Following Underwood's Lead, Belleville Finishes Perfect Season with Finals Repeat
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
November 26, 2022
DETROIT – Wearing a gray suit, white dress shirt and patterned tie, DeJuan Rogers was dressed "to take care of business" Saturday afternoon at Ford Field.
And with Belleville’s interim head football coach making calls and sensational sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood making many plays, the Tigers certainly did so, finishing a repeat Division 1 championship run to conclude this time a perfect season as well.
Belleville wore down Caledonia, 35-17, to earn that second-straight championship. Both have come under the direction of Underwood – a 6-foot-4, 200-pounder rated as the No. 1 prospect at his position in his class nationally.
On Saturday, he finished 15-of-25 passing for 155 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Underwood also rushed 10 times for a game-high 149 yards, including a 48-yard TD scramble early in the fourth quarter that gave his team some breathing room at 28-17.
“Really just taking what they give me,” said Underwood, who already holds scholarship offers from the likes of Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame and several others. “I’d say, being back on this field, I wasn’t nervous because I know what we’ve got to do and knew what we needed to do to win the game.”
Said Rogers: “You know, second year, two championships and he’s got a lot on his plate. Everybody is watching him and just to keep his composure and do what’s asked of him … it’s not always the big play – not the 70-, 80-yard touchdown – just do what’s asked of him, I thought it was amazing.”
Caledonia (12-2), which made its second Finals appearance and first since the Fighting Scots captured the Division 3 title in 2005, had Belleville on its heels for much of the first half.
The Scots led 7-0 in the first quarter and 14-7 in the second. They had a chance to build upon their margin before halftime, but a timely interception by Adrian Walker on a tipped pass at the Tigers 2 and a 13-yard sack by Lamar Fairfax on 4th-and-4 from the Tigers 34 snuffed out potential Scots scoring drives.
With 15 seconds left in the first half, Underwood connected with Walker on a 7-yard scoring pass to tie it at 14 heading into the break.
Caledonia regained the lead, 17-14, on Luke Vogler’s 22-yard field goal with 2:06 left in the third quarter, but it was all Belleville after that. Jeremiah Beasley ripped off a 36-yard TD run, Underwood had his 48-yard scamper and the Tigers put it away with 3:51 remaining on a 25-yard scoring toss to Mychal Yharbrough.
Colbey Reed rounded out Belleville’s scoring with a tackle-shedding 38-yard run to tie it at 7 late in the first quarter.
“I mean, we expected to come out and compete. I felt like we were as good as they were. I think we needed to score and finish a couple drives early,” Caledonia coach Derek Pennington said.
“I could tell at the end that they had worn us down. We were giving up 50 pounds a guy, so obviously as the game progressed, we knew they were going to wear us down and we needed to get a bigger lead. We came out, had a good plan – we just needed to finish (a couple drives in the first half).”
Caledonia senior quarterback Mason McKenzie finished with a team-high 134 rushing yards on 23 carries. He was 6-of-18 passing for 77 yards with two interceptions.
Brock Townsend scored on 1-yard plunges in both the first and second quarters for the Fighting Scots.
“I mean, we had a great season, so like Coach P said, we’ve got to keep our heads high, but it definitely sucks to lose your last game,” McKenzie said. “It’s my last game at Caledonia, so it’s definitely tough but, I mean, we had a great season. There’s not a much better experience than this. It was really awesome here, but it sucks to lose.”
Beasley paced Belleville defensively with seven tackles, while Blake Herron made seven stops for Caledonia to lead his team.
Fighting Scots senior defensive end Derek Pennington Jr., son of the coach, said that Underwood’s being elusive and tough to bring down made it a challenge, plus of course “he threw absolute darts in the middle of the field.”
“He’s a 5-star kid. He’s the No. 1 quarterback in his class, he’s 6-4 … I mean, he’s a great player,” coach Derek Pennington said. “We had a bunch of kids from Caledonia chasing him around. He’s a good kid and hats off to him – he’s obviously got a bright future.”
Caledonia, which was the smallest school in Division 1 enrollment-wise with 1,490 students, was battle-tested by the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red featuring the likes of Rockford, Grandville and other traditionally strong programs.
Belleville, with an enrollment of 1,789, saw its toughest regular-season challenges during the final weeks before playoff selection. However, the Tigers did survive a major test from Detroit Cass Tech in last week’s Semifinal, 29-28 in overtime, on Underwood’s two-point conversion run to win it, and after defeating Saline and Detroit Catholic Central along the way as well.
Belleville (14-0) was able to overcome any adversity that came its way.
Rogers led the Tigers through this playoff run after coach Jermain Crowell was suspended first by Belleville administration before the start of the postseason and later by the MHSAA through the 2024-25 academic year for violating the MHSAA’s undue influence rules.
“Just no excuses, no excuses,” said Rogers, who shifted into the active head-coaching role after previously serving as defensive coordinator. “Things are going to happen, things might not go our way, but at the end of the day there’s still a job that’s got to be done.”
PHOTOS (Top) Belleville interim coach Dejuan Rogers raises the Division 1 championship trophy Saturday as Felix Shorter (71), Brayden Lane (24) and their teammates celebrate. (Middle) Tigers quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) sprints downfield as Caledonia’s Maddox Greenfield (21) works to keep stride. (Below) Belleville’s Colbey Reed (23) picks an opening. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Saginaw United Era Begins with Memorable Welcome, Game-Like Atmosphere
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
August 13, 2024
SAGINAW – James King wanted to reward his Saginaw United players Monday for their hard work throughout the summer.
He wanted to make a moment for them on the first day of practice for a new program, so they held it under the lights at Saginaw High and invited the public to come watch.
They deserved it, and for what they’re trying to accomplish, they needed it.
But when the moment came, the first-year coach and former Saginaw Arthur Hill star found it was quite a moment for himself, as well.
“That was probably one of the most emotional walkouts I’ve ever took,” King said. “To go back and come back out and kind of breathe it in was like, ‘Damn.’ This was me at one point, following another coach as a leader of a program that I helped lead and build at Arthur Hill from nothing to (Saginaw) Valley champs and the playoffs two years in a row. But (Monday) was probably my most emotional walkout. I didn’t know my playoff game was going to be my last game, so I didn’t have that emotional walkout. That was very emotional.”
Monday was the opening day for fall sports practices in Michigan, and nearly 100,000 student-athletes were expected to be taking practice fields across the state. Some schools began during the earliest morning hours, going under the lights at midnight, while many others had more typical early-morning or afternoon practices.
In Saginaw, where the new season is also part of a new era with the opening of Saginaw United High School, King created a game-like atmosphere for his players, complete with specialists warming up early and the team running onto the field with music playing and fans cheering them on.
“This is for them,” King said while pointing toward his players. “Everybody is here for them. I told them, ‘You worked all summer to get through Hell Week and once you get through Hell Week, this is it. This is football season. It’s August. Nothing else matters in the world to me. It’s football season.’ And these kids have absolutely bought into that, and this is what those kids deserve. They deserve their community, their family, their friends to be able to come out and support them. This is big for them.”
The energy was certainly there for the players.
“We’re just happy to be here for real,” junior receiver Dion’Quavis Hardy said. “New season, new coaches, so we’re excited to see how this program is going to be this year.”
For the past three seasons, Arthur Hill and Saginaw High have combined forces as a co-op during football season. That co-op has finished a combined 0-27 over the past three seasons, but on Monday, it was stressed that this is a clean slate and a chance to build a program from scratch.
“New coaches, new players, new everything,” junior quarterback Jordan Allen said. “We’re a brotherhood, like a family. One big happy family.”
King added that the program is 0-0, and this group of players represents a beginning, not a continuation of that co-op.
“We’re Saginaw. It’s Saginaw United. We’re the Phoenix. We’re rising,” he said. “This is for Saginaw, and these kids deserve it. This community absolutely deserves it. I’m going to bleed (Arthur Hill) blue and gold for the rest of my life, but on top of that blood now is black and silver, and that will never change. This city will absolutely love what we’re doing, and the Phoenix represents everything that we’re about to accomplish and what we’re doing right now, not only as a football team, but as a community and as a school.”
Saginaw will play in the Saginaw Valley League Red and is listed as a Division 2 school, based on an enrollment count of slightly more than 1,200 students.
With its football complex still under construction, it is practicing and playing at Saginaw High this season. But six of the Phoenix’s nine regular-season games will be played on the road, including the opener Aug. 29 at Freeland.
Turnout has been good throughout the summer, as King said there are about 85 players from freshmen through varsity, and as many as 15 others who could be in the mix as the season starts. He expects the Saginaw United freshmen team to have more than 30 players, a good sign for the future.
While that group has been turning up for workouts, it’s also been showing up the community, as King said the team has participated in 12 events throughout the city during the spring and summer. It’s the program’s way of giving back, and, for King, another way to help his players grow off the field.
“No. 1 for me is our youth,” he said. “And this is our youth, and I’m able to give back the way people gave back to me. Without the coaches I had, I could tell you right now, I wouldn’t be where I’m at. And that’s what I want to be, that’s what all our coaches want to be for them. This coaching staff, I couldn’t ask for more. It’s the most dedicated program I could ask for.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Saginaw United players take to the field at the former Saginaw High on Monday for their first practice as a new school and program. (Middle) United coach James King joins his players in walking out to the field. (Below) Phoenix players play catch during their first practice. (Photos by Paul Costanzo.)