As Grayling Navigates Changes, Hunter Provides Reliable Impact in Return
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
September 12, 2025
Changing.
That may be the best description of the Grayling High School football team this year. Fairly big changes have already occurred, more are ahead, and at least one is already scheduled for next fall.
Grayling, off to a 1-1 start, has a new head coach – Michael Kososky, who served as an assistant for the Vikings the past 10 years, has taken over the helm. He started as a defensive backs assistant and became the defensive coordinator in his fourth year. Kososki replaced Eric Tunney, who stepped down after a 2-7 finish last year.
The latest change for the Vikings is losing junior running back Gregory Martin for the season with a neck injury. That happened during last week’s 36-6 win over Benzie Central. The game was stopped with 3:22 remaining after Martin was taken off the field by emergency medical staff. Kososky said he hopes Martin will return for track in the spring and next football season.
What didn’t change much this year is the Vikings’ schedule. They lost five games last year to playoff teams. One of those five is not on the schedule this year, but Maple City Glen Lake, another returning playoff qualifier, has been added. Grayling hopes to compete for the Northern Michigan Football League Legends title one more time, as the Vikings will be playing in the Northern Shores Conference beginning next season.
Perhaps the biggest change for the Vikings this year is senior Daniel Hunter lining up on both sides of the line of scrimmage. That was not the case last year as he battled a complication-riddled ankle injury suffered his during a basketball game as a sophomore center.
The injury, first diagnosed as an ankle sprain, kept him off the basketball court last winter as a junior.
“I ended up finishing that (2023-24) basketball season on it, and I got it checked out again because it was not getting better,” said Hunter, who plays wide receiver and defensive end. “They found out that there was a bone fracture, a talus bone.”
Even though it’s a very small bone, the talus plays a big role in one’s ability to stand and move. Injuries and damage to the talus can take longer to heal and have a higher risk of complications than those to other bones.
Doctors told Hunter he could either play on it and delay surgery or undergo an immediate procedure. Because he was advised he likely couldn’t damage it further, Hunter chose to play summer basketball and football last fall before scheduling surgery.
“I decided to play on it throughout the summer and then into my junior year of football so I wouldn't miss out,” Hunter said. “I got surgery on it after football season and sat out my junior year of basketball.”
That football season was wrought with pain for the Hunter. He played in all but one of the Vikings’ games though.
“I only ended up playing one way — I only played on offense for the season,” he said. “It was pretty tough. Game day adrenaline helped.”
Kososky vividly recalls Hunter overcoming pain to play every down he could.
“He took it as far as he could take it,” Kososky said. “He was a kid that never missed a practice. Even if he decided to sit out that day because his ankle was throbbing, he wasn't taking the day off.”
So far this season, Hunter has six receptions for 71 yards. Now moving from linebacker to defensive end, he also has one tackle for a loss, a forced fumble, two assists and one sack.
“Daniel is an impact player on both sides of the line of scrimmage,” Kososky said. “He put a little bit of size on over the spring and summer. So it suits him real well at defensive end.”
Kososky, who played football for Mio High School and Northern Michigan University, points to Hunter as a shining example of the culture he’s trying to instill in the Grayling football program.
“There are a couple staples that I brought here to Grayling, and I kind of just refocused them this being my first year,” Kososky said. “We have a mantra we talk about each and every day: DEAD. It's dedication, effort, attitude and discipline, and Daniel holds those standards.”
Kososky has significantly reduced the size of the Vikings’ playbook this season.
“The way we do one thing is the way we do everything,” he said. “Instead of running as many plays as possible, we’re focused on being really efficient and perfect at what we have in front of us.”
Grayling has a couple of significant league road games coming up, and both Kososky and Hunter are really looking forward to them. Tonight the, Vikings will take on Kingsley, and next week Traverse City St. Francis.
Kingsley is 1-1 this season, and St. Francis is 2-0. Hunter hasn’t experienced a win over either conference foe during his high school career.
“I think a win over Kingsley would feel really good because I have lost to them every time we played them,” Hunter said. “I did end up sitting out a game last year, and that was St. Francis, and I have to get that win before I graduate.”
Regardless of the outcomes against the Stags and Gladiators, Kososky will keep focused on teaching life skills.
“Wins will help put you on the map and everything like that, but what my kids learn from the program I think is more important,” said Kososky, who also teaches special education and math at Grayling. “I can go back to many seasons that that I've coached and we were 3-6 and 4-5, and I'm going to be honest, the kids out of those groups probably are more successful in life than some of the teams that have gone undefeated. It’s how successful we are after the game of football, not during the game of football.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Grayling’s Daniel Hunter wraps up a Benzie Central player during an incompletion in Week 2. (Middle) Hunter points to his team’s sideline after the play. (Photos by Mylie D’Amour.)
St. Patrick Immediately Sets Tone On Way to Claiming 1st Title Since 1992
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
November 22, 2025
MARQUETTE — Portland St. Patrick has been no stranger to the MHSAA Finals since moving to 8-player football, but the Shamrocks had come up short of a title in three appearances since 2017.
They were back in the Division 2 championship game Saturday, and again facing a team from the Upper Peninsula, just like the other three times. But this time, St. Patrick made it clear from the opening kick it had no intention of going back below the Mackinac Bridge without the championship trophy.
The Shamrocks rode the momentum from a fast start and blanked Felch North Dickinson 53-0 at the Superior Dome.
“It means a lot,” St. Patrick senior back Brady Leonard said with the trophy in his hand. “Having a couple classes before us come here and not be able to finish the job, it was not just for our team, but it was for everyone that came and wasn’t able to finish it.”
Aiden Fandel set the tone when he took the opening kick to the Nordics’ 3-yard line. Jerryd Scheurer ran three yards on the first play from scrimmage, and Leonard ran in the conversion for an 8-0 lead just 20 seconds into the game.
“It was huge, just to flip the field position right away was a big deal,” St. Patrick coach Patrick Russman said.
The Shamrocks scored two more times during the first quarter, taking advantage of excellent field position.
St. Patrick’s Tyler Thelen blocked a punt to set up its next score. The Shamrocks took over at the North Dickinson 9, and Charlie Thelen caught a four-yard pass from Scheurer on the second play of the drive for a 14-0 lead.
The Nordics went for it on fourth-and-1 at their own 29 on the ensuing possession, but they were stuffed for no gain, giving St. Patrick the ball not far from the red zone.
Leonard ran eight yards for the touchdown and a 20-0 lead with 5:34 still left in the first quarter.
What a start.
"It was very important," Leonard said. "We knew if we came off hot, we knew that we'd be able to punch them in the mouth and we'd get off to the start that we normally have.”
The Shamrocks scored two more times in the first half, both on runs by Hudson King, who led with 120 yards on 10 carries. His 30-yarder came just seven seconds into the second quarter, and his 21-yard rush gave them a 33-0 lead that held until halftime.
The Nordics drove into St. Patrick territory twice in the period. The first stalled at the 44 when the game was still within reach at 26-0. The second got all the way to the 24, but incomplete passes on third and fourth downs gave St. Patrick the ball back with four seconds on the first-half clock.
North Dickinson just couldn’t overcome that start, or the talent level of the Shamrocks.
“We’ve been punched in the mouth before, but they’re way better,” Nordics coach Mike Christian said. “They were just so much better than us today. They’re bigger, faster, stronger. We just couldn’t get anything going.”
The second half proved to be more of the same. St. Patrick reached the end zone three more times, on short runs by Caleb Pline and two players listed as linemen, Logan Krieger and Nick Pung.
St. Patrick finished a perfect 13-0, and went unbeaten even with a tough schedule. Russman said the Shamrocks started off with tough Mid-State Activities Conference foes Merrill and Morrice. They ended the regular season with a win over eventual Division 1 runner-up Blanchard Montabella. Their playoff run included wins over Mendon, ranked No. 1 in the final media poll of the season, and last year’s Division 1 champion, Deckerville.
“We didn’t have any time to not be ready this year,” Russman said. “We’ve had a pretty good run of some very quality football teams throughout the stretch of the year. They didn’t give us any rest, so the kids did a good job of getting ready each week. Sometimes you slip, and these guys didn’t slip.”
He credited the team’s chemistry for the special season. The practices were superb all year. And they of course had some really good players.
“Our line has been working hard and they just continued to grind it out today, and our backs finished plays on the offensive end,” Russman said. “We’ve been trying to get a faster and faster defense each week, and I think they’ve really done that and accepted that challenge.”
St. Patrick’s last Finals win came when it was playing 11-player football in 1992, in Class D. North Dickinson was seeking its first championship but had to settle for its second runner-up finish (11-player, Class D, 1998).
The Nordics’ 17-game winning streak came to an end. They finished at 12-1 this year after winning their final five games last season.
North Dickinson canceled its varsity season in 2023, announcing at the time that it would play a JV schedule with only four upperclassmen on the roster. Two years later, the Nordics made it to the final game.
“My seniors would have been sophomores then,” Christian said. “I didn’t want to throw them into that right away. This is kind of what we were aiming for when we did that.”
It all worked out. Missing the playoffs last year proved to be a good motivator as well.
“They really put the extra work in,” he said. “They’re such great kids, and they worked their tails off all summer and I’m just so proud of them.”
PHOTOS (Top) Portland St. Patrick players celebrate a touchdown Saturday at Superior Dome. (Middle) North Dickinson quarterback Brady Jungwirth (15) works to pull away from a tackler. (Below) The Shamrocks’ Charlie Thelen (12) goes high to pull in a pass. (Click for more from Cara Kamps.)