St. Mary's Shifts Into Higher Gear, Finishes Finals Return Back on Top
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
November 29, 2024
DETROIT – Orchard Lake St. Mary’s football already had won eight Finals titles and finished second six times. But before Friday, it hadn’t played in a championship game since 2016.
Which for the Eaglets felt like an eternity.
“This is where Orchard Lake belongs – playing games after Thanksgiving,” said third-year coach Jermaine Gonzalez, a former standout for the Eaglets who went on to play at Michigan. “The goal when I took this job was getting back to getting here every year. For St. Mary’s football, that is the standard.”
That “drought” was wiped out in emphatic fashion Friday night, as OLSM defeated a physical Byron Center team at its own game, at the line of scrimmage, in a 35-19 win in the Division 2 Final at Ford Field.
St. Mary’s (11-3), which had to watch as Catholic High School League rival Warren De La Salle Collegiate played in six of the last seven Division 2 Finals, made a magical run after finishing fourth in the CHSL Central with a 2-3 league record.
All of those losses came against powerhouse programs – De La Salle, Detroit Catholic Central and Toledo Central Catholic – which Gonzales said prepared his team for anything in the postseason.
“We knew all year that with our tough schedule, we would be battle-tested,” said Gonzales. “I think you saw that out there tonight.”
Byron Center, which finished 12-2 after advancing past Regionals for the first time in school history, came out of the gate on fire Friday, thrilling its huge throng of orange and black-clad fans.
Senior Kellen Payne, a Division I baseball commit to Nevada, opened the scoring on a nine-yard run. After a seven-yard run by St. Mary’s Darrin Jones Jr. tied the game, the Bulldogs went ahead early in the second quarter on a 56-yard burst around right end by sophomore Cam Payne, Kellen’s younger brother, making it 13-7.
But at that point, St. Mary’s was able to find another level on both sides of the ball, swinging the game’s momentum.
It started on offense late in the second quarter, as OLSM went 47 yards in eight plays, capped by a 12-yard scoring run from Michigan State commit Bryson Williams, which gave it a 14-13 halftime lead.
“We tell our linemen that if they beat their guy up front, we will do our part running behind them,” explained OLSM senior running back Bryson Williams, one of three Michigan State prospects on the roster, along with linebacker Charles White and tight end Jayden Savoury.
Jones and Williams proved to be a lethal 1-2 punch out of the backfield. Jones led all rushers with 21 carries for 181 yards and two touchdowns, while Williams added 13 rushes for 109 yards and two TDs.
In the third quarter, St. Mary’s defense took over with a series of big hits. Defensive tackle Ryan Harrington came up with a huge sack on Byron Center quarterback Landon Tungate less than a minute into the second half, causing a fumble which teammate Kyrie Williams pounced on. Two plays later, Williams dashed in from three yards out – giving the Eaglets a 21-13 lead, which they would never relinquish.
The most decisive moment came late in the third quarter, when the Eaglets faced a 4th-and-17 from the Bulldogs’ 33-yard line. With Kellen Payne right in his face, 6-foot-4 senior quarterback Axel Newell hung in and delivered an absolute dime to Angelo Chapman running up the seam for a 33-yard score and a 28-13 lead.
The Bulldogs, who brought the biggest crowd of the day despite a snowstorm in West Michigan, kept coming back behind senior quarterback Landon Tungate, who entered the Final with 23 passing TDs and 25 rushing.
Tungate finally got a score at Ford Field with 10:45 remaining in the game, bursting 10 yards up the middle. The 2-point conversion pass was stopped short, making the score 28-19.
“This team is never going to quit, no matter what,” explained Tungate. “It’s been a great ride for our team and our town, and I’m just happy I got to be a part of it.”
Tungate finished 9-of-16 passing for 49 yards and rushed 16 times for 90 yards. Cam Payne rushed eight times for 122 yards and caught two passes.
Landen Conrad led Byron Center’s defense with 10 tackles, Kellen Payne made nine tackles and Luke Laska had eight stops.
“We lost to a really good football team with a lot of weapons,” said 16th-year Byron Center coach Marc Cisco. “They really stretch your defense and find a weak spot. All of their backs run hard.”
Jones iced the victory, capping a 63-yard OLSM drive with a four-yard scoring run with 3:33 remaining.
Linebacker Christopher Coates was the leading tackler for St. Mary’s with 10. Ryan Fresquez and Kyrie Williams each made six tackles, and Harrington had five tackles – including three for loss and the crucial forced fumble in the third quarter.
PHOTOS (Top) Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Darrin Jones (5) breaks into an opening during Saturday’s Division 2 Final at Ford Field. (Middle) The Eaglets’ Bryson Williams (4) attempts to break away from Byron Center’s Isaac Lee. (Below) St. Mary’s coach Jermaine Gonzales raises the championship trophy as his players cheer. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
'Mighty' Forest Park Rides Overpowering Start to 5th Finals Championship
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
November 23, 2024
MARQUETTE — The Crystal Falls Forest Park tradition continues.
The Trojans won their fifth MHSAA Finals championship in their 15th title game appearance 42-20 over Morrice on Saturday in the 8-player Division 2 contest at the Superior Dome.
Forest Park (12-1) took advantage of two Morrice fumbles to take a 28-0 lead into halftime. The Orioles came alive in the second half, but they couldn’t overcome such a start.
It was the second 8-player title for Forest Park with the first coming in 2017, and the first for coach Brian Fabbri, who started as a lineman in two 11-player championship games (2004 and 2005) for the Trojans.
He was thrilled to help keep the tradition alive.
“I absolutely love it,” Fabbri said. “I’m blessed to be able to have my name up there with the Mettlachs, Santillis, Graffs. It’s unbelievable.”
Dick Mettlach led Forest Park to back-to-back titles in 1975 and 1976. Bill Santilli took Forest Park to seven title games and won the 2007 championship. Dave Graff was the head coach of the 2017 champion.
“We’re the fifth one to win it; it just feels awesome,” said Forest Park senior Kevin Giuliani, who at 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds was named the Upper Peninsula’s top lineman by media vote recently.
Forest Park’s first-half dominance proved to be the difference in this championship clincher.
The Trojans got the ball first and capped an 11-play, 53-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run by senior Grayson Sundell midway through the first quarter.
Forest Park’s Noah Starr recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but Morrice came up with a big stop on fourth down in the red zone.
Any momentum from that evaporated quickly. The Orioles went three-and-out in their first offensive possession of the game, and Forest Park doubled its lead on the first play after getting the ball back. Sophomore running back Dax Huuki went 58 yards for a touchdown and Dietrich Rasner, who made all six extra points he tried in the game, made it 14-0 two minutes into the second quarter.
Morrice started its next possession with good field position at midfield but fumbled on the second play, and Nik Stephens recovered it at the Forest Park 45. It took the Trojans eight plays to score, and it was Stephens with the eight-yard run to paydirt for a 21-0 advantage.
The Orioles coughed it up again, this time on the third play of their next possession, with Vic Giuliani recovering it.
Huuki scored his second touchdown of the day, a four-yard rush with 10 seconds left in the half. It was another methodical drive of eight plays to go 50 yards. Forest Park led 28-0 at the half.
“Getting that quick score before half was huge for us,” Fabbri said.
The Trojans ended the half with 184 rushing yards on 33 carries. Morrice had only 11 offensive plays the whole half, thanks in part to their turnovers.
That changed during the second half – just not enough to put the game in any serious doubt.
Morrice (11-2) picked up its first first down during the first possession of the second half, and got its first big play, a 32-yard run by Joel Fisher that set the Orioles up at the Forest Park 5. Two plays later, he ran in a score and the lead was down to 28-6. Fisher led Morrice with 99 yards rushing on 12 carries.
The Trojans added a third-quarter touchdown of their own as Stephens ran five yards for a score on the ensuing possession to make it 35-6. Morrice’s Wyatt Cartier ran one yard for a touchdown in the early stages of the fourth quarter, and Fisher returned a punt 85 yards for a TD with 5:30 left in the game, making it 35-20.
“I knew they were a good team. We knew it was coming,” Fabbri said. “It was only a matter of time, and it happened. We had enough cushion there. We made enough big plays at the end.”
The last came a minute later, when Forest Park scored on a 49-yard rush by Stephens, his third touchdown of the day — half of his carries went for scores — and the Trojans were celebrating a championship soon after.
Morrice coach Kendall Crockett said he was proud of his team for fighting the entire game. The Orioles obviously competed much better during the second half as they accumulated 155 of their 194 total yards.
“We hung onto the ball, first of all. That was kind of a big deal for us,” he said. “... As physical as they were in that first half, I thought that we really fought back in the second half, didn’t quit and kept playing ball.”
That physical play has been a staple of Forest Park football since their first state title. Forest Park ran for 184 yards in the first half and finished with 291 on 47 carries — Huuki led with 136 yards on 19 carries. Fullback Trent Kannich ran for fewer yards, 68, but he was a factor as well as Crockett pointed out how hard he hit.
“(Huuki’s) a sophomore, but he runs like a senior,” Fabbri said. “He’s battle-tested. He stepped up when he had to and made some plays.”
Huuki said Morrice was a physical team as well, but Forest Park was determined to go home with a win.
“That was just put into our head going into this week — the most physical team with the most grit, and the mightiest team’s going to win,” he said. “So we just came in wanting it all.”
The Trojans did it in front of a huge sea of Forest Park fans, who chanted, “U.P. Power!” when it became certain the Trojans were going to win late in the fourth quarter.
“It doesn’t seem real,” Kevin Giuliani said. “I’m just so happy. Words can’t explain what I feel like right now. I feel like I’m on top of the world right now.”
PHOTOS (Top) Crystal Falls Forest Park players swarm coach Brian Fabbri (holding trophy) in celebration Saturday at the Superior Dome. (Middle) Forest Park’s Kevin Giuliani and Brody Starr (5) bring down an Orioles ball carrier. (Below) Morrice’s Joel Fisher (2) breaks away from the Forest Park defense for a long second-half touchdown run. (Photos by Cara Kamps. Click for more.)