Playoffs are Here on MHSAA.tv
October 25, 2012
Boys soccer District games were among exciting additions to MHSAA.tv last week, plus football league championship games between Montrose and Lake Fenton and Watervliet and Lawton.
MHSAA.tv and the School Broadcast Program coverage also included volleyball and swimming and diving events.
See those listings below, plus links to the MHSAA Football Friday Overtime on Fox Sports Detroit and the Comcast/Xfinity game shot last week -- Grosse Ile vs. Riverview -- plus a link to this week's MHSAA Perspective.
MHSAA.tv: Click on the "Schools" tab on MHSAA.tv to find these games:
- North Branch vs. Yale football
- Central Lake vs. Rudyard football
- Pickford vs. Onaway football
- East Jordan vs. Charlevoix football
- Mancelona vs. Indian River Inland Lakes football
- Montrose vs. Lake Fenton football
- Gaylord vs. St. Johns football
- Lawton vs. Watervliet football
- Lansing Eastern vs. East Lansing soccer
- Brownstown Woodhaven vs. Dearborn Heights Crestwood soccer
- Sparta vs. Cedar Springs soccer
- Haslett vs. Owosso soccer
- DeWitt vs. East Lansing soccer
- Taylor Truman vs. Trenton soccer
- Lansing Eastern vs. St. Johns soccer
- Haslett vs. East Lansing soccer
- Grand Haven vs. Rockford volleyball
- Posen vs. Hillman volleyball
- Montrose vs. Perry volleyball
- Houghton vs. Calumet volleyball
- Mancelona vs. Onaway volleyball
- Rogers City vs. Cheboygan volleyball
- Lake Linden-Hubbell vs. Calumet volleyball
- Charlevoix vs. Grayling volleyball
- Grand Haven vs. Rockford swimming and diving
- Also, click under "MHSAA" and "Recent" for the 1997 Class C Football Final between Decatur and Ravenna, won by Ravenna 48-26 thanks in part to four touchdowns by Willy Rolison.
FOX: At 11:30 p.m. after each Friday's games, Fox Sports Detroit airs its one-hour Football Friday Overtime with highlights from all over the state.
XFINITY: Friday's 21-7 O-K White-deciding win by Grand Rapids Christian over Lowell is available to subscribers On Demand on Xfinity's High School Sports site.
MHSAA Perspective: Our John Johnson discusses the need for values-based school sports programs - Listen
Below: This week's School Broadcast Program highlights include clips from Menominee/Petoskey, Gaylord/St. Johns and Yale/North Branch football games and the soccer District matchup of Lansing Eastern and St. Johns.
Division 3 Final: Eaglets Fly Again
November 29, 2011
Five times since its most recent MHSAA football championship, Orchard Lake St. Mary returned to the championship game – and lost.
Saturday night there was no stopping the Eaglets – or their running attack – at the Division 3 Final at Ford Field.
St. Mary rushed for 478 yards – and after near-misses the last two seasons won its first championship since 2000 with a 45-7 win over top-ranked Mount Pleasant.
"I knew what it felt like to lose, so it gave me the fire and other teammates the fire to win,” St. Mary senior running back Spencer McInnis said. “It’s unexplainable. It’s awesome. It’s something I’ve wanted since I was a kid. I always knew I was going to go to St. Mary’s. It’s just a great feeling.”
The Eaglets (12-2) had fallen by eight and three to East Grand Rapids in the last two Finals, and in a five-overtime classic in 2007. They entered the playoffs ranked No. 4 by The Associated Press – but as champions of the Detroit Catholic League Central, which sent three teams to Ford Field this fall.
“It was great to win again,” said St. Mary coach George Porritt, who finished his 23rd season leading the program. “It’s a collective effort from these kids, and it’s been all year long.”
McInnis ran for 213 of the team’s 478 rushing yards, and took three of his 23 carries into the end zone. Junior brother Parker McInnis ran for 96 yards and a score, as did junior fullback Grant Niemiec. Senior James Ross added another running touchdown.
“We were in position to make some tackles, and it wasn’t a scheme thing or guys getting blocked. It’s just that their athletes made our guys miss, or we couldn’t tackle them,” Mount Pleasant coach Jason McIntyre said. “I’ve never seen backs that we couldn’t tackle one on one or two on one. A lot of teams will have one great back, and you can focus and rally there. But they had three and four.”
The Oilers’ usually-strong running game finished with just 122 yards, led by senior quarterback Ryan Elliott’s 40. He also had Mount Pleasant’s lone score. It was the team’s first Finals appearance – and only loss this fall as it finished 13-1.
Junior defensive back Cory Williams led the Oilers with nine tackles. Senior lineman Dylan Zerki led the Eaglets with 11, and Ross had 10.