Romeo Raises 1st Champion's Trophy
November 28, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
DETROIT — With a championship on the line and the margin for error too thin, Paul Hurley couldn't have been faulted if he started looking elsewhere to throw the football.
But Romeo's senior quarterback never lost faith in tight end Mitch Heimbuch, not even after the Western Michigan University recruit dropped two passes while wide open.
"Mitch probably has the best hands on the team, so it was really bizarre for us to see him drop two passes today," Hurley said. "It was never in my head when I was throwing to him. I knew if I was throwing to him, he was catching it."
Heimbuch was sure-handed when it mattered the most, catching three passes for 46 yards on the game-clinching drive, as Romeo beat Detroit Cass Tech, 41-27, in the MHSAA Division 1 championship game Saturday at Ford Field. Heimbuch even grabbed the 2-point pass following Brad Tanner's 16-yard touchdown run with 1:29 remaining in the game.
"Everyone still believed in me. Everyone was still coming up to me telling me to just get over it, forget about it," Heimbuch said. "I just knew I had to make a play if it came back to me. I forget my drops. You can't think too much on them or else they'll kill you."
Romeo scored six touchdowns, blocked a punt and recovered an onside kick to start the second half, but one of the key plays in the Bulldogs' first championship victory was a 12-yard catch by Heimbuch on second-and-13 on the second play of the final drive. That set up a manageable third-and-one and got the drive rolling. He also had catches of 12 and 22 yards on an 11-play, 75-yard march that consumed 5:45 from the clock, leaving Cass Tech little time to produce a miracle comeback similar to Detroit Martin Luther King's in the Division 2 Final on Friday.
Just when it looked like Romeo (13-1) would simply run out the clock, Tanner broke free from 16 yards out for his third touchdown of the game. He finished with a game-high 130 yards on 13 carries.
The drive began after a 36-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Jackson to Donovan People-Jones got Cass Tech within 33-27 with 7:15 remaining.
"I knew I just had to run hard on the play and good things would happen," Tanner said. "On that last drive, the whole time I knew if we just killed the clock, we'd be victorious."
Even before his three key catches on the final drive, Heimbuch made a major contribution to the victory on defense.
He blitzed Jackson and got a sack to force a fumble, which was recovered by Romeo's Austen Malczewski at the Cass Tech 40 with 10:36 left in the second quarter. Four plays later, Tanner's second touchdown run from 31 yards out gave the Bulldogs a 19-7 lead.
"We changed the call at the last second to a two-linebacker blitz," Heimbuch said. "It just opened up. The D-linemen took away their guard and center. I shot the gap. He just lost the ball; he panicked, I think."
Romeo scored on its first three possessions before Heimbuch's first drop on third-and-seven ended the fourth drive. The Bulldogs took that 19-7 lead into halftime.
Taking a page out of Sean Payton's book from the New Orleans Saints' Super Bowl victory in the 2009 season, Romeo's coaches called for an onside kick to start the second half. Kicker Zach Nies recovered his own kick at the Cass Tech 48-yard line. Six plays later, Domenico Bongiorno bulled his way 10 yards up the middle for a touchdown, extending Romeo's lead to 26-14 with 9:49 left in the third quarter.
"They have unbelievable return guys, so we were not supposed to kick it to them at all," Romeo co-coach Curt Rienas said. "We actually thought there was a 70-percent chance we would recover it. When you look at only a 15-yard difference in field position, we thought that was a good gamble on our part."
Recovering onside kicks was a priority in practice all week for Cass Tech (11-3) after it failed to cover three in its Semifinal victory over Canton.
"That really ticked me off the most, out of anything that happened today," Cass Tech coach Thomas Wilcher said. "As far as trick plays or big plays, that one hurt the most, because we taught the kids what to do. We talked about it, met about it; they just froze. We lost three onside kicks, so that was the most important thing going into the game, just making sure we got all the short kicks."
Special teams had another huge impact when John Verellen blocked a punt and Anthony Quas returned the loose ball 18 yards to the Cass Tech 20. Hurley scrambled for a 20-yard touchdown on the next play, putting Romeo ahead 33-14 with 7:00 left in the third quarter.
One day after Detroit Public School League rival King rallied from 18 points down to win the Division 2 title, Cass Tech provided the host city some hope for another miracle comeback.
Jackson threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Demetric Vance with 2:14 left in the third quarter, following a Khalid Jordan interception, and a 36-yarder to People-Jones with 7:15 remaining to make it a six-point game.
It was only the second start for Jackson, a sophomore who took over in the Semifinal game when junior starter Rodney Hall was injured. Jackson finished 19 for 27 for 194 yards and two touchdowns Saturday.
"These two starts have really been a big confidence booster for me," Jackson said. "I have a great offense, a great defense. I really love my teammates. These great athletes right here did this; I played a really small role."
Jackson wouldn't get the ball back until Romeo had run the clock down to 1:29 and added eight more points to the deficit.
People-Jones caught eight passes for 85 yards and a touchdown, with his first seven catches going for nine yards or fewer.
"They tackled great," the highly-recruited junior receiver said. "They rallied to the football, which made it harder to escape and make big plays."
To win its first championship, Romeo had to knock off three teams that combined for five of the last six Division 1 titles.
The Bulldogs opened the playoffs by ending Clarkston's two-year reign, 28-14. In the Regional Final, they beat a Detroit Catholic Central team that won the 2009 championship and was runner-up three years in a row from 2011-13. Romeo completed the journey against a Cass Tech squad that won the 2011 and 2012 championships.
It was only the second MHSAA championship for the school, the other won a year ago by the volleyball team.
"The Romeo community was a sea of red," Romeo co-coach Jason Couch said. "I would like to see if anybody else brought as many as Romeo did. If they did, I applaud them. The community shut down. They were here. Businesses were closing. That just shows the support.
"The reason they come out and support the boys is because they're busy in the offseason and in season supporting them with community service and doing other events and activities throughout the community. That's why we graduated from Romeo and we're back in Romeo; it sucks you in. We're proud to be Bulldogs."
The MHSAA Football Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Romeo’s coaches and players host their first football championship trophy Saturday at Ford Field. (Middle) Quarterback Paul Hurley hands off to Bradley Tanner (21) during the Division 1 Final.
Father-Son Bond Helps Set Foundation for Hudson's Dominating Defense
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
November 23, 2021
HUDSON – Payton Rogers doesn’t remember the first time he went to a Hudson Tigers football game.
That because he was about 6 months old.
“He was in a stroller,” said his father, Hudson head football coach Dan Rogers. “When he says he grew up around Hudson football, he means it literally. He was always on the sidelines with me. He was a ball boy by the time he was 5.”
Payton has a much different role these days. The 17-year-old senior is a starting linebacker, top tackler and emotional leader for Hudson’s powerful defense that will play for the Division 8 championship Friday at Ford Field against Beal City. Hudson is 13-0 and one of nine remaining undefeated 11-player teams in the state.
It’s little surprise that Payton grew up to be a great defensive player. His father had coached the Hudson defense for nearly two decades before becoming the head coach at the start of the 2020 season. The Tigers were coming off a 2-7 season during which several sophomores – including Payton – were pressed into starting roles because the team was so young.
Those five are still playing and now have starring roles.
“They all had a big part of our Semifinal win,” Coach Rogers said. “That was nice to see. They all started that sophomore season, and there were some rough times. That hard work is paying off.”
Payton was among those starters, although he was the starting nose tackle, despite being somewhat undersized.
“He got in there and got beat up a little bit,” Coach Rogers said. “That was his role. He was quick, and he always battled hard.”
After last season, when Hudson went 4-4, Payton told his dad he wanted to play linebacker this year. He worked the entire offseason on getting bigger, stronger, and faster so he would be ready for his new role.
The work was more than worth it.
Payton leads the team in tackles with 95 and solo tackles with 38. The 5-foot-6, 150-pounder is tied for the team lead in interceptions and second with six tackles for loss.
“He will watch film with me and pick things out, what works, what he wants to do, what doesn’t work,” Rogers said. “If I don’t agree with something, I’ll tell him, but he’s the coach on the field. He makes our calls and gets kids into the right spots. He’s become really good at watching film and breaking things down.”
Studying – not just watching – game film has been a passion for father and son. Coach Rogers said he took some advice from other coaches he knew who had coached their sons, and he sets some restrictions on watching film with Payton.
“You have to pick a time where you are watching as a father and son and when you are watching as a coach-player,” he said. “We just put it out there. Before we start watching, it’s ‘okay, this is coach-player,’ and we watch. You have to do it that way.”
Payton said the two of them know when to talk football as coach-player and when to be father-son.
“I’d say we mix it up,” he said. “Tuesdays at Hudson has always been defensive film day. That goes way back, so I’ve always watched film with my dad. This year it became a little more important because I needed to know more about the keys and the other team. My dad always taught me little things about football, but this year, with watching film, he’s taught me so much.”
The Hudson defense has been outstanding from the start, posting seven shutouts in 13 games. From Week 4 through the Regional Final, Hudson gave up just two touchdowns total.
Five Tigers defenders have at least 50 tackles on the season – Cameron Kimble has 85, Austin Marry 65, Ethan Harris 53 and Bronson Marry 53. In the Semifinal game against Ottawa Lake Whiteford on Saturday, the Tigers gave up 22 points over the first 14 minutes, made some adjustments, then shut out the high-scoring Bobcats the rest of the game. They forced three turnovers along the way.
On Whiteford’s final drive, the Bobcats got inside the Hudson 5-yard line with 1.9 seconds to play, but the quarterback came up a yard short on a 4th-and-6 play. Harris and Nick Kopin made the stop, ending the Whiteford scoring threat and turning the ball over to Hudson for the final play of the game.
“Harris and Kopin were part of that group of sophomores,” Rogers said. “They made a great tackle on their quarterback.”
Beal City will bring an offense averaging 35.5 points a game into the championship against Hudson.
“It’s certainly going to be a challenge,” Rogers said. “They are big and physical.”
Hudson made back-to-back Finals appearances in 2009 and 2010. Payton had a front row look for both games, serving as the ball boy for the Tigers.
“On 2009 and 2010 I was on the sidelines with my dad,” he said. “It’s such an honor to go back. I haven’t been there since then. I just want to enjoy it with my father and my team. It’s fun to be a part of.”
Payton wasn’t just handed the role of ball boy. He had to learn from older ball boys and move up into the ranks.
“I wanted to be on the sidelines with my dad,” he said. “I was ball boy all the way up until 2016.”
Hudson has a storied football history, most famous for the 72-game win streak during the 1960s and 1970s that drew national attention. One of the players on the 1975 team was Chris Luma. Luma would go on to coach Hudson, stepping down after the 2019 season. He was the coach who brought Rogers onto the staff. This season, Luma has a seat in the Hudson coaches box, talking in the ear of Rogers and other coaches about what he sees on the field.
It's a continuation of the Hudson football community and family. Roots run deep in Hudson, and the football team is usually top of mind.
Rogers is part of that family. The 1992 Hudson graduate – yes, he played for the Tigers – will not only have his son Payton on the field, but his younger son, Harper, 8, will be the ball boy for the game. His wife, Lindsey, and daughter Mia, 13, will be in the crowd.
“Everything is family around Hudson,” Payton said. “Our team has grown up together, and this year there have been so many people at our games, past players and guys we used to look up to. It’s been great seeing them come back for games.”
While a trip to the Finals is nothing new for the Tigers – Friday will be their fifth all-time appearance – it’s always a big deal in Hudson.
“I’m so happy for these kids and this community,” Coach Rogers said. “It’s a special thing to be a Hudson football player and live in Hudson and coach. The players are rewarded, and the whole community really supports the team. I’m just so happy for everyone right now.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Hudson senior Payton Rogers (22) hugs junior Calix Campbell after Saturday’s Semifinal win over Ottawa Lake Whiteford. (Middle) Hudson coach Dan Rogers (right, with assistant Jacob Bovee) provides instruction from the sideline. (Below) The Tigers celebrate their Semifinal win. (Photos by Deloris Clark-Osborne.)