Mendon Coach Takes Reins from Mentor
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
September 6, 2016
It wasn’t the right time for an interview because John Schwartz didn’t want to be the center of attention. Besides, he had said all he wanted to say in February when he announced his retirement.
More than anything else, just a few minutes prior to the Mendon varsity football team opening the 2016 season against Bridgman, he wanted to address his attire.
Swiftly moving through the parking lot toward his car, Schwartz looked up, made eye contact with me, and his voice boomed through a shop broom of a mustache, “I put my shirt on backwards.”
Of course he did. His routine was off after more than four decades.
Schwartz exchanged pleasantries as he stood bare-chested about 30 parking spaces from the entrance to the field named after him. He checked to make sure the tag of his T-shirt was at the back of his neck this time.
We walked back to the stadium and talked about his kids and his grandchildren, whom he adores, and for whom, along with his wife, he retired from the game he treasures. When he turned in his letter of retirement to the Mendon school board in February at the age of 66, he said it was time to make more time for them.
He then climbed the bleachers to the press box, where he plans to watch the Hornets and provide advice when requested. Of all places, most of our interaction these days is on Facebook, where he’s quick to like a family photo.
I never took John Schwartz, a man who enjoys crafting things out of wood in his spare time, for a social media fan. But I learned over the years he’s full of surprises.
For a long time, Schwartz boasted the all-time best winning percentage in Michigan prep history. At the end of the 2014 season, his record at Mendon was 269-43 for a .862 percentage. That would have been a good time to retire. He knew, however, the Hornets were in for a rough 2015 season with low numbers in terms of bodies, and, as it turned out, victories. Mendon went 5-5, making his career record 274-48 and his winning percentage .851 — second all-time behind former Schoolcraft coach Larry Ledlow (.853).
He took one for the team.
It’s Bobby Kretschman’s team now, and you’re not going to find anyone in the small town of Mendon who would disagree with Schwartz concerning Kretschman’s worthiness to continue a tradition that includes 13 MHSAA championships — 10 of which were with Schwartz at the helm.
Kretschman, a former star linebacker for the Hornets and an assistant coach with the program for 10 years, was groomed for this role. In the same week in March when his first child, Connor, was born, Kretschman officially accepted the job.
Ranking third all-time in program history with 360 career tackles, including 11.7 stops per game as a senior on the 2005 Division 8 championship team, Kretschman fully understood the significance of becoming the school’s 23rd head coach.
“I’m excited,” he said at the time. “It’s going to be fun. We’re replacing a legend here. This is why I went into coaching and teaching. I didn’t think it was actually going to be at Mendon.”
The Hornets are 1-1 this season under his watch, with a loss to an excellent Cassopolis team in Week 2. But after the Hornets topped the Bridgman Bees in Kretschman’s debut, the new ball coach sounded an awful lot like the old one.
He asked the players gathered around him in the west end zone if they wanted to win a state title this year — perhaps a reach to some after Mendon went .500 last fall. They all believe they can. So did every kid who put on the green jersey since 1989.
Schwartz would always tell you that the Mendon staff coached the kids the same from the Rocket level to varsity. The plays, the verbiage and the expectations were consistent.
And it was all underscored by a sense of responsibility.
“There’s a great sense of pride at Mendon and I’ll be damned if that’s going to be lost,” Kretschman said. “That’s why you want to put the time into things and make sure you’re putting the best product out there you can. Your name is on it and you want it to be done right.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTO: Former linebacker Bobby Kretschman takes over the Mendon program this season from longtime coach John Schwartz. (Photo by Wes Morgan.) VIDEO courtesy of JoeInsider.com.
Bollman Cousins Making Plenty of Noise as 'Wrecking Balls' for Surging Big Rapids
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
October 9, 2025
BIG RAPIDS – On Friday nights, the Bollman boys are always in the middle of the action, bringing the muscle and the fight and the power to the Big Rapids football team.
But for the rest of the weekend, senior Jack Bollman and his first cousin, junior Max Bollman, are happiest when they are able to get away from it all at their family’s deer hunting ranch in nearby Canadian Lakes – appropriately named “The Sanctuary.”
“I just love being out there,” said Jack, a four-year starting running back for the Cardinals. “Our whole family works out there, and it’s just a great environment. It’s our second home, out in nature.”
The Bollmans haven’t spent much time at The Sanctuary lately, as they are laser-focused on what is becoming a special season for Big Rapids (6-0), which earned honorable mention in the latest Division 4 state rankings and heading into Friday’s game at Grant.
The Cardinals are known for their triple-option veer offense, operating out of the shotgun and often with four wideouts. But if the defense gets spread out too thin, the Bollmans will make it pay.
“Jack and I, we look at it as our job to bring the physicality on every play,” said Max, a 6-foot-1, 235-pound defensive end who also plays tight end, primarily in short-yardage and goal-line situations. “We want to be a problem for the other team. Other teams know that we can pass, but we can run over you, too.”
The Bollmans are part of a golden era of Big Rapids football under 11th-year coach Mike Selzer. The Cardinals – who were 7-3 in 2022, 10-2 and Regional finalists in 2023 and 9-2 last season – are hoping to take a couple more steps this fall with a senior-laden roster.
“We have so much experience this year that our practices are not learning things, but just fine-tuning and adjusting,” said Selzer, who starts 10 seniors on offense and nine on defense. “That experience makes it much easier to make adjustments on the fly during games.”
Big Rapids has overwhelmed its first six opponents, with the closest game a 19-7 win at Paw Paw in the opener. The big Central States Athletic Association Red showdown against Reed City on Sept. 26 turned into a one-sided 40-13 win.
Senior quarterback Cole Haist has completed 59-of-90 passes for 947 yards and 11 touchdowns, and rushed for 249 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns. He throws the ball to a plethora of receivers on the edge, notably seniors Trenton Mossel, Owen Craven, Kurt Wilber and Wyatt Skiera.
But when it comes to short-yardage situations, Max Bollman will check in as a tight end and often lead the way for his cousin, Jack, who is the team’s leading rusher with 56 carries for 429 yards, an average of 7.7 per carry, and six touchdowns.
Big Rapids is looking forward to a big game Week 8 at perennial Division 3 playoff team Coopersville, before pursuing its ultimate goal of a Division 4 championship.
The Cardinals appear to be on a collision course with familiar rival Ludington, which is also unbeaten and features a senior-heavy team led by senior quarterback Cam Gunsell. Big Rapids nipped Ludington, 28-21, in last year’s playoff opener.
In preparation for this postseason, Selzer is working on team-building every Tuesday to try and give his a little edge. This past Tuesday, he brought in Saginaw Valley State assistant coach Jeremy Prudhomme for some trust and team bonding exercises.
“We’ve been climbing every year, and now we want to take those final steps,” said Haist, a three-sport athlete who is in his second year as the team’s starting quarterback. “We have the talent and the ability to go farther. Now we are working on that belief to know we can do it.”
One bond that is already unbreakable is between the Bollman boys, who have grown up together and played football together since they were little kids.
The duo is especially lethal on defense, as the leaders of a group that has allowed only 33 points all season – fewer than six per game.
Max Bollman, a third-year starter as a junior who already has a Division I college offer from Central Michigan, is the leader of that unit from his edge position, with 24 tackles, five tackles for loss and three sacks. Jack Bollman (5-11, 215) has 14 tackles from his linebacker spot, including four for loss and one sack.
“Max is an off-the-charts kid in terms of strength, and he demands a lot of attention – but he has a motor unlike any kid I have ever coached,” said Selzer, a Wayland native who coached for 11 years at Potterville before taking the Big Rapids job in 2015.
Jonathan Losinski, a senior middle linebacker, is the team’s leading tackler with 26 stops, while Bryce Selzer and Austin Brandt both have 18 tackles.
But the emotional leaders of the Cardinals’ defense are the Bollmans, who are double trouble for every opponent.
“We have a bond, that’s for sure,” said Jack, who is hoping to play college football next year. “We want to be dangerous and blow up plays. Other teams have told us after the game that it’s unbearable to try and block us both on the same play.
“I would say we are like two giant wrecking balls out there, plowing things over.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Max Bollman lines up from at defensive end, while at right, Jack Bollman finds his way into the end zone against Howard City Tri County. (Middle) Junior Max Bollman (10) and his cousin, senior Jack Bollman (7). (Below) Mike Selzer is in his 11th year as head coach at Big Rapids. (Photos provided by the Big Rapids football program.)