Vandercook Lake Football Returns, Growing Despite School's Decreased Enrollment
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
September 17, 2024
A few weeks ago, Daniel Midena noticed someone watching his Vandercook Lake football team practice in Jackson.
Upon some quick investigation, he discovered it was a friendly visit.
“I found out it was one of our alumni,” Midena said. “Turns out he just wanted to congratulate our guys on that win. I told our kids, if we do this right, the community is going to support you.”
The Jayhawks had defeated East Jackson 43-28 on Sept. 6 to win their first 11-player varsity football game since 2018.
“I’m just so proud of the kids,” he said. “They put in a lot of hard work. To just experience that win and to know, ‘Yeah, we can do this.’ That was great for the kids. This is what winning feels like. So many people reached out with congratulations – some people that I don’t even know.”
The last winning season for Vandercook Lake was in 2015. It’s been a rocky road since for the football program, which has struggled to field full varsity teams and win games for the last decade. The Jayhawks moved to 8-player football in 2020 in an effort to save the program, but by 2022 the team was down to 10 players or fewer at times. They lost games that fall by scores of 79-0, 58-0, 65-0 and 70-0 before halting the season.
Midena, 32, a physical education and health teacher at Vandercook Lake, has been the architect of the rebuild. A Brooklyn Columbia Central graduate, Midena took over the Vandercook Lake Middle School football program a couple of years ago and saw some success. One of his teams went undefeated.
Once he entered the picture, the team more than doubled its turnout for football, from 11 players in 2022 to 30 players last season. This year he has nearly 40 athletes participating on the varsity and JV.
“We were at rock bottom,” he said. “I said, ‘Let’s see if we can change this. I was able to reach some of the kids in the hallways. We were able to double the numbers. There were a lot of kids who should have been playing. They just expected to lose here and didn’t want to play. I am trying to change that – to get an expect-to-win mentality.”
He’s also teaching the game to some athletes who never had the opportunity to play youth football or learn the game growing up.
“Still today, I’m teaching things I wouldn’t think I would have to,” he said. “From not playing football, some of these just need to be taught the simple rules. Every day we teach the game more than we play it. They must know the game before they can do it. That was a big thing. We’re literally teaching basic rules and schemes.”
Midena has no trouble teaching the rules of the game. He’s officiated basketball, baseball and football for the MHSAA for several years. Last year he was one of the officials for the 11-player Division 4 Final at Ford Field.
“I think that helps big-time with the rule knowledge and teaching the kids,” he said of his referee background.
Most of all, he’s building relationships with a new era of football players at the Jackson County school. When he was asked to take over the program once the school decided to return to 11-player football, he decided to take off his referee hat and pick the coaching whistle. Having coached several of the current varsity players while they were in middle school was an advantage.
“I feel we have done a tremendous amount of growth from last year to this year,” he said. “I had relationships with them; they knew my expectations.
He is now looking to build consistency in the program.
“Most challenging is consistency,” Midena said. “That is our big word. I still fight numbers every day. Monday, we finished the JV game with 11 players, and we won. That is still a problem. The kids have to learn that you have to show up every day for practice. It’s the process over the outcome. You can’t just show up and think we are going to do okay on Friday.
“We’re still trying to drive home to the kids you have to be consistent in everything you do.”
The Jayhawks are focused on building a foundation for football teams of the future. The current team has two seniors, six juniors and more than 30 freshmen and sophomores.
While he hopes there are more wins on this year’s schedule, he is not taking anything for granted.
“We take things on a game-by-game basis,” he said. “Our goal is to go out and compete and see how we are going to do.”
Some players are pulling double duty, participating in cross country or marching band this fall.
“They run in, I give them some details, and they go out and perform in the band. We share athletes in other sports,” he said.
The Vandercook Lake school district is going through a steady decline in enrollment, something Midena says keeps him up at night. In 2008, the high school enrollment was two students shy of 400. This fall, the enrollment is 190.
“I have to keep reaching the kids that we have here,” he said. “I can only concentrate on the kids we have here at the school. That’s what I am going to continue to do – try to get more kids to come out and play football.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Vandercook Lake’s Leland Barton carries the ball against East Jackson this season. (Middle) Jayhawks coach Daniel Midena, middle, high-fives his players. (Photos by Jeff Steers.)
DCC Closes Season by Avenging 2024 Semifinal Loss to 'Finish What We Started'
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
December 1, 2025
DETROIT – The featured matchup of 2025 MHSAA Football Finals weekend at Ford Field pitted unbeaten heavyweights Detroit Catholic Central and Detroit Cass Tech in the Division 1 title bout.
DCC coach Justin Cessante used a boxing metaphor with his team in the days leading up to the main event. The Shamrocks essentially won by unanimous decision, although a knockout punch came from an unlikely source.
A 61-yard pick-6 by 6-foot-3, 300-pound senior noseguard Benny Eziuka with 3:12 remaining got the party started early and put the finishing touch on DCC’s dominant 42-19 victory over reigning champ Cass Tech to close Sunday night.
“We had a theme all week that our special teams and run game are going to be the body shots,” Cessante said. “Our uppercut is going to be making big plays on offense, and our defense – brick wall – was going to be the head shots.
“We talked about that all week and how we were going to play a physical, disciplined brand of football. I think we did that in all three phases.”
DCC did just that in capping a 14-0 season and capturing its first Finals title since 2009. The Shamrocks, who made their first championship game appearance since 2016, now have 11 wins in 18 trips to the final round.
Cass Tech (13-1) outgained DCC, 358-311, but the Shamrocks’ stingy defense forced multiple Technicians miscues, including two interceptions and a lost fumble.
Cass Tech suffered only its second Finals defeat in six overall trips to the championship game.
“We left a lot of stuff on the field,” Cass Tech coach Marvin Rushing said. “We’ll come back in a couple weeks and watch some of this stuff and we’ll be pounding the table a little bit with some of the stuff that we left on the field.
“To be a champion, you’ve got to beat the man to be the man today. They get to hoist the trophy, and they deserve it.”
DCC junior quarterback Duke Banta and classmate Gideon Gash connected on three touchdown passes: 41 yards with 7:44 left in the first quarter, 37 yards with 7:36 left in the third, and 48 yards with 4:52 remaining in the contest.
Banta finished 9-of-11 passing for 156 yards and no interceptions. All three of Gash’s receptions went for scores. Older brother, senior Samson Gash, had five receptions for 25 yards.
DCC senior Cedric Williams led all rushers with 72 yards on 18 carries with a one-yard TD midway through the fourth quarter. Senior Joshua Peters scored on a five-yard run to give the Shamrocks a 13-0 lead late in the first half, while junior kicker Ty Goddard booted a 21-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter for the champions.
It was Eziuka who stole the show, however. The two-way starting lineman and Penn State commit realized a big man’s dream. Junior linebacker Jalen Montlouis pressured Cass Tech’s backfield near the Technicians’ 45-yard line and forced a risky throw, which Eziuka caught at his own 39. Eziuka got a couple blocks, rumbled down the DCC sideline, and stomped into the end zone to the roar of the crowd.
“You know, I was just in the right place at the right time. I caught the ball, my teammate Connor Ryan was throwing me a block, so I was like, ‘I mean, he made the effort, so I’ve got to try to score,’” Eziuka said. “You know, I made the cut and saw green grass. I was like, ‘That’s a long way, but I’ve got to try.’ I kept going. I saw one of their guys catching up to me. My teammate, Jack Janda, made a great block for me to get in there.
“When I was in the end zone, I had to make my way to the barrier because I was not standing up for very long. (The barrier) was supporting me. I definitely needed oxygen,” Eziuka added with a chuckle. “It was a great play for the entire team.”
Samson Gash was asked if he felt threatened by Eziuka and a potential claim of being fastest player on the team.
“A little bit. Low key, a little bit,” Gash said to laughter in the interview room.
In addition to its interceptions, DCC’s defense sacked talented sophomore quarterback Donald Tabron II three times and limited Cass Tech to 73 rushing yards. Tabron finished 25-of-37 for 285 yards with two TDs – one to senior Corey Sadler Jr. from 15 yards out with 5:24 left, and the other to senior William Sykes Jr. from 12 yards out with 14 seconds remaining.
Sadler, a North Carolina commit, wrapped up his storied four-year varsity career with 11 receptions for 130 yards and made a co-team-high seven tackles.
“The four years have been great,” Sadler said. “I’m probably one of the best players to come through Detroit in the PSL league, so … it was a sad outcome today. You know, college is next. I just have to keep my head high. We fought. CC had a great game.”
Senior Justin Bonner also made seven stops for Cass Tech. For DCC, Montlouis led the way with eight tackles.
Sunday’s victory also represented a measure of revenge for DCC, which fell to Cass Tech in last year’s Semifinals, 17-14.
In the 2016 Final, the Shamrocks fell to the Technicians, 49-20.
“It’s a tremendous feeling,” said Cessante, who capped his fourth year leading DCC’s program. “Other than being married and my children, bringing a championship back to my alma mater, Detroit Catholic Central, where this championship belongs, obviously against a team (where) we just had enough over the years in regards to the rivalry that’s been built and them being really a nemesis and us getting over the hump and finishing what we started (is special).”
The Gash brothers have been double trouble for DCC opponents.
While it was Gideon’s turn to shine Sunday, the siblings reflected on what it means to share in the Shamrocks’ long-awaited championship and how special it was to share in it.
“It means everything to us. After we lost last year to Cass Tech, we knew we should have beat them. But like Coach Cessante said, we didn’t prove it,” Samson Gash said. “Our motto this year was, ‘Finish what we started.’
“Our seniors did a great job last year, and we needed to bring a state championship for this year and just working every single day with my brothers, my best friends for life, it means everything to us to go out on top, for sure.”
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Catholic Central players celebrate Sunday while hoisting their championship trophy. (Middle) The Shamrocks’ Samson Gash (5) attempts to put space between himself and a Cass Tech defender. (Below) Cedric Williams (26) picks his path as Gash blocks in front of him.