'Oakridge Family' True in Name & Purpose
October 3, 2018
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Every football team talks about being a family.
But at Muskegon Oakridge, it’s more than just a motto.
Three of the Oakridge varsity coaches have sons on the team, including head coach Cary Harger with two-way starting senior lineman Cole Harger.
“It does make it extra special, being a senior and playing for my dad,” said Cole Harger of the Eagles’ high-flying start, which has them 6-0 and ranked No. 3 in Division 5 in the latest Associated Press poll.
“The family thing is real out here. This is such a tight-knit community, and we’re just together all the time. We know each other so well and know how to push each other.”
Oakridge faces its toughest test of the season Friday when it hosts conference rival Montague (5-1), which comes in riding a five-game winning streak and ranked No. 10 in Division 5.
Oakridge has been the dominant team for almost 40 years in the West Michigan Conference, a league which has put 14 teams in MHSAA state championship games and celebrated nine Finals winners. Oakridge has made it five times, winning titles in 1997, 2005 and 2008.
Early on in that stretch, the Eagles’ main league rival was North Muskegon, and later Ravenna. In the 2000s, the most competitive rivalries shifted north to the White Lake area in Whitehall and Montague, particularly Montague.
Oakridge is 7-4 against Montague over the past 11 years, with many of those games classic back-and-forth battles that came down to the final minutes (and sometimes, seconds). But the only game that anyone at Oakridge seems to remember is from a year ago, when host Montague pounded Oakridge 40-0 – the most lopsided conference loss in school history.
“We have waited 51 weeks for the opportunity to erase that memory,” said senior linebacker Jaden Parker, whose father, Tim, is the Oakridge defensive coordinator. “We got shell-shocked last year and didn’t fight back. This year we have more seniors, and we won’t let that happen again.”
This year’s matchup features two of Michigan’s top running backs. Montague senior Bryce Stark, a returning Associated Press all-stater, has gained 542 yards on 74 carries (7.3 per carry), despite being slowed early in the year with a knee injury. Oakridge counters with battering ram junior fullback Leroy Quinn (6-1, 216), the leading rusher in the Greater Muskegon area with 111 carries for 1,119 yards (10.1 average) and 19 touchdowns.
Coach Harger is quick to point out that Stark is just one of many weapons on this Montague team who worries his team.
“The first thing that strikes you about Montague is their athleticism and the number of quality athletes we have to focus on,” said Harger, a 1990 Oakridge graduate. “But they are also big up front, so you have to be concerned with that, as well. We need to play our best game.”
The final father-son connection on the Oakridge varsity staff is offensive coordinator Nate Danicek and his son, Jacob, a sophomore who starts at safety and plays slot receiver on offense when the Eagles break out of their full-house backfield and go with a spread look.
But the Oakridge football family goes far beyond just the coaching staff – it’s a way of life.
After a long practice Tuesday evening, Coach Harger and Coach Parker (whose fathers coached them on an Oakridge youth football team almost 40 years ago) went down the varsity roster and quickly pointed out all of the players whose fathers also played varsity football at Oakridge.
On that list is senior starting quarterback Koleman Wall (6-3, 197), whose father, Scott Wall, was the starting fullback on the 1990 team, the first Oakridge team to reach the MHSAA title game. Other father-son duos are starting running back and linebacker Blake Masterman (father Dan Masterman), starting center Mavrick McLouth (Dude McLouth), Jacob Barber (Nate Barber) and Sander Brott (David Brott).
Sander Brott is also a third-generation Eagle, as his grandfather, Mark Fazakerley, played on the first Oakridge varsity team in 1966.
“We are doing our best to carry on the tradition that Jack Schugars started out here,” said Coach Parker, referencing Schugars, who had a 262-78 record in 31 seasons at Oakridge from 1979 to 2010. “It’s a point of pride that these are all Oakridge kids. We don’t have schools of choice, so almost every one of these kids has been playing together since the youth leagues.”
The Oakridge youth league still boasts more than 150 players and is the starting point for one of the state’s most consistent programs.
With its six consecutive wins to open the season, Oakridge has qualified for the playoffs for the 15th straight year and 23rd of the past 24. Many believe this team could be good enough to get all the way to Ford Field for the first time since 2008.
The Eagles have an experienced backfield led by Quinn, but also featuring speedy senior Masterman (359 yards) and multi-talented senior Jalen Hughes (315 yards). Wall provides a fourth running threat and has been efficient through the air, completing 28-of-43 passes for 516 yards and 10 touchdowns, with just one interception.
The defense is led by senior tackle Brandon Wilde (5-9, 212), who has 38 tackles on the season with half of those tackles in the backfield for negative yardage, including six sacks. Masterman leads the team with 40 tackles, and senior cornerback Jaxon Fri has three interceptions.
Oakridge could possibly play Montague a second time in the playoffs. Montague has traditionally been a Division 6 playoff team, but with its enrollment up 36 students from last year to 445, it could end up with Oakridge in Division 5.
Another possible Eagles rematch down the road is with top-ranked Saginaw Swan Valley, which beat Oakridge in last year’s MHSAA Regional Final, 48-14.
The “Oakridge family” isn’t looking near that far ahead, but is focused on proving itself after last year’s lopsided loss at Montague.
“The way we played in that game last year was our biggest motivation all offseason,” said Cole Harger. “That wasn’t Oakridge football. I think one of our biggest strengths this year is our togetherness as a team, and we have the opportunity to prove that on Friday night.”
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) Senior Cole Harger and Oakridge coach Cary Harger are one of three sets of fathers and sons on the varsity this season. (Middle) Harger (66), a two-way starting lineman, lines up his block during a Week 2 win over North Muskegon. (Below) Harger, with Jacob Danicek (middle) and Jaden Parker, whose fathers also are on the coaching staff. (Photos by Sherry Wahr.)
Undefeated, Unscored-Upon Ironwood Journeys Downstate to Complete 1925 Run
By
Ron Pesch
MHSAA historian
November 20, 2025
Port Huron’s bold challenge of Flint Central and Grand Rapids Union for acclaim as “Michigan’s best high school football team” during the fall of 1925 meant an unexpected opportunity in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
During the first fall season of school sports under Michigan High School Athletic Association leadership – and half-century before the MHSAA Football Playoffs were introduced – small towns with schools possessing smaller enrollments also cried for recognition and aimed to join in the fun.
For schools, fans, and newspapers, MHSAA classifications conveniently offered a means to subdivide claims on the state title. Acknowledging that they could seldom compete successfully against the larger schools in football, that certainly couldn’t stop them from declaring themselves Class B or Class C gridiron champs.
Undefeated in contests since the middle of the 1923 season, Ironwood High – located in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan’s western-most city – ran through final preparations for the upcoming season with a game against the local alumni. A common practice at many schools, the preseason matchup gave head coaches like Ironwood’s veteran Robert O. ‘Bob’ Black a peek at his squad’s potential against a “friendly” opponent. The preps downed the “Old Timers,” 19-6.
Among Black’s weapons was his team captain, John ‘Cutz’ Cavosie, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior with impressive skills in all aspects of the game.
“Capt. Cavosie was true to the form of the last two seasons and gives indications of coming through this season with even greater flying colors than he did a year ago,” noted the Ironwood Daily Globe in coverage of the contest. “He punished the alumni with his driving attack.”
The Red Devils officially opened their 1925 slate with a game at Superior, Wis., on Friday, Sept. 25. Missing from the roster, however, was Cavosie. While the news was, no doubt, gossiped about on the streets of town, there was no explanation in the Globe.
Meanwhile, seven miles away on the front page of the local newspaper, The Bessemer Herald, readers learned some detail:
“John Cavosie, captain and star fullback of the Ironwood high school football team, left the squad this week after an altercation with the coach and has turned in his uniform.”
His absence from the team was apparent.
According to the hometown Globe, “Neither team showed anything but early season football,” but the Superior Evening Telegram’s coverage told another story:
“A field goal missed by inches cost Superior Central High school victory in the opening game of the season here yesterday and the two teams struggled to a scoreless tie.”
“Superior’s attempt to score … came in the final quarter after the two teams had battled on even terms through 45 minutes of play.”
With the ball on Ironwood’s 20-yard line, the Superior quarterback stepped back for a dropkick, but the ball sailed just left of the left upright.
According to Evening Telegram coverage, late in the second quarter, Ironwood had overlooked a prime chance to dropkick a field goal inside Superior’s 25, opting instead for an end run that failed: “That was Ironwood’s one and only chance to score. … Never again did (they) get within striking distance of the Superior goal.” An earlier attempt at a placement kick had gone wide. Cavosie’s absence was likely the reason for the dismal showing by the Red Devils. His importance to the team would soon be vividly illustrated.
A Legend is Born
While no details of mended fences appeared in print, according to the Globe, “the ‘Red’ Grange of the Upper Peninsula” was back for the team’s second game of the season against Menominee, two weeks later. Cavosie put on a show, notching four touchdowns on the afternoon including on runs of 42, 51, and 67 yards. Late in the game, facing a third-and-25 from just beyond the 50, Cavosie took a pass from center, “stepped back, apparently to punt,” but instead booted a stunning 55-yard dropkick for the game’s final three points in a 41-0 win. The news of the kick, which tied a national record for distance, would travel far beyond the Peninsula.
Next up were shutouts of Hurley, Wis., 47-0, and Hancock, 19-0.
Proud of the local team’s accomplishment, in early November, George Haggerson – president of the University of Michigan Alumni Club of the Gogebic Range – contacted state director of athletics Alden W. “Tommy” Thompson. Seeking broader recognition for Ironwood, he inquired about the possibility of the Red Devils playing a worthy opponent in a season-ending contest. Thompson suggested contact with Detroit, Jackson, Flint, or Grand Rapids high schools.
Ashland, Wis., was defeated 24-0 on Saturday, Nov. 7. Ironwood then squared off with Norway on Armistice Day. Expecting a tight matchup, an outstanding crowd turned out at Oliver Field in Ironwood for the game. Instead, Ironwood trounced the visitors, 34-0.
Ironwood was unbeaten and unscored upon, and three days later the Globe announced a firm date for a game downstate. Coach Black’s team would play Redford High School at Northwestern Field in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day.
The choice to travel to the Lower Peninsula to seek out statewide recognition would be an expensive one. Donations to cover the trip – approximately $1,200 – came from local businesses and professional men. They included a donation from a Menominee resident. In a long-distance phone call from the head of a large wholesaling house, Frank St. Peter wanted to relay a specific message to Haggerson, some 200 miles away:
“The Ironwood team will be representing more than Ironwood when it goes to Lower Michigan on Thanksgiving. I consider she will be representing the entire Peninsula. Put me down for $50 to help cover the expenses.”
The trip to Detroit
This was a historic trip – the first for an Ironwood gridiron team to the Lower Peninsula. For locals, train travel would be from Ironwood to Chicago, then after a brief wait, to Ann Arbor, where they stayed Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, the team would head to Detroit by bus.
Among those traveling to Detroit for the game was Haggerson. Many other current residents, as well as former Gogebic Range citizens “living in Detroit, Lansing and Ann Arbor” were expected to make the trip. A crowd of 1,500 was at Ironwood’s Chicago and Northwestern railway station Tuesday night for a rousing sendoff for the 18 members of the team, Coach Black, assistant Max Newcomb, and various school personnel.
According to the Detroit News, Redford had “lost its first game of the season to Detroit Northeastern, 12-6, but since then has been unbeaten in nine games,” with a scoreless tie against Birmingham. Redford had scored 203 points against 24 for its opponents, with Northeastern and Detroit Southwestern “the only schools to score on the suburban eleven.”
“The only record that surpasses that boasted by Redford is the achievement of Ironwood,” stated Thursday morning’s Detroit Free Press, “and the meeting of these two teams should be one of the outstanding high school games in the state.”
The contest was to determine the Class B championship of Michigan.
Back in the U.P.
Those staying in Ironwood could get game detail at the Ironwood Memorial building. A crowd of 1,800 to 2,000 were on hand as returns were relayed by telephone from the Globe office, where Associated Press play-by-play bulletins would arrive quarterly by telegraph, instead of as the game progressed.
“The students gave their cheers the same as they did on the field at games here this season,” stated the Globe, “and the audience was keyed up to high pitch throughout the game.”
The exploits of Cavosie were on the lips of everyone.
Newspaper reports claimed Ironwood supporters said he was as great as the immortal George Gipp – an All-American on Knute Rockne’s famous undefeated 1920 Notre Dame team – when “The Gipper” played in the Peninsula at Calumet High School.
Quoting Detroit Times reports on the game, the Globe reported the crowd was so large, “that the supply of tickets gave out, and many fans were admitted without the necessary pasteboards, fully 6,000 witnessing the contest.”
Weather conditions were ideal. According to A.P. reports, “overcast sky and southerly wind combined” with “solid underfooting to assure a snappy contest” – with “no alibis for the loser.”
Cavosie lived up to the hype. Pregame, the A.P. stated he wowed the crowd during warm-ups “toeing numerous punts against the wind. Many of them drove 55 yards against the breeze.”
Ironwood scored on its opening drive but was held at bay for the remainder of the first half. The second half was a different story.
A long touchdown pass from Cavosie started the scoring. The Red Devils scored four times during the fourth quarter, twice the results of intercepted passes. In the end, Ironwood destroyed Detroit Redford, 47-0.
“The story of the game is largely a story of John Cavosie,” stated the Free Press. “He hurled passes from any angle and almost any kind of a formation for long gains and was instrumental in every score credited to his team.”
“Cavosie can run and plunge. He can kick and pass. He can tackle and block,” stated the A.P. reporter, “… his kicking was a revelation to the fans. One time standing on the six-yard line he kicked over the safety man’s head at the 40-yard line and the ball rolled dead on the one-yard strip. His passes were accurate and well timed.
“The team it showed Redford at Northwestern field, Detroit yesterday deserves consideration as one of the best in Michigan in any class.”
At the end, Ironwood claimed the Class B state championship of Michigan with a 6-0-1 mark, outscoring opponents 212-0. A new standard for the school’s athletic teams was set.
Ironwood’s share of receipts for the game totaled $681.90. “The small quota,” according to the Globe, “was due to the fact that the game was played on municipal property and a charge could not be made on the property itself. A shortage of tickets further accounted for the small gate receipts.”
Upon its return home, the team was honored across multiple receptions. Details not captured in game reports were shared with classmates, former Red Devils athletes, and local fans, as the town celebrated its football heroes. A special focus was shone upon the linemen by A.D. Chishom, a member of the board of education, in his speech honoring the team. Praise for Coach Black and Assistant Newcomb flowed freely.
Come December, George M. Lawton named Cavosie to the Detroit Times first-team all-state squad. The A.P. placed him on its all-state second team, naming Cecil Turner of Port Huron on its first team.
Cavosie’s dropkick, notched against Menominee, was listed among American football historian Parke H. Davis’s “National List of Record Scoring Plays of 1925” - the lone high school entry on the list. “There is not a college team in the country that he could not make as fullback,” raved Davis - the nation’s ‘godfather of sports statistics.’
Ironwood students had started the school year on Sept. 6, wandering the halls of a freshly-built school building. Yearbook staff kindly chronicled the happenings of the school year with a fantastic sense of humor.
“September 7: Students learn more about the building. It takes them only fifteen minutes to find right classrooms.”
“September 26: The teachers, like children with new toys, use their new telephones all the time.”
“October 10: Gym students make appearance in the corridor in middies and bloomers. They are kindly presented with a piece of Miss Dougan’s mind.”
“November 30: Students hold assembly to rejoice over victory over Redford.”
Come the end of the school year, the senior members of the team, and their classmates, became the first to graduate from the new Luther L. Wright High School.
“June 14-18: Senior week. Class Play, Class picnic ‘n everything. Commencement. We say goodbye to the school, the students, the faculty.”
The district’s first superintendent, Wright had recently completed a term as Michigan’s State Superintendent of Schools. Ground had broken for the new building on May 1, 1924. Designed by Croft & Boerner of Minneapolis, Minn., it replaced the first building named in Wright’s honor.
Over 100 years later, it is proudly still in use today.
PHOTOS (Top) The Ironwood Daily Globe announces the local team’s win over Detroit Redford as the paper’s lead headline. (2) Ironwood’s John Cavosie. (3) Ironwood football coach R.O. Black, from the school’s 1925 yearbook. (4) Ironwood fans celebrate after the win over Redford. (5) A drawing of two students playing football, from Ironwood’s 1926 yearbook. (Photos gathered by Ron Pesch.)