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High 5s: 11/28/12

November 28, 2012

The final MHSAA championships of the Fall 2012 season give us our final High 5s before heading into winter. This week, we recognize both an individual and a team that achieved new heights. 

Drake Harris
Grand Rapids Christian junior
Football

A 6-foot-4, 180-pound receiver who has committed to play both football and basketball at Michigan State beginning in 2014, Harris posted one of the finest receiving season in MHSAA history capped by playing a huge role in his team's first MHSAA championship. The Eagles beat Orchard Lake St. Mary's 40-37 in overtime Saturday for the Division 3 title. His eight catches for a Finals-record 243 yards and a touchdown put his unofficial season totals at 91 catches for 2,015 yards and 25 scores. Once confirmed, the season yardage will rank as the most in MHSAA history and 12th nationally for one season (his yards per game rank fourth and yards per catch sixth on the NFHS lists). Harris also ranked fourth for catches and second for touchdown catches on the MHSAA single-season lists.

Just ducky: "I'm probably more energized now after he hit that kick," Harris said after teammate Joel Schipper's winning field goal Saturday. "I was probably more tired a little bit during the game. But we condition all practice. We play fast. We play like Oregon, move the ball, (at) a high tempo. We're all in condition, so we really weren't that tired." 

Bring on the new guy: Harris has caught more than 3,000 yards worth of passes from senior Alex VanDeVusse over the last two seasons, but will play with a new quarterback in 2013. "I've been with Alex since sophomore year. I guess I have to start over and work hard all next season and hope to get back here."  

Be like Calvin: "Calvin Johnson, I want to be just like him when I get older. I know I'm a little skinny right now, but when I get to college, I know they'll put weight on me. I watch film on him all the time, watch him running routes. So I take my game after him. He's the best wide receiver in the NFL right now, probably one of the best wide receivers to play the game, in my opinion." 

Click to read more. 

Portland football

The Raiders, unranked despite entering the postseason 8-1, finished with their first MHSAA title won in their first trip to the Finals. Portland defeated Grand Rapids West Catholic 12-9 in the Division 5 championship game after knocking out 2011 champion Flint Powers Catholic in the Regional Final. For the playoffs, Portland outscored its five opponents 169-66 while holding three to nine or fewer points. In finishing 13-1 and setting a school record for wins, the Raiders beat nine playoff teams total including eventual Division 3 Semifinalist DeWitt. 

Click to read more. 

Previous 2012-13 honorees:

Flint Kearsley celebrates its fourth-straight boys bowling title.

Kearsley Boys Sent Coach Into Retirement with 4th-Straight Championship

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

February 27, 2026

WATERFORD — Flint Kearsley boys bowling coach Bart Rutledge said he thought for years that he would retire once his son Trent graduated. 

That actually happened last year, but Rutledge decided to come back for one more.

“We had six seniors coming back, and I knew them since they were freshman,” Rutledge said. “I didn’t want to hand them off. I wanted to finish it with them.”

Kearsley certainly finished it, sending Rutledge off to retirement with the best gift possible. 

For the fourth straight year, Kearsley won the Division 2 team title, sweeping New Boston Huron in what was the third meeting in four years between the teams in the championship match. Kearsley won all three. 

“The feeling gets better every single year,” Kearsley senior anchor bowler Jameson Vanier said. “I don’t know how to describe it.”

Rutledge said Kearsley was consistently solid as a team all year, not placing below third at any tournament all season. However, the team also didn’t win a tournament until its last one of the regular season.

“It took a while to get the communication going and everything,” Rutledge said. “There could’ve been a little bit of a letdown (from last year). It’s tough. It’s hard doing back-to-back, let alone four.”

Kearsley was seeded second out of the qualifying block and then beat Three Rivers in the Quarterfinals and St. Clair Shores Lake Shore in the Semifinals. 

Kearsley then ran into the familiar New Boston Huron foe in the Final, although Chiefs head coach Larry Collins said his team didn’t initially think it had advanced past the qualifying block.

Collins said his bowlers were at a nearby Culver’s for lunch and he planned to stick around and support neighboring school Carleton Air[port, which was the top seed out of qualifying.

Much to his surprise, Collins found out his team had qualified by 22 pins as the No. 8 seed, and had to call back his bowlers from Culver’s to get ready for the Quarterfinal match.

“I stuck around to watch Airport, and next thing you know we are bowling Airport,” Collins said. 

New Boston Huron then knocked off Airport in the Quarterfinals and Tecumseh in the Semifinals to earn another crack at Kearsley.

After a five-game thriller last year, Kearsley was in control from the start this time, winning 176-138, 205-149, 190-128.

Despite another loss to Kearsley, Collins wasn’t unhappy at all with how his team competed.

“This one is special,” Collins said. “We weren’t expected to do much this year. We lost a lot of seniors from last year. We thought we were dead. Kids were at Culver’s getting lunch and all of a sudden they made the announcement that they made the cut and came flying back over. We shot 980 in the last game (of qualifying) and it vaulted us ahead. We got to bowl Airport in our region and in our league, and that’s a phenomenal team. Our boys just stepped up and said that we weren’t going to lose to them again.” 

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