Football Finals to Re-Air Christmas Day
December 19, 2017
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
High school football fans will have eight presents under the tree Christmas Day – courtesy of FOX Sports Detroit when it re-airs the championship games from the 2017 MHSAA 11-Player Football Playoffs – presented by the Michigan Army National Guard.
Here’s the complete schedule:
Dec. 25
8 a.m. – Division 8 – Ottawa Lake Whiteford 42, Saginaw Nouvel 21 – The Wildcats were not to be denied this time at Ford Field, roaring to a 34-7 halftime lead. Quarterback Thomas Eitniear ran for three touchdowns.
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10 a.m. – Division 2 – Warren DeLaSalle 41, Livonia Franklin 6 – The Pilots scored 31 points in the second quarter en route to the win. Luke Pfromm three two TD passes.
***Watch & Buy DVD @ MHSAA.tv - Listen & Buy Instant Audio Download @ MHSAANetwork.com
Noon – Division 6 – Jackson Lumen Christi 40, Ithaca 34 – Sebastion Toland and Kyle Minder combine for 450 yards rushing to lead the Titans.
***Watch & Buy DVD @ MHSAA.tv - Listen & Buy Instant Audio Download @ MHSAANetwork.com
2 p.m. – Division 4 - Grand Rapids Catholic Central 42, Edwardsburg 31 – An offense-lovers’ paradise – six touchdowns of 50 or more yards between the two teams, and CC’s Nolan Fugate just missed a Finals game rushing record with 306 yards and four scores.
***Watch & Buy DVD @ MHSAA.tv - Listen & Buy Instant Audio Download @ MHSAANetwork.com
4 p.m. – Division 7 – Pewamo-Westphalia 21, Saugatuck 0 - Not a fancy win – just a dominant one. PW’s Pirates were in control of this one from the get-go, scoring on three of their four first-half possessions.
***Watch & Buy DVD @ MHSAA.tv - Listen & Buy Instant Audio Download @ MHSAANetwork.com
6 p.m. – Division 1 – Clarkston 3, West Bloomfield 2 - A Jermaine Roemer 30-yard field goal proved to be the game-winner in the second-lowest scoring Final game of all time.
***Watch & Buy DVD @ MHSAA.tv - Listen & Buy Instant Audio Download @ MHSAANetwork.com
8 p.m. – Division 5 – Grand Rapids West Catholic 34, Saginaw Swan Valley 7 - Gaetano Vallone led the way again for the Falcons, passing for two touchdowns and running for a third.
***Watch & Buy DVD @ MHSAA.tv - Listen & Buy Instant Audio Download @ MHSAANetwork.com
10 p.m. – Division 3 – Muskegon 28, Farmington Hills Harrison 10 – The winningest high school program in Michigan football history against the winningest coach of all time made for an entertaining finale for the weekend. La’Darius Jefferson scored all of the Big Reds’ touchdowns in this one.
***Watch & Buy DVD @ MHSAA.tv - Listen & Buy Instant Audio Download @ MHSAANetwork.com
DVDs are $24.95, and Instant Audio Downloads are $4.99.
***NOTE – As of Dec. 18, only the Div. 8 Final game was available on DVD. Check the individual event above occasionally to look for the addition of the blue GET DVD button to purchase a video.
Things are winding down for the holidays on MHSAA.tv with School Broadcast Program members heading into a break.
In its ninth 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. Pixellot – the NFHS Network’s automated streaming solution - is used by schools that wish to live stream games but lack the ability to staff the events. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.
Here’s this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of video streams being produced by SBP members:
Monday – Dec. 18
Freshman Boys Basketball – Saginaw Swan Valley at Freeland - 4:30 p.m.
JV Boys Basketball - Ontonagon at Calumet - 5:45 p.m.
JV Boys Basketball – Saginaw Swan Valley at Freeland - 6 p.m.
JV Boys Basketball - Coleman at Harrison - 6 p.m.
JV Boys Basketball – Bark River-Harris at Norway - 6:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball - Baraga at Lake Linden-Hubbell - 7:00 p.m.
Boys Basketball - Ontonagon at Calumet - 7:15 p.m.
JV Girls Basketball – Saginaw Swan Valley at Freeland - 7:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball - Coleman at Harrison - 7:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Bark River-Harris at Norway - 8 p.m.
Tuesday – Dec. 19
Freshman Boys Basketball - Burton Atherton at Otisville-Lakeville - 4 p.m.
Freshman Girls Basketball – Battle Creek Lakeview at Plainwell - 4:15 p.m.
Girls Basketball - New Lothrop at Montrose - 5:30 p.m.
JV Girls Basketball - Grand Blanc at Novi - 5:30 p.m.
JV Girls Basketball – Muskegon Orchard View at Fremont - 5:30 p.m.
JV Boys Basketball - Burton Atherton at Otisville-Lakeville - 5:30 p.m.
JV Boys Basketball - Baraga at Calumet - 5:45 p.m.
JV Girls Basketball – Battle Creek Lakeview at Plainwell - 5:45 p.m.
Boys Basketball - Burton Atherton at Otisville-Lakeville - 7 p.m.
Girls Basketball – Lincoln Alcona at Alpena - 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball - Davison at Lake Orion - 7 p.m.
Girls Basketball - Grand Blanc at Novi - 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball - Haslett at Fowlerville - 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball - New Lothrop at Montrose - 7 p.m.
Girls Basketball – Muskegon Orchard View at Fremont - 7 p.m.
Girls Basketball – Battle Creek Lakeview at Plainwell - 7:15 p.m.
Boys Basketball - Baraga at Calumet - 7:15 p.m.
Wednesday – Dec. 20
Swimming & Diving - Marquette - 3:30 p.m.
Freshman Girls Basketball – Saginaw Heritage at Freeland - 4:30 p.m.
Wrestling – OK Quad - 5 p.m.
Wrestling - Vicksburg at Plainwell - 5:30 p.m.
Boys Ice Hockey – Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood at Birmingham Brother Rice - 5:45 p.m.
JV Girls Basketball – Saginaw Heritage at Freeland - 6 p.m.
Boys Ice Hockey - Petoskey at Alpena - 7 p.m.
Girls Basketball – Saginaw Heritage at Freeland - 7:30 p.m.
Thursday – Dec. 21
Freshman Boys Basketball - Gladwin at Harrison - 4:30 p.m.
Freshman Boys Basketball - Bay City at Freeland - 4:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball - Webberville at Montrose - 5:30 p.m.
JV Girls Basketball - Brighton at Novi - 5:30 p.m.
JV Girls Basketball - L'Anse at Calumet - 5:45 p.m.
JV Boys Basketball - Gladwin at Harrison - 6:00 p.m.
JV Boys Basketball - Bay City at Freeland - 6:00 p.m.
JV Boys Basketball – Powers North Central at Norway - 6:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball - Brighton at Novi - 7:00 p.m.
Boys Basketball - Webberville at Montrose - 7:00 p.m.
Girls Basketball - Kingsford at Marquette - 7:15 p.m.
Girls Basketball - L'Anse at Calumet - 7:15 p.m.
Boys Basketball - Bay City at Freeland - 7:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball - Gladwin at Harrison - 7:30 p.m.
Boys Ice Hockey - Rochester at Lake Orion - 7:45 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Powers North Central at Norway - 8:00 p.m.
Friday – Dec. 22
Freshman Boys Basketball - Zeeland West at Comstock Park - 4 p.m.
JV Boys Basketball - Zeeland West at Comstock Park - 5:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball - Zeeland West at Comstock Park - 7 p.m.
Boys Ice Hockey - Traverse City at Alpena - 7 p.m.
Thursday – Dec. 28
Varsity Wrestling - Hemlock at Freeland – 9 a.m.
Varsity Wrestling - Montrose - 12 p.m.
Friday – Dec. 29
Girls Basketball - Marquette - 7 p.m.
Boys Ice Hockey - Escanaba at Alpena - 7 p.m.
Boys Ice Hockey - Sault Ste. Marie at Marquette - 8 p.m.
Saturday – Dec. 30
Varsity Boys Ice Hockey - Escanaba at Alpena 1 p.m.
Varsity Boys Ice Hockey - Saline at Marquette 3 p.m.
Tuesday – Jan. 2, 2018
Girls Basketball - Otisville-Lakeville at Montrose - 5:30 p.m.
JV Boys Basketball - Chassell at Dollar Bay - 5:45 p.m.
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.)