Onekama Celebrates New Stadium, Legends Past with Eyes on Another Playoff Run
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
October 23, 2026
Pretty much every player who has put on the Portagers football jersey over more than six decades of Onekama High School football knows the name Jim Taylor.
And if they didn’t know it before the team’s 52-8 win over Holton on Oct. 10, they do now.
The community of Onekama honored their former coach, celebrated the 50th anniversary of the only undefeated squad in the Portagers’ history and dedicated the district’s new football stadium during the win over Holton – which also helped keep Onekama’s playoff hopes alive this fall.
The Portagers enter this weekend’s regular-season finale at Merrill ranked No. 14 on the 8-Player Division 2 playoff-points list. The top 16 qualify for the postseason, which begins next week.
“We love our history and traditions – all of the generations have just supported each other and built it into what it is today,” said fourth-year coach Justin Sedelmaier. “The former coaches are still involved, mentoring me. … Coach Jim Hunter and Coach Jim Taylor … still coming and seeing and saying hi to the team and stuff every now and then. The ’76 team, a lot of them like Jerry Brown, are always around supporting us.”
Brown, the quarterback of the only Onekama team to finish undefeated, was the primary organizer of the reunion. He was on hand for the celebration, along with Hunter and Taylor, and was even more excited about honoring Taylor than he was about the reunion.
“The motivation behind it for me anyway, personally, was to throw as much light on our coaching staff, and most specifically, the head coach, Coach Taylor, who had such a huge impact on so many lives – mine for sure,” Brown said. “This was all about shining a light on Coach Taylor and his wife, Lora – what a team. She's been right there with him all the way, supporting him.”
Lora Tayler was the school’s cheerleading coach during the first decade of football at Onekama. She was also on hand for the Oct. 10 festivities.
Brown was one of 14 players in attendance to honor the 1976 team, which finished 8-0 and won the Northwest Conference title but did not qualify for the MHSAA Playoffs, which were in only their second year and included only four teams statewide per Class at that time. (Other Onekama teams have since finished perfect for the regular season but lost in the playoffs.)
Taylor started the football program in 1964 and served as head coach until 1988. During his time guiding Onekama, Taylor compiled a 124–58–3 record with only two losing seasons over 22 years. He returned to coaching as an assistant at Onekama from 1997-2008 and was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2005.
During Taylor’s early years, the Portagers played their home games at nearby Manistee High School while waiting for a home field of their own. The new stadium was built thanks to support of a successful 2024 bond proposal which also provided enhanced security technology, an updated gym, new playground equipment, pickleball courts, team rooms and a modernized press box.
The press box replaced the original built by students in a shop class at Onekama, including the grandfather of the current – and only fourth – coach in the Portagers’ history.
“The press box that just came down was built by the assistant coach, Mr. Foster's shop class, and my grandfather was part of that,” said Sedelmaier, who was the defensive coordinator for four years under John Neph, who with Taylor and Hunter has been the only other head coach Onekama varsity football. “The shop class built the press box and stuff on the first field and just finally now, 60 years later, we're able to make all these field upgrades. It's really been a vision for a long time, and something that I fought for, past players have fought for, the community fought for, and it's a vision that finally came together.”
Sedelmaier was a 2007 graduate of Onekama. Taylor was an assistant coach then. Sedelmaier’s grandfather, Phil Sedelmaier Sr., father Phil Sedelmaier, Jr. and uncle Todd Sedelmaier all played for Onekama during Taylor’s head coaching days.
Justin Sedelmaier has the Portagers primed for another playoff run. They are 6-2, a win tonight should guarantee them a spot in the playoffs and potentially an opportunity to host a game at the new stadium. A loss also won’t necessarily end the season for Onekama, which has reached the 8-Player Division 2 Semifinals the past two seasons. The Portagers’ strength of schedule is expected to boost their playoff chances, no matter the outcome in the regular-season finale.
Bennett Zeller leads the offense. The sophomore quarterback has completed 32 passes for 683 yards and eight touchdowns and picked up 762 yards and 12 touchdowns running the ball. His favorite target is junior Jason Sedelmaier, who has 11 catches for 260 yards and three touchdowns. The next rushing leader behind Bennett is Caleb Porter, also a junior, with five touchdowns while averaging 54 yards per game.
On the other side of the ball, Onekama is led once again by senior Ryan Hrachovina, an all-state defensive linemen last season. He has been credited 103.5 tackles this year – with 22 tackles for a loss and 18 sacks. He blocked a kick and ran it in for a touchdown earlier this fall. He’s also forced a fumble and recovered another.
Jason Sedelmaier also has been a big contributor defensively with 37 tackles, including four for a loss and one sack. He leads the team with 11 pass breakups and has an interception and a fumble recovery, along with a forced fumble.
The Portagers’ only loss last season came in a Division 2 Semifinal to Felch North Dickinson. Coach Sedelmaier is ready to build on the support of Onekama’s former players and coaches as his team prepares to make another run.
“To get to see them all coming back, wearing their replica jerseys and supporting us while we get a look back at some of the history and honoring that history was great for the kids to see,” Sedelmaier said. “That team was the first team to ever go undefeated in the regular season, and they're still the only team that's ever went the entire season total undefeated.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Longtime Onekama coach Jim Taylor shakes hands with current players during the football program’s reunion and recognition night Oct. 10. (Middle) Ryan Hrachovina (25) works to get around a Holton blocker. (Below) Members of the 1976 Onekama team walk toward the field at the new stadium. (Photos by Meredith McNabb Photography.)
Bad Axe Sharp Again in Building on 2020 Success with 5-0 Start
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
September 30, 2021
When it comes to dishing out praise for the newfound success of the Bad Axe football program, those involved are doing plenty of finger pointing.
The good kind.
“I think it’s all the responsibility of our head coach, coach (Kal) Pokley,” Bad Axe senior offensive and defensive lineman Sam Hass said. “He was essential to our team – just his coaching skills and bringing us all together and getting us focused for our games.”
Pokley pointed right back.
“It really comes down to the kids and the parents,” he said. “The kids have really bought into the program. They’ve bought into our offense and our defense. They trust it, and they know it works. Because of that, we’ve been able to be more successful. They’re very hard workers, and they’ve been willing to put in the work in the offseason.”
They’re both right, and now the Hatchets are reaping the benefits. After a 2020 season that saw it win a share of the Greater Thumb Conference West title and earn its first playoff victory since 1978, Bad Axe is now off to a 5-0 start, its best since 2001.
“It’s a blast to see all of our hard work pay off – all the hard work we put in through the offseason,” junior quarterback and defensive back Keaton Braun said. “I think last year, winning our first league title in who knows how long, and our first playoff win and everything, it kind of puts in perspective how hard work can lead you in the right direction.”
Pokley took over the Bad Axe program as head coach prior to the 2020 season, after serving as a junior high and junior varsity coach the previous four seasons. He inherited a program that had a single playoff appearance (2014) since 2001, and just nine winning seasons during the playoff era (since 1975). The 1978 team lost in the Class C Final, but the three playoff wins that season represented the only three in program history prior to 2020.
But Pokley had coached the JV team to a perfect record in 2019, and saw the potential in the players within the program. While they opened the 2020 season with a 36-6 loss to Sandusky, Pokley’s optimism for the program didn’t waver, and his players backed that up, showing up early for a Sunday film session following that game. The Hatchets would win their next four, not allowing a “here we go again” attitude to creep in.
“As a coaching staff, that wasn’t going to be an option, so it wasn’t talked about,” Pokley said. “We had done some preseason polls, some meetings with the kids, and a bunch of the seniors from last year, they were very vocal early on that they weren’t OK with that, and they weren’t going to let that happen.”
The Hatchets finished the regular season 4-2, their other loss coming against Division 8 finalist Ubly, and defeated rival Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker in the opening round of the playoffs before losing 20-17 to Hemlock in the second round.
“It felt pretty good knowing that we had changed the culture,” Hass said. “For years, Bad Axe had kind of been on the (back) end of the league. Being part of a team that kind of flipped that around felt pretty good.”
That has continued into this season, as Bad Axe is perfect heading into Week 6 when it will take on another undefeated GTC West team, Reese. To get to this point, the Hatchets have ridden a balanced offensive attack and a dominant defense. After winning 42-33 in Week 1 against perennial Greater Thumb Conference contender Harbor Beach, the Hatchets have allowed just 14 points total over their past four games.
That defensive effort has been led by junior linebacker Jake MacPhee, who has 41 tackles on the season.
Offensively, the Hatchets have had multiple players stand out on different nights. Braun was the star against Harbor Beach, running for 165 yards and throwing for 146 more, along with two touchdowns. Griffin Meinhold (135 yards, two touchdowns) and Devyn Howard (116 yards, one touchdown) led the attack against Cass City, and Blake Talaski (82 yards, two touchdowns) handled things against Caro.
Braun is averaging an impressive 8.7 yards per carry through five weeks, and he’s well behind Meinhold (16.8) and Howard (17.2), who are spitting out big plays nearly every time they touch the ball.
“They’re focused, and they know they’re capable as long as they’re continuing to put in the hard work,” Pokley said. “Up to this point, they’ve really been focused on doing the right things – staying after practice, watching film, staying healthy and getting good grades. It’s really a blessing – I can’t say enough about this group of kids.”
The players said they’ve noticed a different energy around town and in their school, which has turned into big, excited crowds on Friday nights.
“There are a lot more people showing up to our games,” senior offensive and defensive lineman Austin Volmering said. “There’s a lot more cheering, and that helps us get more momentum.”
The Hatchets are hoping that momentum turns into another GTC West title, and then a longer playoff run. They aren’t shying away from the biggest of goals, either, as they feel they can play with anyone lined up in front of them. After seeing some of their league mates make deep runs, there’s a bit of a “why not us?” vibe in a program where that once seemed unthinkable.
“It motivates us a lot to see (Ubly, Harbor Beach and other GTC teams) getting to that stage in the playoffs, and know that a small-town team can play football with the bigger towns and bigger teams,” Meinhold said. “It means a lot knowing that they can do that, and we believe that we can, too.”
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) The Bad Axe offense, including Noah Braun (53) and Draiden Romas (24), lines up against Caro during their Week 5 matchup. (Middle) Blake Talaski (20) pulls in a touchdown grab against the Tigers. (Below) The Hatchets are off to their best season start since 2001. (Photos courtesy of the Bad Axe football program.)