Leader Re-Energizes Past Power Stevenson
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
November 22, 2019
Regardless of how one looks at it, Justin Newcomb is the right person for the right job at the right time.
Newcomb, 33, is one of the youngest head football coaches in the Detroit area, and he’s causing a stir. He’s in his second season at Sterling Heights Stevenson and the person most responsible for the Titans playing in an MHSAA Division 1 Semifinal on Saturday for the first time in a decade.
Stevenson (8-4), as an additional playoff qualifier, has played the underdog role to a T throughout the playoffs. There’s an advantage to that role, and Stevenson will take it up again when it takes on Davison (10-2) at Troy Athens at 1 p.m.
Once a football power, Stevenson fell back to the middle of the pack in the highly competitive Macomb Area Conference Red from 2010-18. Four times previously the program had reached an MHSAA Final, the last in 2009 when the Titans lost to Detroit Catholic Central, 31-21, in the Division 1 title game.
That was Hall of Fame coach Rick Bye’s 35th and final season at Stevenson. Since then, the Titans qualified for the playoffs three times and didn’t win a playoff game. That is, until this season.
“You’ve got goals,” Newcomb said. “You set goals at the start (of the season), and you just want to get the most out of (your) team.”
When Newcomb took over, the program had won just three games over the previous two seasons. The Titans were 4-5 overall in 2018, and just 1-4 in the MAC Red, which was won by eventual Division 1 champion Clinton Township Chippewa Valley. The average margin of defeat in those four league losses was 25.5 points.
“We took our lumps (in the MAC Red),” Newcomb said. “The challenge was getting kids to come out. When we first came in there was some interest lost. We had to beg some to come out. Now that we’re winning, kids are saying they want to come out.”
Despite his young age, Newcomb has coached high school football for 14 seasons. He started as an assistant under Mike Powell at Warren Cousino in 2006 when Newcomb was a student at Wayne State University. For 10 seasons he was the head varsity baseball coach at Cousino, but he gave that up when he took over for Powell as Cousino’s head football coach in 2017.
Though Newcomb finds himself in the right position at Stevenson, don’t view Stevenson’s sudden success as luck. Newcomb possesses an insatiable appetite for knowledge. If there’s a clinic to attend, you’ll likely find Newcomb there. And his ego doesn’t prevent him from talking to more experienced coaches to pry loose valuable information. Most often you’ll find Bye on the Stevenson sideline, not as an assistant but someone there whom Newcomb can confide in.
“Justin is positive and energetic,” Bye said. “He’s definitely not a guy who thinks he knows it all. He’s bought into everything, the Stevenson history, everything. He’s up on technology, much more so than I ever was. And he doesn’t let little things bother him. His practices have a tempo, and there’s little time wasted.”
Not lost in Newcomb’s system is his military background. After graduating from Wayne State with a teaching degree, he joined the U.S. Army Reserve in 2011. He continues to serve today in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR).
“It has a lot to do with the way we coach,” Newcomb said of his military experience. “(Coaching) is a lot more than just what goes on on the field. There’s (teaching) leadership roles and being responsible. In our culture, it’s all about winning. It’s all about playing time. The kids get caught up in that.
“Their attitudes have changed. We had to address the group as a whole. We had guys that first year that said that they play linebacker, and that’s it. Others came in saying they just play one way. That’s not how we do it. You’re here to help the team. Now the kids are doing whatever we need them to.”
A prime example is junior Giovanni El-Hadi. A college prospect (committed to University of Michigan), El-Hadi had been told, by some outside of the program, that he was an offensive lineman and wouldn’t play defense. This season El-Hadi is starting on defense for the first time and said earlier this fall that his time spent on the defensive side has helped improve his speed.
Another two-way starter on the line is senior Sal Madonna. Madonna is a two-year starter, and he and his brother, sophomore Biagio Madonna, are the sons of assistant coach Carmine Madonna – who played for Bye during the late 1990s.
“For me, I’ve been a part of Stevenson football for a long time,” Sal Madonna said. “Last year’s team wasn’t as connected as much. This year we bonded together. We trusted Coach Newcomb’s style. Even last year as juniors (we knew) to be successful, we had to buy in. We didn’t have the same mindset last year. We’re playing with a lot more confidence now.
“This means a lot to me. I remember being in the stands (at Troy Athens) when Jason Fracassa threw a touchdown pass in the (2009) Semifinals. Just like this team, that team never gave up.”
This team rebounded from a 2-3 start with a 13-7 comeback victory over Utica in Week 6. That game, more than others, was the turning point of the Titans’ season. Newcomb made a switch at quarterback, moving Biagio Madonna from linebacker and switching fellow sophomore Jordan Ramsey from quarterback to slot receiver and running back. With Ramsey, Newcomb was running a zone read offense. With Madonna, Stevenson is running an option attack.
In the victory over Utica, Stevenson used a trick play to score the winning touchdown. Last week in the 9-7 Regional Final victory over Detroit Cass Tech, the Titans had a goal-line stand in the first half and scored the winning touchdown on a double pass. Madonna threw to Dylan Kleinedler, who threw to Ramsey for a touchdown early in the second half. A Ramsey interception ended the game with 14 seconds left.
The previous week against Macomb Dakota, Newcomb decided not to go for the tying field goal from 40 yards out, and instead called on Madonna to throw the winning touchdown pass to Ramsey with a minute to play. Stevenson won 38-35 against a team it had lost to, 40-14, during the regular season and before Newcomb had made the quarterback switch.
“We’ve been fortunate the last few weeks with trick plays,” Newcomb said. “(But) getting here is a testament on just how hard these kids have worked.”
Tom Markowski is a correspondent for the State Champs! Sports Network and previously directed its web coverage. He also covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Sterling Heights Stevenson players hoist their Division 1 Regional championship trophy after defeating Detroit Cass Tech last week. (Middle) Jordan Ramsey (5) breaks into the open against the Technicians. (Photos courtesy of the Stevenson football program.)
Undefeated Contenders Make Claims as 1925 High School Football Champion
By
Ron Pesch
MHSAA historian
November 14, 2025
It was another football season without an official postseason, just as they all were prior to 1975 in Michigan.
Well – that’s not exactly true – but we will detail that story on another day.
In the Great Lakes State, the 1925 prep season – now 100 years ago - provides a beautiful illustration of the fun, fascination, and frustration in proclaiming gridiron championships in Michigan before the arrival of the MHSAA playoffs.
“The Roaring Twenties” – built in the age of prosperity that followed the end of World War I – were an age of excess, an era of more, and a time where anything seemed possible.
The Twenties are also known as the Golden Age of College Football, and excitement for the sport certainly trickled down to the high school level. The need or desire to open or break ground on impressively bigger and better stadiums hit schools around the nation. The 1925 season marked the opening of the University of Pittsburgh’s Pitt Stadium, with potential seating for 70,000. In Michigan, just upriver on Saginaw Bay in Bay City, the town’s Central High School unveiled a facility with a capacity of 7,100. That season marked the end of college careers for University of Illinois’ legend Harold “Red” Grange, Dartmouth’s Andy Oberlander, and Stanford’s Ernie Nevers. It was also the first varsity season at University of Michigan for Muskegon High School’s Bennie Oosterbaan, who became the school’s first three-time football All-American.
With a lack of lighted fields in Michigan, prep contests were mostly played on Saturdays, and the kickoff to seasons began around mid-September. Scheduled games generally ended in late November, with a few schools around the state closing their slate with a traditional Thanksgiving Day game.
Call it what you will – bragging rights, statewide acclaim, untethered validation, or an unsatisfied heart – but the regular season did not end the fascination and desire to name a state champion. While the state’s governing body did not sponsor championships, that did not stop cities, schools, the media, and the fan base from attempts to assign bragging rights to teams with unbeaten records. That was pretty much the case since the start of the prep game, dating back to 1888.
The era was often filled with “post season” challenges for games between teams to crystalize a claim on a championship. In general, they seldom came to fruition.
The MHSAA
The recently-created Michigan High School Athletic Association established three classes based on hard student enrollment numbers, with Class A – comprised of the state’s largest schools, each with a minimum of 500 students – Class B with between 175 and 499 enrolled, and Class C for schools with fewer than 175 pupils. Back then, the classifications were not segmented with an equal number of schools in each Class, as they are in today’s Division format. Rather, there were many more schools that fell into Class B and Class C than Class A. (Additional subdividing, adding Class D, and Class E, would come later).
Spurred on by fans and sportswriters, schools who wanted a share of the spotlight saw those classifications conveniently offering a means to segment claims on a state title. Acknowledging that they could seldom compete successfully against the larger schools in football, there was nothing to stop unbeaten teams from declaring themselves Class B or Class C gridiron champions.
The Fall of '25
Following the results of mid-November games across the state, just two prep teams in Michigan’s emerged as possible claimants to the title in Class A. Both Flint Central and Grand Rapids Union were unbeaten and untied. Flint would play Bay City Central at home on Saturday, Nov. 21, then square off for a Thanksgiving game with Ann Arbor in the university city.
Union would complete its regular season in a showdown with crosstown rival Grand Rapids South on Nov. 21. Unbeaten in 1924, South had shared that season’s mythical state title with Flint Central.
Just days before kickoff however, a third school emerged, making lots of noise.
Port Huron Times-Herald reporter Ray Bouslog penned an article that appeared in the Tuesday, Nov. 17 edition.
“Comparing Port Huron with the other two undefeated teams, the locals appear to have just as good a record as their rivals,” he noted. Comparing scores of games among the three schools against common opponents, and opponent’s common opponents – a common practice among fans and sportswriters then and now – he felt the local school was among the state’s best regardless of class.
Two days later, in the same paper, Port Huron’s athletic director and head coach Melvin J. Myers, acknowledging they had two more games on their schedule, was quoted by Bouslog:
“Having gone through the schedule unbeaten, untied, and unscored on, we consider that we have as much a claim (on the state title) as either Grand Rapids Union or Flint Central. But unlike the situation in former years, when the teams were unable to agree on terms of the post season battle, we are willing to play either of these schools at home or away.”
It was a bold statement. Port Huron was classified as a Class B school by the MHSAA. Five of its eight wins had come against Class B or Class C competition. While its goal line had not been crossed, Port Huron had scored 151 points – an average of just under 19 per contest.
Port Huron also had scheduled a Turkey Day game with Richmond, a Class C opponent. Myers considered the contest “only a workout for the team,” with victory by a large margin expected. But Saturday’s contest was on the road against a University of Detroit High School squad – no pushover. Port Huron, of course, would fall out of the race with a defeat in either contest.
On Friday, the Flint Daily Journal, in an Extra edition, acknowledged the Myers’ challenge: “(T)he recognized leader in Class B having no blemish on her record ... Port Huron is willing to step out of her class (and) has hurled challenges at both Flint and Union, provided they are untied and unbeaten.”
Since Union did not have a scheduled Thanksgiving Day contest, Myers stated he was willing to reschedule the Richmond game and meet Union, in Grand Rapids, on the holiday. The move would set up a “playoff” for an undisputed championship.
Union coach John Truesdale responded in the Grand Rapids Press, stating “This is no time to talk such stuff. The proper time for serious entertainment of such ideas is after the South game is played. If we win Saturday we talk. If we lose, and that is not impossible, then we will be in a position to consider such things.”
Union brushed off Coach Myers’ desire for a game on Thanksgiving. Truesdale indicated he was willing to listen to proposals from either Flint or Port Huron – not Thanksgiving Day – but on Saturday, Nov. 28, and no later.
Flint coach Charles Bassett was blunt with his response to the talk: “It is absolutely out of the question for Flint to even think of playing Union or any other team on Nov 28. We have a regularly scheduled game with Ann Arbor only two days before that time. It would be physically impossible for the boys to play two games in three days.”
Emphasizing that his two remaining games had been scheduled over a year ago, he stated, “Union knows our schedule and so does every other school in Michigan. I have no intention whatever of trying to change it. … If Union or Port Huron desire to play at some later date, after my boys have had a suitable rest, I shall be glad to listen to their proposals.”
Stage is Nearly Set
All three schools won their game on Saturday, Nov. 21. Rocky Parsaca nailed three out of four drop-kicks as Union topped South, 9-0, while Port Huron slipped past U of D High, 6-0, on a fourth-quarter TD by senior fullback Cecil Turner. Flint crushed Bay City Central, 32-0, to set the stage.
With that win, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Bassett told the Journal, “If Central is successful against Ann Arbor tomorrow, we stand ready and willing to play either Port Huron or Grand Rapids Union for the undisputed state championship. This should settle all doubts as to our sincerity in believing we have the best team in the state. We are willing to test it on any neutral field.”
By then, however, negotiations for a three-way series involving Union had broken down and the news had reached the paper. In the same edition, it was noted that Union had packed up for the fall. Without a game on Thanksgiving or the Saturday following, Truesdale stated Union could not carry its squad for two full weeks without a game. On Monday, Nov. 24, the Press had announced that Union had closed out its football season and was now focused on basketball.
With that bit of news, the Flint paper stated, “It is probable that Flint and Port Huron will arrange a game for Saturday, Dec 5.”
Thanksgiving
Played on Ann Arbor’s high school field, located just three blocks from University of Michigan’s Ferry Field, Flint had its hands full, downing the hosts, 6-3, on a second-quarter touchdown by senior captain Lloyd Brazil, before 5,000 fans. A future star, and later head coach at the University of Detroit, Brazil intercepted an Ann Arbor pass during the closing minutes, capping a scoreless second half and sealing the win.
As expected, Port Huron trounced Richmond, 55-0.
Talk about a game with Flint to be played at Michigan State College at the new State stadium hit the papers. But discussions failed, and by the weekend, Port Huron and Flint Central also closed out their seasons.
With that, multiple schools laid claim to the crown proving, once again, football championships from the era are valid, but “mythical.”
Check back next week for a second installment on the 1925 football “championship” race.
PHOTOS (Top) From left, Port Huron standout Cecil Turner, Grand Rapids Union football coach John Truesdale, Flint Central players huddling and Central’s Lloyd Brazil. (Middle) The 1925 Flint Central team. (Below) The 1925 Port Huron team. (Photos gathered by Ron Pesch.)