Haisenleder Provides Lift-Off as Revitalized Cardinal Mooney Continues Rise
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 9, 2022
Brendan Haisenleder understands the specialness of his senior football season, which came to an end Friday with a 42-21 Division 8 District Final loss to Clarkston Everest Collegiate.
He is well aware that what he accomplished at Marine City Cardinal Mooney was extraordinary.
But when asked to recap it, none of the personal milestones came up.
“It’s really awesome seeing the program and how it used to be a couple years ago and how it’s turned around,” Haisenleder said. “Just seeing the growth as a program, going from having a roster of 15 kids and now we’re at 30. It’s really awesome, and I’m really proud of how far the Mooney program has come.”
He’s certainly not wrong. Mooney was 8-3 this season, winning a playoff game for the first time since 2011 when the team was playing in the 8-player format. The first-round victory against Marlette was the first 11-player playoff win for the Cardinals since 2005.
They won the Detroit Catholic League Intersectional 2, and the 15 wins over the past two seasons were more than the previous six seasons combined.
“I think that one big thing is the work in the offseason that all of the kids put in and all of the coaches,” Haisenleder said.
“We were getting a lot of stuff we needed to get done going into the season, we took everything very seriously, and we played very hard and physical on gamedays.”
But it’s undeniable that Haisenleder was at the heart of it, and his statistics tell quite a bit of the story.
He rushed for 2,302 yards, easily setting a new Mooney season record, and scored 30 offensive touchdowns. On defense, he recorded 148 tackles and five interceptions.
Mike McAndrews, Mooney’s director of admissions and boys basketball coach, didn’t mince words when he tweeted about Haisenleder’s status in Mooney history.
“The best football player to ever wear a Mooney uniform,” McAndrews wrote, tagging Haisenleder. “He took this program to new heights. He will be playing on Saturdays next year and will make a college coach very happy.”
Haisenleder wouldn’t say that he was surprised by his success this season. But he did admit that he exceeded his own very high expectations. By Week 4, he already had eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark.
“When I play, I have a lot of confidence,” he said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself that I have to put the work in so I can do the best I can to help my team. One of the goals I had was to become the single-season rushing leader at our school. … My offensive line did a great job.”
Haisenleder’s success has led to college interest. He has six offers to play at the next level, four from NAIA schools and two from Division III.
At 5-foot-8, 190 pounds, he knows he’s fighting an uphill battle in that regard, but it’s made him even more driven to succeed.
“There kind of is a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “Seeing guys that are very similar to me getting offers, and I think, ‘Man I’m right there.’”
The best football player to ever wear a Mooney uniform @BHaisenleder. He took this program to new heights. He will be playing on Saturdays next year and will make a college coach very happy. pic.twitter.com/vIaOWdhDVg
— Mike McAndrews (@CM_hoopsCoach) November 5, 2022
Haisenleder’s football idol is Barry Sanders, who he was able to meet at an event in October. The size is an immediate comparison to make, and it’s easy to see how any athlete – even if they were born six years after Sanders retired – could be engrossed by Sanders highlights. But it’s Sanders’ humility that Haisenleder most wants to emulate.
“One of my favorite things about him was how humble he was,” Haisenleder said. “When he would score, he would just hand the ball to the ref and act like he’d been there before. That’s another thing I take very big pride in.”
Haisenleder said he will now take more time to figure out what his next step will be, although things won’t really slow down much for him. Conditioning for basketball already has started.
He’s a guard on the Cardinals’ basketball team, and an outfielder on the baseball team. While football became his main focus as he neared high school, he said he loves all three.
It helps that all three teams are seeing quite a bit of success at Mooney, and that many of Haisenleder’s teammates overlap on all three.
“It is cool at a small school that a lot of the same guys play the same sports,” he said. “There’s a really big brotherhood between the same guys. The family never really changes that much, and we’re really growing in chemistry with one another.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Cardinal Mooney’s Brendan Haisenleder finishes one of his 30 touchdowns this fall. (Middle) Haisenleder works to break a tackle during a Week 8 win over Whitmore Lake. (Photos by Lindsey VanTiem.)
Bark River-Harris Making Good on Preseason Possibilities, Showing Postseason Potential
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 24, 2025
HARRIS – The Bark River-Harris Broncos have certainly made some noise throughout this football season.
BR-H, which improved to 6-1 with a convincing 44-7 victory over West Iron County last Friday, hopes to make a deep run in the Division 8 playoffs.
“So far, so good,” coach Caleb Adams said. “At the beginning of this season we thought we had a special team, and everything has gone according to plan.”
The Broncos are 6-1 and last week clinched the outright championship in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference Iron.
Among this year’s highlights are a pair of victories over Iron Mountain, something no other BR-H team had been able to accomplish.
The Broncos earned a 30-22 overtime win inside the yellow walls at Mountaineer Stadium on Sept. 5, then beat Iron Mountain 38-14 at home Oct. 10.
“We were 0-17 against them until that point,” Adams said. “It was like getting a monkey off our back. We had an opportunity to beat them and thought we could do it. There’s something about those yellow walls.”
Junior running back Gionni McDonough had similar thoughts.
“After our win up there, it was pretty crazy,” he said. “It was a great feeling to win up there. Although, we had beaten them in jayvee ball. We felt we had a shot at them.”
The Broncos next must turn their attention to tonight’s regular-season finale against Houghton. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Gremlins (2-6) are led by speedy senior running back/nickel back Brayden Goudge, who shows a quick first step, and junior quarterback Alex Hebert. Two weeks ago, Goudge scored on a 37-yard interception return and ran for two touchdowns in a 34-22 loss at Gladstone.
“(Goudge) is very fast,” Adams said. “He’s one guy we have to pay attention to. If we win Friday, we’ll probably be able to host two (playoff) games.”
Junior QB Dane Schmitt believes the Broncos have to attack the middle in tonight’s game.
“That’s the type of team they are,” he said. “We're a pretty deep team. We have more jayvee kids coming up, and they’re getting better.”
The Broncos were 3-0 following a 42-14 triumph at West Iron Sept. 12.
They made the long trip to Auburndale, Wis., the following week. That contest, however, was cancelled by lightning.
BR-H then traveled to Gaylord to face undefeated Division 7 contender Pewamo-Westphalia, where it dropped a 49-0 decision Sept. 26.
That game was scoreless after the first quarter before two Broncos’ offensive linemen were injured.
“We wanted to see how we ranked with one of the best teams in the state,” Adams said. “After the injuries, everything kind of got away from us. The way they performed and their communication on the field kind of showed our kids what it takes to perform at that level.”
The Broncos responded the following weekend with a 44-16 victory at L’Anse.
“They’re a physical team,” McDonough said. “If we see them in the playoffs, we would have to be able to match their intensity.
A rematch with L’Anse in the postseason opener is possible, based on the current playoff rankings.
“If we play our game, we should beat them,” Schmitt said. “Although, they have some fast kids. We just have to play our style of defense and do our job.”
Junior lineman Sean Burton is among the Broncos’ leaders in the trenches.
“I honestly love it,” he said. “I like to be physical. The game with Pewamo-Westphalia was a big learning experience. Defensively, they play at a much faster pace than we’re used to. They’re very physical. It's a big difference from playing in the U.P. They’re a bigger school, and all their players are fast. We were pretty fired up after the first quarter, but it was hard to adapt after that.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS (Top) Gionni McDonough (9) breaks outside trying to elude the tackle of Ethan Davis (22) during Bark River-Harris' win over Iron Mountain on Oct. 10. (Middle) BR-H's Gabe Spear (4) hauls in pass as Brayden Kassin (2) tries to break it up. (Photos by Terry Raiche.)