Seeing is Believing as Confident Britton Deerfield Playing for Finals Trip
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
November 12, 2024
A little confidence can go a long way. A lot of confidence could get you to the state championship game.
Britton Deerfield is enjoying a remarkable turnaround season this year and will host Morrice for an 8-Player Division 2 Semifinal on Saturday.
Last year at this time, head coach Erik Johnson was shaking off the pain of a 2-7 season.
“It’s a great story,” Johnson said. “You go 2-7 and, really, last year, the last five weeks of the year we weren’t even in the game. We were getting blown out by halftime in most of those games.
“For those kids to have the resolve and come back and have the kind of success they are having this year is just great to see.”
Britton Deerfield is in its fourth season of 8-player football and having its best season yet. The Patriots have won nine straight games heading into Saturday’s Semifinal against Morrice and have set a school record for points scored in a season. Over the last six weeks, they are averaging 60.3 points per game and set the school’s single-game scoring record.
Senior Luke Wiser said the difference from last season is the team’s confidence.
“It’s all in the mindset,” Wiser said. “Last year we didn’t have the great confidence we have now.”
BD struggled early this season until that confidence kicked in. The Patriots defeated Pittsford in Week 1 but gave up 58 points. They lost in Week 2 to Mendon, giving up 66 points.
Johnson went to the defensive drawing board and challenged his players to get better.
“We talked a lot about the mental aspect of tackling,” he said. “They’ve been tackling since middle school. They’ve been through every tackling drill you can do. Now, it’s about the mental part of football, wrapping up and making the play.”
Over the next two weeks BD held Colon and Concord to one touchdown each.
The new Patriots offense started to soar as well. Johnson had favored a spread offense with a lot of jet sweeps and the quarterback alternating running and throwing the ball. In the offseason, he made a change.
“I knew we were going to have a stable of kids who could run the ball and a couple of different kids who could throw the ball, so I started to think of how I could maximize their efforts,” he said. “We went to more of a single wing offense. I watched a video series about the single wing and worked on ways to adjust that to make it work for our 8-man game.”
The single wing look requires the center to snap the ball to one of three backs and none playing the traditional role of quarterback. The results have been great.
The Patriots have rushed for 68 touchdowns this season and average 7.9 yards a carry. Wiser has rushed for 1,549 yards and scored 27 touchdowns. Caden Freeman has rushed for 806 yards, Caden Kubacki 666 and Cayden Allshouse 569.
Wiser credits the BD offensive line.
“It’s almost like I’m not running,” he said. “I follow my blocks and break off a run, but I think they really do an outstanding job, and our offense moves through them.”
Johnson said as the linemen settled in this season, they started to come to him to suggest different things.
“You know things are going well when the kids see something on the field and come talk to the coaches about it,” he said. “I’ll just say, ‘Yeah, let’s give that a try.’”
On defense, seniors Hunter Kniffin and Jayden Brooks lead the Patriots in tackles. Junior Liem Roe has eight interceptions.
In the first round of the playoffs, BD knocked out Adrian Lenawee Christian, which had won three Finals championships over the last four years. That, in itself, turned some heads.
“To beat LCS was huge for our confidence,” Johnson said. “We have been able to beat some teams that have had our number. LCS had handled us in every game we have had with them until this year.”
BD has eight seniors who have stepped into leadership roles. Juniors who played a lot as sophomores are contributing too.
“We had some younger guys in the backfield last year, but those guys have all grown up,” Johnson said. “The seniors have done an outstanding job of being there, ever since summer. When all of your seniors are there, that feeds down through the program. Other kids see that.”
Johnson said four years ago he couldn’t have predicted the current group of seniors would be where they are today.
“Some of those kids didn’t even play when they were a freshman,” he recalled. “It’s been a pleasant surprise to watch that group mature, and to see them now have success is awesome.”
The Patriots captured the first Regional championship for the program since Britton and Deerfield combined to form one high school in 2010.
From 1993 to 2010, the two schools played a cooperative football program and reached the 11-Player Semifinals in 1999 and 2000. A photo hangs in the school showing a huge crowd ringing the field during the playoff runs those seasons.
The team plays in a new stadium, just a few hundred yards from the old stadium, which is now the practice field.
“The crowd was great,” Johnson said of the Regional championship win over Pittsford. “They were into it. They stayed until after the trophy presentation and celebrated. It was great.”
If Britton Deerfield wants to get to the Division 2 championship game Nov. 23 in Marquette, the Patriots will need that crowd and confidence when they face the 10-1 Orioles this weekend.
“Our kids are really confident,” Johnson said. “That’s a good thing. You get that feeling like you can’t be stopped, and you can win every game you play. That’s good to have.”
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) Britton Deerfield’s Caden Kubacki, with the ball, stretches forward for extra yardage against Adrian Lenawee Christian. (Middle) Luke Wiser (4) takes on a Pittsford tackler. (Top photo by Deloris Clark-Cheaney. Wiser photo by John Discher.)
Resilient Shelby Turning Struggles Into Strength During 1st Playoff Run in 12 years
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
November 6, 2025
SHELBY – Not many football teams could sustain back-to-back heartbreaking losses to end the regular season – compounded with losing their senior starting quarterback to a broken hand during the first of those defeats – and still go on a playoff run.
But not many football programs have endured half the adversity Shelby has over the past 10 years.
“Show me a place of struggle, and I’ll show you a place of strength,” said fifth-year Shelby coach Phil Fortier, who started as an assistant in 2009 at the Oceana County school, located near the towering Silver Lake Sand Dunes.
“We struggle with a lot of things here at Shelby, but there is a resilience. These kids don’t quit, and they are used to bouncing back.”
Shelby (6-4) shook off season-ending road losses at Mason County Central and Muskegon Orchard View with an impressive, 20-2 road victory at LeRoy Pine River in last weekend’s Division 7 District Semifinal – the school’s first playoff win in 12 years.
The Tigers will travel a little farther north this Friday to Harrison (8-2), seeking their first District championship since advancing to the Semifinals in 2012 and 2013.
What has transpired with Shelby football since that high-water mark is a case study in what can happen at a small, rural school when things start snowballing in the wrong direction. The Tigers have not won more than three games over the past 11 years, with five winless seasons.
When Fortier stepped up to the head coaching job in 2021, he had his eyes on a dynamic group of middle schoolers who could turn things around.
Among that special group are senior Isaac Garcia and junior Jaylin Henderson, who have led the Tigers’ turnaround season by sharing the crucial quarterback spot in the veer-option offense.
While a two-quarterback system is not unique, one that is split exactly 50-50 certainly is rare. Garcia and Henderson both have attempted 67 passes and completed 35 of them, with Henderson having a slight edge in passing yardage (624 to 620) and Garcia the edge in touchdown passes (6 to 4).
Garcia has leadership skills galore – he is the one his teammates look to in times of trouble, and he is also extremely accurate in the short-passing game.
Henderson, an MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals qualifier last winter at 157 pounds, has athletic ability coming out of his ears, according to Fortier. He can throw a deadly deep ball on one play, then run over a linebacker on the next.
“I have been watching Tony Annese up at Ferris using all types of different quarterbacks in this offense,” said Fortier, who works closely with offensive coordinator Forrest Courtright. “Here we are with these two super-talented kids who bring different skills to the position, so why not use them both?”
In addition, Garcia was serving as a mentor for his talented, but younger, teammate.
“Isaac has really helped me a lot with my reads,” explained Henderson, who is second on the team with 95 carries for 617 yards and 10 touchdowns. “He gives me feedback and helps me to get better every week.”
The system was working beautifully, as Shelby raced to a 5-2 start, highlighted by a 28-18 win over rival Hart and a 44-8 manhandling of Muskegon Catholic Central.
Then came the first half of the Week 8 game at Mason County Central, when Garcia’s right (throwing) hand got crunched against a helmet on a kickoff, resulting in a broken metacarpal bone.
Just like that, the training wheels were off for Henderson, who is now Shelby’s all-the-time QB and has responded with his legs against Orchard View (19 carries for 144 yards and two TDs) and his arm against Pine River (8-of-14 passing for 155 yards and one TD).
It helps that the Tigers have a pair of 6-3 wide receivers in Trevor Weiss and Evan Waller, dangerous slot receiver DayDay Garcia and the constant threat of junior fullback and leading rusher Brody Fessenden (140 carries for 786 yards and 11 TDs).
“At this point in the season, our chemistry is really good,” said Henderson. “I trust all of our receivers. If I give them a chance, they will make the catch.”
Meanwhile, Garcia has been fitted with a club to protect his right hand and is back starting at safety, where he came up with a huge sack on third down and a pass deflection on fourth down to stop a late Pine River drive during last week’s playoff opener.
His return to the field has energized and motivated his teammates, who are watching their leader refuse to let even a broken throwing hand stop him in his senior year.
“At first, when the injury happened, I was very sad and depressed and didn’t want to leave my room,” said Garcia, a three-sport athlete who also competes in basketball and track.
“Then when they told me that I could play with a club, that brought my mood way up. It’s kind of like our team, we’re not gonna let anything stop us.”
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) Jaylin Henderson celebrates a Shelby touchdown during the Tigers' 28-18 win over rival Hart in Week 3. (Middle) Isaac Garcia waits for the snap as running back Brody Fessenden stands ready. (Below) Garcia and coach Phil Fortier celebrate with the "Blood, Sweat & Tears" trophy after Shelby's win over Hart. (Photos courtesy of the Shelby football program.)