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.)
'D' Propels Centreville to 1st Finals Win
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
January 22, 2021
DETROIT – It didn’t take long Friday for the Centreville defense to prove its season statistics were no fluke.
The Bulldogs stuffed Ubly on a 4th-and-short at midfield on the first possession of the MHSAA Division 8 Football Final, setting the tone for a dominant performance in their 22-0 victory at Ford Field.
“The defense played hard today,” Centreville senior defensive end and fullback Jared Spencer said. “I think we went all out – our seniors went all out just because it was our last game. Our first time making it to state, so I just think our defense, we were ready for the game.”
The title is the first for the Bulldogs (11-0), who had never won a District title in the sport prior to this season. While it didn’t look like it to those observing, coach Jerry Schultz said the nerves were certainly there pregame.
“If they’re going to say (they weren’t nervous), then they’re lying,” said Schultz, who is in his first year leading the program. “I could see it on their faces that they were nervous, especially this morning. That’s why we got on the field so early … we went and ran routes, I wanted them to just throw the ball around. As we told them, it’s 100 yards. Even I walked out here – I've never been here before, I’m actually a Packer fan – but just walking out here, it’s awesome.”
The 11 wins are a school record, despite the regular season being shortened by three games. The program was in the postseason for the third straight year, but just the seventh in school history.
“All the offseason work in the weight room and all the conditioning – everything that we had done since we were freshmen, it’s the best feeling to have to come in as a senior (and win) with this group of guys,” senior quarterback and safety Sam Todd said. “So, coming out on top as a senior, it doesn’t get better than that.”
Centreville was dominant throughout the year, with only two of the 10 games it played – its Semifinal was won by forfeit over Clarkston Everest Collegiate – being decided by single digits. That effort was led by a defense that had seven shutouts and allowed 29 points on the season.
“Just buying into the defense,” Spencer said when asked to explain the success. “It’s been the same defense since (defensive coordinator Trevor Haas) has been here. We’ve had the same players since freshman year, so I think we just had that bond to keep it tight.”
The Bulldogs held Ubly (9-3) to 142 yards of total offense, but 103 of those came on second half possessions when they had already built a 22-0 lead. Ubly was held to 24 yards in the first half, and didn’t record a first down until there was 3:54 to play in the third quarter.
Jacob Spencer led the Bulldogs defense with 10 tackles, while Ethan Brownridge had seven. Tristan McElroy had an interception in the end zone, which ended Ubly’s best drive of the day.
“One thing that they do is they have that angle front,” Ubly coach Eric Sweeney said. “Four years ago, (former Centreville coach) Tyler Langs coached at (Unionville-Sebewaing) and they’re still running his defense. So, it’s not something we haven’t seen, but we knew it was going to be tough because when you’re trying to run a trap and they’re angling those guys up front, you have to do some different things. They flew to the ball. Their linebackers came downfield. It was nothing we didn’t expect, but I kind of thought we’d block it better, but we didn’t. I thought they played incredible defense.”
When the Centreville defense wasn’t on the field stifling the Bearcats, the offense was giving it plenty of rest. The Bulldogs’ ball-control attack chewed up clock, with nearly 30 minutes of possession to Ubly’s 18. They ran the ball 42 times for 156 yards, and made big plays in the passing game when needed, as Todd was 6-for-7 for 130 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both to junior receiver Tyler Swanwick.
Todd also led the Centreville rushing attack with 70 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.
“I think our biggest problem like I was saying before, we like to play ball-control offense, and that’s what they did,” Sweeney said. “When they needed a big play, they got it. When we only run 10 plays in the first half, that’s not ball-control offense. Personally, I thought our defense played very well, but our defense never got rest, because we played bad offense. We knew (Todd) was an excellent football player. There were no surprises there.”
Todd’s first score came on a 1-yard run midway through the second quarter. The fourth-down play was nearly blown up in the backfield, but Jared Spencer had a big block to help his quarterback get the edge.
Swanwick made a pair of big plays on the second scoring drive, catching a deflected pass for a 31-yard gain, setting his team up at the 20-yard line with nine seconds to play in the half. On the next play, Todd found his top target with a well-thrown jump ball in the end zone, and the Bulldogs took a 16-0 lead into the half.
The Bulldogs all but put the game away with their first drive of the third quarter, eating up 7:46 on the clock, and finishing the drive off with a 12-yard pass from Todd to Swanwick.
Carson Heleski led the Bearcats in his final game, recording 16 tackles, including 1.5 for loss. He also had a team-high 67 rushing yards.
PHOTOS: (Top) Centreville defenders swarm around Ubly running back Mark Hellig during Friday’s Division 8 Final. (Middle) Centreville’s Tyler Swanwick pulls in one of his two touchdown catches. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)