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High 5s: 11/14/12

November 19, 2012

All three of this week's honorees have achieved some sort of first-time stardom this fall, either individually or as a team. And both Carli Snyder and Alex Grace will be back next fall to continue building on these accomplishments. 

Carli Snyder
Macomb Dakota junior
Volleyball

(UPDATED 11/19) Snyder, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, was an all-stater her first two seasons of high school. But she will be remembered even more for leading Macomb Dakota this fall to its first MHSAA championship in any girls sport. The Cougars defeated Temperance Bedford in three games in Saturday's Class A Final at Kellogg Arena. Snyder unofficially finished this season with 913 kills, good for seventh in the MHSAA record book since the beginning of the rally scoring era in 2004-05. Her 31 kills against Bedford were third-most for a Final during that time. Snyder already has committed to sign with the University of Florida next year. She likely will be among frontrunners for next fall's Miss Volleyball award. 

Title talk: "We wanted this thing so bad. Every girl on this team wanted it so badly. Megan (Manierski) was setting the ball perfectly. She made it very easy to get kills. ... Just talking about this moment, this gym, it makes you just want to play harder than you ever have."

Winning recipe: "We've been a competitive team in practice and in games all year, so I think that helped us at that moment (in three close Finals games) when we just didn't want to lose. We refused to lose. ... We support each other no matter what. And we hustled so hard."

Shake it up: "We have some secret handshakes with other people, but mine are very complex. I don't know how we went about that. Megan and mine is from "Parent Trap," and then Megan Downey and mine, we just made it up at team dinner. We make it a bit more complex than it needs to be, but it's fun. And it's a great thing to calm us down for a game when we've played a bad one before."

Had to be a Gator: "I like warm weather. I love the coaches. I actually called Florida for my recruiting phone call because I was kinda bored one day at home and I was like, 'I got a letter from them.' I fell in love with the coaching staff, and I told my mom that I needed to go on a visit down there. It's incredible, and when I went down there I was even more in love. Even on the phone, I knew this is where I would end up. It's just that feeling. You know when you get that feeling, and it's incredible."

Click to read more.

Alex Grace
Saginaw Swan Valley sophomore
Football

The Vikings' leading rusher is also one of the leading rushers in the state this season heading into Saturday's Division 4 Semifinal against Detroit Country Day. Grace has gained 2,091 yards plus run for 27 touchdowns, and needs only 109 yards and three more scores to make the MHSAA record book in both categories. He ran for 182 yards and three scores in the Vikings' Regional Final win over Croswell-Lexington. Grace took over as Swan Valley's running back this season after the graduation of his brother Johnathan, who rushed for 1,790 yards last season and now plays at Michigan Tech. Both brothers ran on Swan Valley's 400-meter relay that finished runner-up at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Track and Field Final in the spring. Alex is 6-0 and 185 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds.

I'd like to run like: "Even my brother. I like to look at myself as close to him. Professionally, (Minnesota Vikings back) Adrian Peterson. He's a tough runner, fast. He's strong."

Underdogs again: "The last game against Croswell, they were the No. 2 team and we were predicted to lose. But we came back and beat them. I use that underdog feeling to work harder each day."

Best brotherly advice: "Work hard, and if there are doubters, don't let them get you down."

Science and math: (My favorite classes are) biology and economics. They just come easy to me. I enjoy it."

Click to read more. 

Flint Beecher football

The Buccaneers, coached by former Michigan State and NFL standout Courtney Hawkins, were one of the final teams selected for the playoffs, at 5-4 after a 3-4 start. But Beecher advanced to this week's Division 7 Semifinal against Detroit Loyola by eliminating reigning champion Saginaw Nouvel, 19-15, in last week's Regional championship game. Beecher, now 8-4, has made the playoffs six straight years. The first of that run came in Hawkins' second as coach and after 12 straight losing seasons. 

Click to read more. 

Previous 2012-13 honorees:

Gionni McDonough (9) breaks outside trying to elude the tackle of Ethan Davis (22) during Bark River-Harris' win over Iron Mountain on Oct. 10.

Bark River-Harris Making Good on Preseason Possibilities, Showing Postseason Potential

By John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com

October 24, 2025

HARRIS – The Bark River-Harris Broncos have certainly made some noise throughout this football season.

Upper PeninsulaBR-H, which improved to 6-1 with a convincing 44-7 victory over West Iron County last Friday, hopes to make a deep run in the Division 8 playoffs.

“So far, so good,” coach Caleb Adams said. “At the beginning of this season we thought we had a special team, and everything has gone according to plan.”

The Broncos are 6-1 and last week clinched the outright championship in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference Iron.

Among this year’s highlights are a pair of victories over Iron Mountain, something no other BR-H team had been able to accomplish.

The Broncos earned a 30-22 overtime win inside the yellow walls at Mountaineer Stadium on Sept. 5, then beat Iron Mountain 38-14 at home Oct. 10.

“We were 0-17 against them until that point,” Adams said. “It was like getting a monkey off our back. We had an opportunity to beat them and thought we could do it. There’s something about those yellow walls.”

Junior running back Gionni McDonough had similar thoughts.

“After our win up there, it was pretty crazy,” he said. “It was a great feeling to win up there. Although, we had beaten them in jayvee ball. We felt we had a shot at them.”

The Broncos next must turn their attention to tonight’s regular-season finale against Houghton. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

The Gremlins (2-6) are led by speedy senior running back/nickel back Brayden Goudge, who shows a quick first step, and junior quarterback Alex Hebert. Two weeks ago, Goudge scored on a 37-yard interception return and ran for two touchdowns in a 34-22 loss at Gladstone.

BR-H's Gabe Spear (4) hauls in pass as Brayden Kassin (2) tries to break it up. “(Goudge) is very fast,” Adams said. “He’s one guy we have to pay attention to. If we win Friday, we’ll probably be able to host two (playoff) games.”

Junior QB Dane Schmitt believes the Broncos have to attack the middle in tonight’s game.

“That’s the type of team they are,” he said. “We're a pretty deep team. We have more jayvee kids coming up, and they’re getting better.”

The Broncos were 3-0 following a 42-14 triumph at West Iron Sept. 12.

They made the long trip to Auburndale, Wis., the following week. That contest, however, was cancelled by lightning.

BR-H then traveled to Gaylord to face undefeated Division 7 contender Pewamo-Westphalia, where it dropped a 49-0 decision Sept. 26.

That game was scoreless after the first quarter before two Broncos’ offensive linemen were injured.

“We wanted to see how we ranked with one of the best teams in the state,” Adams said. “After the injuries, everything kind of got away from us. The way they performed and their communication on the field kind of showed our kids what it takes to perform at that level.”

The Broncos responded the following weekend with a 44-16 victory at L’Anse.

“They’re a physical team,” McDonough said. “If we see them in the playoffs, we would have to be able to match their intensity. 

A rematch with L’Anse in the postseason opener is possible, based on the current playoff rankings.

“If we play our game, we should beat them,” Schmitt said. “Although, they have some fast kids. We just have to play our style of defense and do our job.”

Junior lineman Sean Burton is among the Broncos’ leaders in the trenches.

“I honestly love it,” he said. “I like to be physical. The game with Pewamo-Westphalia was a big learning experience. Defensively, they play at a much faster pace than we’re used to. They’re very physical. It's a big difference from playing in the U.P. They’re a bigger school, and all their players are fast. We were pretty fired up after the first quarter, but it was hard to adapt after that.”

John VrancicJohn Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

PHOTOS (Top) Gionni McDonough (9) breaks outside trying to elude the tackle of Ethan Davis (22) during Bark River-Harris' win over Iron Mountain on Oct. 10. (Middle) BR-H's Gabe Spear (4) hauls in pass as Brayden Kassin (2) tries to break it up. (Photos by Terry Raiche.)