Gull Lake Players Find Opportunities to Play, New Friendships as Part of 'Parchment Pride'
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
September 22, 2026
PARCHMENT — When he took the field for his senior football season, Lucas Hutchinson did not expect to be wearing maroon and white.
The navy blue and white of Gull Lake High School was more his style.
But before the season started, an unusual series of events found Hutchinson and his 18 Gull Lake teammates without any team at all.
That’s when Parchment athletic director Brennan Davis stepped in, contacting Gull Lake AD Karyn Furlong and offering a solution: a cooperative team.
All of a sudden, those 19 players found a new football home.
“Obviously I’d rather be wearing navy blue and white but I’m happy to play in whatever color I can,” Hutchinson said. “Now that I’m playing for Parchment, I gotta have that Parchment Pride so I wear it with honor, and even though it’s not the color I wanted to wear, I’m excited to wear it.”
Gull Lake canceled its football season Aug. 12 after a preseason camp incident that resulted in school and law enforcement investigations.
Davis said his team’s numbers were down this year and adding the Gull Lake players would be the boost his team needed.
“I had heard about Gull Lake canceling their season due to safety concerns, and the schedule they’re playing is tough – to go into the game with 20 kids against some perennial powers,” Davis said. “So I reached out to Karyn (Furlong) on a Wednesday morning (about combining the teams). I heard back from her a few hours later.”
From there, a co-op team was born with the assurance that none of the players involved in the incident would be on the team.
The two groups held their first combined practice a week before the Aug. 27 season opener with just one snag.
“One issue we had was helmets,” Davis said. “We had a specific number of maroon helmets that would have outfitted our varsity and JV players, but then (Gull Lake) came over, they had white helmets.
"We asked the Gull Lake players to give up their white helmets for maroon helmets and gave the white to the JV players.”
First-day jitters
Several Gull Lake players, including Hutchinson, were a bit nervous that first practice.
“I didn’t know how we were going to work together and get along,” Hutchinson said. “I knew no one, but I do now,” he laughed. “When I first went into the locker room it was with a bunch of random faces I didn’t know. I was definitely eager to know everybody.”
He said he was worried about the way he and his teammates would be treated.
“Past two years, I was starting on varsity both ways, so even though I was getting to play football, I was worried how things were going to change, for not just me but all the guys from Gull Lake being treated equally and getting playing time. It transitioned smoothly, definitely no favoring with the coaches.”
Parchment quarterback Jordan Bagley said before the rosters combined the Panthers were preparing for a tough season with just 20 players.
“We knew we were going to have a lot of two-way players so that means we weren’t going to drag butt at practice,” the junior said. “We had to show up and bring it every day.
“It was definitely going to be a tough season mentally and physically. That’s a lot of wear and tear on your body.”
He added that Gull Lake players give the Panthers extra depth.
“It lets everybody come out fresh,” he said. “It reduces the risk of injuries, too. They don’t have to worry about coming out of the game if they’re gassed or need a breather, so it’s a big help.”
A bonus for Parchment was Hutchinson and junior quarterback Zac Pfenning, both past all-Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference first-teamers.
“We have a lot more skill positions so that’s always good for receivers and defensive backs to rotate in,” Bagley said. “They bring some leadership, too. Kessler (Johnson) is a good leader who’s helped X (Xavier Garcia). Depth and more players and a lot of new friendships.
"This has been one of better experiences for football in my career. I’ve actually enjoyed it a lot. It’s been a very positive thing for both sides, I believe. Everybody gets to play some football.”
Todd Nunn, Parchment’s second-year head coach, said he was excited to have his team’s numbers doubled.
“I don’t think we could have asked for a better practice that first day,” he said. “The group seemed to gel well; the Parchment kids were explaining to the Gull Lake kids our offensive plays, helped them understand the defense that was being called. It was like they’d been there the whole time.”
Nunn is no stranger to co-op teams.
He coached at Burr Oak, which combined with Colon for the four years he was there.
“I knew what it felt like being the team coming over to the main school,” he said. “I understood some of the reservations the Gull Lake kids might have coming over here.
“We sat the kids down, explained what was happening and how it would benefit them, not having to play both sides of the ball, getting more time to come to the sidelines to get a break. I think they were very receptive to that.”
Parchment and Gull Lake cheerleaders also have combined for several games.
“The co-op was just for football, but our cheerleaders and Gull Lake’s cheer team and coaches are good friends,” Davis said. “They have practiced together previously over the summer.
“We decided on a specific schedule where their cheerleaders would cheer with ours, four or five games.”
In addition, the football team will play a home game for Senior Night at Gull Lake, against Lawton on Oct. 16. The Blue Devils have 14 seniors and five juniors on the team.
Parchment has six seniors, 11 juniors and three sophomores.
Quick transition, perfect fit
The ease with which the process came together surprised Davis.
“Everything fell into place, which was strange because things usually take forever,” he said.
Over the course of one week:
- Davis and Furlong talked on a Wednesday.
- Parchment already had a staff development day scheduled that day and talked about the cooperative possibility.
- A Southwestern Athletic Conference meeting had been previously postponed from Tuesday to Thursday, and all 18 teams approved the co-op.
- “We did not involve the kids until prior to the (Parchment) board meet on Monday at 5.” Davis said. “I met with four of our team leaders at 4:50, board meeting at 5, meet the team night at 6:30, Gull Lake board meeting at 7, so that whole night was a lot.”
- The MHSAA then approved it.
With the season under way, the Panthers take a 2-2 record into Friday’s game against Kalamazoo United, another co-op team made up of Kalamazoo Christian and Hackett Catholic Prep players.
“(Gull Lake) kids follow our strength and conditioning requirements,” Davis said. “Whenever we have an away game, the kids drive here, ride our buses to our events.
“If there are disciplinary issues, they are a Parchment student-athlete, they function as Parchment students. Luckily nothing (bad) has happened.”
Bagley said the combined team has resulted in friendships that will last beyond this season.
“I got to meet a lot of new people, made a bunch of new friendships, which I’m really thankful for,” he said.
Hutchinson said he and his teammates have adjusted well.
“The first week it was weird seeing everyone wearing a different color (than he wore at Gull Lake), running out to a different field and having it be our home field. But now I’ve embraced it. Now I’m a Parchment Panther … for football,” he added, laughing.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Parchment quarterback Jordan Bagley (2) hands off during a game this season, and at right, Lucas Hutchinson (10) carries the ball downfield. (Middle) Clockwise from top left: Parchment athletic director Brennan Davis, varsity football coach Todd Nunn, senior Lucas Hutchinson and junior Jordan Bagley. (Below) Hutchinson wears the maroon and white of the Panthers. (Action photos by Kelci Henton. Headshots by Pam Shebest.)
Unbeaten Morrice Caps Remarkable Run
November 17, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
MARQUETTE – Hunter Nowak finished his high school career Saturday at Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome as arguably the most accomplished offensive star in Morrice football history.
But he’d be the first to point out that the Orioles put the finishing touch on their first perfect and championship season because of the effort on the other side of the ball as well.
Nowak capped a three-year varsity campaign rushing 39 times for 199 yards and three touchdowns and throwing for another score as Morrice broke away for a 44-16 win over Pickford to claim the 8-Player Division 1 championship – the Orioles’ first state title in this sport. They also finished 13-0.
And his defense played a big part in making that possible, locking down a Panthers offense that entered the Final averaging 54 points per game and also unbeaten.
“I told them before, going in, ‘Boys, this is your last game. Just sell out,’” Morrice senior linebacker/fullback Connor Lucas said. “’Leave it all on the field. Do not regret it.’
“When we did the (coin) toss, and they said they wanted to receive, we were actually more happy that they wanted to receive because we knew our defense could shut them down.”
Defense has not been a hallmark of the first decade of 8-player football in Michigan. But Morrice seemed to figure it out this fall.
The Orioles gave up 78 points – a mere six per game – and from mid-September through the first week of the playoffs posted six straight shutouts.
Morrice gave up a respectable 21 points per game in going 9-2 in 2017, playing a basic 4-4 scheme. But leading tackler Lucas said this season the defense rotated through about 20 formations.
Pickford’s lowest point total this fall had been 38 points in a Week 3 win over Crystal Falls Forest Park.
“They were quick, they were strong … they were aggressive,” said Pickford junior quarterback Jimmy Storey, who went over 1,000 yards rushing for the season with 92 Saturday, but completed only 4 of 17 passes. “They were really aggressive and tough, and gave us a run for our money.”
Pickford junior running back Stephen LaMothe opened the scoring with a 14-yard run only 2:39 into the game.
But Nowak followed with 45 and 4-yard touchdown runs and a 15-yard scoring pass to senior Austin Edington to take a 22-8 lead into the break. “Going into the locker room at halftime, and we were up, we could definitely tell they were kinda surprised,” Lucas said.
Nowak opened the second half with another scoring run. LaMothe – who finished with 99 yards rushing on 14 carries – broke a 60-yarder at the end of the third quarter to make the score 30-16. But Edington pulled the Orioles away with 54 and 6-yard scoring runs in the fourth quarter.
Edington finished with 122 yards rushing on 10 carries as the team ran for 317 of its 353 yards total.
“Once we started the game, started gaining a little momentum, we could see some of our run plays were working better than what we thought they (would),” Morrice coach Kendall Crockett said. “We were moving the bigger men on the other team, and Hunter just made the lanes work, and Austin, and Connor was blocking and the plays work. When you design them, and they work in a game, it’s fun to watch.”
Crockett took over the program five seasons ago when Morrice switched from 11-player, and brought to the gameplan some of the spread scheme from his time as an assistant at DeWitt. “When I took over the job in 8-man football, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing,” he said. “I looked to some of the more experienced coaches – Rob McDaniel from Peck, Deckerville, you look to those different coaches to find out what worked for them. We tried their stuff, and that’s when we decided we had to go our own way and see what works for Morrice.
“We came up with the system we have today, and you know what – speed, especially out here, speed hurts.”
Morrice’s previous longest playoff run was to the Class D Semifinals in 1996. The Orioles went 9-2 three seasons ago but fell back to 4-5 in 2016 before starting a two-year climb to history.
“We’ve been dreaming of this since we were in third grade playing together,” Nowak said. “Our sophomore year, things didn’t go right. Last year we made the playoffs, we didn’t do too well. But we knew this year was the year to do it. We played every game super hard, went undefeated – just everything worked out.”
Pickford capped its third straight season of making the Semifinals with its first trip to a championship game. The Panthers will graduate just two of 18 players on Saturday’s roster. Crockett said he saw in the Panthers’ junior class the potential to do what his seniors accomplished this fall.
Senior Chase Warner had 12 tackles for Pickford, while Storey and junior Isaiah May both had 10. Senior Beau Dietz had 10 tackles to lead Morrice.
“We’re going to have to remember it, and work that much harder in the offseason,” Storey said. “We gotta come back next year and get it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Morrice’s Austin Edington dives for the end zone for one of his three touchdowns Saturday at the Superior Dome. (Middle) The Orioles’ Hunter Nowak breaks past a Pickford defender. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)