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Second Half Starts Your Football Drive

August 31, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Just like that, the first weekend of MHSAA football season 2014 is in the books.

But we've got three more months of exciting stories to follow as September kicks off Monday.

Here's a brief breakdown of regular features to come this season on Second Half:

  • A Game for Every Fan: Weekly looks each Friday at the best games to be played in every corner of the state.


  • Drive for Detroit: Weekly reviews each Tuesday at the most significant results from the weekend across both peninsulas.


  • Be the Referee: Weekly series from our director of officiating, Mark Uyl, that will include a number of football topics during the fall.

  • This Week on MHSAA.TV: We'll fill you in on all the games available on-demand on MHSAA.TV from the week before and let you know which coming up can be watched live on a subscription basis.

  • Inside Selection Sunday: Our annual explanation of how playoff pairings are chosen and some of our toughest decisions when building brackets in October.


  • Live from the Finals: We'll cover all nine MHSAA Finals, beginning with the 8-Player championship game and through two days of 11-player title contests during Thanksgiving weekend.


  • Records Report: Each week we'll fill you in on our latest additions to the MHSAA record books, including for football, which has our largest set of listings.


  • All the scores, schedules and standings: Keep an eye on "Scores & Schedules" on MHSAA.com for scores every weekend as we receive them, and visit your favorite team's page for all results from this fall plus league standings, the rest of the schedule to come and playoff point averages.

Going on Offense

March 3, 2015

I was a defensive back on my college football team, but I refuse to be put on the defensive about the game of football.

The game is good for students, their schools and our communities. High school football is character-building for students, spirit-building for schools and community-building for cities and towns. Local school football programs ought to be part of the development plans and place-making strategies of all communities of Michigan.

The school-sponsored game has never been safer to play. The equipment has never been more protective, coaches have never had more safety training, the rules have never been more safety-oriented, and game officials have never had more encouragement to enforce those rules. The result is fewer injuries of all kinds – from nicks and bruises to ankles, knees and necks.

When the game of football has faults, we find and fix them. To continue doing so requires that we be honest with ourselves about where the game has weaknesses and be constantly alert to effective ways to improve the game.

Defensiveness gets in the way of discovering ways to go on offense. It blocks innovation and sacks aspirations before they can be launched.

I want our public to know that school-sponsored football is a great game. I also want the public to know that we aspire to keep improving the game and to exceed legal mandates. We will continue to do more than what is required and, in fact, we intend to do what’s unexpected to assure football remains a positive influence on students, schools and communities.