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.
Bentz Adds Next Chapter to Inspirational Story as Novi Christian Athletic Director
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
September 24, 2024
NOVI – For anyone seeking an inspirational speaker, new Novi Christian athletic director Chad Bentz has a story he’d like to tell.
His includes the value of resilience, proof that improbable dreams can come true, and affirmation that mentors can change lives.
Bentz spent time in Major League Baseball, playing 36 games for the Montreal Expos in 2004 and four games in 2005 for the Miami Marlins as a left-handed relief pitcher.
The chances of making it to the big leagues are slim to begin with, but were even longer considering that Bentz grew up in Alaska.
On top of that, Bentz has a deformed right hand. When he debuted with the Expos, he followed in the footsteps of Jim Abbott, who also has a deformed right hand and starred at Flint Central and University of Michigan on the way to pitching for four MLB teams across 10 seasons.
Bentz was certainly a case of beating improbable odds, and watching Abbott while growing up was a big reason why.
“Everybody has their favorite players, but Jim was more than that to me,” Bentz said. “He gave me confidence to try things. I was always the kid with the weird hand. I always kept my hand in my pocket and was always self-conscious about it. Then I saw Jim pitching. He gave me confidence to try things, and thank goodness he did. When I tried things, I discovered I was good at it and got more confidence.”
It got even better for Bentz as a college freshman playing for Long Beach State, when he got to meet Abbott in during an unexpected visit.
“Meeting him was by far the most star-struck I’ve ever been,” he said. “We both stuck out our left hands to shake and it was the first time ever where it wasn’t that awkward. It was everything I thought it was going to be. He was incredibly nice, funny and just a good dude. That was one of my favorite moments. Kids being born, wedding and Jim.”
A big part of Bentz’ baseball development occurred in Michigan. Although he grew up in Alaska — he said he could’ve been a “Hall of Famer pitching inside of a gym” — Bentz would spend his summers in Michigan with family members in the Grand Rapids area.
He ended up hooking up with a travel ball team in the area, the Grand Rapids A’s, which was a step up from competition he saw in Alaska.
“I went down to Michigan, and I said, ‘OK, there are a lot of players in this country, and I am not as good as I thought I was,’” he said. “After my freshman year here (playing summer ball), I went back (to Alaska), and I started lifting and I didn’t stop. I kept working.”
Bentz eventually was drafted out of high school in the 34th round by the New York Yankees, played at Long Beach State and then was drafted in the seventh round by the Expos in 2001. In choosing baseball, he turned down opportunities to play football at Division I schools in what was then the PAC-10.
Bentz had been a standout linebacker and fullback, and when his baseball career was done, he began a college football career at age 30 playing for Castleton State College in Vermont.
“Playing college football at age 30 kind of gave me a taste of it, and that taste was that you should have done this 10 years ago,” Bentz quipped. “Not at 30. I was in slings every single Sunday. I couldn’t move. My arms were in slings. Both of them. But it was worth it. I loved and was thankful I had that opportunity. It filled that ‘what if’ type of thing.”
A husband and father of three, including 2-year-old twin boys, Bentz jumped on the chance to become the athletic director at Novi Christian and move to Michigan to not only be closer to family but give his kids a chance to be more active.
“Alaska is great, but it’s limiting,” Bentz said. “I told people that the grass isn’t going to be greener, but it’s just going to be a bigger yard and more swings for them to play on. We just wanted a little bit more opportunity.”
Bentz also said he would love the opportunity to speak in front of groups of people and share his journey in hopes of inspiring others, something he did regularly when he was in Major League Baseball at various ballparks.
"I was able to meet a lot of people of all ages who had any types of disabilities or anything,” he said. “I just know the kind of impact it can have. If I can do that and do a tiny bit of what Jim gave me, I’d like to pay it forward as much as possible.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTO courtesy of Chad Bentz.