Preview: Favorites to Meet in Final
November 18, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It’s easy to promote tonight’s MHSAA 8-Player Football Final at Legacy Field in Greenville as the meeting of the two best teams in the state this season.
Powers North Central and Deckerville entered the playoffs both undefeated and with the highest and second-highest playoff-point averages, respectively, in the division. And both have surged through the playoffs despite impressive opponents attempting to get in the way.
The Jets are known for a high-flying offense, while the Eagles are powered by a stifling defense – and yet, both are pretty strong on the other sides of the ball as well. See below for a glance at both teams, and if you can’t make it to Greenville the game also will be broadcast live on FoxSportsDetroit.com, with live audio streaming on MHSAANetwork.com. On-demand video will be available shortly after the game’s conclusion at MHSAA.tv.
(Statistics below are through Regional Finals unless noted. Rankings are based on playoff-point averages at the end of the regular season.)
DECKERVILLE
Record: 11-0, No. 2
Coach: Bill Brown, 24th season (190-69)
League finish: First in North Central Thumb League.
Championship history: 8-Player champion 2012.
Best wins: 36-6 over No. 4 Wyoming Tri-unity Christian in the Semifinal, 58-12 over No. 6 New Haven Merritt in the Regional Final, 40-0 over No. 11 Webberville in the Regional Semifinal.
Players to watch: RB/DB Austin Fritch, 6-0/175 sr. (1,305 yards/23 TDs rushing); FB/LB Wade Saldana, 5-8/170 sr. (596 yards/13 TDs rushing); QB/DB Brandon Pattullo, 6-0/180 sr. (379 yards/9 TDs rushing, 496 yards/8 TDs passing); LB/OG Reese Bays-Kramer, 5-11/180 sr.; DT/SE Austin Spaetzel, 6-0/210 sr.
Outlook: Deckerville’s defense has gotten a lot of attention this week, and rightfully so – the Eagles have given up a mere 50 points this season and only 18 combined the last two weeks against previously-undefeated playoff teams. Bays-Kramer and Spaetzel lead on that side of the ball, playing massive roles in helping the team to five shutouts while never giving up more than 12 points in a game. But we shouldn’t forget the offense, which was especially dominant last week running for more than 400 yards without attempting a pass. Fritch added 263 yards and four touchdowns to his totals above, giving him 1,568 yards and 27 scores rushing this season, and the team as a whole has run for 3,417 yards while needing to throw for only 517. All 11 wins have been by at least 22 points.
POWERS NORTH CENTRAL
Record: 12-0, No. 1
Coach: Kevin Bellefeuil, 11th season (64-52)
League finish: First in Western 8 Conference.
Championship history: 8-Player champion 2015.
Best wins: 60-50 (Regional Final) and 60-42 over No. 8 Crystal Falls Forest Park, 68-32 over No. 12 Stephenson, 62-22 over No. 9 Pickford in the Semifinal, 76-18 and 64-0 (Regional Semifinal) over No. 16 Rapid River.
Players to watch: QB/DB Jason Whitens, 6-4/210, sr. (2,170 yards/40 TDs passing, 536 yards/15 TDs rushing, 2 punt return TDs); RB/DB Bobby Kleiman, 5-9/175, sr. (594 yards/9 TDs rushing, 452 yards/10 TDs receiving, 3 interception return TDs, 3 punt return TDs); WR/DT Dylan Gagne, 5-8/175, sr. (439 yards/10 TDs receiving, 290 yards/4 TDs rushing); WR/DB Marcus Krachinski, 6-0/170 sr. (549 yards/10 TDs receiving); RB/LB Tyler Bentley, 5-7/175 sr. (541 yards/9 TDs rushing, 351 yards/3 TDs receiving).
Outlook: North Central remains undefeated in two seasons of 8-player football, bolstered by a Whitens-led offense averaging 67.4 points per game – only a few off last season’s average of 70.4. In fact, a loss would be the first for these seniors in either football or basketball since 2014 – Whitens, Kleiman, Krachinski, junior linebacker Lucas Dombrowski and senior center Ryan Plunger all also saw time in last winter’s Class D hoops Final as the Jets finished a second straight undefeated run in that sport. For the second straight football season, no opponent has come within single digits of North Central; only Forest Park got the deficit down to 10. Whitens added another 226 yards and three scores passing last week, giving him 2,396 and 43 total this fall.
The MHSAA Football Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
Week 6 Football Playoff Listing
September 26, 2012
Here is a list of Michigan High School Athletic Association football playing schools, displaying their win-loss records and playoff averages through the fifth week of the season. Schools on this list are in enrollment order. An asterisk (*) beside a record indicates that a team has eight or fewer games scheduled. A carrot (^) beside a school’s name indicates that a team is one win away from playoff qualification.
Those schools with 11-player teams with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules, or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer, will qualify for the MHSAA Football Playoffs beginning Oct. 26-27. Schools with 5-4, 4-3 or 4-4 records may qualify if the number of potential qualifiers by win total does not reach the 256 mark. Schools with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer may be subtracted from the field based on playoff average if the number of potential qualifiers exceeds the 256 mark.
Once the 256 qualifying schools are determined, they will be divided by enrollment groups into eight equal divisions of 32 schools, and then drawn into regions of eight teams each and districts of four teams each.
Those schools with 8-player teams will be ranked by playoff average at season’s end, and the top 16 programs will be drawn into regions of eight teams each for the playoff in that division, which also begins Oct. 26-27.
To review a list of all football playoff schools, individual school playoff point details and to report errors, visit the Football page of the MHSAA Website.
The announcement of the qualifiers and first-round pairings for both the 11 and 8-player playoffs will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21 on the Selection Sunday Show on FOX Sports Detroit. The playoff qualifiers and pairings will be posted to the MHSAA Website following the Selection Sunday Show.
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11-Player Playoff Listing
|
1. |
Utica Eisenhower |
2772 |
3-2 |
62.000 |
|
2. |
Sterling Heights Stevenson |
2766 |
4-1 |
75.800 |
|
3. |
Clarkston ^ |
2721 |
5-0 |
94.400 |
|
4. |
Grand Blanc |
2644 |
3-2 |
57.600 |
|
5. |
Macomb Dakota |
2608 |
4-1 |
80.600 |
|
6. |
Lake Orion ^ |
2565 |
5-0 |
96.000 |
|
7. |
Rockford |
2526 |
3-2 |
57.400 |
|
8. |
Troy |
2502 |
3-2 |
57.400 |
|
9. |
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley |
2462 |
4-1 |
77.000 |
|
10. |
Dearborn Fordson |
2442 |
4-1 |
83.400 |
|
11. |
Holland West Ottawa |
2262 |
4-1 |
71.000 |
|
12. |
Northville |
2220 |
3-2 |
60.400 |
|
13. |
Detroit Cass Tech |
2200 |
4-1 |
77.400 |
|
14. |
Canton |
2166 |
3-2 |
51.200 |
|
15. |
Monroe ^ |
2154 |
5-0 |
83.200 |
|
16. |
Detroit Catholic Central |
2060 |
3-2 |
47.800 |
|
17. |
Plymouth |
2050 |
4-1 |
71.200 |
|
18. |
Salem |
2039 |
4-1 |
75.600 |
|
19. |
Livonia Stevenson |
2005 |
4-1 |
77.200 |
|
20. |
Holt |
1992 |
3-2 |
57.200 |
|
21. |
Hartland ^ |
1932 |
5-0 |
91.200 |
|
22. |
Warren Mott ^ |
1879 |
5-0 |
86.400 |
|
23. |
Livonia Churchill ^ |
1877 |
5-0 |
100.800 |
|
24. |
Walled Lake Central |
1857 |
3-2 |
52.200 |
|
25. |
Macomb L'Anse Creuse North |
1853 |
3-2 |
58.400 |
|
26. |
Saline |
1849 |
4-1 |
72.400 |
|
27. |
Grandville |
1846 |
3-2 |
53.600 |
|
28. |
Flint Carman-Ainsworth ^ |
1772 |
5-0 |
88.000 |
|
29. |
Grand Ledge |
1743 |
4-1 |
70.600 |
|
30. |
Rochester |
1725 |
4-1 |
72.800 |
|
31. |
Traverse City West |
1720 |
4-1 |
72.200 |
|
32. |
White Lake Lakeland |
1700 |
4-1 |
72.400 |
|
33. |
Harrison Township L'Anse Creuse |
1680 |
3-2 |