King Avenges Early Defeat to Reign Again
November 24, 2018
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
DETROIT – Rematches are rare in high school football, especially for teams located on opposite sides of the state.
But Detroit Martin Luther King on Saturday got the chance to avenge a Week 2 loss at Muskegon, and star senior quarterback Dequan Finn and his talented supporting cast made the most of it.
Finn, a 6-foot-1,190-pound senior who has committed to sign with Central Michigan University, threw four touchdown passes and ran for another as the Crusaders’ offensive versatility was the difference in a 41-25 victory over previously unbeaten Muskegon in the Division 3 Final at Ford Field.
“So many great King teams have lost to Muskegon, and it felt great to be the first to beat them,” said Tyrone Spencer, who has two MHSAA titles and a Semifinal appearance in his three years as King’s head coach. “They are a great program with a rich tradition, and it feels good to beat them for a state championship.”
King (12-2) won its third Finals championship in four years, after claiming back-to-back Division 2 crowns in 2015 and 2016. The Crusaders have won four titles overall, with their first also in Division 2 in 2007.
Muskegon (13-1) was shooting for its seventh MHSAA title, but instead finished runner-up for the fifth time, and saw its state-best 27-game winning streak snapped.
The final championship game of the weekend was a matchup between arguably the two best quarterbacks in the state – and neither disappointed.
Muskegon junior Cameron Martinez (5-11, 190) was once again the workhorse for the Big Reds, carrying 37 times for 211 yards and two touchdowns. He completed only 1-of-4 passes, but that completion was good for a 13-yard touchdown to senior Ali’vonta Wallace.
Finn, meanwhile, was deadly with his arm and feet.
Finn completed 9-of-13 passes for 173 yards and the four scores, as his offensive line gave him plenty of time to pick apart the Muskegon secondary. He was also King’s second-leading rusher with 11 carries for 73 yards and another touchdown.
“I’m just happy with the whole team, the effort that we gave,” said Finn. “It’s a surreal moment right now. I’m lost for words.”
The quarterback matchup went back-and-forth for three quarters, and when Martinez plunged in from two yards out late in the third quarter to draw his team within 21-17, it appeared the stage was set for a fantastic finish.
Instead, King’s myriad offensive weapons overwhelmed Muskegon over the final 12 minutes.
Three players scored in the fourth quarter as the Crusaders pulled away – senior receiver Ahmad Gardner on a 22-yard pass from Finn, junior running back Peny Boone on a 52-yard run and senior receiver Darrell Wyatt on a three-yard pass from Finn that was nearly intercepted in the end zone.
“There were a lot of plays that could have been big for us, but there were dropped passes and a missed interception,” said Martinez, who finished his junior year with a school-record 2,527 rushing yards. “In a game like this, you can’t afford to make mistakes.”
Muskegon, which was playing in an MHSAA Finals game for the sixth time in seven years, got off to a great start.
The Big Reds forced a punt on King’s first possession, and despite taking over at their own 3-yard line, marched 97 yards in 13 plays behind their dominating offensive line. Martinez sprinted in from 10 yards out for a 7-0 lead.
Making openings for Martinez were four seniors up front – tackles Anthony Bradford (6-5, 360) and Evan Towers (6-4, 285) and guards Marquis Cooper (6-1, 330) and Da’Quarious Johnson (6-0, 260) – along with junior center DeAndre Mills-Ellis (6-0, 290).
King countered with the passing of Finn, who connected with senior wideout Dominick Polidore-Hannah on a pair of first-half touchdown passes covering 42 and 22 yards as the Crusaders took a 14-10 halftime lead.
The third quarter was even as Finn and Martinez each had scoring runs, but King’s athleticism prevailed over Muskegon’s size and strength during the final quarter.
“We won 27 games in a row, and you have no idea how remarkable that is,” Muskegon ninth-year head coach Shane Fairfield told his huddled team on the Ford Field turf afterwards. “It hurts and it should hurt, but we haven’t felt this in a while.”
Boone made Muskegon pay for spreading out to cover the pass, hammering his way for 111 yards on 14 carries. Gardner and Polidore-Hannah each caught three passes. Leading King defensively was junior free safety Joe Frazier with 11 tackles, sophomore safety Jaylen Reed and senior safety Ray Williams with 10 tackles apiece and senior linebacker Rich Miller with nine stops.
The victory was sweet revenge for the Crusaders and especially Finn. In the Week 2 meeting, he mishandled a snap with 35 seconds remaining. Muskegon’s Billie Roberts recovered the fumble, and the Big Reds held on for a 24-21 win at Hackley Stadium in Muskegon. They went on to be ranked No. 1 in Division 3 the entire regular season and heading into the playoffs
“Our kids didn’t have any quit in them,” Spencer said. “I told them to give more effort, and that’s what they did. We got some breaks tonight, but (Muskegon) had some breaks when we went to their place and played. It’s a part of the game, and I’ll take it all day. Our guys never quit, and I’m proud of them.”
Senior Demario Robinson was the second-leading rusher for the Big Reds with 47 yards on six carries, while senior Carlos Hernandez booted a 37-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. Wallace led the defense with seven tackles, junior linebacker Tarran Walker had six and senior defensive back Isaiah Moore made five stops.
Muskegon, the winningest team in state history with 844 victories over 124 years of football (dating back to 1895), beat Farmington Hills Harrison last year for the Division 3 title. The Big Reds also have lost twice to Birmingham Brother Rice (2012 and 2013), twice to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (2014 and 2016) and now King in championship games.
Fairfield scheduled the regular-season game against King to help prepare his team for the type of athletes it might see at Ford Field. He did not expect to see King again, as the Crusaders have traditionally slotted into the Division 2 bracket. But a drop in enrollment put both teams in the same division – and on a collision course.
Both had to survive Pre-District playoff scares, as Muskegon edged East Grand Rapids by one score (42-35), while King beat River Rouge by just one point (7-6).
After that, both teams rolled over their next three opponents en route to Ford Field.
Saturday’s matchup was the second time the two schools have met in an MHSAA Finals game, with the first meeting in the Class A Final in 1989 at the Pontiac Silverdome. Muskegon, which is now 5-1 all-time against King, prevailed in that title game 16-13.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Martin Luther King raises the Division 3 championship trophy Saturday night at Ford Field. (Middle) Crusaders defenders work to bring down a Muskegon ball carrier.
Together, Unity Earns 1st Championship
November 24, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
DETROIT – Hudsonville Unity Christian’s varsity carried 22 players during the regular season.
The Crusaders had six on the playoff roster who weighed more than 200 pounds – and one who weighed more than 210.
And talk about small, Unity is by far the smallest school in an Ottawa-Kent Conference Green that sent four teams to the playoffs and champion Zeeland East to the Division 3 Semifinals.
So before Saturday’s Division 5 Final at Ford Field, coach Craig Tibbe reminded his now 47 players (including moved-up freshmen and sophomores) they hadn’t been picked to make it this far – and probably weren’t the choice to win this game.
But the Crusaders absolutely belonged in their first MHSAA Football Final – and deserved to hoist their first championship trophy in this sport after handing Portland its first and only defeat this fall, 42-7 in a game Unity controlled from just about the opening kickoff.
“We’re not supposed to win. But our coaches put a gameplan in for us to win,” Crusaders senior defensive back Noah Wiswary said. “And every week, we go to practice and we can’t hit because we only have 20 guys that can play, so we can’t hurt each other. But we work on our gameplan. We know what we’ve got to do to get to our spots. And we do what we’re supposed to do.”
As noted, the championship was the first in football for Unity Christian, which has had great success in other sports, especially soccer, where the Crusaders girls have won 10 MHSAA titles and the boys have won five.
The football program got its start only in 2003, with this season’s 12-2 finish setting a record for wins and also including the Crusaders’ second trip to the Semifinals after they first advanced that far two years ago.
Tibbe’s pregame challenge ran parallel with the pep talks offered throughout a playoff run that might have been the toughest road of any team in any division over the last five weeks.
Unity Christian – which was ranked No. 10 in Division 4 by The Associated Press during the regular season before slotting in Division 5 for the playoffs – downed reigning Division 5 champion Grand Rapids West Catholic and four teams ranked among the top six in the division. In addition to No. 2 Portland (13-1), the Crusaders eliminated No. 1 Saginaw Swan Valley in the Semifinal, No. 4 Kalamazoo United in the Regional Final and No. 6 Muskegon Oakridge in the District Final.
Against Oakridge, Unity Christian trailed by 27 before charging back for a 40-37 win. Like Portland, Kalamazoo United and Swan Valley also were undefeated before Unity dealt them their only loss.
“They’ve done that each week. They’ve pulled for each other,” said Tibbe, who has led the program since its start. “I’m proud of what they’ve become as a group of guys.
“Part of that comes from we have to battle all the way through the teams we’re playing each game of the season, (and) low numbers, but they learn to fight. And I thought they did a nice job again today.”
It didn’t take long to get rolling. Both Unity and Portland boasted strong running attacks this fall – what they planned to do Saturday was no secret. But the Crusaders built a 28-0 lead five minutes into the second quarter having rushed for 173 yards while allowing the Raiders only one first down to that point.
The Crusaders ran for 279 yards on 50 carries total, with junior quarterback Isaac TeSlaa rushing for 97 yards and two touchdowns and also competing 3 of 4 passes for 70 yards and a score to senior TJ VanKoevering. Junior Hayden Large and seniors Max Buikema and Mason Odehal also ran for touchdowns.
The defense – led by junior defensive back Nick Tibbe’s nine tackles – pitched a shutout as Portland’s only points came on senior Jacob Veale’s 91-yard kickoff return touchdown with four minute to play in the third quarter.
Portland ran for more than 3,000 yards over their first 13 games, but for only 95 on 29 carries Saturday. Senior defensive back Hunter Hohman led the defense with 10 tackles and a forced fumble.
“Obviously we got beat up a little bit up front, both sides of the ball,” Portland coach John Novara said. “Their offensive and defensive lines played great. They’re a super athletic football team, and they’ve just got athletes all over the place … probably the most athletic football team we’ve played all season. We don’t get (shut down) too many times, but they did it to us today.”
Portland did tie its program record with 13 wins this fall, its fourth straight with double-digit victories. The playoff run was the Raiders’ longest since they won their first title in 2012.
“It’s still kinda surreal that we’re here. We had to replace a ton from last year. We had no skill kids coming back, and the kids really stepped up,” Novara said. “We started out really slow this season. … (But) I think we made a great playoff run. I know we were 13-0, but we got a ton better during the playoffs.”
PHOTOS: (Top) A pair of Unity Christian defenders make a tackle during Saturday’s Division 5 Final at Ford Field. (Middle) Crusaders quarterback Isaac TeSlaa braces for contact.