'Next Person Up' Mentality, Super Subs' Success Has Almont Returning to Ford Field
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 24, 2023
Gavin Szymansksi was nervous for about two plays.
The junior was making his first start for the Almont football team in Week 3 against Imlay City, replacing injured Cole Willard at left tackle.
Willard had been hurt in the first half of the Raiders’ Week 2 game against Algonac, and while Szymanski had filled in then, there was less pressure, as his team already had a hefty cushion.
But this was different. A first varsity start, on the opposite side of the line from his more familiar right tackle position.
“It wasn’t too scary in that moment (against Algonac), plus I thought he was going to be back,” Szymanski said. “(Week 3) was kind of scary. But the team was pretty supportive, and they didn’t have any doubt I’d be able to fill in. Then we had a TD on like the first or second play in the Imlay game, and I was fine.”
Szymanski filled in seamlessly for the Raiders, which became a theme throughout the season. As players went down with injuries, both short and longterm, their backups filled in without a hitch.
While every team is banged up throughout a season, for a Division 6 school with just more than 30 players on the varsity roster, it’s a remarkable feat to remain competitive, let alone go 8-1 during the regular season, win the Blue Water Area Conference title, and, for the second time in school history, advance to the MHSAA Finals at Ford Field.
“Our motto is ‘next person up,’” Almont coach James Leusby said. “They literally live by that. You never know when your number is going to get called, but they seem to always be ready.”
Szymanski – who is back in the starting lineup for the Raiders, now as a right tackle filling in for the injured Yousif Abu-Joudeh – and his Almont teammates will play Kingsley at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the Division 6 Final, looking for the program’s first Finals title.
While the Raiders certainly have star power – junior back Chase Battani had rushed for 1,169 yards and 18 touchdowns – it’s been the efforts of a team that has stretched well beyond it’s starting 22 that put them in this position.
The list of injuries, big and small, is extensive.
It started with Willard and ended with Abu-Joudeh, who was injured in Week 9. Fullback Jacob Stewart, who was averaging 15 yards per carry, was injured in Week 6 and missed a stretch. Matthew Bacholzky stepped up in his place, along with Ayden Ferqueron.
Outside linebacker Eric Haddon suffered a high ankle sprain, and was replaced by Jacob Fuller, who had spent most of the season on the offensive side of the ball. Defensive end and tight end Brent Corneau missed a stretch as well, and Nolan Maxlow, who was a split end and defensive back, had to step up in his place.
And that’s just what Leusby could remember off the top of his head late Tuesday night.
“In Division 6, you don’t have much depth, so the backups have to know multiple positions,” Leusby said. “I think it talks highly of our program and our system and the coaches we have in it. In the playoffs, we’ve started two JV kids at defensive tackle. Our motto is, when we bring our sophomores up, the best kids are going to play.”
Because of that program-wide preparation, players are not only ready, but have confidence in one another when it’s someone else’s time to step up.
“I felt confident in him,” Willard said of Szymanski. “A lot of kids get a lot of reps at practice. And we’ve run the same plays for like five years, so everyone knows them.”
Leusby, who took over at Almont in 2015, credited not just his high school staff, but a youth program that’s bursting at the seams with participants.
Almont is a football community, and while there are no Finals titles listed on the city limits sign, it has a very proud history of success, especially lately.
The Raiders have made the postseason each of the past 14 seasons, and 17 of the past 18. The lone miss was 2009, when they were 5-4. Only the pandemic-shortened 2020 season resulted in a record that wasn’t over .500, and even that one ended at 3-3 with a playoff win.
“I think, all in all, the community, they invest a lot of time into the program, and they expect results,” Leusby said. “You ask anybody, Almont is a football town.”
Leusby and his players are expecting that support to result in a lot of orange and black in the lower bowl of Ford Field on Saturday.
“Everybody has our back and wants us to win,” Willard said. “The whole town is travelling down there.”
They did the same in 2019 when the Raiders made their previous run to Ford Field. That ended with a 31-17 loss to Grand Rapids Catholic Central in the Division 5 Final.
“Honestly, when I was there in 2019, I was just thrilled to get to Ford Field,” Leusby said. “Yeah, it was a game and we wanted to win, but it was just cool to get to the Finals. After it was over, I thought, maybe I had sent the wrong messages. This year, we’ve reiterated that we’re going there to come home with the big daddy. Not second place – we want the big trophy.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Senior Isaiah Bankston (59) leads Almont onto the field before last Saturday’s Semifinal win over Ovid-Elsie. (Middle) Chase Battani (32) followers his Raiders blockers during the Regional Final win over Detroit Edison. (Photos by Maureen Flannery Walton.)
Martin Returns, Redeems, Runs Away for 3rd Finals Championship in 4 Seasons
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
November 22, 2025
MARQUETTE — Martin has gotten used to making the long but fruitful trip to the Superior Dome in the middle of the Upper Peninsula.
But after winning back-to-back 8-player Division 1 championships in 2022 and 2023, the Clippers didn’t make it out of the Lower Peninsula last year, losing in the final second of the Regional Final.
That started the Redemption Tour.
The players coined it, the coaches went with it, a fan even painted it on his car windows. The Clippers completed the tour Saturday with a dominating 52-8 victory over Blanchard Montabella 435 miles away from their home south of Grand Rapids.
They didn’t want to forget what happened last year, and that bad taste in their mouths helped turn the 2025 campaign into the kind of season they’ll never want to forget either — only for much better reasons.
“We didn’t want that feeling again because it was terrible,” Martin coach Brad Blauvelt said. “Especially winning the two years before, we wanted to be here doing this.”
Senior quarterback Haylen Buell was a big part of the win; he ran for a game-high 179 yards on just nine carries and threw for another 134 during a four-touchdown championship day. That’s two years after being one of the leading rushers and receivers in the 2023 Final.
“(This) means everything. This is what we strive for each and every year,” Buell said. The workouts to get here start each year in March. “I think every senior was at every single workout. It showed up here.”
A dozen seniors, some with experience in previous Finals like Buell, were key to the season and to this victory. Despite the final score, Blanchard Montabella proved up to the challenge early on and Martin needed an answer.
The Mustangs scored first, a rarity for any team against Martin, according to Mustangs coach Tim Webb. They used 13 plays and nearly six minutes to go 90 yards as Brady Kieff put them on the scoreboard with a three-yard run.
Martin answered with a scoring drive to tie it, ending on a three-yard touchdown rush by Buell. Montabella took the ball back and took another methodical drive right back into the red zone, even overcoming a holding penalty early in the drive.
“We thought that we were gonna be the more physical, more dominant team,” Blauvelt said. “That first quarter, they gave us a run for our money and then we kind of took over with our physicality.”
With the help of a key takeaway to set it all in motion.
On the third play of the second quarter, and the 10th of the drive, the Mustangs fumbled. Martin senior linebacker Isaac Suk recovered, and the whole game changed. Compounding the devastating turnover, Martin scored on the very first play of the ensuing drive, on an 81-yard touchdown run by Bryer Watson.
“That was a huge turnover,” Blauvelt said. “Football is momentum, and once we had that, we didn’t really look back.”
It opened the floodgates for the Clippers.
The Mustangs went four-and-out. Martin scored on a 44-yard run by Buell. Montabella punted. Martin scored on a one-yard rush by Seth Toris. Montabella turned it over on downs near midfield. Martin scored on a 25-yard pass from Buell to Anderson Keeler.
It went from looking like a shootout to a 38-8 Martin lead at the half.
Webb said the Mustangs needed to play mistake-free football to compete. It was tough to keep doing that all afternoon.
“We did some good things, I thought, first quarter, first couple drives,” he said. “But we needed to play almost flawless to be able to compete. Their (12) seniors just kind of control the game. Line of scrimmage, they controlled the offense and defense. They tackled better than we did. And I got to give them credit for that.”
Montabella finished the season 11-2 while making its first trip to the Finals. A tough ending to be sure, but a lot to be proud of as well.
“It was a good experience for us, but I mean it’s tough to have it go the way it did,” center Brayden Foster said. “But first one in school history.”
Webb said he hopes the successful run this year shows other Montabella students they can do it, but it’ll take even more dedication in the weight room.
“It’s been a pretty magical couple weeks for our football program,” he said. “And I think we’re just getting started.”
Martin is the gold standard right now in Division 1, with the Clippers now winners of three titles over the last four years. They can forget about last year now that the Redemption Tour is complete with a 13-0 championship season.
“It’ll take me a minute to realize all that,” Blauvelt said. “We’re just trying to win the football game at this point. We’ll look back at it and years from now be like, ‘Man, that was a heck of a run.’ Heck of a run, just special, every time we get here and then win it, too. I’m just proud of my team and my coaches.”
He was thrilled to have a player-led team this time around, something that’s no slam dunk with high school-age kids. It’s the most tight-knit senior group he’s had, and that’s what made this team unique among the three champion squads.
Plus that dominating defense.
“Our defense is different,” he said. “This is our best defense that we think we had. And we held our hat on that, and we like to be physical.”
And if a strong senior class and a feared defense weren’t enough, Martin also had the advantage of having been here before, the coaches and the players. They have an itinerary for the trip that works — which includes speeches from players and coaches the night before — and the ability to focus on the game instead of the commotion of championship week.
“We take that as an advantage,” Blauvelt said. “We just try to soak in the moment every time we come. This is a special place to play. … It’s electric, it’s fun. It stinks it’s eight hours from home, but it’s a cool place.”
One that’s been very good to them.
PHOTOS (Top) Martin’s Weson Elkins (22) charges down the sideline Saturday as Montabella’s Austin Jensen closes in during the Division 1 Final at Superior Dome. (Middle) Montabella’s Brady Kieff steps into the end zone for the game’s first score. (Below) The Mustangs’ Noah Carlson (10) attempts to slow down Haylen Buell as he approaches the end zone. (Click for more from Cara Kamps.)