A Game for Every Fan: Week 7
October 4, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Two thirds of the MHSAA football regular season are complete. And one tenth of Michigan’s teams are still perfect – at least two for only a few more hours.
A total of 59 teams are 6-0, and four are playing each other in two of our most significant clashes in the state this weekend.
See below for those matchups and more from your neighborhood. And be sure to check out the first-time, full-hour MHSAA Football Friday Overtime, kicking off with highlights from 13 games at 11:30 p.m. tonight on Fox Sports Detroit.
Also, remember to visit the MHSAA Score Center all weekend for updated scores and standings.
(All games below are tonight unless noted. Go to Score Center for additional dates and kickoff times.)
Mid-Michigan
Grand Ledge (5-1) at Lansing Everett (6-0)
The Vikings have turned aside all challengers in their pursuit of a first league title since 1986. But despite a 6-0 win over East Lansing last week, the toughest might still be yet to come. Grand Ledge has won five straight since opening with a loss to East Kentwood, and over the years has thrived in games when everyone else is talking more about the other team.
Others that caught my eye: Pewamo-Westphalia (5-1) at Fowler (5-1), Grand Blanc (4-2) at Hartland (6-0), Lansing Catholic (5-1) at Portland (6-0), Olivet (5-1) at Battle Creek Pennfield (5-1).
Thumb and Bay
Flint Carman-Ainsworth (6-0) at Flint Powers Catholic (6-0)
Powers' season has been plenty eventful; the reigning MHSAA Division 5 champion owns wins over reigning Division 7 champ Saginaw Nouvel and reigning Division 3 runner-up Mount Pleasant, and fought through an emotional evening a week ago to beat Davison on the same day as retired coach Jack Pratt's funeral. Carman-Ainsworth's journey to this potential Saginaw Valley Association South title decider has rolled along a little more quietly. All the Cavaliers have done is outscore their first three league opponents by a combined 148-8.
Others that caught my eye: Frankenmuth (6-0) at Essexville Garber (4-2), Freeland (5-1) at Hemlock (5-1), Marysville (5-1) at Marine City (5-1), Croswell-Lexington (6-0) at Almont (4-2).
Lower Up North
St. Ignace (6-0) at Pickford (5-1)
Both are newcomers to the Ski Valley Conference this fall, from different former leagues, and are dominating the North division. The winner tonight claims a share of the league title, and Pickford already has beaten third-place Pellston big. A sixth win would give the Panthers their most since 2007. The Saints aren't budging, outscoring opponents 253-12 so far.
Others that caught my eye: Maple City Glen Lake (6-0) at Frankfort (3-3), Grayling (6-0) at Kalkaska (5-1), Johannesburg-Lewiston (4-2) at Onaway (5-1), Benzie Central (3-3) at Kingsley (4-2).
Upper Peninsula
Ishepming (6-0) at Negaunee (6-0)
Two of six undefeated teams in the Upper Peninsula meet to decide at least a share of the Mid-Peninsula Conference – and eventually, this result could decide the whole title with the way these two have dominated. Negaunee has had a few close calls, but has some additional incentive after losing to Ishpeming in six of the last seven meetings.
Others that caught my eye: Marquette (4-2) at Menominee (5-1), Iron Mountain North Dickinson (6-0) at Powers North Central (4-2), Kingsford (5-1) at Iron Mountain (4-2), Rapid River (4-1) at Eben Junction Superior Central (5-1).
West Michigan
Muskegon Oakridge (6-0) at Shelby (5-1)
Winning the West Michigan Conference generally is a strong endorsement for a team's playoff hopes. Six of eight league teams still are up for automatic playoff berths, but Oakridge can claim a share of the championship tonight. Shelby's lone loss was to Montague, which lost to Oakridge; a Shelby win would create a three-way tie for first place between all three.
Others that caught my eye: Grand Rapids South Christian (4-2) at Grand Rapids Catholic Central (6-0), Caledonia (5-1) at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (4-2), East Grand Rapids (2-4) at Lowell (5-1), Grand Rapids Northview (5-1) at Cedar Springs (4-2).
Greater Detroit
Garden City (4-2) at Dearborn Heights Robichaud (6-0)
Robichaud hasn't been perfect this deep into a season since 1991, and got a lot of the heavy work out of the way last week by beating reigning league champion Redford Thurston to earn a share of the Western Wayne Athletic Conference Red. But the Bulldogs can't forget about Garden City, which like Thurston is just a win back of Robichaud and would create a three-way title with a win tonight.
Others that caught my eye: Farmington Hills Harrison (4-2) at Oak Park (6-0), Birmingham Seaholm (5-1) at Bloomfield Hills Lahser (5-1), Plymouth (5-1) at Canton (4-2), Detroit Catholic Central (4-2) at Birmingham Brother Rice (4-2), Saturday.
Southwest and Border
Dowagiac (6-0) at Three Rivers (4-2)
Dowagiac hasn't given up a point in three games and easily could look ahead to Edwardsburg, next week's opponent and the other team tied for first in the Wolverine B Conference South. But the Chieftains won't overlook Three Rivers, which is two eight-point losses from being 6-0 -- including one of those to Edwardsburg two weeks ago.
Others that caught my eye: Lawton (5-1) at Marcellus (5-1), Mattawan (6-0) at Portage Central (5-1), Niles Brandywine (4-2) at St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic (6-0), Hartford (5-1) at Decatur (5-1).
PHOTO: Portland running back Jacob Kimmell works to break away from multiple tacklers during the Raiders' 36-13 win over Corunna on Sept. 8. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
Notre Dame Prep Seniors Leave Legacy in Leading Irish to Historic Heights
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
December 11, 2025
DETROIT – Understandably, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep head football coach Pat Fox couldn’t even get the words out before getting choked up.
At the start of the postgame press conference following his team’s 42-14 loss to Grand Rapids West Catholic in the Division 5 championship game Nov. 30, Fox tried to introduce several members of a historic senior class.
Then, the reality set in that he wouldn’t get to coach them again.
“I love my kids, and it’s hard to say goodbye,” Fox said while fighting back tears.
With a Division 5 championship last year and a runner-up finish this fall, Notre Dame Prep has likely established itself as a perennial contender with such a great foundation laid during Fox’s 12 years at the helm.
But to Fox’s point, it certainly will be hard for future players at the school to top the standards set by this year’s senior class.
Notre Dame Prep had never advanced to an MHSAA Final before the last two years and wasn’t a program known for sustained playoff runs.
“They were (32-5) as a group,” Fox said, referring to the team’s combined record the last three years.
What made it even harder for Fox was that he has known those seniors since they were starting kindergarten at the school.
Fox recited a story about how quarterback Sam Stowe, who threw for more than 5,000 yards combined over the last two seasons, took something from his sister during a holiday concert at the school when they were young kids, and Stowe’s sister tried tackling him to get it back.
Standouts such as linebacker Brody Sink, who has signed with Miami (Ohio), wideout Drake Roa, running back Ben Liparoto, and linemen Henry Ewles and Jack Williams also have been in the building with Fox for seemingly their whole lives and last year helped deliver Fox and the school their first Finals championship.
“I’ve known all of them since they were little boys,” Fox said.
Sink said if there was a turning point where the seniors knew they could help take the program to heights never before attained, it came when they were sophomores.
“My sophomore season, we had a great team, a great quarterback and great players,” Sink said. “We ended up losing to a really good Corunna team (in a District Final). But I didn’t hang my head. I knew we’d come back next year. We had a great (senior) class coming back last year and knew it would be something special for the next two seasons. We stayed the course, and it was a very special last two years.”
After going 9-1 two years ago, Notre Dame Prep went 12-1 last fall and 11-3 this season.
Through it all, the group became heroes to younger kids in the school, who regularly came up to them in the halls to say congratulations or just chat.
“It’s pretty cool,” Stowe said. “I used to be that kid too, looking up to all the Notre Dame Prep quarterbacks. To be that guy, you have to appreciate it and I’m totally humbled to be in the spot where I’m at today.”
Fox did say that before the senior class arrived at the varsity level, the program was “knocking on the door for a while” of becoming a state power, citing a close loss in Districts to eventual Division 4 champion Detroit Country Day in 2020 as one example.
Ultimately, it was this senior class that busted through that door, and now Fox hopes those younger players will take the torch and keep the program among the best in the state.
“You would hope they do,” Fox said. “But every year is different and every challenge is great. We have great kids.”
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.
PHOTOS (Top) Pontiac Notre Dame Prep quarterback Sam Stowe (15) throws a pass during the Division 5 Final while protected by lineman Adrian Fernandez (56). (Middle) Fighting Irish coach Pat Fox leads his team – including Henry Ewles (72) and Brody Sink (7) – off the field.