Vikings (6-3) clinched a seventh playoff berth in eight seasons but only after edging the playoff-bound Blazers (6-3), who are in for the first time since 2013.
Hillman 32, Indian River Inland Lakes 29 – By the slimmest of margins, Hillman (5-4) was able to extend its playoff streak to 11 seasons, earning an at-large bid with five wins over the last six games.
Southeast & Border
Saline 38, Birmingham Groves 3
The Hornets further strengthened their status as a Division 1 championship contender, winning big in a matchup of undefeated teams. Saline (9-0) completed its second straight perfect regular season with its second-best defensive performance this fall, holding Groves (8-1) to the latter's fewest points in a game since 2013. Click for more from the Ann Arbor News.
Also noted:
Grass Lake 43, Springport 27 – The Warriors (8-1) got clipped by Michigan Center in Week 8, but came back to down Springport (7-2) in the Big 8/Cascades Conference championship game.
Ottawa Lake Whiteford 38, Clinton 12 – The Bobcats (9-0) completed their first perfect regular season since 1965 and an outright Tri-County Conference title by sending fourth-place Clinton to 6-3.
Napoleon 25, Concord 20 – The Pirates (7-2) have won seven straight to guarantee their best finish since 2002, first winning season since 2006 and first playoff berth since 2005; Concord also finished the regular season 7-2.
Morenci 42, Adrian Madison 7 – The Bulldogs (6-3) have three losses by a combined eight points, but are back in the playoffs for the third straight season after ending any chance for Madison (4-5).
Southwest Corridor
Portage Central 24, St. Joseph 14
Portage Central (8-1) secured the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West championship outright after these teams shared the title in 2015. The Mustangs took a 14-0 lead late into the third quarter and extended it to 17 in the fourth before St. Joseph (6-3) added a late score. Portage Central hasn’t lost more than once during a regular season since 2012, building a record of 35-6 over the last four years.
Also noted:
Benton Harbor 54, Muskegon Heights Academy 6 – This is worth mention because it gave the Tigers (9-0) their first undefeated regular season since going 7-0-2 in 1962.
Three Rivers 14, Vicksburg 13 – The Wildcats (7-2) added to their comeback from 3-6 a year ago by just edging Vicksburg (7-2) to tie the Bulldogs for second in the Wolverine Conference.
Coldwater 31, Traverse City West 14 – The Cardinals (7-2) continued a nice run after their one-point loss in Week 6, sending West (6-3) home with a defeat.
Battle Creek Pennfield 22, Olivet 19 – Pennfield (5-4) got the needed boost from beating Olivet (5-4) to earn an at-large playoff berth after seasons of 2-7 in 2014 and 3-6 in 2015.
Upper Peninsula
St. Ignace 62, Newberry 20
The Saints (8-1) made another argument as the top 11-player title contender from the Upper Peninsula with a dominating performance against Mid-Eastern Conference runner-up Newberry (7-2). St. Ignace won the NMFC Legacy title this fall, and its only loss was to reigning Division 8 champion Muskegon Catholic Central, 21-6. Those two could meet again in a Semifinal next month. Click for more from 9&10 News.
Also noted:
Gwinn 38, Ishpeming 6 – With its first winning record since 2000, Gwinn (6-3) clinched its first playoff berth since 1999 while guaranteeing Ishpeming (3-5) wouldn’t be in the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
Escanaba 49, Kingsford 42 – The Eskymos (7-2) secured their best record since 2011 despite losing by a point in Week 8 and ended up locking up a home playoff game by getting past also playoff-bound Kingsford (6-3).
Felch North Dickinson 56, Bark River-Harris 24 – This is reportedly the last season of 11-player for the Nordics (6-3), but they’re going out on a high note after earning their first playoff berth since 2013 with four wins over their last five games.
Iron Mountain 28, Norway 7 – Four of six Mid-Peninsula Athletic Conference teams made the playoffs, including these two both at 7-2 for the regular season.
West Michigan
Hudsonville 14, Rockford 7
The Eagles (8-1) bounced back after a Week 4 loss to Grandville to win four straight in commanding fashion and earn the opportunity to take a share of the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red title in Week 9. Hudsonville finished the run with a late score on Rockford that created a three-way share of the championship with the Rams (6-3) and Grandville – and the Eagles also cemented home-field advantage through a District that includes both, with Rockford up again this week. Click for more from the Grand Rapids Press.
Also noted:
Allendale 30, Grand Rapids West Catholic 27 – Allendale’s first win over West Catholic since 2008 created a three-way championship in the O-K Blue between those two (both 7-2 overall) and Grand Rapids Catholic Central (8-1).
Byron Center 40, Hudsonville Unity Christian 19 – The Bulldogs (8-1) finished their O-K Green title by sending Unity Christian (7-2) into a tie for second in a league that will send five of seven teams to the playoffs.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern 27, Greenville 16 – Scheduling tough does matter; Forest Hills Northern (5-4) was 0-4 against teams with winning records heading into Week 9 but earned an at-large bid thanks in part to this victory over also playoff-bound Greenville (5-4).
Whitehall 37, Battle Creek Harper Creek 30 – The Vikings (6-3) came back from two straight one-point losses Weeks 6 and 7 to get into the playoffs for the third season in a row; Harper Creek (7-2) is headed back after going 3-6 last season.
8-Player
Powers North Central 68, Stephenson 32
The reigning MHSAA champ Jets (9-0) finished their Western Eight Conference run and moved into the top seed in 8-player with a solid boost from beating third-place Stephenson (7-2). North Central is only a little behind the pace of its incredible numbers from a year ago – the Jets are outscoring opponents on average 69-17, and Stephenson was the first to score more than 18 since Week 3. Click for more from the Marinette EagleHerald.
Also noted:
Lawrence 22, Battle Creek St. Philip 14 – The final game to finish in 8-player over the weekend saw Lawrence (8-1) come back from two losses last season to St. Philip (5-4) to knock the reigning MHSAA runner-up out of the playoff mix.
Camden-Frontier 44, Waldron 18 – The Redskins (6-1) played their way into the playoffs after two straight 0-9 finishes by getting a key win over Waldron (4-5).
PHOTO: Holt over Grand Ledge was one of a number of upsets during Week 9 of the football regular season. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Honoring Lost Teammate, Jackson Rises
By
Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
September 10, 2015
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
JACKSON – Hollywood producers do not make movies about football teams just two games into a season.
But if they did, Jackson High School would be a good place to start.
Take an urban football team that hasn’t made winning a habit in decades, mix in the recent addition of a successful coach from a nearby smaller rural school and throw in an eye-popping start this season, and you have a nice story. But there is more.
This also is a heart-wrenching – yet somehow uplifting – story of a bunch of teen-aged boys trying to move on a little more than three months after one of their teammates was killed in a triple-fatal automobile crash.
Meet the 2015 Jackson Vikings. Roll the film.
Dealing with adversity
It was the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend when everything changed. Jackson junior Maseo Moore, 16, was killed in a triple-fatal automobile accident on I-94 in Calhoun County. Also killed in the accident were former Jackson High School secretary Ella Blackwell, who had retired five years earlier, and her sister, Ethel Brinstone.
Moore, a wide receiver on the varsity in 2014, showed improvement late in the season and was in position to move up the depth chart for his senior year, according to Vikings head coach Scott Farley.
Moore’s death presented Farley with a challenge he had never faced during nearly 30 years of coaching.
“There is no session at coaching clinics that tells you how to deal with something like that,” Farley said. “We talked as a staff and kind of talked through what we wanted our reaction to be and how we could support the kids and each other at that point.
“I talked to my brother (Mike), who has been a head coach for years coaching down in Georgia, and he had kind of dealt with something similar, and I talked to a couple of other coaching colleagues to kind of pick their brain a little bit.”
The answer was simple but not so easy: Communication.
“We were just available to the kids,” Farley said. “We met with them in the library first hour and spent a couple of hours with them just talking about Maceo and what he would have wanted us to do going forward, and how we needed to support each other and love each other; basically, because we were all hurting.”
About 100 students, many of them football players, attended Moore’s funeral, and as the summer progressed, the players and coaching staff kept in touch with Moore’s family. A few decisions were made about the upcoming season: One, the team would dedicate its season – and in particular its opening game – to their friend and teammate, and two, running back Shonte’ Suddeth would inherit the No. 14 uniform that had been worn by Moore.
Not only did Suddeth have Moore’s number on the back of his uniform for the season opener, the name “Moore” was across the back instead of “Suddeth.”
“He was like a brother to me,” Suddeth said. “He was with me every day. I’d take him to get his hair cut and everything – everything he needed, I was there for him. Everybody noticed it, and we had a group meeting, and they said I should be the one to wear his number.”
With his emotions running high, Suddeth had an inkling of something special that might happen on opening night: He had talked with his uncle, who told him, “You have to score the first time you touch the ball.”
Just two and a half minutes into the game, Suddeth, on his first carry, raced 11 yards for a touchdown.
He dropped to one knee in the end zone and pointed toward the sky.
“I pointed up to the air to tell him, ‘This is for you,’” Suddeth said. “I think about him before every game.”
Suddeth finished with 110 yards rushing and three touchdowns on just eight carries as Jackson defeated Ann Arbor Huron 40-7. After the game, the entire team presented Moore’s mother with the game ball.
“I think the good Lord uses bad things and bad situations for good,” Farley said. “I think our kids have – where some of them could have gone in another direction because of their sadness and their depression over the loss of their friend – they have used it to become stronger as individuals and as a group, and that has been a positive.”
Moving forward
When you walk into the football locker room at Withington Community Stadium, the first locker on the right has tape with the name Moore on it. It looks like every other locker, but what it represents makes it special to the players and the coaching staff.
Moore’s presence always will be felt by the players, and the locker helps keep his memory fresh. But life and football games go on, certainly as Moore would have wanted. Jackson followed its opening-night win with an even more impressive 56-27 victory over Lansing Everett.
Tonight, Jackson travels to East Lansing in search of its first 3-0 start in football since 2003, the last time the Vikings also started 2-0 prior to this season.
Winning isn’t exactly a tradition in football at Jackson, where the Vikings have not won a conference championship since 1945. (Yes – 70 years!) But the first two games with a combined score of 96-34 offer a huge contrast from a year ago when the Vikings lost to Ann Arbor Huron and Lansing Everett over the first two games by a combined score of 57-12.
The players say the difference is experience and a better understanding of the system that was brought in by Farley, in his third season at Jackson after a long and successful run at Leslie.
“About halfway through last year, we started to get it,” Jackson senior offensive guard Nate Lavery said. “It took us longer than it could have. We came into the season knowing pretty much everything we needed to know – at least the basics.”
Lavery is one of several standouts for Jackson. He helps anchor a strong line while Suddeth, quarterback LaJuan Bramlett and Corey Pryor II offer game-breaking potential on every play. Bramlett scored five touchdowns in the victory over Lansing Everett, and Suddeth, Bramlett and Pryor each have rushed for more than 200 yards just two games into the season.
“We have more speed than normal this year,” Farley said with a grin before adding that the Vikings are much more than speed at the skill positions.
“Guys like Maurice White, who has caught one or maybe two passes up to this point, he’s such a great leader and such a steadying force on the entire team,” he said. “Nate Lavery was an all-conference guard last year and has just been outstanding in the first two games. Carl Albrecht and Mac Carroll on the offensive line have been outstanding seniors. Cain Flowers has had four interceptions in two games.”
Optimism about football isn’t something that has been common around Jackson very often. Since 1950, the Vikings have posted a record of 186-379-14 for a .333 winning percentage, and they won a total of four games from 2011-14.
Farley knows all about football programs in a tailspin. He faced a similar situation more than 20 years ago when he took over at Leslie.
The man in charge
When Farley was hired at Leslie in 1993, the Blackhawks had not had a winning record in 10 years. In fact, since finishing 10-1 in 1983, Leslie was 15-66 over the following nine seasons.
Not unlike Jackson, Farley took over a team in despair, and he said the similarities were striking.
“It was no different than when I took over at Leslie in 1993,” he said. “You have a program that has been down for a while; you’re going to have people who have bad attitudes. If they had winning attitudes, they’d be winning, so that was not a surprise. I anticipated that. I think some of the guys on my staff who have been here for a while were more discouraged about that than I was just from the standpoint of they had been here a while and they were frustrated by it. They kind of felt like it was different here than it is other places, and it’s not.
“The problems that we’ve had here are the same problems we had at Leslie 23 years ago.”
At Leslie, Farley achieved his first winning season in his second year, but it took until 2000 before the Blackhawks made it to the playoffs. When he left Leslie, about 15 miles north of Jackson, he had a record of 117-82, including 84-42 over his final 12 seasons with the Blackhawks.
In 2008, Leslie played for the MHSAA Division 6 championship, losing to Montague 41-20.
So, why would a coach leave such a successful program for one in so much turmoil?
“I think people looked at me and thought, ‘This guy is crazy. He had a good gig in Leslie, and he’s never going to be successful here,’” Farley said. “I could have rolled out of bed for the next 14 years doing the same job, but it was an easier decision because of the situation.
“I think this is what I’m built for. Part of my personal journey for taking the position was to kind of push myself outside of my comfort zone.”
In doing so, Farley has found himself using many of the same techniques he used when he took over the rebuilding job at Leslie.
“It’s the same thing,” he said. “It’s developing work ethic, and you develop work ethic by getting kids to buy into you more than what you are selling. Often, people don’t buy a car; they buy the guy they are getting the car from. It’s just getting them to believe that they want to be on your team.”
By all accounts, the 2015 Vikings want to be on Coach Farley’s team, and his handling of the Maceo Moore tragedy was just another reason for the players to put their trust in their coach.
“It showed he was really there for us,” Suddeth said. “It lit a match, and we were going from there.”
Farley has a keen perspective on the attitudes of today’s youth, one that might have helped him connect with his players.
“People talk all the time about how kids are different today, and kids are different,” he said. “I’ve been coaching for 28 years total, 23 as a head coach, and kids are different, but it’s not a bad different. In society in general, people don’t trust each other, and there is so much dishonesty that goes on out there that there is a reason to be distrustful.
“Kids get burned enough times, and they get to the point where they don’t trust people. They need to know who you are and what you’re about and what you stand for before they are going to buy into whatever you are selling.”
White, the senior receiver whom Farley praised for his leadership, said he has paid into what Farley was selling.
“At the beginning of the summer, I believed it and bought into it and could see we could be where we are now,” he said. “This is the second year in the system for me, and most of us returning are seniors, so we are pretty confident that we know what we are doing.
“This feels good. We feel pretty confident after two games, but at the same time, we’re not satisfied with being 2-0 right now. We want to keep on winning. I think we are playing more as a team and as a collective group. We’re like a band of brothers, and we come together as a team on Friday nights.”
Chip Mundy served as sports editor at the Brooklyn Exponent and Albion Recorder from 1980-86, and then as a reporter and later copy editor at the Jackson Citizen-Patriot from 1986-2011. He also co-authored Michigan Sports Trivia. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTO: Jackson football players (left to right) Nate Lavery, Maurice White and Shonte' Suddeth and coach Scott Farley stand in front of the locker that continues to bear the name of teammate Maseo Moore (inset).