10 to Remember: Winter 2014-15
April 2, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As one might imagine, six straight weekends of MHSAA Finals produce enough highlights to distract us from our seemingly endless Michigan winters.
As explained to preface “10 to Remember” many times before, all championships are lifetime memories for those who achieved them. Those listed below are just one person’s thoughts on which moments from this season will continue to be discussed most in the seasons to come.
10. Brother Rice Rides Team Effort to Repeat
Birmingham Brother Rice repeated as Lower Peninsula Division 1 swimming and diving champion, and did so by winning by more than 100 points for the second consecutive season. But what made this Warriors finish so impressive was that it didn’t include a single individual championship – they won the opening and closing relays of the meet and took seven second-place individual finishes along the way.
9. Kearsley Sweeps Bowling Championships … Again
Flint Kearsley varsity bowlers are guaranteed one other title this season – MHSAA champions. Both the girls and boys teams won team titles in Division 2, just as they had in 2014. The Kearsley girls again defeated Bay City Western in the championship match, this time by a mere 30 pins, 1,242-1,212. The Kearsley boys also earned their title by defeating Bay City Western, and by only seven pins – 1,351-1,344.
8. Rockford/Sparta Owns the Weekend
Rockford hosted the MHSAA Gymnastics Finals, making the cliché “bringing home the title” a short trip – twice. The Rams, a co-op with Sparta, won the team competition by 1.750 points over reigning champion Canton; Rockford’s only other MHSAA gymnastics championship also was the first in any sport in school history, in the Lower Peninsula in 1989. Juniors Madi Myers and Morgan Korf led the effort with the third and fourth-highest all-around scores of the Team Final – and Korf came back the next day with a stunning move to take the Division 1 individual championship. She had finished 18th in Division 1 as a sophomore.
7. Breckenridge Returns to Cheer Elite
In its second season back as a competitive program, Breckenridge added to its stature as one of the most powerful competitive cheer programs in MHSAA history by claiming the Division 4 championship by nearly 24 points over runner-up Pewamo-Westphalia. Breckenridge has won eight MHSAA titles in cheer, but didn’t have a team for six seasons because of low participation until bringing back the program for 2013-14.
6. Cowboys Lasso First Basketball Title
First Detroit Western International won its first Detroit Public School League championship since 1922. Then it made its first MHSAA Semifinals since 1974. The Cowboys capped this season with its first MHSAA Final victory, a nail-biter 62-59 over Saginaw Arthur Hill in Class A. Western also defeated Detroit Catholic League A-B champion Detroit U-D Jesuit in the Semifinal, and finished the season 26-0.
No team traveled farther to the MHSAA Basketball Finals than the Calumet girls – and it can be argued that no team came from farther away in expectation to become an MHSAA champion. The unranked Copper Kings traveled more than 500 miles to arrive at the Breslin Center, then defeated top-ranked Laingsburg in a Class C Semifinal and perennial power Flint Hamady in the championship game to claim its first MHSAA title in the sport.
4. Skatzka, Olson Become Latest of the Greatest
Richmond’s Devin Skatzka and Davison’s Lincoln Olson pushed the list of MHSAA four-time individual champions to 21 by finishing their careers with big victories. Olson actually was the 20th, winning his match at 135 pounds by technical fall in Division 1. Skatzka then became No. 21 with four MHSAA titles, with a technical fall in the 160-pound match in Division 3.
3. Brighton Claims First Title in Final Match
Few Finals in any sport this winter carried the drama of Brighton’s 31-25 win over Hartland in Division 1 wrestling. Bulldogs 112-pounder Lee Grabowski entered the final match carrying his team’s three-point lead but facing the scenario that if he lost even by decision, and the team score went to 28-28, Brighton would lose the tie-breaker. Oh, and Grabowski was facing an opponent he’d lost to twice in league competition earlier in the winter. Grabowski won a 4-2 decision this time, and Brighton won its first team title.
2. Godwin Heights, Powers North Central Cap 3-Season Surges
Wyoming Godwin Heights and Powers North Central made the MHSAA record book by adding to a pair of the most successful three-season runs in boys basketball history – and capping them with championships. Godwin Heights won its first MHSAA title, downing Detroit Henry Ford 85-68 in the Class B Final, to finish the last three seasons a combined 74-5. North Central, meanwhile, downed Morenci 67-47 in Class D to win its first title since 1984 and cap a three-season 75-5 run.
1. Record Comeback Sends Saints Home as Champs
St. Ignace trailed undefeated Pittsford by 20 points two minutes into the Class D Final when it launched a comeback equaled by only one other team in MHSAA girls basketball history. The Saints tied the score with 35 seconds to play in regulation and continued the rally in the extra period to claim a 64-60 title-clinching victory. Detroit Cass Tech, in the 1987 Class A Final, also had come back from 20 down in the third quarter to win. The championship was St. Ignace’s fifth in girls basketball.
PHOTO: St. Ignace basketball players celebrate after the Saints tied the largest comeback in MHSAA Finals history on the way to claiming the Class D title. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
DCC Closes Season by Avenging 2024 Semifinal Loss to 'Finish What We Started'
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
December 1, 2025
DETROIT – The featured matchup of 2025 MHSAA Football Finals weekend at Ford Field pitted unbeaten heavyweights Detroit Catholic Central and Detroit Cass Tech in the Division 1 title bout.
DCC coach Justin Cessante used a boxing metaphor with his team in the days leading up to the main event. The Shamrocks essentially won by unanimous decision, although a knockout punch came from an unlikely source.
A 61-yard pick-6 by 6-foot-3, 300-pound senior noseguard Benny Eziuka with 3:12 remaining got the party started early and put the finishing touch on DCC’s dominant 42-19 victory over reigning champ Cass Tech to close Sunday night.
“We had a theme all week that our special teams and run game are going to be the body shots,” Cessante said. “Our uppercut is going to be making big plays on offense, and our defense – brick wall – was going to be the head shots.
“We talked about that all week and how we were going to play a physical, disciplined brand of football. I think we did that in all three phases.”
DCC did just that in capping a 14-0 season and capturing its first Finals title since 2009. The Shamrocks, who made their first championship game appearance since 2016, now have 11 wins in 18 trips to the final round.
Cass Tech (13-1) outgained DCC, 358-311, but the Shamrocks’ stingy defense forced multiple Technicians miscues, including two interceptions and a lost fumble.
Cass Tech suffered only its second Finals defeat in six overall trips to the championship game.
“We left a lot of stuff on the field,” Cass Tech coach Marvin Rushing said. “We’ll come back in a couple weeks and watch some of this stuff and we’ll be pounding the table a little bit with some of the stuff that we left on the field.
“To be a champion, you’ve got to beat the man to be the man today. They get to hoist the trophy, and they deserve it.”
DCC junior quarterback Duke Banta and classmate Gideon Gash connected on three touchdown passes: 41 yards with 7:44 left in the first quarter, 37 yards with 7:36 left in the third, and 48 yards with 4:52 remaining in the contest.
Banta finished 9-of-11 passing for 156 yards and no interceptions. All three of Gash’s receptions went for scores. Older brother, senior Samson Gash, had five receptions for 25 yards.
DCC senior Cedric Williams led all rushers with 72 yards on 18 carries with a one-yard TD midway through the fourth quarter. Senior Joshua Peters scored on a five-yard run to give the Shamrocks a 13-0 lead late in the first half, while junior kicker Ty Goddard booted a 21-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter for the champions.
It was Eziuka who stole the show, however. The two-way starting lineman and Penn State commit realized a big man’s dream. Junior linebacker Jalen Montlouis pressured Cass Tech’s backfield near the Technicians’ 45-yard line and forced a risky throw, which Eziuka caught at his own 39. Eziuka got a couple blocks, rumbled down the DCC sideline, and stomped into the end zone to the roar of the crowd.
“You know, I was just in the right place at the right time. I caught the ball, my teammate Connor Ryan was throwing me a block, so I was like, ‘I mean, he made the effort, so I’ve got to try to score,’” Eziuka said. “You know, I made the cut and saw green grass. I was like, ‘That’s a long way, but I’ve got to try.’ I kept going. I saw one of their guys catching up to me. My teammate, Jack Janda, made a great block for me to get in there.
“When I was in the end zone, I had to make my way to the barrier because I was not standing up for very long. (The barrier) was supporting me. I definitely needed oxygen,” Eziuka added with a chuckle. “It was a great play for the entire team.”
Samson Gash was asked if he felt threatened by Eziuka and a potential claim of being fastest player on the team.
“A little bit. Low key, a little bit,” Gash said to laughter in the interview room.
In addition to its interceptions, DCC’s defense sacked talented sophomore quarterback Donald Tabron II three times and limited Cass Tech to 73 rushing yards. Tabron finished 25-of-37 for 285 yards with two TDs – one to senior Corey Sadler Jr. from 15 yards out with 5:24 left, and the other to senior William Sykes Jr. from 12 yards out with 14 seconds remaining.
Sadler, a North Carolina commit, wrapped up his storied four-year varsity career with 11 receptions for 130 yards and made a co-team-high seven tackles.
“The four years have been great,” Sadler said. “I’m probably one of the best players to come through Detroit in the PSL league, so … it was a sad outcome today. You know, college is next. I just have to keep my head high. We fought. CC had a great game.”
Senior Justin Bonner also made seven stops for Cass Tech. For DCC, Montlouis led the way with eight tackles.
Sunday’s victory also represented a measure of revenge for DCC, which fell to Cass Tech in last year’s Semifinals, 17-14.
In the 2016 Final, the Shamrocks fell to the Technicians, 49-20.
“It’s a tremendous feeling,” said Cessante, who capped his fourth year leading DCC’s program. “Other than being married and my children, bringing a championship back to my alma mater, Detroit Catholic Central, where this championship belongs, obviously against a team (where) we just had enough over the years in regards to the rivalry that’s been built and them being really a nemesis and us getting over the hump and finishing what we started (is special).”
The Gash brothers have been double trouble for DCC opponents.
While it was Gideon’s turn to shine Sunday, the siblings reflected on what it means to share in the Shamrocks’ long-awaited championship and how special it was to share in it.
“It means everything to us. After we lost last year to Cass Tech, we knew we should have beat them. But like Coach Cessante said, we didn’t prove it,” Samson Gash said. “Our motto this year was, ‘Finish what we started.’
“Our seniors did a great job last year, and we needed to bring a state championship for this year and just working every single day with my brothers, my best friends for life, it means everything to us to go out on top, for sure.”
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Catholic Central players celebrate Sunday while hoisting their championship trophy. (Middle) The Shamrocks’ Samson Gash (5) attempts to put space between himself and a Cass Tech defender. (Below) Cedric Williams (26) picks his path as Gash blocks in front of him.