Piggee Leans on Big Reds After Dad's Death, Lifts Team with Dazzling Play
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
November 3, 2021
Watching Destin Piggee do his thing on the football field – drawing collective gasps from the crowd with an array of moves, bursts of amazing speed and dramatic stops and starts – is nothing short of pure joy.
What a contrast from the tragedy the quiet, humble, 15-year-old Muskegon High School sophomore suffered two months ago.
Muskegon coach Shane Fairfield said his young sensation has the heart of a lion, but that heart was ripped out of his chest on the afternoon of Sept. 3 – just hours before the Big Reds hosted Detroit Cass Tech in the biggest game in the state that weekend.
Piggee learned that his previously healthy father, 43-year-old Dereko Piggee, had died from complications after a short bout with COVID-19.
He then did what his dad would have wanted that night and played for the Big Reds, ripping off a 43-yard run (appropriately, one yard for every year of his dad’s life), giving a packed house at Hackley Stadium a preview of what was to come over the next eight games.
“I played that game, but I wasn’t in my right mind,” admitted Piggee, a 5-foot-6, 160-pound slot back and return man.
“My teammates and my coaches have helped me like you wouldn’t believe. If I didn’t have football, I probably would have gone out and done something stupid.”
The next game at Zeeland West was even more challenging, as earlier that day was his father’s funeral service – and then the young man who is too young to drive a car had to lay his father and best friend to rest at the cemetery.
He responded once again, scoring the winning touchdown on a 32-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Piggee hasn’t slowed down since, rolling up 705 rushing yards on a mere 30 carries, for a staggering 24 yards per attempt, with nine touchdowns. He also has caught nine passes for 201 yards and a touchdown, giving him 17 plays of 20-plus yards on only 39 offensive touches.
“He is a gifted natural athlete, but you should see the way this young man works,” said Muskegon coach Shane Fairfield, who has led his team to nine straight wins after the humbling Week 2 loss to Cass Tech. “His love for the game and for his teammates is contagious.”
Muskegon (9-1) hopes to win its 10th-straight District championship at 1 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Cedar Springs (8-2).
The Big Reds, who have also won five straight Regional titles, are aspiring to make it to Ford Field for the eighth time in the past 10 years. Muskegon has won a state-best 878 games and 18 state titles, including six in the playoff era, with the latest coming in 2017.
It has been the emergence of super sophomore “smurfs” Piggee and his good friend, running back Jakob Price (5-7, 165), which has keyed this team’s resurgence.
Exhibit A was Muskegon’s 49-28 win over crosstown rival and two-time reigning Division 2 champion Muskegon Mona Shores on Oct. 8. With the Sailors keying on senior quarterback Myles Walton, the sophomores stole the show – Price with six carries for 217 yards and TD runs of 70 yards and 99 yards and Piggee with six carries for 123 yards and two TDs, along with two catches for 71 yards and another score.
Against Wyoming earlier this year, Piggee touched the ball twice all game and scored touchdowns both times, on an 82-yard run and an electrifying 50-yard punt return.
Although he makes it look easy on the field, it’s been a daily, hourly, minute-by-minute battle off of it for Piggee and his family, especially his mother, stepmother, grandparents and siblings.
“One day after school, I just started crying and I couldn’t stop,” said Piggee, who is the youngest of his father’s five children.
That was when his Big Red family stepped in.
Senior Damari Foster hugged him and held him for a long time, before passing him off to freshman coach Corey Bibbs, who then handed him to Fairfield.
“Coach Fairfield finally got me to stop crying,” said Piggee, who wants to study electrical engineering in college. “He told me about some of the hard things he dealt with growing up, and I learned some things from him.”
Piggee said he draws motivation from his friend Dametrius “Meechie” Walker, a towering, 6-5 senior defensive lineman who was diagnosed last fall with osteosarcoma in his left leg, a rare bone cancer most often seen in teenage boys. The cancer has ended the playing career for Walker – who already had six Division I scholarship offers including from Michigan State, Minnesota and Kentucky – but he remains a positive, smiling force on the Muskegon sideline.
While Piggee is motivated to play hard for Walker, he is also determined to follow in the footsteps of his father, a 1996 grad who was a three-year varsity player and all-area defensive back for the Big Reds. He played running back, but was better known as a dangerous return man and lockdown cover man in the secondary.
“I remember Dereko was a nice, nice kid,” said Dave Taylor, Dereko’s head coach at Muskegon, who led the Big Reds to Class A championships in 1986 and 1989. “He did what I told him to do, and he was one of my favorites.”
This year’s Muskegon team is the youngest in Fairfield’s 12 years as head coach, with as many as eight freshmen and sophomores starting in some games.
The turning point in the season came after the 49-14 defeat at the hands of Cass Tech, when Fairfield challenged Piggee and his underclassmen teammates to rise above their youth and start playing “big boy football.”
“Big boy football means being confident and being in control of yourself at all times,” said Piggee. “We got on a group text and talked about that after our loss.
“We support our brothers here even when no one else does. These guys have helped me to get through every single day since my dad passed; you have no idea. I just want to go out and play as hard as I can for them.”
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) Muskegon’s Destin Piggee (3) eludes the grasp of a Lowell defender during the Big Reds’ District Semifinal win Saturday. (Middle) Piggee takes the field with his teammates before the Sept. 3 game against Detroit Cass Tech. (Below) Piggee makes his move upfield against East Kentwood. (Top and below photos courtesy of Local Sports Journal. Middle photo by Tim Reilly.)
1st & Goal: 2026 Week 6 Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 2, 2026
Fall clearly has reached Michigan this week with temperatures beginning to dive, leaves falling to the ground, and the football regular season driving into its second half with league and playoff races taking shape.
This week’s schedule includes four matchups of 5-0 teams and several others that will further how those league championships could shake out, and also how the playoff field of 288 could unfold at the end of this month.
Games below are Friday unless noted. Tune in to the NFHS Network to watch the majority and follow the MHSAA Scores page for results as they’re submitted.
Bay & Thumb
Harrison (5-0) at Sanford Meridian (5-0)
The winner will claim a share of the Jack Pine Conference Division 2 title, with these two deciding the champion for the second season in a row as Meridian’s 20-6 victory last fall ended up giving the Mustangs the league title by a game over Harrison. Meridian is coming off an impressive 36-29 win over Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in what was a meeting of undefeated teams, and the Mustangs have scored at least 34 points every week – although that likely will be challenged by a Harrison defense giving up 8.4 ppg.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Cass City (4-1) at Caro (3-2), Gladwin (4-1) at Midland Bullock Creek (3-2), Traverse City West (3-2) at Midland Dow (3-2), Ubly (4-1) at Unionville-Sebewaing (3-2).
Greater Detroit
Toledo Central Catholic (5-1) at Detroit Catholic Central (5-0), Saturday
Both teams are off to 2-0 starts in the Catholic High School League Central, but neither has much time to let up the rest of the way. DCC follows this matchup with a road game at reigning Division 2 champion Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in Week 7 and still must face Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice in Week 9. Last week was the first DCC didn’t reach 50 points – scoring a plenty respectable 36 – and it will be interesting to see how matchups translate as TCC is coming off a 49-7 win over Jackson Lumen Christi.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Detroit Martin Luther King (4-1) at Detroit East English (4-1), Dearborn Fordson (4-1) at Northville (5-0), Monroe Jefferson (5-0) at New Boston Huron (4-1), Port Huron (5-0) at Macomb L’Anse Creuse North (4-1).
Mid-Michigan
Pewamo-Westphalia (5-0) at Fowler (5-0)
These two started playing each other annually in 1966, and Fowler is the only league team that’s given the Pirates much trouble over the last several seasons. In fact, the Eagles are the only team that has defeated P-W in Central Michigan Athletic Conference play since 2010 – doing so four times. If last week’s 59-14 neutral-site win over Bark River-Harris is an indication, the Pirates are once again continuing to get stronger as the year goes on. But the Eagles already have three shutouts this fall, and as the teams have traded the last four meetings this would be Fowler’s turn on top after P-W won 37-6 a year ago.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Hopkins (5-0) at Belding (5-0), Hartland (4-1) at Howell (5-0), Ovid-Elsie (3-2) at New Lothrop (4-1), Montrose (4-1) at Durand (3-2).
Northern Lower Peninsula
Maple City Glen Lake (3-2) at Oscoda (3-2)
Five teams in the Northern Michigan Football Conference are 3-2 or better, and while neither of these leads the league currently (that’s East Jordan), both have a chance to shake up the standings over the next four weeks. Oscoda has rebounded from two losses to already surpass last season’s win total, while Glen Lake is a reigning league champion but can’t afford a misstep after falling to East Jordan by a point in Week 3.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Elk Rapids (3-2) at Boyne City (3-2), Evart (3-2) at Manton (3-2), Gaylord (3-2) at Petoskey (3-2). SATURDAY Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (2-3) at Traverse City St. Francis (3-2).
Southeast & Border
Clinton (5-0) at Hudson (4-1)
Clinton and Ida are tied for first in the Lenawee County Athletic Association and meet in Week 7. But Hudson could throw a wrench into that matchup deciding a league championship share by extending its winning streak over Clinton to three. While the Redwolves have been impossible to stop so far scoring 43 or more points in every game and holding opponents to a combined 33 over five weeks, Hudson has reached 48 points three times in four games and given up more than six points just once.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Adrian (4-1) at Tecumseh (4-1), Leslie (4-1) at Manchester (4-1), Springport (4-1) at Reading (3-2), Ypsilanti Community (3-2) at Chelsea (5-0).
Southwest Corridor
Decatur (5-0) at Galesburg-Augusta (5-0)
Decatur is attempting to close in on a second-straight Southwest 10 Conference title and has won 14 straight league games over the last three seasons including what’s turned into a significant one in Week 1 this fall, 29-25 over Cassopolis. Galesburg-Augusta is among teams that came over from the Southwestern Athletic Conference for football this season and is enjoying its best run in decades – and a win over the Raiders would be the biggest highlight yet.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Schoolcraft (4-1) at Kalamazoo United (5-0), St. Joseph (4-1) at Portage Northern (3-2), Coldwater (4-1) at Battle Creek Harper Creek (4-1), Dowagiac (3-2) at Berrien Springs (5-0).
Upper Peninsula
L’Anse (3-2) at Bark River-Harris (4-1)
L’Anse is one of three teams in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference Iron chasing Bark River-Harris, which fell last week to Division 7 contender Pewamo-Westphalia on a neutral field but otherwise is undefeated. The Broncos also have won all three recent meetings with L’Anse, but the Purple Hornets bounced back from two straight losses this fall to down Gwinn last week and are working to build on last season’s playoff appearance.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Kingsford (5-0) at Hancock (3-2), Negaunee (3-2) at Ishpeming Westwood (2-3), Menominee (5-0) at Gladstone (1-4), Calumet (3-2) at Houghton (1-4).
West Michigan
Middleville Thornapple Kellogg (5-0) at Grand Rapids Catholic Central (4-1)
Middleville has built well on last season’s 7-3 finish, already avenging last year’s one-point loss to Holland Christian and hoping for a similar result in this week’s matchup after falling to Grand Rapids Catholic Central 10-0 a year ago. The Trojans and Cougars are the early leaders in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Black, and Catholic Central is coming off a notable 10-point win over East Grand Rapids – with its lone regular-season loss over the last two seasons in Week 2 to Chicago Kenwood Academy.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Rockford (3-2) at East Kentwood (5-0), Zeeland East (3-2) at Zeeland West (4-1), Byron Center (4-1) at Muskegon Mona Shore (4-1), Coopersville (5-0) at Sparta (3-2).
8-Player
Portland St. Patrick (5-0) at Pickford (5-0)
These two won’t meet in the playoffs as they are in different divisions, but they both might end up playing on the last day of the season at the Superior Dome. St. Patrick is a contender in Division 2, undefeated in part thanks to a forfeit win from Blanchard Montabella but also now riding an 18-game winning streak. Pickford is hoping for a title run in Division 1 and like the Shamrocks is annually capable of chasing that high bar.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Bridgman (4-1) at St. Joseph Our Lady of the Lake Catholic (4-1), Norway (4-1) at Crystal Falls Forest Park (4-1), Kingston (4-1) at Deckerville (4-1), Climax-Scotts (4-1) at Marcellus (4-1).
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PHOTO Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary sophomore quarterback Mason Krager (13) scrambles to elude Fowler senior linebacker Jack O’Hare (52) during the second quarter of their season opener Aug. 28 in Saginaw. (Photo by Kolleth Photography.)