Many-Sport Standout Gash Closing High School Career with Repeat Title Pursuit
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
September 3, 2026
Gideon Gash said this fall is marking the end of an era for him athletically.
Throughout his life, it didn’t seem to matter what the sport was, because Gash was playing it.
Whether it was soccer, basketball, lacrosse, football, or track & field, Gash sampled them all, and it didn’t stop when his high school career began.
Last year as a junior at Detroit Catholic Central, Gash continued to play several sports after being named all-state for football in the fall.
During the winter, he played on Catholic Central’s basketball team. In the spring, he decided to go out for track and thrived, finishing second in the 100-meter dash and winning the long jump at the Catholic High School League meet, and then taking third in the long jump at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals.
Following that championship meet, Gash returned to the lacrosse team and suited up for the Shamrocks during the final week of the season, which culminated in a DCC Division 1 title. Gash had played lacrosse the previous spring as a sophomore, but decided to focus more on track as a junior.
“I worked out different muscles and different skills and just having that versatility helped me a lot throughout life,” Gash said. “Being able to do different things and learn faster and having to keep up with everyone in terms of basketball, lacrosse, in terms of just raw skills. That helped me a lot in terms of just being able to add to my bag and be the best I can.”
But now, Gash said his multi-sport playing days are all but over.
One of the premier college football recruits in the nation, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Gash has committed to play at Texas Tech for now, although he recently said his recruitment is “not closed down,” according to an article on Rivals.com.
Regardless of where he ends up, Gash said he plans on enrolling early and starting college in January, adding he made sure to accumulate enough class credits to be able to do so.
That means it’s football from here on out, and odds are he’s going to have a monster senior year for reigning Division 1 champion Catholic Central.
Last year, Gash was all-state in Division 1-2 as a lockdown defensive back, collecting 74 tackles and nine pass breakups. He also was a big-play threat as a wideout, catching three long touchdown passes for Catholic Central in a championship game win over Detroit Cass Tech at Ford Field.
There are times this season where Gash may never leave the field, given he will see lots of time as a dangerous punt returner. In a season-opening win over Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, Gash returned a punt 48 yards for a touchdown.
Playing so many sports throughout his life has shaped him into an all-around force on the football field and helped turn him into a dominating physical specimen.
Gash gained 10 pounds of muscle since last fall and going into his senior year is more chiseled and faster than he has ever been.
“He just loves competing,” Catholic Central football head coach Justin Cessante said. “When we compete and he works the way he does when nobody is watching, and he’s got his agility, his strength and his size, he’s a 10 times better player and athlete than he was last year. I think that attributes to doing all those different things.”
This is the first year Gash is not playing alongside his older brother, Samson, the 2025 Finals champion in the 100-meter dash and all-state wide receiver last fall who is a freshman at Michigan State.
Gideon Gash will certainly be counted on for veteran leadership since Catholic Central entered this season with only two returning starters, although there are several talented underclassmen already with Division I college scholarship offers who are expected to soon make names for themselves on the high school level.
While the next wave of great players is already coming for Catholic Central, it certainly will be hard to replace Gash and how he was able to excel at more than just football.
“I’m going to miss it,” Gash said. “I’ve been playing three sports my whole life, so I’m going to miss it a lot.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Catholic Central’s Gideon Gash (11) is congratulated by brother Samson Gash after scoring during last season’s Division 1 Final. (Middle) Gash breaks up a pass during the win over Detroit Cass Tech.
Martin Seizes Long-Awaited Opportunity with 1st Finals Win Since 1987
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
November 19, 2022
MARQUETTE – When their playoff run ends, teams can normally find some consolation if their loss comes to the eventual state champion.
But that got a little old for Martin.
The Clippers fell to Adrian Lenawee Christian in Semifinals the past two seasons and then watched them go on to win two 8-Player Division 1 championships.
But this year was different; this was Martin’s year. The Clippers (11-2) took care of Lenawee Christian in the Regional round of the playoffs with a convincing 56-14 victory. And it was the Clippers lifting the Finals championship trophy at the Superior Dome on Saturday after a 74-24 victory over Merrill.
“This was our goal at the beginning of the year; it’s been our goal the last couple of years,” Martin coach Brad Blauvelt said.
The Clippers accomplished their mission with a star quarterback, JR Hildebrand, who ran for 191 yards and four touchdowns to lead the program to its first Finals title since his dad won one in 1987. They also made some big plays at big moments and relied on a stout run defense to contain Merrill, which made it closer than the score indicated.
“When I first found out what a state championship was, I knew that was our goal in the end,” said running back Karter Ribble, who rushed for 142 yards and three touchdowns. “Then falling short the past couple years and then progressively getting better throughout the year, this year I knew it was coming. I knew we had what we needed to get to this moment.”
And what a moment it was for them.
The Clippers took a 20-0 lead thanks to a pair of touchdown runs by Hildebrand and another by Ribble.
“We have a very fast team, and we used that to our advantage,” Blauvelt said. “We got outside, broke a couple tackles. We started fast all year, and tonight wasn’t any different.”
Merrill hung around throughout the first half.
Vandals quarterback Joel Tack, who threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns, found Kaleb Walker for a 90-yard score late in the first quarter. It was 20-8 heading into the second.
Ribble ran 42 yards for a score 4 minutes, 14 seconds into the second quarter, to answer, and Hildebrand added a 10-yard TD run to put Martin ahead 34-8.
Merrill (12-1) struck with another big play, a 68-yard TD pass from Tack to Denver Coty that seemed likely to give the Vandals some momentum.
But Taegan Harris had other ideas.
The 5-foot-11, 155-pound junior ran the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown, and Martin’s lead was 40-16 with 1:35 left in the first half.
“That was huge,” Blauvelt said. “The game was kind of teeter tottering right there. I know we still had the lead, but we didn’t really feel comfortable after all that happened.”
Merrill turned it over on downs before the half was over, and Martin added a 25-yard field goal by James Blackburn for a 43-16 halftime lead.
Merrill coach Christian Wiley called the kick return a backbreaker.
“If we don’t give that up, we probably are able to do some different things,” he said. “Unfortunately, No. 1 (Harris), we knew he was a speed guy for them. He got the edge on us, and we got sucked down inside. Kicking it to the corner there, everybody drove down into that corner and he got around to the outside. That was a backbreaker for sure.”
Merrill scored first in the second half, and it was the play of the day. Walker made a spectacular one-handed catch and then ran free to the end zone for a 67-yard touchdown with 8:30 left in the third quarter.
“We felt confident we could shut them down in the run game,” Blauvelt said. “And then we knew they were gonna chuck it on us, which they did. And their quarterback can throw, and their kids can catch. That one throw across the middle was a phenomenal catch.”
But it was all Martin from there. Hildebrand ran 57 yards for a TD, Braeden Shanley rushed 37 yards for another, Ribble ran one in from two yards out and Gavin Meyers hit Sam Jager for a 75-yard touchdown pass to wrap it up.
“Hat’s off to Martin,” Wiley said. “They did a tremendous job. They lost the last two years to the team that went out and won the state championship. They were loaded coming back, and they were a good team.
“... I thought we did some good things. We shot ourselves in the foot. But when you lose to a team that is of that caliber, there’s no shame in that. We played our hearts out right to the very end.”
Martin outrushed Merrill 374-26, led by the 190 from Hildebrand.
“If he’s not the Player of the Year in 8-man football, I don’t know who is,” Wiley said. “He’s a legit college-level football player.”
A tough schedule helped Martin go back downstate with a championship trophy. The Clippers defeated Division 2 runner-up Mendon to start the year and lost a pair of games to unbeaten teams, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian and Bridgman.
While it may not have prepared them for the awe of playing in the Superior Dome and the Final, it certainly helped them during their playoff run.
“Walking in the Dome the other day and seeing it for the first time, we knew it was a big moment,” Blauvelt said. “However, playing some good teams, quality competition throughout the year, got us ready. The last couple years, we’ve been undefeated going into playoffs and we had two losses this year. I think that totally helped us prevail, and the moment wasn’t as big as it could have been.”
And now they’re finally state champions. Nothing much bigger than that.
PHOTOS (Top) Martin’s Taegan Harris (1) celebrates a touchdown during his team’s Division 1 Final win. (Middle) Merrill quarterback Joel Tack finds running room. (Below) The Clippers’ Karter Ribble (22) gets some air while celebrating at the Superior Dome. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)