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.
Watch & Buy DVD @ MHSAA.tv - Listen & Buy Instant Audio Download @ MHSAANetwork.com
 
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.

Pixellot Productions On Rise

September 19, 2018

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

A year ago, Pixellot – the automated production solution for schools wishing to stream live video of their athletic events on the NFHS Network and MHSAA.tv – was in use at six schools across Michigan.

With the new school year underway, nearly two dozen schools are actively streaming events using Pixellot, with half of those schools streaming indoor and outdoor events. Several schools have more than two Pixellot units in place.

“Schools are finding that Pixellot provides a great opportunity to get a lot of their games out to their fans in a way they could never achieve,” said Mark Uyl, executive director of the MHSAA.  “We have some schools which are using a mix of their traditional, student-staffed, School Broadcast Program efforts along with Pixellot to be able to add subvarsity coverage; and schools going exclusively with Pixellot with installations at multiple venues.”

Pixellot units use from two to four High Definition cameras that cover the length of the playing surface and then focus on the ball and player movement to deliver the action. The unit communicates with the scoreboard to insert a time and score graphic on the screen. Ambient audio is picked up by the device, but the commentary of the public address announcer or the radio style play-by-play of an in-person announcing team also can be patched in.

All that has to be done from a school’s perspective is type in the event schedule and promote the fact that the games are available on MHSAA.tv. Pixellot does the rest. The unit also can be set up to isolate a camera on a fixed location, which allows for activities like cheer and wrestling to be streamed.

Schools actively engaged in Pixellot productions now include: Ann Arbor Greenhills, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Brighton, Calumet, Dollar Bay, Frankenmuth, Freeland, Fremont, Grand Blanc, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, Harrison, Howell, Kalamazoo Christian, Macomb Lutheran North, Manchester, Norway, Novi, Otisville-LakeVille, Ovid-Elsie, Plainwell, Saginaw Heritage, Saline, Stevensville Lakeshore, Warren DeLaSalle and Williamston. Schools using indoor and outdoor units include Cranbrook Kingswood, Frankenmuth, Freeland, Grand Blanc, Howell, Manchester, Norway, Novi, Ovid-Elsie, Plainwell, Saginaw Heritage, Saline and Stevensville Lakeshore. Additional schools will have their Pixellot units coming online soon.

More than 70 percent of the programming taking place this week on MHSAA.tv will be Pixellot productions, featuring a football game Friday evening with two of the top-ranked Division 1 teams facing off for the top spot in the Saginaw Valley League’s Red division. Grand Blanc hosts Davison at 7 p.m. Both teams are 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league play, tied with Lapeer for first place.

Here’s this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of video streams being produced by School Broadcast Program members and the NFHS Network:

Tuesday - Sept. 18

Wednesday - Sept. 19 

Thursday - Sept. 20

Friday - Sept. 21

Saturday - Sept. 22

Monday - Sept. 24

Tuesday - Sept. 25

All sporting events – live or delayed - 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.

NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $9.95 a month. Subscribers will have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. All content becomes available for free, on-demand viewing 72 hours after being shown live. School Broadcast Program participants also will be selling Season and Annual Passes at a discounted rate. A portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program. 

Highlights of games broadcast during the past week by MHSAA School Broadcast Program contributors feature a pair of close football contests – Marquette’s 36-35 overtime win over Escanaba and Howell topping Novi, 21-17 – and a volleyball match with Lake Orion defeating Oxford, 3-0.

Highlights can be found each week on the MHSAA.tv website, the home page of the MHSAA Website, and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube.

A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.