Don't Miss This MHSAA Playoff Coverage
October 21, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
There’s plenty of high school football coverage coming up with the final week of the regular season and the announcement of the qualifiers for the 41st annual MHSAA Football Playoffs on Sunday.
More than 15 football games this weekend – most of them live – will be streamed by students involved in the School Broadcast Program. The weekend concludes with the Selection Sunday Show on FOX Sports Detroit at 7 p.m. on Sunday (Oct. 25).
Among the live football games are several with league title and/or playoff qualifying implications:
- Mio (3-5) at Lincoln Alcona (5-3)
- Lapeer (8-0) at Davison (5-3)
- Ortonville Brandon (5-3) at Holly (5-3)
- New Lothrop (8-0) at Montrose (5-3)
- Pickford (5-3) at Onaway (5-3)
- Hudsonville (6-2) at Rockford (5-3) – Winner also gets a share of the O-K Red title
- Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (7-1) vs. Detroit Loyola (6-2) – CHSL Prep Bowl Championship
- Waterford Our Lady (8-0) vs. Riverview Gabriel Richard (6-2) – CHSL CD Championship
- Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (6-1) vs. Warren DeLaSalle (6-2) – CHSL AB Championship
In its seventh year, the School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events, with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics.
The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.
All sporting events – Live or On-Demand – are available on a subscription basis only for their first 72 hours online. They become available for free, on-demand viewing approximately 72 hours following their completion.
Here’s the schedule of events School Broadcast Program members plan to stream this week for broadcast at MHSAA.tv. On-Demand listings may be available as soon as one hour following an event’s completion. (List as of Oct. 20):
Tuesday – Oct. 20
- Lansing Eastern vs. Haslett – MHSAA Boys Soccer District – 5 p.m. – On Demand
- Gladstone at Marquette – Girls Volleyball – 7 p.m. – LIVE
- Au Gres-Sims at Rogers City – Girls Volleyball – 7 p.m. – LIVE
- DeWitt vs. East Lansing – MHSAA Boys Soccer District – 7 p.m. – On Demand
Wednesday – Oct. 21
- Bay City John Glenn at Pinconning – Girls Volleyball – 6:30 p.m. – On Demand
- DeWitt at Haslett – Girls Volleyball – 7 p.m. – LIVE
Thursday – Oct. 22
- St. Johns at Haslett – Girls Swimming & Diving – 6 p.m. – LIVE
- Sparta at Comstock Park – JV Football – 6:30 p.m. – LIVE
- Ishpeming Westwood at Negaunee – JV Football – 6:30 p.m. – On Demand
- Mio at Rogers City – Girls Volleyball – 7 p.m. – LIVE
Friday – Oct. 23
- Mio at Lincoln Alcona – Football – 7 p.m. - LIVE
- Gladstone at Calumet – Football – 7 p.m. – LIVE
- Comstock Park at Sparta – Football – 7 p.m. - LIVE
- Lapeer at Davison – Football – 7 p.m. – LIVE
- Okemos at East Lansing – Football – 7 p.m. – On Demand
- Ortonville Brandon at Holly – Football – 7 p.m. - LIVE
- New Lothrop at Montrose – Football – 7 p.m. - LIVE
- Pickford at Onaway – 8-Player Football – 7 p.m. – LIVE
- Otsego at Plainwell – Football – 7 p.m. - LIVE
- Hudsonville at Rockford – Football – 7 p.m. – LIVE
- Atlanta at Rogers City – Football – 7 p.m. – LIVE
Saturday – Oct. 24
- Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. Detroit Loyola – Football – 1 p.m. - LIVE
- Waterford Our Lady vs. Riverview Gabriel Richard – Football – 4 p.m. - LIVE
- Orchard Lake St. Mary’s vs. Warren DeLaSalle – Football 7 p.m. – LIVE
Tuesday – Oct. 27
- Hancock at Calumet – Girls Volleyball – 7 p.m. - LIVE
The Selection Sunday Show expands its coverage beyond FOX Sports Detroit’s cable footprint this year, being streamed for the first time on the FoxSportsDetroit.com website, and available to watch on mobile devices on the FOX Sports GO! app.
Justin White, Matt Shepard and Rob Rubick will provide the announcement of the pairings and analysis, and some live “look-ins” will take place at selected team watch gatherings.
Launching at Midnight every Friday throughout the season is MHSAA Football Friday Overtime on FOX Sports Detroit. Mickey York and Rob Rubick host the weekly 30-minute highlights show. The show will re-air most Saturday and Sunday mornings – and will be archived on the FOX Detroit Website. This week, FFOT will re-air at 6 and 8:30 a.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. on Sunday on FOX Sports Detroit.
The following games are scheduled to be highlighted this week on Football Friday Overtime:
- Detroit Collegiate Prep vs. Detroit Central at Ford Field
- Detroit Cass Tech vs. Detroit Martin Luther King at Ford Field
- Utica Ford at Warren Mott
- Marine City at Warren Cousino
- Linden at Fenton
- Ortonville-Brandon at Holly
- PLUS – SBP Coverage of New Lothrop at Montrose and Hudsonville at Rockford.
This week's MHSAA.tv highlights package includes clips from the East Grand Rapids/Lowell and Marquette/Negaunee football games and a Detroit Catholic League boys soccer tournament final between Birmingham Brother Rice and Detroit Catholic Central.
Ford Field Trip Gives Students Taste of Football Finals Broadcasting
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
December 7, 2021
Four levels above them, in the press box, a group of prospective broadcasters were touring the facilities. The high school students had spent the Fall sports season streaming games to the NFHS Network and now were learning about a career in broadcasting from Eric Vandefifer, a Montrose High grad currently serving as the radio voice of Saginaw Valley State University basketball and as a contributor to a variety of high school broadcast channels including the MHSAA Network.
Seven years ago, Vandefifer was in a similar situation. He was part of a field trip to Ford Field for the Finals that helped him realize sports broadcasting was a career he wanted to pursue. Those field trips were headed by Tom Skinner and Thom Lengyel, who became mentors to Vandefifer. As a high school junior in 2017, Vandefifer was named Best Student Broadcaster nationally by the NFHS Network.
“With Tom Skinner now deceased and Thom Lengyel retired from the broadcast business, I just felt like I had to continue this and their legacy,” Vandefifer said. “It was important to me to keep it going because when I was in school, it was something I looked forward to.”
Nearly 50 students from Lowell, Montrose, Lake Orion, Mount Pleasant and Ann Arbor Greenhills high schools made the Nov. 26-27 trip to Ford Field. They were able to film highlights, interview players, practice announcing the games, meet other members of the press and more. For Vandefifer, giving back to students who are in the position he once was is very rewarding.
“We had the ability to feel like real media members for a day. I wanted to be able to give other students that same opportunity,” Vandefifer said. “Seeing kids who have a love for sportscasting and that drive to get better gives me real hope for the next generation in this business.”
And after the field trips were done each day, Vandefifer put his headphones on, got behind the microphone and called the two afternoon games for the MHSAA Championship Network.
PHOTOS (Top) Eighth grader Sam Belill, left, and freshman Owen Leitelt from Montrose practice calling a game from the Ford Field press box. (Middle) Mount Pleasant make a stop at the press conference room. (Photos provided by the Montrose and Mount Pleasant School Broadcast Programs.)