Griggs, Kelloggsville Set to Break Free Again
August 22, 2017
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
WYOMING – If opposing teams think it’s going to be easy tackling Thomas Griggs this season, they might want to rethink their approach.
Griggs, a 5-foot-10, 210-pound running back for the Wyoming Kelloggsville football team, is difficult to stop and a load to bring down.
“He was referred to in the South Bend Tribune last year as a bowling ball with legs,” longtime Rockets head coach Don Galster said. “Those kids did not want to tackle him.”
Just a year ago, Griggs blossomed into one of the top running backs in the Grand Rapids area while leading Kelloggsville to a major turnaround.
The Rockets went 3-6 in 2015, but behind Grigg’s breakout season, finished 8-2 while winning the Ottawa-Kent Conference Silver title with an unbeaten league run.
Those eight were the most wins for a Kelloggsville team since 2009, when it went 10-1.
After a wild 50-47 loss to Whitehall in the opener, Kelloggsville reeled off eight straight wins and advanced to the playoffs. Its season, however, ended in Pre-District play against former conference rival Allendale.
“Last year was really good,” said Griggs, a three-year starter. “Everybody didn’t think we were capable of doing what we did, but our senior class last year put in the hard work. Being able to contribute to last year’s success made me feel even better.”
Griggs rushed for nearly 1,400 yards and tallied 20 touchdowns. He averaged 8.7 yards per carry while wreaking havoc on opposing defenses.
“My stats were good as a sophomore, but we didn’t win a lot of games,” Griggs said. “Coming into my junior year I knew I was going to do better because I worked hard over the summer.”
Griggs, a soft-spoken young man with aspirations to play college football, has a valuable skill set. He’s a punishing hard-nosed runner, but possesses other key attributes.
“What makes him special is he’s got great vision, great feet and he reads blocks very well,” Galster said. “He just doesn’t want to go down, and he has learned how to run the ball in our offense, which has been key.”
As evident by his yards per carry average, it typically takes more than one defender to pull Griggs to the ground. He takes pride in his ability to stay on his feet.
“I always want to break at least one tackle every play,” Griggs said. “I don’t want to let that first person tackle me, and I try to get as many yards as I can.”
Galster remembers his first encounter with his standout senior. It was an early glimpse into the future.
“He was in eighth grade and the principal brought him over to introduce me to him,” Galster recalled. “I thought, ‘This is a big kid,’ and he just has a ton of ability. He works hard, and he’s a quiet leader. Every year he’s gotten better, and he makes the other guys better.”
Griggs started playing football when he was 7. He actually started out as a center before moving to fullback.
It was a role he embraced.
“In my head, I think I can do anything. So when they put me at center, I had the mindset of I was going to be the best center,” Griggs said.
The Rockets are expected to compete for another conference crown with a bevy of talent back in the fold.
Griggs is one of three returning to the backfield, including dual-threat quarterback Alex Guzman. The Rockets graduated only two seniors on offense.
“There’s not a lot of jealousy with those guys, and it motivates them to work harder,” Galster said. “We have a lot of weapons, but these guys understand that it all starts with the offensive line. If they open holes for them, then we will have some success.”
Griggs said having multiple options on the ground will make it tough for other teams to game plan.
“It’s better for us as a team because other teams can’t come into the game saying they are only going to stop me and then they are going to win,” he said. “We have other players that are going to show up and do what they have to do.”
Kelloggsville’s senior class is a tight-knit group with the potential to duplicate last year’s run.
“As a group, we’re pretty good, and we have that hate-to-lose mentality,” said Griggs, who also averaged 19 points per game as a starting basketball point guard last winter. “I’m glad people have started to notice us, and now we just have to keep it going.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM and WOODTV. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Wyoming Kelloggsville's Thomas Griggs runs away from the crowd against Wyoming Godwin Heights. (Middle) Griggs readies to receive a handoff against Belding. (Photos courtesy of the Wyoming Kelloggsville yearbook staff.)
Undefeated Colon Turning Work into Wins
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
October 2, 2018
Monday Run Day for the Colon varsity football team is far from a fun day. But the Magi have embraced the burning in their lungs, the cramps and the piercing sound of the next whistle sure to bring on more agony.
The grueling session of sprints follows study hall and weights. Then position groups work on their particular craft. And as the sun sets, the long day finally ends with a thorough cleaning of the locker room.
As third-year coach Robbie Hattan began the interview for this story Monday, he paused for 30 seconds to survey the grounds surrounding the football field, taking mental notes as to which players stuck around for even more voluntary cardio.
“The biggest thing that was a change in culture for Colon was the work ethic in the offseason,” said Hattan, whose team is 6-0 and ranked No. 2 in the latest Associated Press 8-player poll behind Pickford. “We went from maybe having 10 kids in the weight room two summers ago to no less than 25. These kids are working hard. We’re in Week 7 and these kids are working like they’re in two-a-days.”
It’s paying dividends as the Magi have outscored opponents 122-40 during the second half this year.
“We make sure we get a lot of cardio in and make sure we’re conditioned enough to get to the fourth quarter,” 6-foot-5, 190-pound senior lineman Brenden Shelton said. “We end up running a lot of teams down because they just can’t hang with us. It’s a noticeable difference, especially from the beginning (of the year). What we did today (in practice) we probably wouldn’t have been able to do (at the beginning of the year). When we’re playing in the fourth quarter, you can see it in the other team. They’re gassed, and we’re firing.”
Colon also has earned its first conference championship in school history. The Magi wrapped up at least a share of the Southern Central Athletic Association A division title with last week’s 51-0 win over Camden-Frontier.
Colon made a calculated move to 8-player this year, but not because of dwindling participation numbers. In fact, with 34 players, the program is healthy compared to other small schools still playing 11-player football.
The cost of scheduling opponents all over the state to fill out a nine-game slate, along with the possibility of lower participation in the future, were considered.
“That’s not smart with our taxpayer dollars,” Hattan said of long treks from past seasons. “Now, we still have our identity. We still have games here on Friday nights. Now, with more schools going to 8-man, the competitiveness and the level of play (have improved). If you would have come here and watched Colon versus Bellevue and you would have thought that wasn’t a football game, I would have called you a liar to your face.
“That was a smash-mouth, hard-hitting football game. The more schools you get, you’ll find that middle ground. When 8-man first started, you were getting so many blowouts. You were either really good or you were really bad. We still have our blowouts, but we had that in 11-man. But it’s few and far between now.”
Schematically, Hattan initially overcomplicated the transition, thinking an overhaul of the offense might be in order. Following a conversation with Crystal Falls Forest Park coach Dave Graff at a summer clinic, the plan became simple and clear.
“He said, ‘Hey, run what you run, but just run it in 8-man.’ We started playing with some stuff with the veer and how we could still be an option school,” Hattan said. “Colon has always been an option school since Coach [Spencer] Henley was here. We know we have some good running backs and some speed, so we just started implementing our option offense. Now we’re getting a little more creative with our options and motions. We’re getting more out of our kids. The option is great because you can leave two guys unblocked every single play and you’re good.”
Sophomore running back Brandon Crawford has racked up 862 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on 99 carries through six games. Junior quarterback Phillip Alva has added 569 yards and 10 TDs on 64 carries. Junior Jonathan West and freshman Kaleb Johnson have combined for 476 yards and six TDs.
Crawford played as a freshman and finished with just over 600 yards last fall.
“It definitely humbled me. Coming into the season, I thought I was just going to start instantly,” he said. “But seeing how much bigger everyone was made me want to push myself harder.”
Though the Magi certainly don’t focus on the passing game, Alva and West have connected on three touchdowns through the air.
Defensively, senior linebacker John Ruby leads the squad with 59 tackles (six for a loss), Crawford has notched 42 (two for a loss), and Shelton has made 35 stops (14.5 for a loss).
“John Ruby is a stud,” West said. “He can lay a hit and fill a hole. Crawford really gets in there and can lay a hit. Shelly (Brenden Shelton) never lets anyone get outside of him.”
Added Alva: “I believe it’s just buying into the program with Coach Hattan. He’s building a pretty good program from Rocket all the way through high school with the weight room and everything. Every single kid is buying into it. I think that’s why we’re doing as good as we are.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Philip Alva gets around the corner during last week’s win over Camden-Frontier. (Middle) Brenden Shelton locks up a Camden-Frontier ball carrier. (Photos by Laura Alva/JoeInsider.com.)