Forest Park Meets Expectations, Adds to Tradition with 5th Championship
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
December 5, 2024
MARQUETTE — They came. They saw. They conquered.
The Crystal Falls Forest Park Trojans did what they set out to do this season, earning their first MHSAA Finals title in seven years in a 42-20 triumph over the Morrice Orioles in the Nov. 30 8-player Division 2 championship game at Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome.
Forest Park sits fourth all-time with 15 championship game appearances over the 50 years of MHSAA Football Playoffs. This was the program’s first championship since winning Division 2 in 2017 and came after six straight seasons of reaching the postseason but losing during the first or second round.
“My brother (Kevin) and I been talking about this since we were little,” Trojans sophomore quarterback Vic Guiliani said. “When (Morrice) got within 35-20, we just had to keep our foot on the pedal. They responded very well, but we kept our composure.
“It’s crazy motivation. Every year you lose a lot of good seniors, but we still have the heart. We want to get back here.”
The victory enabled the Trojans to finish 12-1. Their only loss took place in a regular-season finale Oct. 25 when they dropped a 45-34 decision to Powers North Central.
That defeat cost Forest Park the Great Lakes Eight Conference West championship. But the Trojans stormed back to avenge it with a 34-12 win over the Jets two weeks later to clinch a Regional title.
“There were a lot of little things,” sophomore running back Dax Huuki recalled of the first North Central matchup. “That was our worst game of the season, but that was probably the best thing that happened to us. That was a nice little reality check, but we weren’t going to put up with it. Everyone on the team really wanted this. That’s what got us here. Our seniors told us what we needed to do and ‘we’re not going to take a play off.’ They held us accountable.”
Forest Park’s successes in the championship game against Morrice were consistent with what the Trojans did well all season. Huuki ran 19 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns, finishing this fall with 162 carries, 1,560 yards and 22 scores on the ground. The team’s 291 rushing yards total for the game pushed the Trojans to 4,004 for the season – but Giuliani also completed all four of his passes for 60 yards, giving him 968 for the season and pushing the team total to an importantly complementary 1,049. Seniors Grayson Sundell (918 yards/18 TDs rushing) and Nick Stephens (11 TDs) were among other top runners for the Trojans.
Seven players started on both sides of the ball, and holding Morrice to just 194 yards of total offense fell in line with the team’s average of 201 average yards allowed entering the game.
After giving up 45 points to North Central in Week 9, the Trojans gave up a combined 56 over four playoff games.
“We definitely felt the sting of losing in our last regular-season game,” Forest Park coach Brian Fabbri said. “Five turnovers and 10 penalties didn’t help.
“It feels great to be state champions. I know how it feels to walk off the field on the other side. I experienced that twice. It’s not a good feeling.”
Fabbri became the fourth coach in Forest Park history to win one of the program’s five overall championships. He also played on a pair of Trojans teams that finished Finals runners-up in 2004 and 2005.
He’ll graduate seven of the 23 players on the postseason roster, including also two-way starters Matthew Showers, Brody Starr, Nate Bradish and Kevin Giuliani. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Giuliani had made the all-state second team as a junior and will continue as an offensive lineman at Michigan Tech.
“Expectations were very high,” Fabbri said. “Our senior leadership was amazing. They kept us in the game.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS Forest Park’s Nik Stephens (22) gets to the pylon for one of his three touchdowns Nov. 23 at Northern Michigan University. (Middle) The Trojans’ seniors take a photo with the program’s fifth championship trophy. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)
1st & Goal: 2024 Week 7 Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 11, 2024
There are only three weeks left in the 2024 football regular season. But there's still plenty of time to shake things up.
Several newly-crowned league champions could celebrate tonight or Saturday – but as we detail below, scenarios exist in a number of leagues where one, two or three teams are still in the title mix.
And as we look farther toward the MHSAA Playoffs, there's good news as well (or bad, depending on how your favorite team is sitting). Of last year's field of 288 playoff teams, 27 were not among the top 32 (11-player) or 16 (8-player) in their respective divisions heading into Week 7. That number was consistent with 2022, when 25 eventual playoff teams were outside the field with three weeks to play.
There were 17 games Thursday night, including a matchup for first in the Lakes Valley Conference between co-leaders Milford and Walled Lake Western (which Western won 37-0) and a decider in the Oakland Activities Association Red (where Oxford claimed a title share with a 38-14 win over West Bloomfield). All games listed below are tonight unless noted, with results posting as they are reported all weekend on the MHSAA Scores page. Updated standings also are available by clicking the schools on the score list, and every division’s playoff points summary updates as well as scores are received.
Bay & Thumb
Fenton (6-0) at Flushing (5-1) WATCH
Fenton will be playing to finish off a sixth-straight Flint Metro League divisional championship after clinching a share of the Stripes title last week. Rival Flushing has a chance to claim a piece of a championship for the first time since sharing the formerly one-division Metro title in 2018 – a season which also featured its most recent win over the Tigers. The Raiders’ only loss this fall was to Linden, by a point in Week 4, and Linden also is tied for second place, would gain a title share with a Flushing win, and fell to Fenton by just three points last week.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY North Branch (5-1) at Armada (5-1) WATCH, Harbor Beach (6-0) at Reese (4-2) WATCH, Marysville (5-1) at St. Clair (5-1), Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker (4-2) at Millington (5-0) WATCH.
Greater Detroit
Macomb Dakota (6-0) at Utica Eisenhower (5-1) WATCH
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley’s stunning win last week over Eisenhower may have blunted some of the buzz that would have come with this matchup – but could also fire up the Eagles even more. They’ll claim a share of the Macomb Area Conference Red title with a win after Dakota guaranteed a share last week thanks to that Eisenhower loss. The Eagles won last year’s meeting with the Cougars 31-0, but Dakota has given up only 52 points total over six games this fall.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Macomb Lutheran North (5-1) at Riverview Gabriel Richard (6-0) WATCH, Port Huron Northern (4-2) at Warren Mott (5-1), Howell (6-0) at Novi (5-1) WATCH. SATURDAY Romulus Summit Academy North (5-0) at Warren Michigan Collegiate (5-1)
Mid-Michigan
Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central (6-0) at Ithaca (6-0) WATCH
Nouvel is enjoying its best start since finishing Division 8 runner-up in 2017 and already has surpassed last season’s four wins. Tonight provides an opportunity to take another step as the Panthers have lost all five matchups with Ithaca since joining the Tri-Valley Conference in 2018. The winner of this one clinches the TVC Blue title outright – and the Yellowjackets have a pair of impressive streaks on the line as well. They’ve won 19 straight league games going back to 2020 and 15 consecutive league championships.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY DeWitt (6-0) at Grand Ledge (4-2) WATCH, Chesaning (6-0) at Ovid-Elsie (6-0) WATCH, Ionia (4-2) at Lansing Catholic (4-2), East Lansing (3-3) at Lansing Everett (5-1) WATCH.
Northern Lower Peninsula
Marquette (5-1) at Petoskey (6-0) WATCH
The winner earns a share of the Big North Conference title. Petoskey is seeking its first since 2011, and a victory tonight also would guarantee its best record since 2015. Marquette, meanwhile, is in its second season in the BNC and finished second a year ago. Last season’s pair of games against Marquette may have set the stage for this Petoskey run; the Northmen lost 21-20 in Week 8 but claimed the rematch 26-7 in a playoff opener. Scoring could be limited this time; aside from a Week 4 loss to Lowell, the Sentinels have given up seven points total this fall, while Petoskey is allowing just 9.2 per game.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Evart (4-2) at McBain (6-0), Cheboygan (3-3) at Kingsley (4-2) WATCH, Charlevoix (4-2) at Mancelona (3-3), Mount Pleasant (4-2) at Traverse City West (3-3) WATCH.
Southeast & Border
Union City (6-0) at Springport (6-0) WATCH
The winner claims a share of the Big 8 Conference title, which for Springport would be a first since 2016 and for Union City its third straight. The Chargers have won 17 consecutive league games, in fact, and defeated Springport in four straight including 41-0 last fall. But the Spartans are enjoying their best season since 2018 and after going 0-9 only two years ago. They’ve already avenged 2023 losses to Sand Creek, Stockbridge and Quincy and have scored nearly as many points this fall as the last two years combined.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Ida (5-1) at Adrian Madison (4-2) WATCH, Flat Rock (5-1) at Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (6-0), Chelsea (5-1) at Jackson (4-2) WATCH, Traverse City St. Francis (5-1) at Jackson Lumen Christi (5-1) WATCH.
Southwest Corridor
Hastings (6-0) at Battle Creek Harper Creek (5-1)
Save for an upset over the next two weeks, this matchup likely will decide the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference title. These two have some history with that; Hastings, Harper Creek and Jackson Lumen Christi shared the championship in 2021, and since the Saxons have won the last three and 20 straight league games. The Beavers will hope a much-improved offense averaging 40 points per game can continue surging against a Hastings defense that gave up only 11.5 ppg in league play in 2023 – and has lowered that to 7.3 ppg over four league games this fall.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Dowagiac (5-1) at Berrien Springs (3-3) WATCH, Parchment (5-1) at Constantine (5-1), Niles (5-1) at Edwardsburg (4-2) WATCH, Saugatuck (5-1) at Schoolcraft (5-1) WATCH, Portage Central (4-2) at Portage Northern (4-2) WATCH.
Upper Peninsula
Menominee (6-0) at Negaunee (5-1) WATCH
Menominee is set up for its toughest tests over its final three games of the regular season, as Negaunee, Week 8 opponent Kingsford and Week 9’s Bark River-Harris are a combined 15-3. Negaunee welcomed the Maroons to the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference last year with a 47-20 win and need a repeat performance to have any hope of a West-PAC Copper shared title after losing to Kingsford in Week 4. Menominee’s only losses last season were to Negaunee and Kingsford before reaching the Division 7 championship game, so there’s extra incentive there as well.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Bark River-Harris (4-2) at Iron Mountain (6-0) WATCH, Ishpeming Westwood (2-4) at Kingsford (6-0) WATCH, Calumet (3-3) at Hancock (1-5). SATURDAY Manistique (3-3) at Gwinn (2-4).
West Michigan
Grand Rapids Northview (6-0) at Grand Rapids Catholic Central (5-1)
Northview’s best season since 2018 would have its best highlight yet with a win tonight that would not only clinch a share of the Ottawa-Kent Conference Black championship but deliver Grand Rapids Catholic Central a rare loss. Catholic Central is facing a second-straight undefeated opponent and handed Holland Christian its first loss last week, 42-18; the Cougars have lost only one league game over the last eight seasons.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Grand Rapids South Christian (4-2) at Hudsonville Unity Christian (6-0), Big Rapids (5-1) at Newaygo (5-1), Ravenna (4-2) at North Muskegon (5-1) WATCH, Grand Rapids West Catholic (4-2) at Ada Forest Hills Eastern (5-1) WATCH.
8-Player
Gobles (6-0) at Martin (5-0) WATCH
This also is a winner-take-all, for the Southwest Michigan 8-Man Football League Red championship, and with a nice rivalry brewing after Gobles won last season’s regular-season meeting 53-16 but the Clippers won the Regional Final rematch 28-6. Martin is coming off scoring a season-high 70 points and has topped 50 three of the last four games, while Gobles has held its last three opponents (and four total) to single digits and posted its second shutout of the season last week.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Au Gres-Sims (5-1) at Atlanta (5-1) WATCH, Kingston (5-1) at Deckerville (6-0) WATCH, Portland St. Patrick (6-0) at Fulton (5-1) WATCH, Powers North Central (5-1) at Ontonagon (4-2).
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PHOTO Escanaba's Alex Morgan (56) and Keagan Braun (21) converge on Marquette's Chase Niemi (9) as he gets closer to the end zone during the Sentinels' Week 6 win. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)