MHSAA Historian Picks 10 to Remember
August 9, 2016
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
It sounded simple and fun, the theme for the MHSAA's spring issue of benchmarks: a history of MHSAA tournaments.
It certainly was the latter, but simple? Not so much.
There’s no way to do justice to nearly a century’s worth of history in some sports. Complicating matters was the abundance of information and photographs for some, and the scant amount of detailed data and images for others.
MHSAA historian Ron Pesch was given an equally challenging task: recount a “Top 10” list from his days covering various MHSAA Finals. He shares them here and, he adds, they are in no order of favorites.
The Shot: 1986 Class B Boys Basketball Final at Crisler Arena – Saginaw Buena Vista’s Chris Coles’ desperation shot, launched at the buzzer from well beyond half court, dropped through the hoop to give the Knights a 33-32 win over defending champion Flint Beecher in a rematch of the 1985 Class B title game. The shot was Coles’ first of the second half and his only points in the contest.
The Smurfs: 1986 Class A Football Final at the Pontiac Silverdome – The "Smurfs" – Muskegon Coach Dave Taylor's nickname for his small, quick swarming defensive linemen – limited heavily favored Sterling Heights Stevenson to four yards rushing and 73 yards of total offense in a 10-0 win. As a 1979 graduate of Muskegon High School, I was elated.
The Drive: 1989 Class B Football Final at the Pontiac Silverdome – I slid down from the press box into the stands at the Silverdome for the end of this one. With 2:20 remaining, the atmosphere was simply electric, as Farmington Hills Harrison’s lauded quarterback Mill Coleman took the reins with his team down 27-21 to DeWitt. The senior executed a flawless two-minute drill, guiding his team to the DeWitt 9 before scampering into the end zone for the tying points. Steve Hill added his fourth PAT for the lead, then secured the victory with an interception on the next series.
King Kool: 2005 Class B Boys Basketball Final, Breslin Center, East Lansing – David Kool was a flawless 20 for 20 from the free-throw line and scored 43 points as Grand Rapids South Christian downed Muskegon Heights 67-60.
The Parade: 2004 Individual Wrestling Finals, The Palace of Auburn Hills – In 2004, I traveled to Auburn Hills to watch the MHSAA Individual Wrestling Finals for the first time. The pageantry of the Grand March, the skills on display, the roar of the massive crowd, and the ensuing beauty and chaos of a wrestling extravaganza of this scale is truly a sight to see.
A Marathon: 2007 Division 3 Football Final, Ford Field, Detroit – East Grand Rapids and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s ended regulation tied 14-14, and this would turn into a five overtime battle that required an extra hour of play. No previous football playoff game, from Districts up, had ever gone beyond four overtimes. After exchanging field goals, touchdowns, extra points and two-point conversions, East Grand Rapids emerged with a 46-39 victory.
Tawana Towers: 1994 Class A Girls Basketball Final at Kellogg Arena, Battle Creek – Flint Northern, coached by Leteia Hughley and led by 6-4 freshman Tawana McDonald, defeated 1993 runner-up Detroit Martin Luther King, 46-32, for the Class A championship. McDonald batted down an MHSAA-record 10 shots, pulled down 13 rebounds and added five points and seven assists in a stellar performance.
Never Quit: 2008 Division 2 Football Semifinal, Spartan Stadium, East Lansing – Unbeaten, No. 1-ranked and heavily favored Muskegon trailed Davison by 22 late in the third quarter and 16 with less than five minutes to play. In perhaps the greatest comeback in playoff history, Muskegon recovered two onside kicks and scored 19 points in the final 4:31 to escape with a 38-35 victory and its third trip in five years to an MHSAA Final.
MHSAA Legends: 1998-2008 – For 10 years, the MHSAA showcased great teams from the past with their Legends of the Game series. From a historian’s perspective it was a chance to meet and learn more about folks I had often known only from the pages of microfilm. It was quite the treat to see years fall away as coaches, team managers and players reunited, in many cases for the first time after decades apart.
The MHSAA Record Books: Online, 1994 – One of my first efforts as state historian was to expand the record books beyond their primary focus on football, basketball, track & field and swimming & diving. With the arrival of the internet, an enhanced version of the record books was brought online. Coaches and fans were quick to respond with letters and e-mails, happily listing entries that had been “missed.” Soon, five category headings in a sport grew to 20, then to 50 and beyond.
Kids: 2004 Football Finals, Pontiac Silverdome – (OK, this is No. 11 ... consider it an extra point). For the first time, my sons joined me for my annual excursion to Metro Detroit for a Thanksgiving Day football weekend. They got to see the Silverdome before the move of the MHSAA Football Finals to beautiful Ford Field. Future Big Reds, they also got to see their future alma mater win another title.
PHOTOS: (Top) An MHSAA boys basketball tournament game is played at Olympia Stadium in Detroit. (Middle) Flint Northern's Tawana McDonald blocks a shot during the 1994 Class A Final.
Undefeated Fruitport Eying Historic Opportunities as Postseason Begins
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
October 10, 2024
The hardest thing for Dan Hazekamp is trying to single out individual players on his top-ranked Fruitport soccer team.
“The truth is, what we have here in Fruitport are a bunch of blue-collar guys that go out and play for each other and sacrifice for each other,” explained Hazekamp, whose team wrapped up the outright Ottawa-Kent Conference Silver title on Monday with a 2-0 win over visiting Grandville Calvin Christian.
“We have 24 great individuals. I’m more proud of that than any record.”
Nowhere is that blue-collar mentality more apparent that on the Trojans’ defensive line.
Fruitport, 17-0-1 and ranked No. 1 in the latest Division 2 coaches association poll, had a string of nine straight games without surrendering a goal and is yielding a meager 0.44 per game.
The final line of defense is senior keeper Logan Werschem, whose instincts and experience give the team confidence in pressure situations.
He would be the first to tell you that his defenders excel at limiting scoring chances, making his job much easier. Isaiah Packard, Braxton Ward and Sam Krueger are all seniors and returning defensive starters, along with junior Nathaniel Cribley-Cotto – who has used his 6-foot-2 size to fill the shoes of departed all-stater and four-year starter Brady Brown.
“We carry a lot of pride back there,” said Packard, who hopes to play soccer next year at Muskegon Community College and pursue a career in welding. “We don’t let balls past us very often. Nate is the new guy and he’s done great, but otherwise, it’s basically a two-year starting backline.”
Last year, Werschem and the Trojans defense set a school record with 15 shutouts, including 13 in a row before a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to eventual Division 2 champion Grand Rapids Christian in a Regional Final.
This year, the Trojans have 12 shutouts and would love to get at least four more to earn a coveted spot on the soccer record board which hangs at the Ken Erny Memorial Soccer Field.
“I love playing with those guys,” said Ward, who plans to play college baseball next year. “We have so much chemistry on our backline that we are able to play as one unit. Right now, we are just so locked in, every game.”
Fruitport’s defense has been so good that opponents are often forced to gamble and commit additional resources on offense, opening up counter opportunities for speedy junior Jorge Burgos-Yack (16 goals), 6-5 senior Isaac “Big Country” VanderMolen (13 goals) and senior midfielder Grade Anspach (10 assists).
That is exactly what happened at the end of Fruitport’s tight win over Calvin Christian in Monday’s O-K Silver Tournament title game.
With Fruitport clinging to a 1-0 lead into the final minute, the Squires pulled their keeper and put on the pressure. Werschem responded with a big save and then got the ball out quickly to a streaking Burgos-Yack, who guided a shot into an empty net with 13 seconds remaining.
The Trojans are a combined 35-3-4 over the past two seasons, with 27 shutouts. Two of those three losses were to eventual state champions – Hudsonville Unity Christian (Division 3) and Grand Rapids Christian (Division 2).
Fruitport now has an awkward eight days off before opening District play Oct. 15, an idle stretch that could be an issue for many teams, but not as much for a team as deep as the Trojans.
“Our practices are super intense, sometimes more than the games,” said Packard. “Our second in line is just as good as our first, so there’s really not a big drop-off. We have 24 guys, so we run hard 11s at practice.”
While shutouts in a season would be a good school record to have, this year’s team – which consists of seven seniors, 13 juniors, two sophomores and two foreign-exchange students – is focused on a more prestigious record: most wins in a season.
The Trojans won 20 games in 2008, and this team would break that record if it is able to win its two District games and then win two Regional games for the first time. Fruitport has reached Regional Finals four times, but has never won a Regional title or played in the Semifinals or Finals.
Fruitport will likely face bitter rival Spring Lake – which provided the only blemish on the Trojans’ record this fall with a 1-1 tie Sept. 28 – in the District opener, and then it could be another rival, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, in the District Final.
And then it only gets tougher from there.
“We talk all the time about the thin margins between winning and losing in the tournament, and how tiny details make all the difference,” said Hazekamp, a 2003 Fruitport graduate who coaches with his brother Steve. “We’ve embraced the expectations, and we’re not running from anything anymore.
“We have some guys who are hungry to get back to that point we reached last year – and then try to get a little more.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Carter Gregor (12) celebrates his goal Oct. 3 against Wyoming Godwin Heights with teammates including Isaiah Packard, Jyles Smith and Carlos Cruz. (Middle) Packard battles a Godwin Heights player for possession as Jayden Booker looks on. (Below) Fruitport boys soccer coach Dan Hazekamp keeps a close eye on the action. (Photos by Colleen Merkins.)