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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 poses with its trophy as bowlers and coaches celebrate their third-straight Finals title.

Down to Last Game, Kearsley Boys Storm Back to Complete Finals 3-Peat

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

February 28, 2025

WATERFORD — The best part for Flint Kearsley bowling coach Bart Rutledge was that he didn’t really have to say a word.

After Kearsley fell behind New Boston Huron 2-1 in the best-of-five Baker game championship match for the Division 2 title, Rutledge quickly huddled his boys team.

Just as quickly, he left the huddle. 

There really was no inspirational speech needed for a group of bowlers who had been part of Kearsley’s team that won the last two Division 2 Finals, including last year when the Hornets rallied from an 0-2 deficit. 

“They took ownership of it,” Rutledge said of his bowlers. “I told them it’s not over, and they took it from there. They had their own huddle and told each other what they needed to say.”

Whatever was said certainly worked, as Kearsley stormed back to take the final two games (249-226 and 186-166) to make history. 

For the first time, the Kearsley boys team had won its third-straight Finals title. Pulling off that feat left Rutledge and his bowlers in tears as they hugged each other in celebration.

Junior anchor bowler Jameson Vanier shed way more tears over this team title than he did last year when he won the individual championship. 

“It feels nice to finally have the guys out there on the same platform as the girls,” said Vanier, referring to the girls program that entered this weekend having won nine of the last 11 Division 2 championships. 

After Kearsley won the first game 219-204, New Boston Huron rolled to a 248-168 win in the second and then took the third game, 217-203.

The fifth game was close until Kearsley started to separate after Huron failed to get a mark in the sixth, seventh and eighth frames. 

“Our spare shooting has been our downfall, and it came back to bite us,” New Boston Huron coach Larry Collins said. “The spares that were missed were by underclassmen, so they’ll learn from this. It stings, but they’ll get better.”

Eventually, Vanier stepped up in the 10th frame. All he needed was a mark to sew up the title.

He delivered a strike and then erupted in celebration along with his teammates and Kearsley supporters.

Vanier said he actually felt more pressure during that moment than at any time during his run to the singles title last year.

“It was 100 percent more,” he said. “Last year, I was just having fun. This year, it came down to the last shot, and I told myself that this was the exact place I want to be.”

Kearsley was the No. 2 seed out of the qualifying block and posted a five-game win over Madison Heights Lamphere in the quarterfinals, winning the fifth game 198-191. 

Kearsley then recorded a three-game sweep of Three Rivers to set up the championship match with Huron, which was the top seed out of qualifying.

Rutledge said through it all, he didn’t sense his squad felt any pressure trying to go for its historic three-peat. Not even seeing the Hornets girls fall in the semifinal round caused Kearsley to lose focus on its mission. 

“I never doubted it from the start,” Rutledge said. 

New Boston Huron earned a four-game win over league rival Carleton Airport in the quarterfinals before recording a three-game sweep of Sparta in the semifinals.

Click for full scores.