Football Families Carry on Tradition
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
November 12, 2015
WATERFORD – Football always has been a family affair at Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes.
It started with longtime coach Mike Boyd and continues on with Josh Sawicki, who’s in his third season as Lakes’ football coach.
Boyd retired after 2012 with 361 career victories, third most in MHSAA history. His sons, Mike, Jr., and Andy, played for him and contributed significantly to the Lakers’ success.
Mike Boyd played for his cousin, Leo “Smokey” Boyd, at Saginaw St. Peter & Paul.
And Boyd coached a number of siblings in his 48 seasons at Lakes. Josh and Jake Sawicki were two. Josh played linebacker and guard for four seasons, three times selected to all-state teams. Jake was a running back.
Sawicki took over for Boyd and has continued the winning tradition. Lakes was 8-3 his first season, 9-2 last season, and the Lakers are 11-0 heading into Saturday’s 1 p.m. Division 8 Regional Final against Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary (10-1).
Those family ties continue as well. Quarterback Clay Senerius and receiver Devin Senerius are fraternal twins.
Clay is a three-year starter and is one of the top quarterbacks in Division 8. He’s 6-foot-3, 185 pounds and has been offered a scholarship by Avila University, an NAIA school in Kansas City (Mo.). Kalamazoo College, Hope College and St. Francis, located in Fort Wayne (Ind.) have also shown interest.
Senerius threw a school-record seven touchdown passes in a game as a junior. During his career he’s thrown at least five touchdown passes in a game five times. Through 10 games this season, he’s completed 107 of 171 attempts for 2,226 yards, 26 touchdowns and five interceptions.
And if Lakes wasn’t such a well-balanced team, those statistics would be even more impressive.
“He’s a drop-back passer,” Sawicki said. “He has some athletic ability. What I like about him is he’s coachable. He throws a pretty pass. When he’s locked in, it’s like a video game.
“We throw it, but we don’t throw it that much.”
To the point, Lakes – Senerius, that is – threw for 2,900 yards last season and rushed for 1,200. This year the Lakers have gained half of their yards on the ground.
This team is primed to make a long playoff run. It’s dominated by seniors, and for a small school, the linemen are big. The offensive linemen average 235 pounds, the defensive linemen 260.
The best on offense is left guard Liam Sutton (6-0, 280), one of four seniors on the line. Sawicki will often run plays to Sutton’s side or use him as a pulling guard.
At nose guard is senior Anthony Clark (6-1, 310). Clark started playing football last season and is still developing. A state champion powerlifter, Clark is used just on defense.
Sawicki said a family member discouraged Clark from playing football.
“It took a while for his mom to allow him to play,” Sawicki said. “She was afraid he was going to get hurt. I assured her that Clark wasn’t going to be the one getting hurt.”
But what makes Lakes a team to be reckoned with is its offense, led by the Senerius twins and their other playmakers like Ryan Kostich, a 6-1, 215-pound linebacker and slot receiver, and running back-receiver Chris Cartier. Devin Senerius has 12 touchdown receptions and Cartier is averaging 13 yards every time he touches the ball, rushing and receiving.
“We have some really good receivers,” Clay Senerius said. “The last few weeks we’ve run the ball well, too. The offensive line is excelling.
“It’s great playing with my brother. I know typically what he’s going to do. I know where he’s going to be."
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes football coach Josh Sawicki fist-bumps his players during a Prep Bowl appearance at Ford Field. (Middle) Receiver Ryan Kostich (81) races through an opening during a 36-10 win over Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood. (Photos by Paula Imboden.)
Whiteford Completes Championship Climb
December 15, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Ottawa Lake Whiteford football had been building toward this.
Coach Jason Mensing took over a program in 2012 that had gone 4-5 the previous fall, and immediately the Bobcats doubled their wins to finish 8-2. Next came seasons of 9-3, 7-4, 10-3 and program’s first MHSAA Semifinal in 2015, and 13-1 with its only loss in the Division 8 championship game a year ago.
And yet, for the bulk of this season Whiteford still had to look up at a few others, relatively speaking. Reigning champion Muskegon Catholic Central was most people’s favorite to win the division again – until the Crusaders lost their District Final to Mendon, which became the new favorite.
Meanwhile, Whiteford – the MHSAA/Applebee’s Team of the Month for November – bided its time until receiving its opportunity to make history. The Bobcats made the loudest statement with a 50-21 win over Mendon in their Semifinal on Nov. 17, and then assumed the top spot in Division 8 for the first time with a 42-21 championship game win over Saginaw Nouvel on Nov. 24 at Ford Field.
The Bobcats moving forward will still be looking up – but now at a championship banner to be hung and at a goal that certainly will seem more attainable now that they’ve achieved it for the first time.
“My hope is all the boys within our community and school see it and want to accomplish that for themselves,” said Mensing, also the school’s athletic director. “Obviously, it’s not realistic that it’s going to happen every year. But that aspiration for greatness and success … the idea that I can accomplish this, the idea I want this and I’m going to strive for it. Wherever you end up matters less (than) the pursuit of excellence.”
Whiteford pursued and attained excellence and dominance this fall on the way to a 14-0 record, starting with an offense that scored 737 points – tied for second most in MHSAA history, and an average of 52.6 per game.
Tri-County Conference rival Petersburg-Summerfield came within 16 points of catching the Bobcats in the District Final, Whiteford’s closest game of the entire fall as they won on average by nearly 40 points. During the playoffs alone, Whiteford outscored five opponents by an average of 50-18.
The Bobcats had fallen in the 2016 title game 35-6 to Muskegon Catholic Central, but certainly benefited from that first-time experience. Mensing sensed his team’s calm this time around, but also praised his players and coaches for staying focused week in and week out on improving and paying attention to details – no small tasks when everyone knew early on that Whiteford should be in the championship mix.
To win it all, teams generally must have size and speed, and Whiteford certainly had both, even as a school with roughly 240 students – but with nearly 50 on the roster for the championship game.
Let’s start with size. Senior Lucas Tesznar (6-foot-5, 285 pounds) set the tone up front offensively and senior Jarret Atherton (6-1, 255) was an all-stater on both sides for the ball. Junior DeShaun Williams (6-5, 280) was an all-leaguer on defense.
Speed and skill? Senior quarterback Thomas Eitniear and junior running back Logan Murphy keyed a dynamic backfield – Eitniear throwing for 1,403 yards and 17 touchdowns and running for 919 yards more, while Murphy ran for 1,873 yards. Together they combined to set eight school records including Murphy’s for yards gained on the ground. Junior Braden Clark-Gilmore added another school record with 10 receiving touchdowns.
On a defense that gave up only 206 yards of offense and 13 points per game, junior Ty Eitniear set a school record with seven interceptions. Senior lineman Matthew Taylor, senior linebacker Eli Shelton and junior defensive backs Hunter Lake and Zack Bertz joined Atherton as all-state picks on that side of the ball.
Total, eight players secured some level of all-state recognition and 13 Bobcats earned first-team honors in the Tri-County Conference.
The Bobcats are turning their attention to other sports this school year and a future in football without 14 hard-working seniors who will graduate in the spring. But the memories of this fall surely will be lasting, even as the program is poised to continue making runs at top finishes.
“There have been a lot of well wishes, to our kids and our staff, and the school as a whole,” Mensing said. “There are so many people who invest in a football program at all schools, let alone one getting that deep into the playoffs. All of those people who have invested and worked at it have some pride and sense of accomplishment.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2017-18
October: Beaverton volleyball - Report
September: Shepherd girls golf - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Ottawa Lake Whiteford raises its Division 8 championship trophy at Ford Field last month. (Middle) Senior Eli Shelton leads the Bobcats onto the field.