Smith Takes on Next Challenge at Everett
August 6, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
LANSING – On a frequently stormy Monday in the shadow of iconic Archie Ross Stadium, the sun broke in for the end of Lansing Everett’s first football practice – just in time for coach Mike Smith to remind his players they have an opportunity to accomplish great things this fall.
Senior Noah Smith knows it. He may have been a first-grader in 2007 when Mike Smith left one of the state’s top Division 1 programs at Holt, but he’s heard plenty about those Rams – who finished the coach’s tenure with 25 straight league wins over four seasons and a District title.
Noah Smith was following mid-Michigan football much more closely in 2013, when Mike Smith took over an Eaton Rapids program that had never made the playoffs and immediately led the Greyhounds to two postseason appearances in his first two seasons.
“I knew that at Eaton Rapids, he came in and changed the program – and when I heard that he was coming here, I was hoping he would do that here,” Noah Smith said.
And Noah’s reaction after Monday’s first session?
“He’s going to change the program,” Smith adamantly added.
It’s not that easy, and even over-the-top to say Mike Smith has made it look that way. But it’s also impossible to argue with his work over the last 30 years.
The Detroit Denby and Michigan State University graduate took over a Dansville team in 1989 coming off a 1-8 finish and led the Aggies to a combined 32-6 run over four seasons including two they finished at 9-1.
After a one-year stop at Eaton Rapids in 1993 (the Greyhounds went 5-4, their last winning season before 20 straight below .500), Smith moved on to Holt in 1994, taking a Rams varsity that hadn’t won more than six games since 1981 to the Class A championship game in 1995. Holt was 98-54 over his 15 seasons with the Rams.
Smith left to assist at Olivet College, then assisted at Grand Ledge for a season before returning to Eaton Rapids in 2013 and leading the Greyhounds to 7-5 and then 8-4 records over his first two seasons – and a 25-26 run overall while navigating a league that has sent three of its six teams to Ford Field over the last eight seasons.
Add it up, and the first four high school varsities (including Eaton Rapids twice) that Smith has taken over were a combined 8-28 the year before – and a combined 24-15 his first seasons. All told, Smith enters this fall at Everett 160-90 for his career and raring for this next challenge and the greater opportunities to educate that come with it.
“I love to teach. I love this part about, it’s not just the football,” Smith said. “It’s about doing something for someone else, the greater good, the whole thing like that. I just really, really enjoy coaching. But it’s not just that – it’s the teaching as well.”
Everett welcomes Smith coming off a 1-8 finish a year ago after former coach Marcelle Carruthers – who turned the program into a local power over 17 seasons – stepped down in the spring to become principal at Lansing Eastern.
Smith had 25 players on the field Monday, with three more for sure on the way, and he expects to end up with a roster in the low 30s – and with junior varsity and freshman teams as well, the freshman team possibly the largest of the three.
Smith also took over as the school’s athletic director in January. He knew his athletes coming into the first practice, but not as football players – and he admitted to being a little nervous Sunday night as he readied for another start.
Noah Smith said his classmates were a little anxious as well when Mike Smith was hired. But that’s eased as they’ve become familiar with their jolly new leader who long has been known for matching intensity with playfulness and genuine care for his athletes.
Noah Smith is entering his fourth season on varsity and earned all-league honors as a receiver last season in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue. Mike Smith’s “calmer” approach caught his attention Monday, even as the new coach did make vocal points on occasion.
“It brings us together even more. You realize that he’s there. He’s actually coaching us. He’s a real coach for us,” Noah Smith said.
Mike Smith said he’s watching this week to see who shows up every day and works hard every day – another part of the culture he’s bringing from his previous stops.
Noah Smith knows it will be sinking in “when people start listening all the time instead of most of the time. We listen, I can honestly say we listen, but we need to listen all the time instead of most of the time because most of the time’s not going to cut it.”
This first practice was over by noon, and Mike Smith already was enjoying what he saw about 100 yards in front of him – players on both sides of assistant Jacob Wyatt, chatting up the former Sexton and Eastern Michigan standout on their way to the locker room.
“If you do the right thing every day, the game’s going to take care of itself,” he said. “You need to know what kind of offense and defense to run and put your kids in the best spots to be successful. (But) the other thing I’ve always stressed to my teams, this team can’t be my team. It’s gotta be your team. When you can get the kids all playing for each other, you’ve got yourself there.”
PHOTOS: (Top) First-year Lansing Everett football coach Mike Smith talks with his team at the end of their first practice of this season Monday. (Middle) A row of Vikings line up during a kickoff drill. (Photos by Geoff Kimmerly.)
Heston Football Celebrates 1st League Title as Seniors Cap Extraordinary Rise
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
November 5, 2025
St. Helen Charlton Heston Academy finished this football season with a five-game winning streak and in possession of a trophy representing the school’s first North Star League Big Dipper championship in any sport.
The feat is especially incredible considering where the Patriots’ football program stood just four years ago.
Those Patriots welcomed a new assistant coach who would soon take over the program, but also five freshmen – Dylan Chichowski, Owen Romancky, Corbin Greenless, Desyln Klumpp and Tiernan Hinmon – in the starting lineup.
“If you rewind the clock, and go back to, like 2022, we went four straight games without even scoring a point,” said third-year head coach Matt Whelchel, who joined the staff that fall. “So to come from that and fast forward to this year, those (five) have been assistant coaches almost to me. They've really led this program to where it is right now.”
Those five seniors were part of a team than snapped a 43-game program losing streak as sophomores. They then led the Patriots to a 4-5 finish last year and 6-2 overall record this fall – with an undefeated run through league play. Heston was not eligible for the MHSAA Playoffs in 8-player because its enrollment exceeds the 215-student maximum to compete in the postseason. But Whelchel noted that the school remains ecstatic about what the team accomplished.
Before turning the program around last year, the Patriots found wearing jerseys to school on game days more than a little difficult.
“We would not get made fun of, but when we talked about having a football game or had our jerseys on and we were in that losing situation, it wasn't a very prideful thing,” noted Klumpp, the team’s kicker, running back and receiver. “You're wearing a football jersey, and everyone else thinks that you're just a joke because we never win.
“And being able to turn that around, people, you know, just mentioning how fun the football games have been to watch. It's also been something we had to fight through.”
Klumpp, Greenless, Romancky and Chichowski also experienced a winless season as eighth-graders as Whelchel served the school as the middle school head coach and varsity assistant. Whelchel took over the varsity program in 2023.
The players credit Whelchel with instilling an offseason work ethic. The focus on studying film, spending time in the weight room and dedication to maintaining mental and physical health were also among keys to the Patriots’ turnaround.
“Our senior class had it extra hard starting out from middle school,” said Romancky, who played on both the offensive and defensive lines. “I think after our freshman year, once we lost every game, the drive to win the first one just became very apparent and we really took that step forward.”
Whelchel is quick to point out the school had had a good deal of talent over its 11 years of football history. Dedication, though, is at an all-time high for the Patriots.
“I have no doubts in my mind that we had players in the past that wanted to win, but you've got to have more than that,” said Whelchel, who also serves as an elementary physical education teacher. “We had talent sometimes – we just didn't have the drive. You've got to have more than the will to win. You got to spend time in the weight room and keep grades up – and it takes a lot of dedication.”
Whelchel also credits his coaching staff for much of the Patriots’ success. The assistant coaches are Jory Klumpp, Graham Church, Liam McKeage and Nathaniel Snyder.
Heston always has found community support for football, but things are a little different nowadays. The varsity players are often asked for autographs from youth football kids.
“The community has always had our back — even last year, coming into some of our home games without a winning season — we always had our stands full and stuff,” said Chichowski, the team’s quarterback. “And this year, as I work out of school during the day, everybody who comes in is asking about the game, when it starts, and just telling us that they're going to be there and stuff. It's awesome.”
Chichowski racked up 1,076 passing yards and threw 12 touchdown passes. He also had four rushing TDs and 308 yards rushing for 1,384 total offensive yards. He was named to the Big Dipper’s all-conference team, as was Klumpp, Romancky, Tiernan Hinmon and Corbin Greenless.
Greenless, a senior lineman, led team in tackles with 114 plus six sacks. He added defensive touchdowns via a blocked punt and an interception.
Hinmon, also a senior, led the team in touchdowns scored with 18. Twelve were on the ground, where he compiled 780 rushing yards. He also came through with a pick six against Au Gres-Sims in the fourth quarter of Heston’s 43-6 season-concluding victory.
Romancky, who also had interception return touchdowns against Hillman and Whittemore-Prescott, admitted losing wore on the Patriots.
“I think all the losing left a bad taste in the mouth, and we just wanted to like clear it out and get that winning feeling,” he said. “All the losses that piled up fueled the drive to win.”
The Patriots had eight seniors this fall, but Whelchel is not at all thinking about a rebuilding year in 2026.
“We're going to lose a lot of talent for sure. But we had some really talented sophomores this year, and the only reason they didn't see the field a lot is because we had a lot of those guys playing ahead of them,” Whelchel said. “The seniors obviously had talent on the field, but they're leaders off the field too. And so they've set an example for next year’s seniors and juniors. I think we'll pick up – maybe not exactly where we left off – it might take some growing pains.”
Hinmon believes these seniors have paved the way for future Patriots football players to keep the winning tradition alive.
“Everybody used to call us the pity-party Patriots,” Hinmon indicated. “They never thought we were good, and now this season, we really proved ourselves. We worked hard. I think our next season, the younger ones are going to have a great season.”
“I think it's a thing of standards,” Klumpp added. “It just sets at the bar even higher for everyone else that's going to go through this program.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) St. Helen Charlton Heston players huddle on a game day this season. (2) Patriots quarterback Dylan Chichowski works to elude a Rogers City defender. (3) Owen Romancky (21) leaps to haul in a pass against Hillman. (4) Tiernan Hinmon sets up to make his move while carrying the ball against Breckenridge. (Owen Romancky photo by Ashley Patti/Houghton Lake Resorter. All other photos submitted by Jessica Romancky.)