A Game for Every Fan: Week 1 Preview
August 26, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first weekend of high school football season always is filled with new beginnings. But that doesn't mean that all making fresh starts are completely unfamiliar.
A pair of grand old stadiums will have new looks. Thousands of fans are expected to file into Flint’s Atwood Stadium on Thursday and Mount Pleasant’s Community Stadium on Friday for the first games after both received major renovations this offseason.
And plenty of stars from last season are back for another go. Thousands more will likely pour into Wayne State University on Saturday for the Prep Kickoff Classic to watch six of the Detroit area's annual MHSAA Finals contenders, and top teams from all over the state are facing off against each other to get 2015 underway.
There are no shortage of games to watch, no matter where you call home. Below is a look at games that stand out from each of eight regions across the state, plus from our group of 8-player matchups. All are Friday unless noted. Records listed are from 2014.
And make sure to follow results as they come in on the MHSAA Score Center, and come back to Second Half later Monday for our round up of the most significant results from the first week.
Bay & Thumb
Marysville (7-4) at Richmond (10-2) (Thurs.)
Richmond advanced to the Division 4 Regional Finals last season with its first double-digit win season since 2003 and thanks to two over Marysville – 47-0 on opening night and 48-6 in the District Final. But the Vikings quietly have earned six playoff berths in seven seasons and might have an opening for revenge this week with an experienced lineup taking on a Richmond team filled with new starters.
Others that caught my eye: Saginaw Nouvel (4-5) at New Lothrop (11-1) (Thurs.), Millington (9-2) at Vassar (5-4) (Thurs.), Davison (4-5) at Fenton (9-1) (Thurs.), Grand Blanc (5-4) at Flint Carman-Ainsworth (8-3).
Greater Detroit
Warren DeLaSalle (11-3) vs. Detroit Martin Luther King (8-2) at Wayne State (Sat.)
The reigning Division 2 champion, DeLaSalle, takes on a favorite this season in King. The Crusaders are keyed by some of the state’s most impressive offensive players in receiver Donnie Corley and running back Martell Pettaway, while the Pilots will attempt to slow them returning important cogs back from a defense that gave up only 12.8 points per game last fall.
Others that caught my eye: Clarkston (14-0) at Macomb Dakota (8-3) (Thurs.), East Kentwood (11-2) at Farmington Hills Harrison (10-3), Muskegon (12-2) at Detroit Catholic Central (4-5), Southfield (9-4) vs Detroit Cass Tech (12-1) at Wayne State (Sat.).
Mid-Michigan
Beal City (10-3) at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (5-5)
These nonconference rivals have opened with against other all but two seasons going back to 1991, and this weekend will do so to debut the renovated Community Stadium. The Aggies are coming off another long playoff run, just missing a third straight trip to the MHSAA Finals with a three-point loss in the Semifinal. Sacred Heart hasn’t made the Finals since 2010, but is riding 10 playoff appearances over 11 seasons and looking to avenge some heavy losses to Beal City as of late.
Others that caught my eye: Clare (8-3) at Ithaca (13-1) (Thurs.), Mason (8-4) at Okemos (6-4) (Thurs.), Madison Heights Madison (9-3) at Pewamo-Westphalia (10-3) (Thurs.), Midland Dow (10-1) at Mount Pleasant (7-4).
Northern Lower Peninsula
Mendon (10-2) at Boyne City (12-1) (Thurs.)
Boyne City is following up tying its best record ever and falling by only four in last season’s Division 6 Semifinals by taking on perennial power Mendon in what should be one of the state’s best games outside Detroit this weekend. The Hornets have won at least 10 games eight straight seasons and in 11 of the last 12. Boyne City has made the playoffs 10 of the last 12 seasons and set a school record scoring 500 points in 2014.
Others that caught my eye: Reed City (9-3) at Baldwin (10-2), Marquette (7-3) at Traverse City St. Francis (9-3), Johannesburg-Lewiston (9-2) at Mancelona (6-4), Sault Ste. Marie (5-4) at Petoskey (9-3).
Southeast & Border
Rockford (8-3) at Saline (12-2)
Expectations are high after Saline made the MHSAA Finals last season for the first time, falling to Clarkston 33-25 in the Division 1 championship game. Quarterback Joshua Jackson is among returnees and is considered one of the state’s most dynamic at his position. But teams learned long ago they can’t look past Rockford – and that’s hardly made a difference as the Rams haven’t missed the playoffs since 1994 and went 8-3 last season despite being outscored for the season.
Others that caught my eye: Grand Rapids Northview (6-4) at Chelsea (9-3) (Thurs.), Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (13-1) at Tecumseh (5-5) (Thurs.), Pittsford (7-3) at Morenci (10-2), Clinton (10-1) at Manchester (8-2).
Southwest Corridor
Portage Northern (7-4) at Battle Creek Lakeview (9-2) (Thurs.)
These two are facing off on opening night for the second straight year and after three games of significance over the last two seasons. Although Portage Northern beat Lakeview 28-24 in last season’s opener, Lakeview beat the Huskies in their Division 2 District Final 21-0 after eliminating Northern in the first round in 2013, 31-7. Lakeview didn’t lose again after last season’s opener until falling in the Regional Final.
Others that caught my eye: Plainwell (8-2) at Three Rivers (6-4) (Thurs.), Caledonia (7-3) at Battle Creek Harper Creek (6-5), Stevensville Lakeshore (8-3) at Battle Creek Central (5-4), Mattawan (6-4) at Portage Central (7-2)
Upper Peninsula
Iron River West Iron County (9-2) at Munising (12-2)
Munising made last season’s Division 8 Final and pulled off its best finish since 1980 led by a handful of elite seniors whose only other loss last fall came on opening night – 28-6 to Iron River West Iron County. The combination of both should give these Mustangs plenty of motivation against a Wykons team that has won 19 of its last 20 regular-season games.
Others that caught my eye: Crystal Falls Forest Park (9-2) at Bark River-Harris (8-3), Iron Mountain (6-4) at Ishpeming (12-1), Central Lake (6-5) at St. Ignace (10-1), Marinette (3-6) (Wis.) at Menominee (12-1) (Sat.).
West Michigan
Jackson Lumen Christi (11-1) at Grand Rapids West Catholic (14-0)
Few teams in Michigan are replacing superstars on the level of graduated Lumen Christi running back Khari Willis and West Catholic quarterback Travis Russell. But both teams have been down this road before. West Catholic is the two-time reigning Division 5 champion and has 10 or more wins in six straight seasons; Lumen, while coming off its most wins since 2009, has made the playoffs 17 straight times.
Others that caught my eye: Grand Rapids Catholic Central (6-4) at East Grand Rapids (6-4) (Thurs.), Walled Lake Western (9-2) at Lowell (10-2) (Thurs.), Muskegon Catholic Central (14-0) at Muskegon Oakridge (8-2), Grand Rapids Christian (6-5) at Grand Rapids South Christian (12-2)
8-Player
Kingston (7-4) at Deckerville (9-3)
A couple pockets of 8-player dominance have cropped up over the first few seasons of the sport, and these are two of the best and most consistent programs coming from Michigan’s thumb. Deckerville won the MHSAA title in 2012 and made the Semifinals last season after sweeping Kingston 14-8 in Week 2 but then 72-22 in the Regional Final. They play twice this season during the regular season alone; this one doesn’t count in the North Central Thumb 8-Man League standings, but the rematch comes in Week 4.
Others that caught my eye: Owendale-Gagetown (8-2) at New Haven Merritt (6-4) (Thurs.), Rapid River (10-1) at Onaway (4-5).
PHOTO: Saline quarterback Joshua Jackson prepares to hand off during last season’s Division 1 Final against Clarkston. Both teams’ returns to the field this weekend are among the most highly-anticipated in Michigan.
Fresh Off Newfound Spring Swing, Tabron Remains Driver of Cass Tech Title Hopes
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
August 20, 2026
DETROIT — One of the country’s top football recruits in the Class of 2028, Detroit Cass Tech junior quarterback Donald Tabron pursued a newfound passion this spring even while zigzagging across the country on recruiting visits to prominent college football programs.
When he wasn’t busy with school studies, recruiting trips or football training, Tabron happily was a member of Cass Tech’s boys golf team, building on a love for that sport he developed the previous spring as he was winding down his freshman year of high school.
Tabron said one of his football teammates who was also on the golf team introduced him to a golf simulator at the school, and the seed was planted.
“We got down and hit golf balls in the simulator,” Tabron said. “We did that the last few weeks of the school year. He was like, ‘You have a pretty decent swing. I’ll get you with our golf coach,’ So I got with Coach Mike (Schuchard). I love Coach Mike. He helped me out during that summer, giving me lessons once a week. I went to Five Iron Golf and those indoor simulators on Sundays and just suddenly was getting better. I got my first set of clubs.”
Tabron liked golf so much that he decided to not participate on the track & field team at Cass Tech, where he shined in the high jump as a freshman.
In fairness, his busy schedule of football recruiting trips also played a factor in not going out for track. But he made time for golf, finishing up by competing in his team’s Regional tournament in May.
There are physical characteristics of playing golf that Tabron said should help him in football, such as similar torso turning and strength needed to both swing a golf club and throw a football. But it’s the mental side of golf that he feels will make him a better quarterback.
“A lot of times in football you may take a bad hit or make a bad play, and in golf you may hit a bad shot,” Tabron said. “It’s how you rebound from that. As a quarterback, you have to be able to stay cool, calm and collected. You can’t get too over your head or too low. That’s the same for golf.”
There haven’t been too many lows for Tabron during what already has been an accomplished high school football career – and he still has two years left.
As a freshman two years ago, Tabron was the starter for Cass Tech’s team that won the Division 1 championship, and he helped lead the Technicians to an unbeaten record last year before a loss to Detroit Catholic Central in the title game.
This year as a junior, particularly with Mr. Football Award winner C.J. Sadler graduated, it is fully Tabron’s offense and his team.
“I’m going to be like the offensive coordinator on the field, but you can only work as good as the surrounding cast,” Tabron said. “That’s how it’s going to be for us. I’ll be like the coach and leader on the field, but I can’t do it without them.”
Tabron got his start in football much earlier in life than golf, as a toddler, mainly because his father, Donald Tabron Jr., played collegiately at Northwood.
A right-handed thrower, Tabron made an immediate impact once he got to high school, earning the starting quarterback job, and after initial lumps, guided Cass Tech to that Division 1 championship. Tabron finished 15 of 20 passing with three touchdowns that day at Ford Field, and from there college scouts started drooling.
The 6-foot-3 Tabron committed to Texas A&M on Saturday, and this spring was quite a whirlwind with recruiting trips across the country including to Oregon, USC, Texas A&M, LSU, Ohio State and many others.
Tabron didn’t measure how many miles he traveled, but he did become quite an expert on the quality of airports in various cities.
“My mom was like, ‘Not many kids can say how good or bad airports are at 17 years old,” Tabron said. “I’m definitely blessed and grateful for the opportunity to go to all these places.”
He likely won’t go on more recruiting visits now that he is committed. But if he does, one big request from Tabron will be to check out the university’s golf course.
“I actually talked about it with a few coaches because a lot of college coaches play golf,” he said. “(They say) ‘Next time you come down, get on the range here or get on the course where the golf team practices at.’ It’s definitely been a conversation.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTO (Top) Cass Tech quarterback Donald Tabron (8) drops back to pass during last season’s Division 1 Final, moments before throwing for a big gain that set up the team’s first touchdown.