Shores' QB Stands Tall During 2-0 Start
September 6, 2017
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Muskegon Mona Shores certainly has a scary offense, with Division I college receiving prospects on the edges, two powerful running backs and a much-improved offensive line.
If only the Sailors had a taller quarterback.
If seventh-year Mona Shores coach Matt Koziak had a nickel for every time he’s heard some variation of that statement, he’d be an extremely wealthy man.
“People who say things like that don’t know Tristan Robbins,” Koziak said of his 5-foot-10, 173-pound senior quarterback in his second year as the starter. “He is tough, he is fearless and he is a leader – the guys rally around him. We are very happy with our quarterback.”
Robbins has come up big in two impressive wins – completing 7 of 11 passes for 137 yards and rushing for another 47 yards in a 41-23 win over Canton at the University of Michigan on Aug. 26, then turning around and completing 7 of 13 passes for 129 yards, with 90 yards rushing, in a come-from-behind, 42-20 win at Zeeland West last week.
Robbins has the chance to prove the doubters wrong again this Friday, in the first of two blockbuster home games on the Mona Shores schedule this fall.
Rockford, the perennial Ottawa-Kent Conference Red powerhouse, comes to the lakeshore this week, led by 6-5 senior quarterback Jason Whittaker, who has committed to continue his career at Northwestern University. On Oct. 13, the Sailors welcome cross-town rival Muskegon, the winningest program in state history, which features a Division I quarterback of its own in 6-2 senior La’darius Jefferson, who has verbally committed to sign with Central Florida.
Robbins is ready to rise to the challenge.
“I just go out there and do what I can with what I’ve been given,” said Robbins, the middle child and only son of Brent and Jane Robbins. “Our offense has been doing great so far. Now we get a home game and it should be a huge crowd, and that will just add to the excitement.”
Robbins was thrust into the starting role in last year’s opening game as a junior after senior starter Drew Switzer broke his collarbone in the preseason scrimmage. Robbins threw four interceptions as the Sailors struggled to a 1-3 start, which ultimately kept them out of the playoffs for the first time in three years. But since that rough beginning, Robbins has thrown 13 TD passes without a single interception, leading Shores to six wins in its last seven games.
“He has grown more and more comfortable in his role,” explains Koziak, who led Shores to the Division 2 championship game in 2015. “We rely on our quarterbacks to make a lot of reads, before the play and during the play, and he’s done a great job.”
Robbins follows in the footsteps of two standout, pro-style quarterbacks in Tyree Jackson (6-7), who is now the starting quarterback at the University of Buffalo, and Tyler Trovinger (6-1), the starting shortstop on the Oakland University baseball team.
Koziak said Robbins makes up for his lack of size with a series of intangibles.
• First, Robbins is a 4.0 student whose intelligence pays dividends in a complicated offense.
Lining up almost exclusively in the pistol formation, Robbins triggers an offense which features a pair of Division I prospects at wideout in junior Damari Roberson (6-2, 190) and senior Keyshawn Summerville (6-0, 175). Charles Allen and Ke’Sean Sandifer are dangerous in the slot and senior Dee Davis and junior Sincere Dent have been a potent 1-2 punch in the backfield.
Who gets the ball on any given play depends largely on the position of the defense, explains Koziak, and the responsibility of reading the defense falls largely on Robbins.
• Second, he possesses incredible leadership skills.
Understand that Robbins is far from a prima donna quarterback; he’s a wrestler in the winter and played rugby for the first time last spring (“I loved it,” Robbins explained). He regularly inspires his teammates by lowering his shoulder and “laying it out” for his team.
• Third, and perhaps most importantly, what he lacks in size and/or pure athletic ability, he makes up for in an underrated category: grit.
Robbins’ true grit was on display at a critical moment of the Sailors’ victory at Zeeland West on Friday. Holding a slim 21-20 lead midway through the third quarter, Shores faced a crucial 4th-and-4 situation at the Zeeland West 16-yard line. After a timeout, Shores ran its outside veer, where Robbins had the ball with the choice of handing off to Dent, pitching wide to Allen or keeping it himself.
“The linebacker went right for (Dent) and I saw a little room and thought I could get it, so I kept it myself,” explained Robbins. “I was able to get around the corner and make it to the end zone.”
After opening the season with a 340-mile roundtrip to Ann Arbor and 88 miles back-and-forth to Zeeland last Friday, the unbeaten Sailors are expecting a packed house for their showdown with Rockford. This will be the fourth straight season the teams have played; the Rams hold a 2-1 edge in the recent series and won last year 37-23.
Adding to the excitement (and certainly the crowd size), Friday’s game will be the second “Sailor Salute” – a massive tribute to all of those who serve the country and their communities, complete with military responder vehicles, a U.S. Army Lakota Helicopter, 300 motorcycles, elementary students singing the national anthem on the field and even a pre-game performance by a U.S. Army rock band.
Robbins can’t wait to do his “small” part on what could be another huge night for the new-look Mona Shores football program, which made the playoffs for the first time since 2013 but has returned twice and posted four straight winning seasons.
“We do so much work and so much conditioning when no one else is around, which is no fun while you’re doing it, but it pays off on Friday nights,” said Robbins. “I can’t wait for Friday night.”
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 Mona Shores quarterback Tristan Robbins finds a crease during his team’s Week 1 win over Canton. (Middle) Robbins drops back to pass during that victory. (Photos courtesy of Muskegon Mona Shores High School.)
Lumen Christi Accomplishes Program First with 4th-Straight Finals Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 28, 2025
DETROIT – As Jackson Lumen Christi lined up to exchange postgame handshakes with Kingsley following its fourth-straight victory in a football Final, Foreigner’s “Feels Like the First Time” rang out through the Ford Field speakers.
The 28-14 victory in Friday’s Division 6 Final was actually the record 15th time for the Titans, and 14th for coach Herb Brogan.
But as far as he was concerned, only this one mattered in the moment. So, good call, Ford Field DJ.
“(Winning a fourth straight) is important, but what’s most important is the accomplishments of this team, this year,” Brogan said. “Every team is different. But, the fact that we had never won four (in a row), we had one opportunity and didn’t take advantage of it, that was certainly in our conversation all year long. Something we kind of stressed to the kids that we’ve done some great things, but nobody has ever done this. Our slogan was ‘Leave Your Mark,’ and their mark is they were able to do something no other team has been able to do before.”
Friday marked the second-straight Division 6 title for the Titans, who had won in Division 7 in 2022 and 2023. Lumen Christi previously had won three straight championships one other time, from 2016-18.
While it was a tight game that was in doubt into the fourth quarter, for Brogan it was won with actions taken just days after the 2024 title win.
“I think the formula is pretty simple, and that’s to work hard,” Brogan said. “At the conclusion of the game last week, I pulled out my phone and showed the kids two pictures of two kids on this year’s team leaning out the back doors of the weight room last year throwing up. What makes that special is not what they were doing, because that happens all over the state. What makes that special is that was taken on the Monday after our state championship game.”
A fourth-quarter surge from Lumen Christi was what won the game on the field, as the Titans offense awoke from a Kingsley-induced two-quarter slumber to find its footing.
It started with a blocked 34-yard field goal attempt by Jake Contat with the game tied at 14.
That was followed by an eight-play, 72-yard drive which took up 4 minutes, 38 seconds of game time and was finished with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Benny Gaston to Johnny Walters.
With Kingsley driving near midfield on the next possession, Walters came up big again, this time with an interception.
“There was just a lot of energy, we were real excited,” Walters said. “But we knew it wasn’t over yet, and we had to keep going.”
The Titans did keep going, putting the game away with a 34-yard touchdown run by Sean Walicki with 2:20 to play. A fumble recovery on Kingsley’s next offensive play made it official.
“I have great respect for Kingsley, the players and the coaching staff. I thought they were really well-prepared and played really hard,” Brogan said. “... In the fourth quarter, I thought our offensive line really took over and controlled the line of scrimmage and allowed us to move the football.”
The end of the game was much like the beginning for the Titans (11-3), who jumped out to a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter as Ayden Gatewood scored on a 25-yard run and Walicki broke off a 60-yard score.
But Kingsley (11-3) was unfazed, answering Walicki’s score with a 10-play, 62-yard drive that ended with a one-yard run by Andrew George.
It looked as though the Titans would take that 14-7 lead into the half, but Kingsley downed a punt on the one-yard line with 21 seconds left, and forced and recovered a fumble as the Titans attempted to run the clock out on the half.
Nolan Hodges came away with the ball at the 3, and while it was originally ruled that the Lumen Christi runner was down, review overturned the call.
One play later, Tucker Dreves found Gavin Lewis in the corner of the endzone for a touchdown, and the game entered the half tied at 14.
“I think the first thing that we always say about our kids is that we have fighters,” Kingsley co-coach Jason Morrow said. “We obviously didn’t play well in the first six minutes of that game, and you can’t take a team as talented and as well-coached as they are and spot them 14 points. But, incredibly proud of our kids. We go into the fourth quarter and it’s 14-14 and we had an opportunity because we have fighters.”
Those fighters really showed up on defense, as Kingsley held Lumen Christi to just 40 yards of offense between that second drive and the two game-changing fourth quarter drives.
Colton Goethals, Lewis and Hodges each had six tackles to lead that defensive effort. Lewis added 117 yards rushing to lead the Kingsley offense.
Walicki had a massive defensive effort to match his big day on offense, recording a game-high 17 tackles. On the other side of the ball, he rushed 11 times for 142 yards and the two touchdowns.
Gaston finished the day 8-of-13 passing for 111 yards and the touchdown to Walters. Antwon Baker and Brennan Brogan each added eight tackles for the Titans.
PHOTOS (Top) Lumen Christi’s Johnny Walters (8) and Nolan Huff (21) break up a pass intended for Kingsley’s Alex Figueroa (87) on Friday at Ford Field. (Middle) The Stags’ Tucker Dreves (9) closes in on a Titans ball carrier. (Below) Kingsley’s Andrew George (8) works to bring down Wes Learned.