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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
Search for Longest FG Starts in '50s
October 30, 2020
By Ron Pesch
Special for Second Half
Rob LaMielle’s first attempted field goal was a memorable one, and frankly, a bit amazing.
For starters, his track record on extra points, at least to that point in the season, was less than stellar. Flint Holy Redeemer entered their third game of the 1963 slate with a 1-1 record. The Flyers were defeated by Bad Axe in Week 1, then trounced Imlay City the next week. The senior had been successful on only 3 of 9 extra-point placements on the year.
“You had to bring that up,” said LaMielle over 55 years later, laughing at the statistic. “That’s probably so. Bad Axe was rated No. 1 in the state in Class ‘B.’ We were a ‘C’ school. They beat us 13-12 that night, because I missed two extra points. They scored in the very last couple minutes.”
The fact that his field goal was on the mark is all the more impressive considering it traveled 50 yards, clearing the crossbar by three feet, according to observers. Even more remarkable, it was a mere three yards shy of Lou ‘The Toe’ Groza’s best effort for the National Football League’s Cleveland Browns, and just six yards short of the NFL record, set by Bert Rechichar of the Baltimore Colts in 1953. Rechichar held the mark until it was famously topped by New Orleans Saints kicker Tom Dempsey in 1970 against the Detroit Lions.
“We practiced behind our football field,” said LaMielle, recalling how he got the job. “Behind our football field was two baseball fields with a backstop at each end. Well the coach lined everybody up on second base and said, ‘OK, we’re going to find out who can kick a field goal.’ So we started kicking the ball over the backstop. One of the times I kicked it, and it went a long ways.”
St. Redeemer’s coach Dick Clark stopped the drill and named LaMielle the team’s kicker.
“Before my senior year, I’d never kicked off, never attempted an extra point.”
At the time, the 220-pound LaMielle, who, like Groza, played tackle, was asked if he was surprised by the success of his kick.
“I was more surprised Coach Clark asked me to try it,” he said.
The field goal helped Flint Holy Redeemer top Bay City St. James, 29-6.
It also prompted another question from sports reporters. Was LaMielle’s kick a Michigan high school record?
The Search
The publicity surrounding the kick sent sportswriters around the state scurrying for the archives.
Initial inquiries indicated that Jim Yore of Battle Creek Central held the state mark, with a 56-yard field goal about 10 years prior, but a recheck of records by Dick Kishpaugh, “sports publicity director at Kalamazoo College and a close observer of Michigan prep football records,” indicated that Yore’s longest had been a 38-yard field goal, kicked on the last play of the game to beat Ypsilanti 3-0 on Oct. 3, 1952. It was thought to be the longest in state history.
Additional digging found that Port Huron High School’s Alfred Davis, a 212-pound fullback, had drilled a flawless 46-yard field goal in a 19-14 win over Hazel Park in 1953.
“The word ‘tremendous’ is probably one of the most overused words in sports lexicon,” wrote Port Huron Times reporter Fred J. Vincent, “but it should be used in describing this kick.”
Vincent called it “perfect, splitting the uprights and clearing the bar by about six feet.”
Impressively, Davis also had kicked a 36-yarder earlier in the contest. “Bob Boyd held on both kicks,” added the sportswriter. “Not since Oct. 8, 1930 had a Big Red player kicked a three pointer. Hank Ceasor did it then to best Ferndale, 3-0.”
Word came that Cheboygan Catholic’s Joe Poirier had kicked one “reported to have traveled at least 53 yards from the point of the kick to the goal posts” in a 10-0 victory over Alcona in 1957. Since the MHSAA didn’t keep records at the time, Kishpaugh added it to his listing of unofficial state records.
The Ironwood Daily Globe unearthed a nugget. While it wasn’t considered by Kishpaugh for his record book, it did bring back memories of changes seen in the game.
Ironwood’s John ‘Cutz’ Cavosie made a “tremendous boot on Oct. 10, 1925 in the final seconds of a game at Oliver Field here in which Ironwood swamped Menominee 41-0. Cavosie apparently was back to punt, but instead he dropkicked the ball squarely through the goal posts 55 yards away. He was in his senior year that fall and was captain of the team. He played a big role in the rout on Menominee by scoring on runs of 42, 51 and 67 yards.”
Record Toppled
So it was quite the event when, nearly 19 years later, junior Derrick Underwood broke Poirier’s mark on a cold October Friday at Inkster.
A week earlier, Underwood had made his first field goal of the season, a 23-yard boot in overtime to give Ecorse its first victory of the year in five starts, 9-6, over River Rouge. This time, his kick gave Ecorse a 3-0 victory over the Vikings, although in decidedly less dramatic fashion as the kick came in the second quarter.
“The strange thing is I didn’t even know that I was kicking it from the 44-yard line. To be honest, I wasn’t paying that much attention and it didn’t look that long,” Underwood told the Detroit Free Press in 1976. “But I got a real good snap on it and an excellent hold.
Red Raiders coach Patrick Kearney believed the kick would have been good from another five or 10 yards out.
“It felt good when I hit it,” added Underwood, “but because I was in front of the goal posts, I couldn’t tell whether it went over or under the crossbar. But I saw my teammates jumping up and down on the sidelines and I knew it made it.
“I was pretty loose because I figured that if I missed, we still had another half to come back and win it.”
Underwood’s accomplishment garnered national attention in the June/July ’77 issue of Joe Namath’s National Prep Sports magazine. At the time, Jerry Spicer of Hobart (Ind.) High School held the national record with a kick of 61 yards in 1975.
Exasperation to Jubilation
Underwood, who also served as the Red Raiders’ quarterback and defensive end, guided the team to Inkster’s one-foot line in that same game as the clock wound down. But with the lead, instead of pushing for the end zone, they let time expire.
A year earlier, in 1975, the Ecorse players watched their season disappear after a single game.
“The school millage was defeated just prior to the start of that season,” said Underwood, recalling his high school days some 45 years later. “I was the starting QB for the Red Raiders through my senior year ('78). We were heartbroken that our season was over after the first game against Muskegon Heights. No energy for that game.
“We were foaming at the mouth to be playing organized football. Some of us played flag football to stay active.”
“I was just practicing holding for a teammate,” Underwood had told the Free Press back in October 1976. “Eventually I thought I’d try and I got to be pretty good at it.”
“I didn’t take kicking seriously at all,” he states now. “I wasn’t a dedicated kicker. My stars were aligned in my head as being the next Thomas Lott.”
Lott, a Parade All-American out of San Antonio, Texas, played quarterback at Oklahoma, where his coach, the legendary Barry Switzer, once called him the greatest wishbone quarterback in Oklahoma history.
“Went down to Tennessee State University and found out how much football I didn’t know,” Underwood said.
Reminiscing he added, “Looking back, wouldn’t change a thing growing up in Ecorse.”
Equaled, then Topped – in the Same Game
Underwood’s mark would hold in Michigan until 1979, when junior Harold Moore of Dearborn equaled, then topped the mark in a season-ending game against Plymouth Canton.
Moore, a left-footed, straight-on kicking specialist, matched Underwood’s record with a 54-yard boot in the game’s first half, and then topped the record with a 55-yard field goal during the second half.
“I’ve never seen anyone with the leg power he has,” said his coach, Dick Ryan. “His 55-yard field goal cleared the bar with 20 feet to spare.”
Over the next two seasons, three players – Mike Prindle of Grand Rapids Union (1980), Bob Hirschman from Sterling Heights Ford (1980), and Dave Blackmer of Farmington Hills Harrison (1981) – would match Moore’s longest kick.
Since then, only five players have matched or exceeded 55 yards. John Langeloh of Utica shattered the mark in 1985 with a 58 yarder. Doug Kochanski of Warren Woods-Tower is the state’s current record holder, with a kick in 1994 that traveled 59 yards before splitting the uprights. The successful kick came in his final high school contest.
In these days of more and more specialization, one wonders, will Michigan ever see one of 60 yards or more?
Ron Pesch has taken an active role in researching the history of MHSAA events since 1985 and began writing for MHSAA Finals programs in 1986, adding additional features and "flashbacks" in 1992. He inherited the title of MHSAA historian from the late Dick Kishpaugh following the 1993-94 school year, and resides in Muskegon. Contact him at [email protected] with ideas for historical articles.
PHOTOS: (Top) The Detroit Free Press told the story behind Derrick Underwood’s record field goal for Ecorse in its Oct. 30, 1976 edition. (2) Battle Creek Central’s Jim Yore was one of the earliest record holders for longest field goal in Michigan high school history. (3) Alfred Davis also was a standout fullback for Port Huron. (4) Underwood also played quarterback and defensive end for the Red Raiders. (Photos gathered by Ron Pesch.)