March to Marquette: 8-Player Preview
November 22, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
For the second straight season, the majority of teams making the trip to the 8-Player Finals at Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome will come seeking their first MHSAA football championship.
Colon, Suttons Bay and Pickford will be first-time title hopefuls Saturday. Portland St. Patrick is seeking its first football title since 1992, long before any of these current players was born.
Kickoff for the Division 1 game is 11 a.m., with the Division 2 game following at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $10 and one is good for admittance to both games. Both games also will be broadcast live on FOXSportsDetroit.com and the FOX Sports app, and replayed on FOX Sports Detroit’s primary channel on Nov. 26 – Division 1 at 8 p.m. and Division 2 at 11 p.m. Audio of both games will be streamed live on MHSAANetwork.com.
Below is a look at all four finalists. Team “rankings” are based on their playoff-point averages heading into the postseason.
Division 1
COLON
Record/rank: 12-0, No. 2
Coach: Robbie Hattan, fourth season (28-13)
League finish: First in Southern Central Athletic Association A
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 27-8 over No. 6 Morrice in Semifinal, 56-12 over No. 3 Martin in Regional Final, 60-12 (Pre-Regional) and 55-0 over No. 13 Camden-Frontier, 43-8 over No. 11 Bellevue, 42-0 over Division 2 No. 5 Climax-Scotts.
Players to watch: RB/DL Brandon Crawford, 6-2/240, jr. (1,491 yards/22 TDs rushing); SL/DB/P Jonathan West, 6-2/160, sr. (653 yards/7 TDs rushing, 498 yards/12 TDs receiving); QB/DB Phillip Alva, 5-9/140, sr. (954 yards/19 TDs passing, 903 yards/17 TDs rushing).
Outlook: Colon moved to 8-player before the 2018 season after a nice recent run in 11-player that had included eight playoff appearances over the previous 14 seasons. But the Magi have succeeded at a higher level since making the switch, putting up double-digit wins last season for the first time and again this fall. Last season’s champion Morrice was the first opponent to hold Colon to under 34 points and also the first to come within 34 of catching the Magi this fall. Crawford and West both earned all-state honorable mentions in 2018, and 6-4 junior Brayden Ireland gives Alva another big target in the passing game. West also has scored off interceptions and punt and kickoff returns this season.
SUTTONS BAY
Record/rank: 12-0, No. 4
Coach: Garrick Opie, second season (21-2)
League finish: First in Midwest Central Michigan Conference West
Championship history: Division 6 runner-up 2004 (11-player).
Best wins: 45-14 over No. 8 Kingston in Semifinal, 36-30 over No. 14 Gaylord St. Mary in Regional Final, 36-14 over No. 16 Brimley in Pre-Regional, 20-14 and 29-18 over Division 2 No. 9 Onekama.
Players to watch: RB/DB Lucas Mikesell, 5-11/175, sr. (1,259 yards/29 TDs rushing, 501 yards/9 TDs receiving), QB/DB Bryce Opie, 6-4/194, sr. (1,167 yards/15 TDs passing, 692 yards/13 TDs rushing); OG/DT Gavyn Shananaquet, 6-0/230, sr.
Outlook: Suttons Bay has run its record over three seasons of 8-player to a combined 28-6 after being forced to end its final 11-player season early in 2016. The Norsemen had only three games decided by single digits this fall. The first was a six-point win over Onekama, and Suttons Bay won the rematch by 11, and the other two were against Gaylord St. Mary – a one-point loss on the field that became a forfeit win and a six-point win in the Regional Final. The defense has been especially impressive, giving up 16.7 points per game on the season but more than 18 only twice (both times to St. Mary). Bryce Opie also has five interceptions, and the team had a 23-14 turnover advantage heading into last week’s Semifinal.
Division 2
PORTLAND ST. PATRICK
Record/rank: 12-0, No. 3
Coach: Patrick Russman, 13th season (88-48)
League finish: Does not play in a league.
Championship history: Division 2 runner-up 2017 (8-player), Class D champion 1992, runner-up 1991 and 1997 (11-player).
Best wins: 49-6 over No. 5 Climax-Scotts in Semifinal, 51-16 over No. 11 Kinde North Huron in Regional Final, 45-0 over No. 16 Bay City All-Saints in Pre-Regional, 42-24 over No. 9 Onekama.
Players to watch: RB/DL Ned Smith, 5-10/195, sr. (1,510 yards/24 TDs rushing); QB/DB Connor Cross, 6-2/175, jr. (1,688 yards/36 TDs passing); WR/DB Zach Spitzley, 6-2/180, sr. (1,133 yards/19 TDs receiving).
Outlook: The Shamrocks have made at least the Semifinals the last three seasons and four times since switching to 8-player in 2012, and this has been their most successful run of all four. St. Patrick has won all of its games by at least 18 points (not counting a 2-0 forfeit in Week 3) and by an average score of 52-10. Senior linebacker Alex Kissane, sophomore linebacker Derec Fedewa, senior defensive back Riley Kissane and senior lineman Jeff Davlin are among leaders of a defense that has given up more than 16 points only twice and a combined 22 points over three playoff games.
PICKFORD
Record/rank: 11-1, T-No. 1
Coach: Josh Rader, 16th season (110-55)
League finish: First in Great Lakes Eight Conference East
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up 2018 (8-player).
Best wins: 22-14 over T-No. 1 Powers North Central in Regional Finals, 40-8 over No. 4 Hillman in Semifinal, 57-12 (Pre-Regional) and 58-15 over No. 6 Engadine, 48-16 over No. 7 Crystal Falls Forest Park, 64-20 over No. 12 Cedarville, 46-23 over Division 1 No. 14 Gaylord St. Mary.
Players to watch: QB/LB Jimmy Storey, 6-0/185, sr. (1,400 yards/19 TDs passing, 1,809 yards/24 TDs rushing); TE/DE Nick Edington, 6-7/220, sr. (307 yards/3 TDs receiving); RB/DB Stephen Lamothe, 5-10/175, sr. (752 yards/11 TDs rushing, 813 yards/11 TDs receiving).
Outlook: After reaching last season’s Division 1 championship game with a junior-heavy roster, Pickford is back playing for its first Finals championship with many of the same standouts. Edington, Storey and senior lineman Isaiah May all made the all-state team last season, and Storey was the statewide Player of the Year for 8-player by The Associated Press. The team’s only loss this fall came in Week 3, by six points, to Powers North Central – and the Panthers avenged the defeat in the Regional Final. The Jets also were the only team able to hold Pickford under 40 points this fall. Senior running back Isaac Brown provides another valuable option on offense with 613 yards and 12 touchdowns rushing.
Forest Park's Playoff Tradition Began with Statement-Making Title Run
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
November 29, 2024
CRYSTAL FALLS — The Crystal Falls Forest Park football team played in its 15th Football Final last weekend, tying it for fourth-most championship game appearances in MHSAA history.
The first came back in 1975, the very first year the MHSAA conducted a football postseason tournament.
The Trojans already had a strong tradition before that, but champions were only mythical then, based on records, strength of schedule and opinions.
Forest Park players were excited to hear about the chance to prove it on the field, said Bill Santilli, the team’s standout running back that season.
“We had high expectations,” said Santilli, who also took the Trojans to seven Finals as their coach, leading them to the Division 8 title in 2007. “The team that we had put together my senior year, I felt we had a lot of really good athletes and our school had a strong tradition of football back then through the 60s and early 70s.”
Only four teams in each class made the MHSAA Playoffs that first year. So when Forest Park lost to Norway – a physical team that finished the season undefeated – 14-13 during the regular season, the Trojans thought their playoff hopes were pretty dim.
Their schedule, though, was made up of mostly larger schools and the point system rewarded them for it, making Forest Park the region’s Class D representative.
The Semifinal final game against Posen was scheduled to be played in Traverse City on Nov. 15, the first day of deer season. One of the coaches joked they had never missed a first day and he was going hunting.
The only hunting they did that day was for a spot in the state title game, and they traded bagging a buck for blanking Posen 67-0.
“Their credit was they had a strong running game,” Santilli said. “They had been beating teams by quite a margin throughout the season. We just played and did a great job of what we had to do by our game plan.”
Up next was Flint Holy Rosary in the Final at Western Michigan University the next Saturday.
“I would say we had a confidence as a team, based on the confidence of our coaching staff, based on the confidence of our Semifinal victory,” Santilli said. “We were ready to play.”
Beyond seeking the thrill of a championship, the Trojans wanted to prove how good the football was in the Upper Peninsula. Players kept track of high school football results throughout the state – this being well before the internet made finding news and results so easy, they looked to the Detroit Free Press — and found teams in the larger metropolitan areas were more highly-touted.
“We wanted to prove that there were some good football teams in the Upper Peninsula that in my opinion seemed to get overlooked,” Santilli said. “I think it was not only our mission to win that first state championship, but also our mission to make a statement that we play good football.”
Forest Park won 50-0.
“Just the feeling to play and win the inaugural event, to be able to have the memories, to talk about it, to play so well and to hold onto that state championship trophy, the real, true state championship trophy, we didn’t think there was anything better in our lives,” Santilli said.
No team reached 50 points in a championship game again until 1994; no one exceeded it until 2002.
“We played extremely well,” Santilli said.
The Trojans led by that score going into the fourth quarter. They were able to put the second unit in and watch those teammates preserve the shutout.
“We just had a good group of athletes, we all got along, we had guys that knew their role, they were all very good at their positions and we just gelled as a group,” Santilli said. “We had really good linemen, we had tough hitters on defense, we had defensive backs who could cover a pass and yet had the speed to come up and make tackles on the line of scrimmage. We had an offensive running game that I would describe as consistent and powerful. And if we needed to throw, we had a good quarterback and receivers.”
Santilli, a 5-foot-9 senior, was double and triple-teamed, according to MHSAA accounts of the game, and he still rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns on 37 carries. He finished with 226 points for the season, including 46 in the Semifinal, setting an MHSAA single-season record at the time. Quarterback Rich Mettlach tallied 148 yards through the air, with 103 to Bryan LaChapelle.
Forest Park’s defense was dominant, holding Holy Rosary to minus-32 yards rushing, 78 passing and just four first downs.
“They told us the competition got tougher the farther south we got,” coach Richard Mettlach said afterward. “We like it down here and may come back next year.”
Santilli was the first Class D player to earn a spot on the Detroit Free Press all-state Dream Team, according to the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame, which welcomed Santilli in 2005. His 1,865 rushing yards were a state record, the Hall of Fame indicated.
He said he received much of the recognition that season because he was the ballcarrier, but he credited his teammates with making it all possible.
“I got the recognition only because of the other guys with the jerseys with the same team name on them,” he said.
Forest Park football has been good ever since.
They beat Flint Holy Rosary again the next year in the Class D title game, although the score was closer, 14-6. Rosary came out on top in 1977 with a 21-20 win over Forest Park, and the Trojans fell 38-14 to Detroit St. Martin dePorres in the 1978 finale.
PHOTO From left: Forest Park’s Bryan LaChapelle, coach Dick Mettlach, Dick Mettlach Jr., and Bill Santilli pose with the first Class D championship trophy Nov. 22, 1975, at Waldo Field in Kalamazoo. (Photo by Bill Santilli.)