Week 5 Football Playoff Listing

September 18, 2012

Here is a list of Michigan High School Athletic Association football playing schools, displaying their win-loss records and playoff averages through the fourth week of the season.

Schools on this list are in enrollment order. An asterisk (*) beside a record indicates that a team has eight or fewer games scheduled. A carrot (^) beside a school’s name indicates that a team is one win away from playoff qualification.

Those schools with 11-player teams with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules, or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer, will qualify for the MHSAA Football Playoffs beginning Oct. 26-27. Schools with 5-4, 4-3 or 4-4 records may qualify if the number of potential qualifiers by win total does not reach the 256 mark. Schools with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer may be subtracted from the field based on playoff average if the number of potential qualifiers exceeds the 256 mark.

Once the 256 qualifying schools are determined, they will be divided by enrollment groups into eight equal divisions of 32 schools, and then drawn into regions of eight teams each and districts of four teams each.

Those schools with 8-player teams will be ranked by playoff average at season’s end, and the top 16 programs will be drawn into regions of eight teams each for the playoff in that division, which also begins Oct. 26-27.

To review a list of all football playoff schools, individual school playoff point details and to report errors, visit the Football page of the MHSAA Website.

The announcement of the qualifiers and first round pairings for both the 11 and 8-player playoffs will take place on Oct. 21 on the Selection Sunday Show on FOX Sports Detroit at 7 p.m. The playoff qualifiers and pairings will be posted to the MHSAA Website following the Selection Sunday Show.

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11-Player Playoff Listing

1. Utica Eisenhower, 2772, 3-1, 72.500

2. Sterling Heights Stevenson, 2766, 3-1, 68.500

3. Clarkston, 2721, 4-0, 90.000

4. Macomb Dakota, 2608, 3-1, 72.500

5. Lake Orion, 2565, 4-0, 90.000

6. Troy, 2502, 3-1, 70.500

7. Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, 2462, 3-1, 74.250

8. Dearborn Fordson, 2442, 3-1, 76.250

9. Holland West Ottawa, 2262, 3-1, 66.500

10. Detroit Cass Tech, 2200, 4-0, 92.000

11. Canton, 2166, 3-1, 62.750

12. Monroe, 2154, 4-0, 82.000

13. Plymouth, 2050, 3-1, 62.750

14. Salem, 2039, 4-0, 88.000

15. Livonia Stevenson, 2005, 4-0, 92.000

16. Hartland, 1932, 4-0, 88.000

17. Warren Mott, 1879, 4-0, 84.000

18. Livonia Churchill, 1877, 4-0, 94.000

19. Walled Lake Central, 1857, 3-1, 64.750

20. Saline, 1849, 3-1, 62.250

21. Grandville, 1846, 3-1, 64.750

22. Flint Carman-Ainsworth, 1772, 4-0, 82.000

23. Grand Ledge, 1743, 3-1, 64.250

24. Rochester, 1725, 3-1, 68.750

25. Traverse City West, 1720, 3-1, 62.250

26. White Lake Lakeland, 1700, 3-1, 64.250

27. Davison, 1664, 3-1, 64.750

28. Grosse Pointe South, 1648, 3-1, 70.500

29. Temperance Bedford, 1581, 3-1, 58.750

30. Brownstown Woodhaven, 1520, 3-1, 64.750

31. Ypsilanti Lincoln, 1520, 3-1, 66.750

32. Midland, 1485, 4-0, 94.000

33. Port Huron, 1473, 3-1, 66.500

34. Traverse City Central, 1429, 3-1, 64.000

35. Oak Park, 1391, 4-0, 94.000

36. Lansing Everett, 1359, 4-0, 96.000

37. Birmingham Seaholm, 1349, 3-1, 62.500

38. Garden City, 1344, 3-1, 64.250

39. Portage Central, 1340, 3-1, 66.750

40. Muskegon Mona Shores, 1337, 3-1, 52.750

41. Birmingham Brother Rice, 1336, 3-1, 70.750

42. Portage Northern, 1328, 3-1, 70.750

43. Caledonia, 1308, 4-0, 90.000

44. Wyandotte Roosevelt, 1304, 4-0, 78.000

45. Farmington Hills Harrison, 1302, 3-1, 68.250

46. Farmington, 1278, 4-0, 90.000

47. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 1278, 3-1, 64.750

48. Taylor Truman, 1253, 4-0, 88.000

49. Swartz Creek, 1223, 4-0, 90.000

50. Fenton, 1202, 3-1, 60.750

51. Grand Rapids Northview, 1180, 3-1, 62.000

52. Lowell, 1177, 3-1, 66.750

53. Bay City Western, 1171, 4-0, 72.000

54. Gibraltar Carlson, 1160, 4-0, 78.000

55. Muskegon, 1144, 4-0, 98.000

56. East Lansing, 1142, 4-0, 76.000

57. Mattawan, 1124, 4-0, 82.000

58. Marquette*, 1112, 3-1, 68.250

59. Redford Thurston, 1088, 3-1, 52.500

60. Auburn Hills Avondale, 1080, 4-0, 82.000

61. St. Johns, 1068, 4-0, 82.000

62. Zeeland East, 1067, 4-0, 88.000

63. Detroit East English, 1030, 3-1, 60.750

64. Lansing Waverly, 1011, 3-1, 54.750

65. St. Joseph, 974, 3-1, 58.500

66. Mason, 969, 4-0, 76.000

67. Milan, 959, 4-0, 78.000

68. Grand Rapids Christian, 954, 3-1, 68.750

69. Cedar Springs, 950, 3-1, 50.250

70. DeWitt, 931, 3-1, 62.750

71. Fruitport, 929, 4-0, 76.000

72. Orchard Lake St. Mary's, 926, 3-1, 66.750

73. Bloomfield Hills Lahser, 925, 4-0, 78.000

74. Linden, 923, 4-0, 92.000

75. Niles, 920, 3-1, 66.750

76. Hazel Park, 909, 3-1, 58.750

77. Stevensville Lakeshore, 906, 4-0, 94.000

78. St. Clair, 901, 4-0, 74.000

79. Tecumseh, 887, 4-0, 82.000

80. Carleton Airport, 868, 3-1, 60.500

81. Detroit Central Collegiate, 868, 3-1, 60.250

82. Hastings, 850, 3-1, 54.750

83. Plainwell, 832, 3-1, 62.750

84. Cadillac, 820, 4-0, 80.000

85. Madison Heights Lamphere, 814, 3-1, 60.750

86. Edwardsburg, 805, 3-1, 52.500

87. North Branch, 803, 3-1, 56.500

88. Hamilton, 801, 4-0, 80.000

89. Marysville, 794, 4-0, 84.000

90. Three Rivers, 760, 3-1, 52.500

91. Goodrich, 748, 3-1, 56.500

92. Dearborn Heights Robichaud, 720, 4-0, 82.000

93. Big Rapids, 706, 3-1, 48.750

94. Croswell-Lexington, 704, 4-0, 82.000

95. St. Clair Shores South Lake, 704, 3-1, 62.500

96. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 701, 4-0, 78.000

97. Otsego, 698, 3-1, 54.500

98. Detroit Country Day, 685, 3-1, 66.250

99. Comstock Park, 678, 3-1, 60.000

100. Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 674, 4-0, 76.000

101. Grand Rapids South Christian, 660, 3-1, 56.500

102. Battle Creek Pennfield, 656, 4-0, 56.000

103. Grosse Ile, 649, 3-1, 52.750

104. Saginaw Swan Valley, 642, 4-0, 72.000

105. Paw Paw, 639, 4-0, 68.000

106. Allendale, 636, 3-1, 66.500

107. Williamston, 636, 3-1, 56.750

108. Cheboygan, 631, 3-1, 58.500

109. Marine City, 629, 3-1, 66.250

110. Alma, 614, 3-1, 60.750

111. Saginaw Valley Lutheran, 608, 3-1, 36.750

112. Dowagiac, 605, 4-0, 74.000

113. Livonia Clarenceville, 597, 3-1, 57.417

114. Clawson, 582, 3-1, 46.500

115. Remus Chippewa Hills, 581, 3-1, 50.500

116. Essexville Garber, 572, 3-1, 54.500

117. Clinton Township Clintondale, 570, 4-0, 78.000

118. Lake Fenton, 564, 3-1, 54.500

119. Freeland, 561, 3-1, 54.500

120. Kingsford, 559, 3-1, 50.750

121. Portland, 555, 4-0, 72.000

122. Flint Powers Catholic, 542, 4-0, 78.000

123. Menominee, 539, 4-0, 82.000

124. Macomb Lutheran North, 537, 4-0, 74.000

125. Hopkins, 531, 4-0, 64.000

126. Detroit University Prep, 528, 4-0, 72.667

127. Grayling, 516, 4-0, 66.000

128. Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, 515, 3-1, 48.750

129. Allen Park Cabrini, 512, 3-1, 42.750

130. Olivet, 509, 3-1, 48.750

131. Frankenmuth, 507, 4-0, 72.000

132. Newaygo, 507, 3-1, 54.750

133. Ida, 503, 4-0, 64.000

134. River Rouge, 495, 4-0, 66.667

135. Carrollton, 492, 4-0, 56.000

136. Lansing Catholic, 487, 3-1, 52.500

137. Reed City, 480, 4-0, 70.000

138. Muskegon Oakridge, 474, 4-0, 68.000

139. Kingsley, 473, 3-1, 40.250

140. Jackson Lumen Christi, 472, 4-0, 74.000

141. Buchanan, 467, 3-1, 50.500

142. Leslie, 467, 4-0, 66.000

143. Roscommon, 461, 3-1, 46.750

144. Kalkaska, 459, 3-1, 38.750

145. Millington*, 459, 3-1, 58.750

146. Warren Michigan Collegiate, 446, 4-0, 66.000

147. Boyne City, 437, 4-0, 66.000

148. Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, 437, 3-1, 52.500

149. Negaunee, 433, 4-0, 66.000

150. Beaverton, 422, 3-1, 40.250

151. Hemlock, 421, 3-1, 56.750

152. Shelby, 417, 4-0, 78.000

153. Vassar, 416, 4-0, 50.000

154. Clinton, 413, 4-0, 68.000

155. Maple City Glen Lake, 409, 4-0, 54.000

156. Michigan Center, 406, 4-0, 64.000

157. Manchester, 404, 3-1, 44.750

158. Ithaca, 402, 4-0, 76.000

159. Montrose Hill-McCloy, 400, 3-1, 58.750

160. Niles Brandywine, 396, 3-1, 38.917

161. Grass Lake, 395, 3-1, 48.750

162. Hillsdale, 391, 4-0, 70.000

163. Madison Heights Madison, 391, 3-1, 58.000

164. Ecorse, 390, 3-1, 42.500

165. Montague, 390, 3-1, 50.750

166. Sanford Meridian, 388, 3-1, 48.250

167. Saranac, 383, 3-1, 50.250

168. Constantine, 371, 3-1, 44.750

169. Grandville Calvin Christian, 371, 3-1, 46.750

170. Watervliet, 369, 4-0, 48.000

171. Schoolcraft, 366, 4-0, 68.000

172. Byron Area, 364, 3-1, 40.750

173. Reese, 350, 4-0, 54.000

174. Union City, 350, 4-0, 54.000

175. Burton Bendle, 348, 3-1, 40.750

176. Pellston, 347, 4-0, 32.000

177. Saginaw Nouvel, 344, 3-1, 64.750

178. Carson City-Crystal, 337, 3-1, 34.250

179. Hartford, 337, 4-0, 62.667

180. Marlette, 336, 4-0, 56.000

181. Whittemore-Prescott, 328, 3-1, 40.750

182. Lawton, 317, 4-0, 60.000

183. Lake City, 316, 4-0, 48.000

184. Pewamo-Westphalia, 316, 3-1, 46.500

185. Hesperia, 309, 3-1, 38.500

186. Ishpeming, 307, 4-0, 62.000

187. Unionville-Sebewaing, 303, 3-1, 38.500

188. Evart, 302, 3-1, 34.750

189. Homer, 302, 3-1, 36.750

190. Detroit Loyola, 298, 4-0, 76.000

191. Lincoln Alcona, 292, 3-1, 30.500

192. Genesee, 288, 3-1, 34.000

193. Mancelona, 288, 4-0, 50.000

194. Royal Oak Shrine Catholic, 284, 3-1, 56.750

195. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 283, 3-1, 36.500

196. Reading, 283, 3-1, 38.500

197. Decatur, 277, 4-0, 50.000

198. Gobles, 271, 3-1, 38.750

199. Ottawa Lake Whiteford, 268, 3-1, 40.750

200. Waterford Our Lady, 263, 4-0, 64.000

201. Newberry, 260, 3-1, 26.750

202. Mayville, 258, 3-1, 50.500

203. Melvindale Academy for Business & Tech, 254, 3-1, 52.500

204. Marcellus, 249, 4-0, 44.000

205. Harbor Beach, 245, 3-1, 38.750

206. Vestaburg, 242, 3-1, 36.500

207. Coleman, 239, 3-1, 38.250

208. New Lothrop, 237, 4-0, 64.000

209. Bessemer*, 233, 3-1, 38.750

210. L'Anse, 233, 4-0, 54.000

211. Petersburg-Summerfield, 232, 3-1, 40.750

212. Atlanta, 224, 3-1, 30.917

213. Mendon, 216, 4-0, 50.000

214. Beal City, 213, 4-0, 68.000

215. Pittsford, 213, 3-1, 36.250

216. Morenci, 207, 3-1, 40.000

217. St. Ignace La Salle, 207, 4-0, 46.000

218. Pickford, 197, 4-0, 48.000

219. Onaway, 194, 4-0, 38.000

220. Powers North Central, 194, 3-1, 26.250

221. Fowler, 186, 3-1, 48.750

222. Climax-Scotts, 183, 4-0, 44.000

223. Morrice, 171, 4-0, 48.000

224. St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic*, 171, 3-0, 46.667

225. Colon, 164, 3-1, 30.750

226. Crystal Falls Forest Park, 164, 4-0, 48.000

227. Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart, 121, 3-1, 42.750

228. Iron Mountain North Dickinson*^, 112, 4-0, 54.000

229. Ashley, 99, 3-1, 28.500

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8-Player Playoff Listing

1. Deckerville, 194, 3-1, 36.750

2. Battle Creek St. Philip, 182, 3-1, 34.750

3. Kingston, 175, 3-1, 30.500

4. Cedarville, 169, 4-0, 45.333

5. Peck, 156, 4-0, 40.000

6. Eben Junction Superior Central, 132, 4-0, 42.000

7. Rapid River, 115, 4-0, 34.000

8. Portland St. Patrick, 104, 4-0, 46.000

9. Owendale-Gagetown, 60, 3-1, 32.250

New Coach, Same Standard for SMCC

By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half

August 27, 2015

By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half

MONROE – It would be understandable if first-year Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central head football coach Adam Kipf felt like he was taking over for University of Michigan legend Bo Schembechler a year after the Wolverines won the national championship.

Kipf, a graduate of SMCC, said he doesn’t feel that way at all as he replaces his former coach and mentor Jack Giarmo, a local icon who retired after 17 seasons leading the Falcons, including last year when they won the MHSAA Division 6 title.

“I feel I’m replacing Coach Giarmo after a state title,” Kipf said with a laugh. “Coach Giarmo is a good coach. He spent 17 years here, and I spent 11 years of my life with him on a football field.

“It’s certainly not an easy task, but I’m not trying to be Coach Giarmo. I’m trying to be the best version of myself.”

SMCC got off to a winning start Thursday night with a 62-39 victory at Tecumseh, but it will need more than a season-opening victory to live up to the standard that was introduced by the former coach.

Giarmo’s teams were 144-54 in 17 seasons, made the MHSAA playoffs 13 times and captured five Huron League titles. The Falcons made the MHSAA Semifinals eight times and played for the championship four times, finally winning it all last year – when, at Ford Field, they also ended Ithaca’s national-best 69-game winning streak.

Then, Giarmo decided to step down, and Kipf was chosen as the new head coach.

“It wasn’t a total surprise,” Kipf said of Giarmo’s decision. “He had sort of let on that he might be thinking about it, so when it came out, I wasn’t surprised at all.”

“I don’t think there is any other job out there that would mean as much. There are other jobs that would have a lot of meaning to them, but coaching at your alma mater and having the tradition that we have here – having the success we have here – I think that’s just awesome. It’s tough for me to even put into words what it means to me being back at my alma mater coaching football.” – Adam Kipf

It certainly was not an automatic choice for SMCC to promote Kipf from the head coach on the junior varsity to head coach of the varsity. He went through several interviews before landing the job.

“They asked me, ‘How do you determine success?’ ” Kipf said. “I said, ‘There are two ways. One is wins and losses, and that’s OK. But the other way is seeing what kind of men they become, five, 10, 15, 20 years down the road.”

Kipf, a social studies and religion teacher at Monroe Catholic Elementary School, did not set out to become a coach and teacher. He went to Western Michigan University to play football and was pursuing another field, but he left after one year.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, and then I got involved in coaching in 2003 with one of my former coaches,” Kipf said. “He was coaching his son in the Monroe Catholic Youth Organization, and he got me into it, and I enjoyed it. The next year, he went to Monroe High as an assistant and I went with him, so I ended up coaching two years there.

“One Friday night after a game at Monroe, two coaches talked me into going into coaching. They said teaching was going to be my best bet to get into coaching.”

With that in mind, Kipf went back to school and attended Eastern Michigan University. In 2010, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in secondary education. By that time, he was back with SMCC coaching the offensive and defensive lines on the junior varsity.

Kipf had been an offensive lineman and defensive tackle from 1998-99 at SMCC. He played for Giarmo and then joined his coaching staff in 2006, giving him a unique insight into the mind of the man who was most responsible for building the successful program.

“He was a stickler for details,” Kipf said. “He coached every last little detail, and I am finding myself on offense doing the same thing. Jack and I will talk, and I will seek advice on plays and blocking and things like that. We talk probably once a week football-related, and we will talk more than that about other things. We still talk football.

“He isn’t going to distance himself from the program. He has strong roots here. I think he misses football. I don’t know if he would admit it, but he misses football.”

“We’ve basically kept the same concepts that Coach Giarmo kept, but we’ve added a lot of new traditions into it. We’re getting new traditions. We’ve got a couple of new decals on our helmets, and originally we had our straight gold helmets.” – senior running back Justin Carrabino

When Kipf played at SMCC, the helmets were green with decals of yellow birds on them. Lately, the helmets have been without decals, but the birds have returned this year.

“To me, that bird, I worked so hard when I was a freshman to get that bird when I got to varsity,” Kipf said. “It was a thing of honor because you took those birds off at the end of the year and kept them. I still have them in scrapbooks.

“We have brought those back. With the gold helmet we’ve got green birds, but we didn’t put them on until two days before the first game.”

The decals on the helmets might be the easiest change to notice, and Kipf said there won’t be a lot of others made right away.

“I don’t know that I want to bring a whole lot different to the program,” he said. “I’ve added a few things here and there that are a little different than last year, but I’m not prepared to share that.

“We might throw the ball more, but finding people to catch and throw isn’t an easy task, especially since in the last 14, 15 years in the system it has been 95 percent run. I’m a big proponent of, ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.’ ”

Not every change is going to be related to strategy or scheme. Everyone has a different personality, and Kipf’s high-intensity style could light a spark under the Falcons.

“He’s very vocal and gets into it with the players a lot,” senior guard/linebacker Hunter Coombe said. “He gets us hyped. He’s very intense. It’s good.”

The word intense seems to go hand-in-hand when describing Kipf.

“Practices are run with a lot of intensity,” Carrabino said. “There is a lot of physicality, but there is with a lot of defenses. You can tell by the tone of practice that it’s a lot different.”

“I don’t feel pressure coming off a state title because I know what we have and what we are capable of. People have high expectations and expect success. To me, success is more than a state title. If we go 14-0 but don’t get better, it’s a state title but it’s not successful. I want kids who are going to compete and get better every day, and at the end of the season, if they are better football players, better student-athletes, better Catholics, better Christians, than we’ve done our job. That’s success.” – Adam Kipf

Success breeds expectations, and MHSAA championships sometimes breed unrealistic expectations. Teams don’t win an MHSAA title every year.

The Falcons have made the playoffs 14 of the past 16 years with double-digit win totals during nine of them. The program has become not just recognized regionally, but statewide.

The players reflect the attitude of a new season and a new challenge and said they refuse to look back.

“We have to totally forget about last year,” Coombe said. “This is a new team with the same goal, obviously, but we aren’t thinking about it. We’ll just go week-by-week and game-by-game.”

Carrabino, who rushed for 1,300 yards and 17 touchdowns last season, echoed those comments.

“I think you have to prove yourself every year,” Carrabino said. “Nobody has a set spot. You just have to give your all in practice.”

Senior quarterback/defensive back Austin Burger feels the same way.

“We feel no pressure at all,” he said. “We feel like we’re a different team from last year, but we are trying to keep the tradition.”

Tradition is important at SMCC. Giarmo was a player on the 1980 team that went 9-0 but failed to land a spot in the playoffs.

Kipf is one of three brothers who played football for the Falcons. It’s family.

“We’ve got 12 years in my family of playing football at this school, and now this will be my 10th of coaching football at this school,” he said. “Twenty-two years I’ve been a Falcons football supporter either through my family or myself, so it certainly means a lot to me.”

Maybe it’s the tradition – or maybe it’s the “band of brotherhood,” as Burger called it – but something special seems to happen to a bunch of young football players who don’t necessarily look like they should be championship football players.

“We don’t always have the best athletes or the biggest athletes or the fastest athletes, especially in this day and age,” Kipf said. “We have kids who are undersized for the most part, but they have heart and they work hard, and that’s what made our program successful over Coach Giarmo’s tenure. Between him and (former defensive coordinator) Scott Hoffman, they brought out the best in guys.

“They had guys on the field you would think had no business being on a football field. They bring out the best in our kids, and our kids give them everything they’ve got in order to succeed.”

Chip Mundy served as sports editor at the Brooklyn Exponent and Albion Recorder from 1980-86, and then as a reporter and later copy editor at the Jackson Citizen-Patriot from 1986-2011. He also co-authored Michigan Sports Trivia. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) Monroe St. Mary’s coach Adam Kipf and his captains stand together earlier this month (from left to right): Hunter Coombe, Justin Carrabino, Kipf, Riley Woolford, Mitchell Poupard and Austin Burger. (Middle) The Falcons’ helmets will feature decals again after going without during the program’s recent past.