Football’s Future
March 20, 2012
Many folks, including me, will too often focus on the destination more than the trip. More on results than process. The end more than the means.
This is epidemic in sports, on all levels. There’s so much focus on the postseason that it overshadows the regular season.
In contrast, in educational athletics, we are supposed to hold to the principle that opportunities for teaching and learning are as plentiful, maybe more so, in regular season as in tournaments, at subvarsity levels as at varsity, during practices as during games.
This disease affects football as much as any high school sport. There’s been too much focus on the end of the season – playoffs. Postseason tournaments have been the demise of many great Thanksgiving Day high school football classics across the country. Playoffs continue to ruin rivalries and collapse conferences nationwide.
And, disturbingly, the focus on the end of the season misses what is most wrong with football, and may be most threatening to its future. It’s practice. Specifically, what’s allowed during preseason practice and then at practice throughout the season.
We can predict that, in high school football’s future, two-a-day practices will be fewer, practice hours will be shorter and activities will be different. Among proposals we will be presented (and should seriously consider) will be:
If this all sounds silly or radical, remember that the NCAA and NFL are already making such changes. NFL players face contact in practice on only 14 days during a 17-week regular season. Meanwhile, many high school coaches have kids knocking heads and bruising bodies two to four days a week, all season long. Giving critics the impression that interscholastic football for teens is more brutal than the higher levels of football for grown men. Inviting interference from people who think they know better.
Actually, we know better; and we need to do better. Soon.
Playing 'Goodrich Football' at its Finest, Martians Make Title Dream Come True
By
Brad Emons
Special for MHSAA.com
November 29, 2024
DETROIT – Over his 32 years as head football coach at Goodrich, Tom Alward had come close once but was never able to hoist a state championship trophy.
But that all ended Friday as his Martians invaded Ford Field and rolled to a 35-6 victory over Niles in the Division 4 Final.
After falling 22-0 to Grand Rapids South Christian in the 2022 D4 championship game, Goodrich put on an impressive display in all three phases – offense, defense and special teams – to finish a 13-1 season and earn its first Finals title.
“I never gave up on a dream, and these guys are the ones that made it come true,” Alward said. “We tell the guys we want to get better every year. And I’ve had 32 of them get better. It’s been a great ride.”
To show how dominant the Martians were, Goodrich outgained the Vikings 424-96 in total yards.
And it all started up front.
“That’s Goodrich football,” Alward said. “That’s the way we play, that’s the way we coach it and we teach it, and what these guys bought into. We need to own the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and when we do, good things happen.”
Goodrich showed great balance offensively as junior quarterback Tanner Mazich was 6 of 9 passing for 168 yards and a touchdown, while senior running back Chase Burnett rushed for 157 yards on 28 carries and a pair of TDs. Junior Jakoby Lagat contributed 76 yards on 12 carries along with another TD run.
It was all Goodrich in the opening half – and then some.
The Martians took a 7-0 lead with a 10-play, 68-yard drive resulting in a Mazich 21-yard TD strike to senior Max Macklem with 4:38 to go in the first period.
“It’s amazing when you have five or seconds to get open,” Macklem said. “He just gives me time back there. I find open grass and just throw the ball.”
Burnett then scored on a 1-yard TD run with 9:49 remaining in the second quarter as the Martians marched 74 yards on 11 plays to make it 14-0.
“I just always follow my blockers,” said the 6-foot, 200-pound Burnett. “I’m not going to go down with one tackle. I’m going to bounce off them, keep following them and run through tackles.”
Goodrich’s Zaiden Hall then came up with an interception at his own 49 with 6:27 to go in the half to set up Burnett’s six-yard TD run just 78 seconds later for a 21-0 advantage following Landon Williams’ third straight PAT. (A 41-yard pass from Mazich to Macklem set up the score).
“We liked the matchups with Max (Macklem) and we took shots, and that’s what happened – it worked,” Mazich said.
Goodrich was poised to go up four scores at the end of the half as Mazich hit Lagat on a 34-yard pass to put the ball on the Vikings’ 11.
But the Martians – out of timeouts – couldn’t spike the ball in time before the half ended following a five-yard run by Burnett down to the Niles 1 as the score remained 21-0.
The Vikings, making their first Finals appearance, had only 34 yards of first-half offense while Mazich himself was 4 of 5 passing for 130.
Goodrich got the ball to start the second half, and the Martians used 7:50 to score on a 16-play, 73-yard drive culminating in a Colton Burnett one-yard TD run to go up by 28 points. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Lagat scored a 12-yard run as the Martians pushed the lead to 35.
Niles, a winner of 12 straight after losing its season opener 30-7 to St. Joseph, couldn’t find any bargains offensively against the Martians’ suffocating defense. If there was any consolation for the Vikings, it came with 1:02 remaining when Peyton Gordon rushed 35 yards for the game’s final score.
Meanwhile, with his ability to make throws on the run and extend plays, Mazich proved to be a major thorn in Niles’ side.
“We had a great season. I’m proud of these guys,” Niles fourth-year coach Scot Shaw said. “They (Goodrich) are good; they obviously have to be to be here. (Mazich) did what he did and did well. We couldn’t stay in front of receivers, and we couldn’t have an edge on that kid. They controlled both lines of scrimmage, and they’re well-coached, played hard. I don’t know if we got caught by surprise ... take nothing away from them, but we didn’t play real well. But that’s part of it. Probably because they played better than we did.”
Shaw said Goodrich’s team speed was somewhat deceiving.
“They’re quick,” he said. “They probably didn’t look that quick on film. Their alignment really didn’t surprise us because they had shown that, but I think they were stronger and faster than probably we gave them credit for.”
Goodrich’s first championship run began during the offseason.
“I believed in these guys all season; they’re an incredible group,” Alward said. “They started workouts at 5:30 in the morning on January 8 of this year. And these guys, along with many others, didn’t miss workouts. They’ve worked that hard to get to this point. They deserve all the success that they have achieved. I can’t tell you how proud I am of them, how physical they play and just how much they embrace what we’re trying to do. And that’s gotten us to where we are right now.”
It was only two years ago when Mazich, then a freshman, was serving as a scout team quarterback during the Martians’ 2022 tournament run.
“I got to experience it,” the 5-foot-10, 165-pound junior said. “I just remember how disappointed everyone was with the loss and obviously we got our butts kicked pretty good, but I think it helped us win this game today. They came out strong and owned us the whole game, and that’s what we had to do this game and we did. Obviously Max Macklem is a great receiver, and we have three great running backs. It’s kind of hard to stop the offense with a bunch of weapons like that.”
PHOTOS (Top) Goodrich football coach Tom Alward hoists his football program’s first championship trophy as players rush to him Saturday at Ford Field. (Middle) The Martians’ Thomas Niles (15) works to pull away from a Niles defender. (Below) Jakoby Lagatt (24) enjoys a replay on the scoreboard. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)