Highlight Reel: Friday Football Finals

November 28, 2015

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director 

Champions were crowned Friday (Nov. 27) in four divisions of the 2015 MHSAA 11-Player Football Playoffs – presented by the Michigan Army National Guard – at Ford Field in Detroit.

Below are highlight clips from every game plus links to watch them in full.

Division 8
Muskegon Catholic Central 7, Waterford Our Lady 0

Senerius To SeneriusWaterford Our Lady threatened several times in the first half, including late, when Clay Senerius hit Devin Senerius for a 30-yard gain. 

Crusaders Go On TopThe only score of the Division 8 title game came early in the fourth quarter when Muskegon Catholic Central's Christian Martinez ran it in from 8 yards out.

Watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here. 

Division 2
Detroit Martin Luther King 40, Lowell 38

Dean’s Second TD For LowellLowell jumped out to a 24-7 lead late in the first half on this 3-yard run by Max Dean, his second score of the game.

Incredible Finish - Corley Winning TDOn the final play of the game, Detroit King's Donnie Corley hauls in a 40-yard TD pass from Armani Posey to give the Crusaders the win over Lowell for the MHSAA Division 2 title.

Watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here. 

Division 6
Ithaca 27, Clinton 20

Sexton Takes It To The HouseClinton scored the first 13 points of the Division 6 Football Final against Ithaca. Here's the second touchdown on a 56-yard run by Mathew Sexton early in the third quarter. 

Ithaca Takes The LeadIthaca's run of 27 unanswered points included this 18-yard pass from Jake Smith to Spence DeMull in the third quarter. The Yellowjackets added the PAT and never trailed again.

Watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here. 

Division 4
Zeeland West 40, Flint Powers Catholic 14
 

Dux Take FlightZeeland West QB Casey Brinks was 4 for 4 passing for 103 yards against Flint Powers, getting half of that yardage on this pass to Tyler Thompson in the first quarter. This pass set up the Dux’ first TD.

Sargent Hits Brcic For SixNoah Sargent makes a nice TD pass on the run to Luke Brcic for Flint Powers Catholic against Zeeland West in the Division 4 Final. 

Watch the whole game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

The MHSAA Football Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.

PHOTO: Ithaca quarterback Jake Smith dives ahead for an extra yard during the Division 6 Final.

It’s About the Base

May 8, 2018

Former Southeast Conference Commissioner Roy Kramer, whom Michiganders like to claim as our own for his East Lansing High School and Central Michigan University coaching roots, seized the opportunity of an acceptance speech for an award he received recently from the Tennessee Chapter of the National Football Foundation, College Football Hall of Fame and Knoxville Quarterback Club to deliver a sobering message regarding the game he loves so much – football.

His concerns were for the survival of football on college campuses “where their games will never be on television and will be played in front of less than 10,000 fans.” Which is the situation for 90 percent of the nation’s college football programs.

He also said, “I’m even more concerned about games on Friday night.” Mr. Kramer has been a long-time opponent of Friday night telecasts of college football games because they do poorly both at the gate and in television ratings, and they conflict with the tradition of approximately 6,000 high school football games played locally on Friday nights.

We Michiganders are sometimes criticized for our “conservative” views about the boundaries of a sensible scope for educational athletics. We come by this naturally, on the shoulders of people like Roy Kramer who, even after years in the glitz and glamour of elite college football, maintains his concern for more modest college programs as well as high school football.

It is this base of the game, not the few at the pinnacle, that is the future of a game under siege in dozens of courthouses and state houses across the U.S. – and worse, a game being questioned in many thousands of homes where football was once the game of choice.