West Catholic Adds to Ford Field Fame
November 26, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
DETROIT – November has become a regular part of the Grand Rapids West Catholic football schedule. Trips to Detroit are turning into a Thanksgiving weekend tradition.
But what the Falcons accomplished again Saturday was not lost on them.
Grand Rapids West Catholic won its fifth MHSAA football championship and became just the sixth school to win four straight, downing familiar playoff foe Menominee 43-7 in the Division 5 Final at Ford Field.
“There’s no word to describe it. Year after year, competing like that, getting to play 14 games – we’re very, very lucky and blessed,” said senior Sam Neville, who with David Fox played on all four champions. “That’s double what most people get to play over the course of their high school careers.”
This string was as impressive as any of the other three, for a few reasons.
West Catholic finished 12-2, despite playing without junior quarterback Gaetano Vallone for six weeks after he injured an elbow on opening night.
The Falcons, with a Week 3 loss to Zeeland West and a Week 9 defeat to Allendale, were then forced to play all of their playoff games on the road. They navigated a path highlighted by previously undefeated Portland, handed second losses to Lansing Catholic and Algonac and also beat another league champion in Berrien Springs.
They did so under the leadership of a new coach. Joe Hyland was hired this spring after the resignation of Dan Rohn, who had led the team to the first three titles of this streak. Hyland had been highly successful coaching in South Carolina before coming to West Catholic as a teacher and guidance counselor in fall 2015, but as with any change, there was a transition.
And then there was that Finals familiarity. The Falcons defeated the Maroons in 2013’s Division 5 Final to start this streak, and also in a Semifinal in 2014 and Regional Final last fall. It would be hard to find two high school programs 450 drive miles apart that know each other more.
“There’s a lot of people in our community and even statewide who talked about ‘November, November,’ but our discussions were always about today,” Hyland said. “And just feeling like if you do the right thing now, the rest will work out. And if we get beat by a good team on our best day, then you shake their hand and look them in the eye and congratulate them. But we really felt like on our best day, that wasn’t going to happen.”
Saturday had to be one of them.
Junior kicker Liam Putz started the scoring just 2:41 into the game with an MHSAA Finals-record 47-yard field goal, a yard longer that Josh Wuerful’s for Traverse City High against Detroit Catholic Central in the 1988 Class A championship game.
By the end of the first quarter, Vallone had thrown two touchdown passes. By halftime, he’d connected on four. The first, a 91-yarder to senior Brett Myers, was the fourth longest pass play in Finals history.
Vallone finished 13 of 20 passing for 311 yards, the fifth most in Finals history. He spread the ball nicely with five receivers catching at least one pass; Neville had six catches for 117 yards and two scores, Meyers three for 143 yards and his long touchdown and senior Aaron Hall caught four balls for 66 yards and the other passing TD.
The 5-foot-10, 170-pound quarterback also ran for a team-high 83 yards and a score on 13 carries. His 394 total yards rank sixth on the Finals all-time list.
Menominee did achieve a little history as well. In addition to playing in their fifth Final, the Maroons scored their points on a 76-yard blocked field goal return by senior Hunter Hass – the first blocked field goal return touchdown in Finals history. The kick was blocked by senior Sam Larson, and Hass picked up the loose ball and ran down the left sideline for the score.
“All week we were practicing to block their punt, and it just so happened that we blocked their field goal,” Hass said. “I saw the ball. I just picked it up and ran into the end zone, just trying to get some points to get some momentum going for our team.”
But the rest of the afternoon was a struggle. The Maroons (12-2) gained only 163 yards and tied a Finals record held by two others teams with seven turnovers – three coming on fumbles.
They also played once more without all-state tailback Keifer Rasner, who missed the end of the season with an injury.
“When you turn the ball over that many times to a good team, you don’t have much of a shot,” Menominee coach Joe Noha said. “But I’m really proud of my guys. We really hung in there. We’ve had a lot of things happen in the last couple of weeks, but I’m really pleased with our effort and our fortitude to get here. And once you get here, finishing is difficult. Today was not our day.”
The MHSAA Football Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Rapids West Catholic’s Zane Timmer tries to break away from a Menominee tackler Saturday in the Division 5 Final. (Middle) Falcons coach Joe Hyland raises the championship trophy.
Pickford Prepping for Next Chance to Shine
October 10, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Pickford football team has relished the opportunity to learn the last two seasons.
The Panthers’ 2016 run ended in the 8-Player Semifinals with a loss to eventual repeat champion Powers North Central. Last season, Pickford didn’t lose a game until the 8-Player Division 2 Semifinals – when it fell to eventual champion Crystal Falls Forest Park by a mere two points.
“There was a point in (last year’s) game where if we could’ve gotten the ball back, we had a chance to win that game,” Pickford coach Josh Rader said. “We know sometime during the season, it’s going to be on the line, and we’re doing our best to prepare for that moment. We put ourselves in different situations in practice. We practice those specific moments … that (are) going to propel you to the next level.”
All signs point to the MHSAA/Applebee’s “Team of the Month” for September being well on its way.
After finishing 11-1 a year ago, Pickford is off to a 7-0 start this fall. A 38-20 Week 3 win over Forest Park was the only game where Pickford didn’t score at least 52 points. And the defense has given up 69 points total.
Pickford’s program is the reason the MHSAA introduced 8-player football playoffs in 2011. The school, located on the eastern end of the Upper Peninsula about 25 miles south of Sault Ste. Marie, has roughly 130 students. The varsity has 14 players – with only two seniors and just one sophomore.
Three juniors were on varsity for all of last season, and two more played several games with the top team. “The last few years we’ve had a good group of guys; they work together, they trust each other and they’re just playing good football because of that,” Rader said. “They build on each other.”
Five players have run for at least three touchdowns this season, with junior running back Stephen LaMothe finding the end zone a team-high 10 times to go with 539 yards on the ground – at 10.2 per carry. Junior Matthew Bush has run for a team-high 613 yards – at 9.6 yards per attempt.
But making this Pickford team even more dangerous is junior quarterback Jimmy Storey, a threat both on the ground and through the air. He also averages 10 yards per carry, with 414 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing. He’s completed 63 percent of his pass attempts for 1,043 yards and 23 scores – without an interception. Junior Nicholas Edington is his leading receiver with 18 catches for 469 yards and 11 touchdowns.
And then there’s the defense. Pickford has seven interceptions and seven fumble recoveries – an average of two takeaways per game. Junior Isaiah May has a team-high 61 tackles, and junior Sam Burton has eight sacks. Bush is the team’s second-leading tackler.
How do the Panthers’ pull this off with just 14 players? They stress daily improvements in practice and bringing physicality against opponents. A few defensive stops followed by quick scores, and Pickford is rolling.
Rader joined the staff in 2003 as defensive coordinator and took over as head coach a year later. The Panthers made the 11-player playoffs in eight of 12 seasons with him on staff or leading it, and are 34-7 in 8-player since making the switch in 2015.
But they’re hoping for more this fall. Pickford is prepping for that next step after building up the schedule with seven 2017 playoff teams. After so much success, the Panthers are getting everyone’s best shot, all the saved-up trick plays – and Rader likes that as well. All of it helps his team prepare for next month.
And the community is excited to support another run. Pickford’s best-known sports legend is a boys track & field program that won 27 straight Upper Peninsula Finals from 1952-78. The football program has made four MHSAA Semifinals total over the years and is eyeing a possible championship game trip to Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome.
“We tried to step that (schedule) up to prepare for those playoff moments and those tough type of games,” Rader said. “(It’s) ‘Let's play this as a playoff game’ – so when we are in the playoffs, hopefully we’ll be battle tested.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2018-19
August: Northville girls golf – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Pickford quarterback Jimmy Storey breaks free during his team’s Week 6 win over Stephenson. (Middle) Panthers senior Mitchell Miller leads the team onto the field this season. (Photos courtesy of the Pickford football program.)