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Montrose SBP

Ford Field Trip Gives Students Taste of Football Finals Broadcasting

By Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

December 7, 2021

DETROIT – An hour before kickoff of the first game of 11-Player Football Finals weekend – the Division 8 championship decider between Hudson and Beal City – Bally Sports Detroit announcers Evan Stockton and Rob Rubick were busy preparing to call the action from the television booth on the third level of Ford Field.

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.

Mount Pleasant SBP“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.)

Football Finals Replay on FOX For Christmas

December 18, 2018

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

The eight championship games of 2018 MHSAA 11-Player Football Finals will re-air on FOX Sports Detroit on Christmas Day. 

Here’s the complete schedule:

Dec. 25

8 a.m. – Division 8 – Reading 39, Breckenridge 20  – The Rangers hold the Huskies to 22 yards rushing, while Elijah Strine and Hunter Midtgard each score twice for Reading.

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

10 a.m. – Division 2 – Warren DeLaSalle 29, Muskegon Mona Shores – Make it two in a row for the Pilots! QB Nolan Schultz rushes for three TDs and passes for a fourth.

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Noon – Division 6 – Jackson Lumen Christi 42, Montague 28 – Nick Thomas rushes for 249 yards and two touchdowns to carry the Titans to the championship.

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2 p.m. – Division 4 - Edwardsburg 28, Chelsea 7 – The Eddies put it away in the second half. Caden Goggins and Chase Sager combine for 243 yards to lead the way.

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4 p.m. – Division 7 – New Lothrop 50, Madison Heights Madison 44 - The highest-scoring Finals game ever! Hornets QB Avery Moore rushes for four TDs and 132 yards and passes for a fifth score in this one.

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6 p.m. – Division 1 – Clinton Twp. Chippewa Valley 31, Clarkston 30 - A Finals game for the ages. In the final minute of regulation, Clarkston scores and goes for the win, with Chippewa Valley stopping the 2-point conversion!

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8 p.m. – Division 5 – Hudsonville Unity Christian 42, Portland 7 – A total team effort for Unity, outrushing Portland 279-95. QB Isaac TeSlaa runs for two TDs and passes for a third.

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10 p.m. – Division 3 – Detroit Martin Luther King 41, Muskegon 25 – King breaks it open with three scores during a four-minute span of the final period. QB Dequan Finn throws four scoring passes, two to Dom Polidore-Hannah.

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

Instant Video Downloads are $19.99, and Instant Audio Downloads are $4.99. 

Things are winding down for the holidays on MHSAA.tv with School Broadcast Program members heading into a break.

In its 10th 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 wishing to live stream games but lacking the ability to staff the events. The SBP 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 School Broadcast Program members and the NFHS Network:

Tuesday, Dec. 18

Wednesday, Dec. 19

Thursday, Dec. 20