Understudy Shines as Shores' Lead Receiver
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
October 31, 2018
The understudy has become the star for the Muskegon Mona Shores football team.
James Gilbert was supposed to be “the other guy” this season, the receiver on the opposite side from Division I recruit Damari Roberson, who has committed to Western Michigan University.
But the cast list changed in June when Roberson, a 3.6 GPA student who at one time had more than 17 college football scholarship offers, tore the ACL in his left knee for the second time in nine months during a non-contact drill.
“That’s when everything changed,” explained Gilbert, who always had considered himself a basketball player on the football field. “The coaches and Damari sat me down and told me that I had to be the man, that I was the only one with the same type of ability that could take his place. They basically challenged me.”
Shores coach Matt Koziak said Gilbert, a 6-foot-2, 181-pound senior, has always had the physical skills. But since Roberson went down this summer, he has been focused, motivated and driven like never before.
The result has been an incredible senior season for Gilbert, who has 51 catches for 1,172 yards and 10 touchdowns. His emergence as one of the top receivers in the state enabled the Sailors to climb all the way to No. 1 in Division 2 in the final Associated Press state rankings.
Mona Shores (9-1) will put its top ranking to the test Friday night in the MHSAA District championship game against visiting Ottawa-Kent Conference Black rival Jenison (7-3). The two teams engaged in a shootout just three weeks ago, with the visiting Sailors escaping with a 49-42 victory.
Gilbert played a huge role in that win, with six catches for 93 yards and a touchdown, coming up big once again when his team needed it most.
“JG has been unbelievable all year,” said Koziak, who has a 60-26 record in eight years as the Sailors’ coach, highlighted by a run to the Division 2 title game in 2014. “With all of the injuries we’ve had, he’s kind of been the one constant. When we’re scratching our heads, we can always throw it up to James.”
Coming into the season, Koziak knew he had senior battering ram running back Sincere Dent (5-11, 217), who has delivered with 118 carries for 1,082 yards and 20 touchdowns. The problem is that Dent has played in only seven games and his playing time was reduced in several others due to shoulder and ankle injuries.
Junior quarterback Caden Broersma (6-3, 206) also has been outstanding, completing 81-of-112 passes (72 percent) for 1,547 yard and 13 touchdowns, with just one interception. He also has rushed for 621 yards and 12 touchdowns.
The most surprising statistic for Mona Shores is that Gilbert has accounted for 76 percent of the Sailors’ receiving yards.
“I’m not surprised, because he’s always had it in him,” said Roberson, who has remained a key part of the team, attending every practice and serving as another assistant coach for Koziak. “I always learned from him in basketball, and I taught him everything he knows about football. With me being out, he’s had more of a chance to show what he can do.”
Gilbert is starting to garner more and more interest from college football programs, with Saginaw Valley State, Ferris, Davenport and Mount Union (Ohio) showing the most thus far.
Gilbert wasted no time proving he would be “the man,” showing his big-play ability with five catches for 159 yards (32 yards per catch) and a touchdown in a big 48-38 win over East Kentwood in the season-opening Gridiron Classic at Grand Valley State University. East Kentwood hasn’t lost a game since.
He also came up big in the cross-town showdown Oct. 12 against unbeaten Muskegon, which is ranked No. 1 in Division 3. Gilbert caught six passes for 118 yards, including a one-handed, 28-yard touchdown grab. He also threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Swick on a trick play in that 55-35 loss.
And Gilbert was at it again in last week’s narrow 34-28 District win over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, catching five passes for 120 yards and a touchdown. He sealed the win with an interception as the Rangers were driving for a potential game-winning score in the final minute.
“It’s been fun, but we know we still have a lot of work to do,” said Gilbert, who has impressed opposing coaches with his ability to come down with big catches in traffic. “Damari and I have been playing with each other and against each other since Little League, so I kind of feel that I’m playing for him this season.”
As for Roberson, he still believes that a season that began with a nightmare injury could have a storybook ending – both for the team and himself.
Roberson (6-2, 194) said his rehabilitation is going great and his possible return date from the injury is during the week of the MHSAA Semifinals. So there remains the possibility, if the team keeps winning, that Roberson and Gilbert could line up as opposite wideouts, like the original plan.
“Stay tuned,” said Roberson, who is on pace to graduate early in December and then enroll at WMU in January. “After all that this team has been through, with all of the injuries, that would be the perfect ending.”
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) Mona Shores senior James Gilbert makes a one-handed catch for a 28-yard touchdown on a pass from Caden Broersma early in the second quarter Oct. 12 at Muskegon. (Middle) Damari Roberson returns a punt last year as a junior against Reeths-Puffer. Roberson has not played this season due to a knee injury. (Photos by Eric Sturr.)
After Answering Call, MCC's Caughey Finds Football Lessons Pay Off in Priesthood
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
August 5, 2025
Michael Caughey was known for his brute force and ability to bully opponents as an all-state offensive lineman at Muskegon Catholic Central.
Today, 10 years after his high school graduation, suffice to say that his life has made a 180-degree turn and he’s using an entirely different skill set in his first “real world” job.
“I’m trying to help people get to heaven,” he said.
The kid that everybody called Mikey is now Father Michael Caughey, FSSP, after completing seven years of training at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Nebraska and being ordained as a Catholic priest on May 28 in Lincoln, Neb.
He returned home briefly – basically for a busy month of June, saying Mass at various stops around West Michigan – before leaving in early July and making the nearly 1,700-mile, one-way trip to El Paso, Texas, where he is now serving as one of two assistant pastors at Immaculate Conception Church in downtown El Paso.
Fr. Michael is slowly adjusting to the triple-digit heat (he calls it “Hell Paso”) and also the pressure and responsibility of serving his congregation.
He often relies on the discipline and work ethic he learned as a Crusaders football player, where he was a two-way starting lineman on back-to-back Division 8 championship teams in 2013 and 2014 – the first two of four consecutive Finals winners for MCC.
“I went through seven years of preparation in the seminary but, I tell you what, nothing can totally prepare you for being on the other side of the altar,” said Caughey, 28, who also speaks fluent Spanish.
“My football days at MCC helped get me ready for this. I learned how to stay focused and get the job done under pressure.”
Gridiron dreams
When he was a little kid, Michael dreamed of playing football for MCC, then later for Michigan State and the Detroit Lions.
His biggest role model was his dad, Shawn, who was a member of Muskegon High School’s 1986 Class A championship team, although the two had completely different body types. As a senior, Shawn was a 5-foot-11, 165-pound free safety, while Michael was a 6-1, 270-pound offensive tackle.
Michael more closely resembled his uncle, Rob Vanderleest, a fellow all-state lineman at Muskegon Catholic who went on to become a 6-4, 270-pound tight end at Michigan.
Caughey was a three-year varsity starter for the Crusaders as a two-way tackle. He made all-state in 2013 and 2014 and was a team captain his senior year.
Muskegon Catholic coach Steve Czerwon, who was in his first season leading the program in 2013, said Caughey was a “dominant drive blocker” who also caught the coaching staff’s attention off the field.
“We noticed he carried a Bible around with him,” said Czerwon. “But he was very sincere about it, and that’s just who he was. I had him in class, and I would put him in the top one percent of students I’ve ever had in intelligence.”
Caughey said one of the first times he felt a calling to do more with his faith was during the first week of Lent during his freshman year, when he made an individual confession.
It wasn’t until his junior year that he contacted the Diocese of Grand Rapids about the priesthood and gathered more information about that possible career path.
“I didn’t really go too far down that road because I had a girlfriend at the time,” Caughey said with a chuckle.
Faith over football
He had opportunities to play college football in Michigan, but he also wanted to explore his faith further, so he chose to play at Benedictine College – a small, Catholic, NAIA school in Atchison, Kan.
He redshirted his first year, then made the travel team and played in every game the following fall as a backup offensive lineman and member of the field goal unit.
But early in his redshirt sophomore year of 2017, his interest in the priesthood, which had been smoldering for about five years, was reignited after being introduced to the Latin Mass.
“All those feelings about the priesthood came back and I knew I needed to pursue them,” said Caughey, whose younger sister, Molly, will be a senior at MCC this year. “I called my parents and told them I wanted to drop out of college and enter the seminary. The calling was so strong.”
Shawn and Sharon Caughey were initially skeptical, but have come to understand that Michael’s calling to the priesthood was a great gift to their family.
“We are all better people because of Michael and his journey,” said Shawn. “We are a stronger family, and I am a much better person because of him. I know that for a fact.”
Michael spent the past seven years at the Fraternity of St. Peter House of Formation in Denton, Neb., where he not only transformed himself spiritually with intense study of Catholic theology, but also physically – dropping about 60 pounds, and even running a marathon last year.
Even though his football career was done, he was able to satisfy his competitiveness on the basketball court. Michael helped his team to five national championships against other seminaries and is proud to be the leading rebounder in the school’s history.
His time at the seminary culminated and concluded with his ordination ceremony in late May, which was attended by a large group of family and friends, including Czerwon.
Getting to the next level
Caughey admits his life has been something of a whirlwind for the past two months since his ordination day.
He is just now settling in at Immaculate Conception, where English is, essentially, his third language. He delivers all of his Masses and homilies in Latin and a high percentage of the congregation speaks Spanish.
“I just can’t believe how quickly everything happened,” he said during a recent phone interview, taking a break from his parish duties. “I was just a kid at the seminary, and now I’m saying Mass and hearing confessions. I’m responsible for people’s souls.”
While he misses home, he is thankful he was able to return to Muskegon as an ordained priest.
He said one of the best moments of his life was saying Mass on June 2 at his home parish, St. Mary’s in downtown Muskegon, followed by a reception in his honor.
The next day, he returned to his alma mater and said a Mass at Muskegon Catholic’s Nugent Auditorium. He delivered the Mass in Latin, as always, but he was “amazed at how locked in all of the kids were.”
He was then able to roam the halls of MCC for the first time as a priest, stopping to take pictures next to his all-state photo in the school’s “Hall of Fame,” and realizing that, as much as things have changed, the process to greatness remains the same.
“I remember playing tackle and telling the guard next to me, Jacob Holt, that we need to double-team the tackle and then get to the next level,” Caughey said. “The goal back then was to get our running backs into the end zone, which we did a pretty job of.
“Our goal now is to get our parishioners into heaven. The goal is just a little bigger now, I guess.”
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PHOTOS (Top) At left, Michael Caughey rushes the quarterback in a playoff game against Mendon. At right, Father Michael Caughey, FSSP, was ordained a Catholic priest on May 28 in Lincoln, Neb. (Middle) Caughey poses in front of his all-state picture in Muskegon Catholic Central's Hall of Fame. (Below) Caughey (62) walks onto the turf at Ford Field before the 2014 Division 8 championship game as one of Muskegon Catholic Central's four captains. (MCC action photos by Tim Reilly; recent photos courtesy of Shawn Caughey.)