#TBT: Mill Thrills Again at Silverdome
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 26, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Pontiac Silverdome 25 years ago served as the stage for one of the most exciting moments in MHSAA Football Finals history, appropriately performed by an athlete known as "Mill the Thrill."
Mill Coleman, who later would star as a receiver at Michigan State University, scored on a 9-yard quarterback scramble with 1:34 to play to push Harrison even with DeWitt, 27-27. Steve Hill's extra point put the Hawks ahead to stay as they repeated as MHSAA champions.
Below is a "Finals Flashback" to that go-ahead scoring run, part of a collection of flashbacks that formerly ran during breaks at MHSAA football championship games. Click for the full box score from that game and playoff results from the entire 1989 Class B bracket.
The championship was the second of Harrison's now MHSAA-best 13. Coleman currently serves as an assistant coach for the Hawks.
PHOTO: Farmington Hills Harrison quarterback Mill Coleman looks for an opening as DeWitt's Travis Gribble works to get away from a blocker while in pursuit. (Photo courtesy of Gary Shook.)
Record Win Streak Setters Meet in Opener
September 4, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Friday’s varsity football season opener between Ithaca and Hudson at Alma College was the first time the teams had met on the field.
But the programs have been mentioned in the same conversations concerning record success frequently over the last decade. They are the only programs statewide that have won more than 44 consecutive games during the state’s long history of the sport.
The Hudson teams from 1968-1975 put together a 72-game winning streak that remains the MHSAA record and fourth longest in national high school football history. The Tigers’ streak ended at the first MHSAA Finals with a loss to Ishpeming in the inaugural Class C championship game.
Beginning on opening night 2010 and until a loss in the 2014 Division 6 Final, Ithaca mounted a serious challenge to Hudson’s accomplishment, winning 69 straight games to rank second in Michigan and tie for seventh on the national winning streak list. The Yellowjackets’ run included four straight Division 6 championships. Coincidentally, both teams won their first MHSAA Finals titles in 2010 – Hudson won Division 7 that fall.
Ithaca won Friday’s first matchup against Hudson, 38-24, and the teams came together after for this photo below (and partially above).
Journalist’s Schools to Remember Him
Southwestern Michigan is mourning the loss of Sturgis Journal sports editor Corky Emrick, who died unexpectedly Aug. 19.
The high schools he covered for two decades also will be honoring the memory of their ardent supporter.
Bronson, Burr Oak, Centreville, Constantine, Colon, Mendon, Sturgis, Three Rivers and White Pigeon all will be wearing helmet stickers and uniform patches with “CE” in green and yellow during this 2019-20 school year.
Emrick joined the Journal staff fulltime in 1999 and took over as sports editor in 2008, according to the paper’s report after his death. Click to read that Sturgis Journal piece in full.