A Game for Every Fan: Week 6
October 1, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
We’ve reached October, and that means two things – league titles and lots of numbers.
We’ll cover the former by telling you which teams are winning what in our weekly Drive for Detroit reports posted each Monday. As for those piles of numbers, here are a few: Ishpeming is the first to qualify for the 2014 MHSAA playoffs because it started 5-0 and is playing eight games this season; 66 more teams have started 5-0 and can qualify with victories this weekend.
Below are some of the best games from every corner of the state, most of which will help define those league title races while giving us more numbers to crunch with playoff selection only four weeks away. (All games are Friday unless noted.)
Greater Detroit
Detroit East English (4-1) at Detroit Cass Tech (5-0), Saturday
All 16 Detroit Public School League football teams are playing in one division this season after being split into multiple the past many years. The top six contenders have begun to separate from the pack – with East English, Cass Tech and Martin Luther King the only three with perfect league records. Because of the way the schedule fell, neither East English nor Cass Tech plays King in a league game – so whichever wins this weekend’s matchup should receive a top seed in the PSL playoffs that begin Week 8. East English is a nine-point nonleague loss to Lansing Sexton from being undefeated, but hasn’t given up a point since that opening weekend defeat.
Others that caught my eye: Waterford Mott (4-1) at Walled Lake Central (4-1) on Thursday, Orchard Lake St. Mary's (5-0) at Birmingham Brother Rice (5-0), Morenci (5-0) at Clinton (5-0), Monroe (4-1) at Saline (4-1).
Mid-Michigan
DeWitt (5-0) at St. Johns (5-0)
This feels a lot like the rivals’ matchup in 2010, when DeWitt came into Week 9 undefeated and dominating everyone and left with a 49-35 loss (the Panthers went on to make the Division 3 Semifinals). Once again, the Panthers are likely considered heavy favorites despite the teams’ matching records – but St. Johns has enough speed to try to match DeWitt’s high-octane offensive attack. There’s another big difference from 2010– this time, both are in the same league, the Capital Area Activities Conference Red.
Others that caught my eye: Coldwater (5-0) at Jackson Lumen Christi (5-0) on Saturday, Stockbridge (4-1) at Olivet (4-1), Manchester (4-1) at Grass Lake (5-0), Portland (3-2) at Williamston (5-0).
Lower Up North
Ishpeming (5-0) vs. Beal City (5-0) at Gaylord
Although technically neither of these teams is from the counties of the northern Lower Peninsula, this game will be played in between them at Gaylord – and could be the most entertaining game of the weekend. Beal City has finished Division 8 runner-up the last two seasons and hasn’t given up a point in the last two games. Ishpeming has won the last two Division 7 championships and hasn’t allowed an opponent this season within 26 points.
Others that caught my eye: Gaylord (4-1) at Cadillac (5-0), Whittemore-Prescott (5-0) at Tawas (4-1), St. Ignace (5-0) at Mancelona (3-2), Petoskey (4-1) at Traverse City Central (4-1).
Southwest and Border
Niles (4-1) at Portage Central (3-1)
It’s time to give Niles a look and some credit for a solid turnaround; the Vikings are 4-1 after winning two games last season and no more than four since 2003. They did fall to Portage Northern two weeks ago – but can cement themselves as a probable playoff team and possible Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference West spoiler for some other contenders by beating reigning champion Portage Central.
Others that caught my eye: Portage Northern (4-1) at Stevensville Lakeshore (4-1), Paw Paw (3-2) at Berrien Springs (3-2), South Haven (2-3) at Edwardsburg (4-1), Buchanan (2-3) at Mendon (4-1).
West Michigan
Grand Rapids Christian (4-1) at Lowell (5-0)
The Ottawa-Kent Conference White includes these two plus a Caledonia (3-2) team that beat Rockford 42-0 last week, improved East Grand Rapids (3-2), and a Forest Hills Central team that is 1-4 but beat Caledonia and has losses to teams that are a combined 14-6. Lowell already has gotten EGR out of the way, and a win over the Eagles – 35-34 winners over the Red Arrows a year ago – would solidify its frontrunner status in arguably the state’s most competitive conference.
Others that caught my eye: East Kentwood (5-0) at Holland West Ottawa (4-1), Stanton Central Montcalm (3-2) at Remus Chippewa Hills (5-0), North Muskegon (3-2) at Ravenna (4-1), Holland Christian (2-3) at Holland (3-2).
Bay and Thumb
Saginaw Swan Valley (5-0) at Freeland (5-0)
Alex Grace is up to 994 yards rushing this fall and more than 6,100 for his three-year varsity career, and as such Swan Valley remains one of the scariest Class B teams in the state. But Freeland actually has outscored the Vikings by seven points this fall – although Swan Valley also has given up only 22 to Freeland’s 83. The last seven matchups between the two have been decided by 15 points or fewer, which could make a standout runner and his offensive line the difference-makers once again.
Others that caught my eye: Birch Run (5-0) at Frankenmuth (4-1), Warren Woods-Tower (5-0) at Marysville (3-2), Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary (4-1) at St. Charles (3-2), Lake Fenton (2-3) at Flint Beecher (5-0).
Upper Peninsula
Crystal Falls Forest Park (3-1) at Felch North Dickinson (3-2)
While these two remain in different leagues, this remains one of the best annual matchups in the Upper Peninsula. Forest Park came back from a 2012 28-point loss to North Dickinson by sweeping the Nordics in two games in 2013, including 24-20 in a Regional Final. North Dickinson also is trying to avoid losing three regular-season games for the first time since 2008. Both are playing only eight games this fall, so both need only two more wins to qualify for the postseason and the potential to face off again.
Others that caught my eye: Iron River West Iron County (5-0) at Calumet (3-2), Gladstone (3-2) at Sault Ste. Marie (2-3), Marquette (4-1) at Kingsford (2-3), Rudyard (2-3) at Munising (4-1).
8-Player
Cedarville (5-0) at Rapid River (5-0)
Lawrence (5-0) at Deckerville (5-0) on Saturday
It’s impossible to separate these two – Friday’s game matches the top two 8-player programs in the Upper Peninsula, while Saturday’s matches arguably the two best from the Lower Peninsula not including reigning MHSAA champion Peck and last week’s 89-point scorer Battle Creek St. Philip. Needless to say, the results could mean a lot when playoffs are drawn up and home teams for Regionals are assigned at the end of this month.
Others that caught my eye: Battle Creek St. Philip (5-0) at Webberville (3-2), Peck (5-0) at Kingston (3-2).
PHOTO: Detroit East English (in blue) fell to Lansing Sexton during opening weekend but hasn’t given up a point since that Saturday afternoon. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
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.