'Prepapalooza' Kicks Off 3-Week Celebration

With every goal this season, Harbor Springs junior Henry Juneau will continue his climb up the MHSAA all-time career scoring list.

With 86 goals and 38 assists entering this season, the two-time all-stater had already qualified for the career points list. He has 12 goals already this fall, moving him onto the all-time career goals list as well.

Yet, Juneau would consider trading those spots for Harbor securing a spot in the MHSAA Division 4 Semifinals this fall. Throw in a conference championship, and it’s a done deal.

“I want to win the conference — that's one of the main things that we haven't won yet up here in Northern Michigan that we can accomplish,” he said. “It's been a lot of fun, and I guess over the past two years, we've just really seen it turn around — but we haven’t won the Regional championship.”

The Rams are off to a 3-0 start in the Northern Shores Conference. To win a conference title, the Rams will have to go through Elk Rapids, which has dominated during the league’s existence. Harbor Springs play host to the Elks in their next contest and also will travel to Elk Rapids on Sept. 25.

Juneau owns Harbor Springs’ school records for goals in a single game (9)  and season (48). He led the Rams to District championships both of his first two years.

Winning a Regional title is more important to Juneau than breaking school and state records for finding the net. The state goals record sits at 201.

“They're not as significant to me, at least this year,” Juneau said. “I'd still love to break it and make the number higher and higher.”

Goals have been a little harder to come by so far this season for Juneau as the Rams have battled some highly-ranked and bigger schools. Juneau is also better known by Rams’ opponents, drawing some double and triple teams.

Earning wins also has been more challenging. The Rams – ranked No. 14 in Division 4 – are off to a 4-6 overall start, although the win-loss record is not a concern to Juneau or his fifth-year coach, Jeff Suffolk.

“We played some behemoths – every team was ranked,” Suffolk said of the Boyne Mountain Invitational the Rams hosted to start the season, during which they defeated Division 3 No. 12 Grass Lake but lost to Division 2 No. 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, No. 9 Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, top-ranked Warren De La Salle Collegiate, Division 3 top-ranked Detroit Country Day and No. 3 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.

“It gave our boys a chance to play against some really high-level teams and push their limits early.”

Pushing limits has been one of Suffolk’s strategies since taking over the program.  

“We haven't won a conference since 2017, and that's one of our team goals,” he acknowledged.  “We've tried to push our limits a little bit further. We're building upon some serious momentum we've had the last couple of years, and we have our eye on making a deeper run come playoff time this year.”

The Rams last advanced to the MHSAA Semifinals in 2002, falling 3-2 to the eventual Division 4 champion Hudsonville Freedom Baptist. Harbor Springs’ last conference title was achieved in the Lake Michigan Conference, which was dominated by Elk Rapids and is no longer in existence. Most of the same teams from that conference now belong to the Northern Shores League.

The Rams, in the midst of playing home and away games in the 10-team conference, are already looking ahead to the prospects or a third-straight District championship. The other teams in that bracket are Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian, Charlevoix, Harbor Light Christian, Mackinaw Island and Cooks Big Bay de Noc.

Regional play is also something on which the Rams already have set their sights. Last year’s Division 4 champion Muskegon Western Michigan Christian knocked out the Rams last year and could be an opponent again this fall. Leland, which topped Harbor Springs in a Regional Final two years ago, could also be a Regional foe again.

There are two Harbor Springs players named Juneau. Henry’s younger brother, Cliff, is a freshman this year. The brothers are already teaming up to be something special.

“Henry’s a lethal goal scorer and he has a great supporting cast, including his little brother,” Suffolk proclaimed. “Watching those two work together is really cool, and you can kind of see the future.”

Despite a huge size difference compared to his older brother, the younger Juneau is already gaining attention.

“Cliff comes up to Henry's shoulders right now,” Suffolk pointed out. “But he's trying all the same things, and he's finding a lot of success. He's already a critical part of our team.”

Henry Juneau has become a role model for his little brother and pretty much everyone in the Rams’ small community, Suffolk points out. The Juneaus live across the street from their coach, and Henry is the best friend of the coach’s son, eighth-grader Jack Suffolk.

“Henry is someone the kids can really look up to as a good role model,” Suffolk said. “They see his work ethic, and they see him putting in year-round work on his craft.”

Both Suffolk and Henry Juneau point to their special coach-player relationship as a key to the Rams’ continued success.

“I want excellence out of these kids, and I know we're never going to get perfection,” Suffolk said. “I demand excellence and as unstoppable as Henry is, we still have tough conversations.”

Juneau carries great appreciation for his coach’s demands.

“We have a great relationship, and it's fun to work with him every day through the season,” he said. “But, yes, he has a high standard and it's what pushes me to be better and our whole team to be better. And if we didn't have it, we wouldn't be where we are right now.”

Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Harbor Springs’ Henry Juneau (11) works to get control of the ball in front of the net. (Middle) Juneau stands among his teammates during a game. (Photos by Rob DeForge/RD Sports Photo.)