Garza Shows Range, New Lothrop Reigns
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
January 23, 2021
DETROIT – It had been a while Saturday since the New Lothrop offense had made a big play.
The Hornets had seen a 28-point lead shrink to seven and were staring down another big third down. In need of a spark, they turned to the player who had given them so many earlier in the game, and once again, Julius Garza delivered.
Garza converted the third down, and eventually scored his fourth touchdown to help seal New Lothrop’s 42-35 victory over Traverse City St. Francis in the Division 7 Football Final at Ford Field.
“Their backers were keying on (Will) Muron all night, so I knew when they flew up, Julius would come open,” New Lothrop senior quarterback Cam Orr said. “I knew if I threw him the ball, he’d catch it no matter where it was.”
Garza scored four touchdowns in the game – two rushing, one receiving and one on a kick return – to tie him for fourth in MHSAA Finals history for touchdowns in a game. He had 139 yards receiving on four catches and 26 yards rushing on four carries.
It was his 3rd-and-6 conversion with his team in its own territory and clinging to a seven-point lead, however, that was likely his biggest play of the game. His 26-yard reception on the next play was also in the running, as was the nine-yard touchdown run that put New Lothrop up 42-28 with 2 minutes, 26 seconds to play.
“It means everything,” Garza said. “It’s kind of taken a little bit to settle in. I feel like I’m on top of the world right now. It’s really exciting. All the work we put in, and everything we do, for it to pay off, it means the world.”
The title was the Hornets’ third, and first since 2018. If not for a one-point Regional Final loss a year ago against eventual champion Pewamo-Westphalia, the program could be celebrating a three-peat.
“We’ve always had tremendous community backing. We’ve always had tremendous kids that have put in the same amount of work these guys have,” New Lothrop coach Clint Galvas said. “We were just unfortunately not able to get over that hump. Obviously in (2018) we were able to get over that hump and win a state title. Maybe that gave us the confidence we need moving forward as a program, like, ‘Hey, we can do this now.’ Winning a couple is special, but I’m not taking anything away from the previous teams we had, because we had some pretty darn good teams walk through these halls and wear the New Lothrop helmet, and they put in the work, too.”
At halftime, it looked as though New Lothrop (11-0) would be cruising to title No. 3, as it built a 35-7 lead, using explosive plays. Muron scored on the Hornets’ second offensive play with a 27-yard run, and after St. Francis answered with a three-yard Gabe Olivier touchdown run, Garza returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for a score.
Garza added a 65-yard touchdown reception from Orr and a three-yard touchdown run, before Orr closed out the half with an 11-yard rushing score.
“Is Julius Garza having a heck of a day surprising? Not at all,” Galvas said. “Those of you who have been around and watched this kid, he was a two-way starter two years ago on the 2018 title team. The kid’s always been a player. … I think they came into the game like a lot of teams, they want to stop Cam and they want to stop Will on the edge. And I think if you do that, sometimes you forget about Julius Garza. We were able to get him a lot of one-on-one matchups with some backers and things, and he’s going to win those pretty much 10 out of 10 times. He’s a heck of an athlete.”
St. Francis (9-3) clawed back into the game in the second half, however, shutting the New Lothrop offense down and getting its own offense going – albeit in a different manner than the Hornets. The Gladiators power run game started to lean on New Lothrop and scored on its next three possessions prior to Garza’s late-game heroics, to nearly erase the deficit.
Aidan Schmuckal closed out a nine-play drive with a two-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter, and Charlie Peterson scored on a one-yard sneak early in the fourth to close out a 14-play drive. Schmuckal’s second score, also a two-yard run, came with 6:46 to play and immediately followed a blocked punt by St. Francis’ Jimmy Muzljakovich.
“I felt like we played a doubleheader today,” St. Francis coach Josh Sellers said. “The score of the first game was 35-7, and the score of the second game was 28-7. Unfortunately, the math didn’t work out in our favor. We let too many big plays go in the first half, obviously. At 35-7 in the locker room, I told them, ‘You’ve got two choices: you can just pack up the tent stakes and go home now, or go out and try to win the second half,’ and they did. They won the second half with great effort, great belief in one another, and we just fell a little bit short today.”
St. Francis didn’t go away after Garza’s final touchdown, either, scoring with a seven-yard pass from Peterson to Josh Grove with 1:07 to play. New Lothrop recovered the onside kick, however, and after running three plays, Orr ran off the final seven seconds of the game by rolling to his left and throwing the ball high into the air down the field.
“We like to pride ourselves in our never-giving-up mentality,” Schmuckal said. “We’ve been a team that has been known to battle back and never give up. Going into that second half, I knew that we were never going to give up and we were going to fight to the bitter end, and that’s what we did.”
Schmuckal led St. Francis with 101 yards rushing, while Owen Mueller had 71 and Olivier had 69. Joey Donahue led the St. Francis defense with eight tackles, while Schmuckal had seven, including three for loss.
Orr led the Hornets in passing and rushing, throwing for 222 yards on 11-of-15 passing, and running for 122 yards on 17 carries. Alec Mangino led the New Lothrop defense with 12 tackles, while Garza had nine. Muron and Bryce Cheney each had an interception.
PHOTOS: (Top) New Lothrop’s Julius Garza looks to make one of his many big plays Saturday at Ford Field. (Middle) Hornets quarterback Cam Orr reaches the end zone as Traverse City St. Francis’ Gavin Nickodemus (15) and Gabe Olivier (20) bring him to the turf. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
2016 Week 5 Football Playoff Listing
September 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Here is a list of Michigan High School Athletic Association football playing schools, displaying their win-loss records and playoff averages through the fourth week of the season.
Schools on this list are in enrollment order for 11-player teams, with 8-player teams ordered by playoff average. An asterisk (*) beside a record indicates a team has eight or fewer games scheduled.
Those schools with 11-player teams with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules, or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer, will qualify for the MHSAA Football Playoffs beginning Oct. 28. Schools with 5-4, 4-3 or 4-4 records may qualify if the number of potential qualifiers by win total does not reach the 256 mark. Schools with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer may be subtracted from the field based on playoff average if the number of potential qualifiers exceeds the 256 mark.
Once the 256 qualifying schools are determined, they will be divided by enrollment groups into eight equal divisions of 32 schools, and then drawn into regions of eight teams each and districts of four teams each. Those schools with 8-player teams will be ranked by playoff average at season’s end, and the top 16 programs will be drawn into regions of eight teams each for the playoff in that division, which also begins Oct. 28.
To review a list of all football playoff schools, individual school playoff point details and to report errors, visit the Football page of the MHSAA Website.
The announcement of the qualifiers and first-round pairings for both the 11 and 8-player playoffs will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 23 on the Selection Sunday Show on FOX Sports Detroit. The playoff qualifiers and pairings will be posted to the MHSAA Website following the Selection Sunday Show.
11-Player Playoff Listing
1. Utica Eisenhower, 2700, 4-0, 92.000
2. Clarkston, 2683, 3-1, 70.250
3. Grand Blanc, 2628, 4-0, 94.000
4. Howell, 2499, 3-1, 66.500
5. Dearborn Fordson, 2487, 4-0, 94.000
6. Detroit Cass Tech, 2368, 4-0, 70.000
7. Northville, 2325, 3-1, 76.750
8. Brighton, 2142, 3-1, 72.500
9. Detroit Catholic Central, 2128, 4-0, 94.000
10. Macomb L'Anse Creuse North, 1986, 4-0, 90.000
11. Dearborn, 1978, 3-1, 70.500
12. Lapeer, 1932, 3-1, 60.500
13. Saline, 1923, 4-0, 94.667
14. Bloomfield Hills, 1831, 4-0, 92.000
15. White Lake Lakeland, 1822, 4-0, 90.000
16. Grandville, 1810, 4-0, 94.000
17. Hudsonville, 1797, 3-1, 74.750
18. Warren Mott, 1768, 4-0, 90.000
19. Grand Ledge, 1694, 3-1, 68.500
20. Davison, 1668, 4-0, 84.000
21. Rochester Adams, 1666, 3-1, 66.250
22. Romeo, 1641, 3-1, 72.000
23. Walled Lake Northern, 1631, 4-0, 88.000
24. Grosse Pointe South, 1600, 4-0, 92.000
25. Temperance Bedford, 1597, 3-1, 66.750
26. Detroit Western International, 1584, 3-1, 44.750
27. Brownstown Woodhaven, 1579, 3-1, 64.750
28. Detroit East English, 1579, 3-1, 50.500
29. Livonia Churchill, 1578, 3-1, 72.250
30. Traverse City West, 1552, 3-1, 70.750
31. Warren Cousino, 1496, 3-1, 66.250
32. Detroit Martin Luther King, 1487, 4-0, 78.000
33. Detroit U-D Jesuit *, 1482, 3-1, 60.250
34. Jenison, 1481, 3-1, 64.500
35. Traverse City Central, 1394, 4-0, 96.000
36. Midland, 1388, 3-1, 60.500
37. Portage Central, 1388, 3-1, 62.750
38. Walled Lake Western, 1370, 4-0, 92.000
39. Grosse Pointe North, 1367, 3-1, 58.500
40. Battle Creek Lakeview *, 1353, 3-0, 84.000
41. Berkley, 1319, 3-1, 68.500
42. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 1316, 3-1, 68.500
43. Wyandotte Roosevelt, 1311, 3-1, 66.750
44. Port Huron Northern, 1288, 3-1, 52.000
45. Wyoming, 1288, 3-1, 62.750
46. Midland Dow, 1254, 4-0, 84.000
47. Birmingham Brother Rice, 1250, 3-1, 68.400
48. Birmingham Groves, 1248, 4-0, 92.000
49. Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, 1198, 3-1, 58.250
50. Lowell, 1165, 4-0, 92.000
51. Holly, 1164, 3-1, 62.500
52. Farmington Hills Harrison, 1161, 3-1, 66.250
53. Greenville, 1142, 3-1, 70.500
54. Allen Park, 1094, 4-0, 94.000
55. Redford Thurston, 1090, 3-1, 62.500
56. Byron Center, 1070, 3-1, 62.500
57. Muskegon, 1052, 3-1, 66.500
58. Ortonville-Brandon, 1034, 3-1, 56.250
59. Detroit Cody, 1015, 3-1, 48.750
60. Mason, 1009, 3-1, 64.500
61. Zeeland East, 1007, 3-1, 58.750
62. DeWitt, 1002, 3-1, 76.500
63. St. Joseph, 989, 3-1, 68.500
64. Trenton, 969, 4-0, 90.000
65. Linden, 940, 3-1, 60.500
66. Cedar Springs, 936, 3-1, 68.500
67. Niles, 931, 3-1, 57.850
68. Coldwater, 929, 3-1, 66.250
69. Romulus, 929, 4-0, 35.333
70. Grand Rapids Christian, 912, 4-0, 88.800
71. Warren Fitzgerald, 891, 4-0, 80.000
72. New Boston Huron, 886, 3-1, 54.750
73. Battle Creek Harper Creek, 880, 4-0, 74.000
74. Chelsea, 867, 4-0, 84.000
75. Redford Union, 865, 3-1, 50.250
76. Stevensville Lakeshore, 865, 3-1, 70.500
77. Vicksburg, 861, 3-1, 54.750
78. Dearborn Divine Child, 859, 4-0, 78.000
79. Zeeland West, 857, 3-1, 70.750
80. Edwardsburg, 855, 4-0, 74.000
81. Sparta, 834, 3-1, 50.500
82. Fowlerville, 833, 3-1, 56.750
83. Cadillac, 817, 3-1, 62.250
84. Hamilton, 810, 4-0, 82.000
85. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 797, 3-1, 50.250
86. Marysville, 794, 4-0, 76.000
87. Detroit Osborn, 786, 3-1, 54.500
88. Milan, 775, 4-0, 78.000
89. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 749, 3-1, 72.250
90. River Rouge, 741, 3-1, 56.750
91. Three Rivers, 730, 3-1, 60.000
92. Escanaba, 722, 4-0, 90.000
93. Detroit Mumford, 714, 3-1, 50.500
94. Ludington, 695, 3-1, 46.750
95. Detroit Country Day, 692, 4-0, 70.000
96. Alma, 674, 3-1, 56.750
97. South Haven, 674, 3-1, 58.250
98. Wyoming Kelloggsville, 660, 3-1, 51.417
99. Croswell-Lexington, 659, 3-1, 58.500
100. Lake Fenton, 654, 4-0, 72.000
101. Grosse Ile, 653, 4-0, 84.000
102. Whitehall, 653, 4-0, 66.000
103. Wyoming Godwin Heights, 645, 3-1, 52.917
104. Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 644, 4-0, 84.000
105. Benton Harbor, 643, 4-0, 70.000
106. Corunna, 639, 4-0, 74.000
107. Hudsonville Unity Christian, 629, 4-0, 88.000
108. St. Clair Shores South Lake, 617, 3-1, 64.750
109. Lake Odessa Lakewood, 614, 4-0, 68.000
110. Hancock, 608, 3-1, 38.350
111. Detroit Denby, 593, 3-1, 54.500
112. Muskegon Oakridge, 590, 3-1, 40.750
113. Southfield Bradford, 587, 3-1, 52.500
114. Portland, 579, 4-0, 82.000
115. Remus Chippewa Hills, 577, 4-0, 74.000
116. Richmond, 562, 3-1, 62.750
117. Freeland, 561, 4-0, 84.000
118. Essexville Garber, 550, 3-1, 52.750
119. Algonac, 547, 4-0, 66.000
120. Ida, 546, 4-0, 68.000
121. Carrollton, 543, 3-1, 48.750
122. Kingsford, 543, 3-1, 61.200
123. Olivet, 541, 3-1, 50.750
124. Harper Woods, 540, 3-1, 52.250
125. Frankenmuth, 533, 4-0, 70.000
126. Lansing Catholic, 532, 3-1, 66.750
127. Grant, 520, 3-1, 46.750
128. Kalkaska, 517, 4-0, 60.000
129. Reed City, 496, 4-0, 72.000
130. Grayling, 492, 3-1, 52.750
131. Stockbridge, 482, 3-1, 52.750
132. Grand Rapids West Catholic, 475, 3-1, 46.500
133. Durand, 463, 4-0, 56.000
134. Parchment, 448, 3-1, 38.250
135. Menominee, 439, 4-0, 71.600
136. Ithaca, 426, 4-0, 72.000
137. Clare, 419, 3-1, 50.750
138. Montague, 414, 4-0, 62.000
139. Houghton, 412, 3-1, 38.500
140. Tawas *, 412, 3-1, 40.500
141. Calumet, 406, 3-1, 50.750
142. Morley Stanwood, 404, 3-1, 48.500
143. Negaunee, 400, 4-0, 66.000
144. Warren Michigan Collegiate, 398, 3-1, 56.500
145. Adrian Madison, 397, 3-1, 48.750
146. Charlevoix, 393, 4-0, 54.000
147. Millington, 393, 4-0, 72.000
148. Constantine, 386, 3-1, 48.750
149. Montrose, 386, 3-1, 52.500
150. Byron, 385, 3-1, 46.250
151. Quincy, 381, 4-0, 50.000
152. Watervliet, 380, 3-1, 48.750
153. Maple City Glen Lake, 379, 3-1, 46.750
154. Houghton Lake, 374, 3-1, 48.750
155. Laingsburg, 374, 4-0, 58.000
156. Roscommon, 367, 4-0, 70.000
157. Grass Lake, 363, 4-0, 68.000
158. Kent City, 362, 3-1, 46.500
159. Schoolcraft, 358, 4-0, 58.000
160. Oscoda, 352, 3-1, 44.500
161. Ravenna, 350, 3-1, 46.750
162. Leroy Pine River, 347, 3-1, 52.750
163. Madison Heights Madison, 343, 3-1, 64.500
164. Traverse City St. Francis, 341, 4-0, 70.000
165. Lawton, 333, 4-0, 52.000
166. Clinton, 331, 4-0, 62.000
167. Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, 330, 3-1, 40.250
168. Reese, 328, 3-1, 46.750
169. McBain, 326, 3-1, 54.500
170. Riverview Gabriel Richard, 320, 3-1, 50.500
171. Bridgman, 312, 3-1, 42.250
172. Iron Mountain, 302, 3-1, 52.083
173. New Lothrop, 298, 4-0, 58.000
174. Gobles, 289, 4-0, 60.000
175. Saugatuck, 289, 4-0, 0.000
176. Pewamo-Westphalia, 288, 4-0, 62.000
177. Gwinn, 287, 3-1, 42.500
178. Cassopolis, 278, 4-0, 60.667
179. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 277, 4-0, 62.000
180. Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker, 274, 4-0, 56.000
181. Carson City-Crystal, 268, 3-1, 34.000
182. Sand Creek, 268, 4-0, 48.000
183. Hudson, 267, 4-0, 66.000
184. Unionville-Sebewaing, 267, 3-1, 10.444
185. Detroit Loyola, 266, 3-1, 52.250
186. East Jordan, 261, 3-1, 34.500
187. Ubly, 260, 4-0, 62.000
188. Springport, 259, 4-0, 52.000
189. Concord, 258, 4-0, 52.000
190. Onekama, 254, 3-1, 30.500
191. Whittemore-Prescott, 251, 3-1, 44.500
192. Royal Oak Shrine Catholic, 249, 3-1, 52.500
193. Saginaw Nouvel, 248, 3-1, 54.750
194. Lincoln Alcona, 245, 3-1, 34.500
195. Evart, 242, 3-1, 44.500
196. Ottawa Lake Whiteford, 242, 4-0, 58.000
197. Breckenridge, 235, 4-0, 48.000
198. St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic, 232, 4-0, 50.000
199. Melvindale Academy for Business & Tech, 224, 3-1, 44.250
200. St. Ignace, 219, 3-1, 46.750
201. Norway, 214, 4-0, 41.200
202. Newberry, 212, 4-0, 50.000
203. AuGres-Sims, 206, 3-1, 38.500
204. Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary, 200, 3-1, 48.250
205. Vestaburg, 195, 4-0, 50.000
206. Merrill, 191, 3-1, 32.000
207. Fowler, 185, 3-1, 38.250
208. Frankfort, 171, 4-0, 48.000
209. Gaylord St. Mary, 170, 4-0, 42.000
210. Climax-Scotts, 169, 4-0, 52.000
211. Muskegon Catholic Central, 163, 4-0, 78.000
212. Lake Linden-Hubbell, 157, 4-0, 60.800
213. Colon, 156, 3-1, 34.750
214. Clarkston Everest Collegiate, 115, 4-0, 54.000
8-Player Playoff Listing
1. Powers North Central, 115, 4-0, 48.800
2. Deckerville *, 177, 4-0, 48.000
3. Cedarville, 156, 4-0, 48.000
4. New Haven Merritt Academy, 165, 4-0, 46.000
5. Engadine, 91, 4-0, 44.000
6. Portland St. Patrick, 92, 4-0, 42.667
7. Lawrence, 186, 4-0, 42.000
8. Owendale-Gagetown, 48, 4-0, 42.000
9. Crystal Falls Forest Park, 159, 3-1, 38.750
10. Peck, 143, 3-1, 36.750
11. Rapid River, 116, 3-1, 36.500
12. Wyoming Tri-unity Christian, 168, 4-0, 36.000
13. Camden-Frontier *, 159, 3-0, 34.667
14. Battle Creek St. Philip, 143, 4-0, 34.000
15. Stephenson, 177, 3-1, 31.700
16. Marion, 132, 3-1, 31.167
17. Waldron, 83, 3-1, 29.417
18. Pickford, 149, 3-1, 28.750
19. Hale, 129, 3-1, 28.750
20. Fife Lake Forest Area, 162, 3-1, 27.417
21. Webberville, 178, 3-1, 27.167
22. Posen, 94, 2-2, 21.917
23. Morrice, 168, 2-2, 21.500
24. Mayville, 196, 2-2, 21.250
25. Ontonagon, 126, 2-2, 21.250
26. Flint International Academy, 185, 2-2, 19.500
27. Onaway, 190, 2-2, 17.500
28. Tekonsha, 135, 1-3, 14.583
29. Brethren, 152, 1-3, 13.667
30. Carney-Nadeau *, 140, 1-2, 12.667
31. Caseville, 98, 1-3, 12.000
32. Eben Junction Superior Central, 125, 1-3, 11.917
33. Flint Michigan School for the Deaf *, 47, 1-2, 11.583
34. Baraga, 150, 1-3, 11.417
35. Ewen-Trout Creek, 115, 1-3, 11.250
36. Burr Oak, 72, 1-3, 11.167
37. Bellaire, 133, 1-3, 9.750
38. St. Joseph Michigan Lutheran, 97, 1-3, 9.750
39. Burton Madison Academy, 198, 1-3, 9.500
40. St. Helen Charlton Heston Academy, 137, 1-3, 9.500
41. Carsonville-Port Sanilac, 118, 1-3, 9.500
42. Manistee Catholic Central, 189, 1-3, 9.000
43. Pellston, 169, 0-4, 2.000
44. Covert *, 95, 0-4, 2.000
45. Kinde-North Huron, 157, 0-4, 1.750
46. Litchfield, 85, 0-4, 1.500
47. Akron-Fairgrove, 105, 0-4, 0.750
48. Big Rapids Crossroads Academy, 193, 0-4, 0.500