See Finals Live on MHSAA.TV and Fox
November 19, 2013
It’s a huge streaming weekend for MHSAA tournaments, with more than 70 hours of live audio and video coverage of three sports on the MHSAA Network and FOX Sports Detroit.
The MHSAA.TV website will host live video of the Girls Volleyball Semifinals and Finals, and the Finals of the Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Championships, on a subscription basis. A pass can be purchased for $14.95 to watch all three days of volleyball plus the swimming, or a daily pass is available at $9.95. These events will be available for free on-demand viewing beginning Nov. 27 at MHSAA.TV.
Prep Zone: It’s the last weekend of Prep Zone coverage on the FoxSportsDetroit.com website, with free live coverage of the 8-Player Football Final and four Semifinal games in the 11-Player Football Playoffs. All of these events will be archived at MHSAA.TV.
On Friday, the championship game of the 8-Player Football Playoffs between Peck and Rapid River at Legacy Field in Greenville will take place at 7 p.m., with live streaming video on FoxSportsDetroit.com, and live audio streaming on MHSAANetwork.com. Because of conflicts with collegiate and professional games, the game will be on cable on a delayed basis. It will be shown on FOX Sports Detroit at 9 a.m. Saturday and again on Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. The on-demand video archive will be available shortly after the game’s conclusion at MHSAA.TV.
Below are Saturday's 11-player Prep Zone games. Three kick off at 1 p.m. and Ithaca/Montrose begins at 2 p.m.
- Detroit Catholic Central (10-2) vs. Detroit Cass Tech (12-0) at Troy Athens High School
- Birmingham Brother Rice (12-0) vs. Detroit Martin Luther King (10-1) at Wayne State University
- Ithaca (12-0) vs. Montrose (12-0) at Midland High School
- Muskegon Catholic Central (10-2) vs. New Lothrop (12-0) at Greenville High School
Volleyball Finals: Coverage runs Thursday through Saturday, and free audio of the games is available at MHSAANetwork.com. Here’s the complete schedule with Tuesday Quarterfinal pairings shown:
Thursday – Nov. 21
Class D Semifinals
2 p.m. – Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart/Leland winner vs. Waterford Our Lady/Marine City Cardinal Mooney winner
3:45 p.m. – Brimley/Crystal Falls Forest Park winner vs. Battle Creek St. Philip/Hillsdale Academy winner
Class A Semifinals
5:30 p.m. – Northville/Traverse City West winner vs. Haslett/East Grand Rapids winner
7:15 p.m. – Temperance Bedford/Livonia Stevenson winner vs. Romeo/Bloomfield Hills Marian winner
Friday – Nov. 22
Class C Semifinals
2 p.m. – Unionville-Sebewaing/Grand Rapids Covenant Christian winner vs. Schoolcraft/Mendon winner
3:45 p.m. – Ottawa Lake Whiteford/Auburn Hills Oakland Christian winner vs. Beal City/Calumet winner
Class B Semifinals
5:30 p.m. – Berrien Springs/Grand Rapids South Christian winner vs. Saginaw Swan Valley/Cadillac winner
7:15 p.m. – Pontiac Notre Dame Prep/North Branch winner vs. Monroe St. Mary /Wayland winner
Saturday – Nov. 23
Class D Final – 10 a.m.
Class C Final – Noon
Class A Final – 2 p.m.
Class B Final – 4 p.m.
Swimming & Diving Finals: On Saturday, MHSAA.TV will be home of live streaming video of the Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals beginning at Noon. The Division 1 Finals will take place at Oakland University; the Division 2 Finals are at Eastern Michigan University and the Holland Aquatics Center will be hosting the Division 3 event.
Last week's action: A number of football Regional Finals and a pair of volleyball Regional games were added oto MHSAA.TV by our partners with the School Broadcast Program:
- Montrose vs. Madison Heights Madison football
- St. Ignace vs. Beal City football
- Melvindale vs. St. Clair football
- Saginaw Swan Valley vs. Lansing Sexton football
- Battle Creek Pennfield vs. Grand Rapids South Christian football
- Comstock Park vs. Cadillac football
- Battle Creek Harper Creek vs. Plainwell volleyball
- Berrien Springs vs. Three Rivers volleyball
MHSAA Perspective: John Johnson spotlights the writings of a former coach and current athletic director who adjusted his perspective about officials by calling his own 30-second timeout - 30-Second Timeout
Division 2 Final: 'Anything is Possible'
November 29, 2011
DETROIT – That was the motto of Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice’s football team this season.
And the Warriors had to believe it in order for Friday’s dream finish to become possible.
Brother Rice qualified for the Division 2 playoffs at 5-4 last month and after finishing just fourth in the Detroit Catholic League Central. But riding the legs of senior running back Devin Church, the Warriors finished this season with a 24-14 win over Lowell at Ford Field to earn their seventh MHSAA championship and first since 2005.
Church, who ran for more than 900 yards during the playoffs, piled up 244 and three touchdowns rushing in the Final.
“We did it to make Coach proud,” Church said. “We kept the tradition going.
“That’s everybody’s dream, to win a state title. To walk away with a ring, that’s a blessing.”
“Coach” is Al Fracassa, who finished his 43rd season by winning his 405th high school game. But this run provided a new experience for the longtime leader.
Playing in a conference that also includes Division 1 finalist Detroit Catholic Central, Division 3 finalist Orchard Lake St. Mary and playoff qualifier Warren DeLaSalle, the Warriors lost three league games by a combined four points. Brother Rice (10-4) picked up its fourth loss in Week 8 against Cincinnati LaSalle.
But wins over strong teams – Detroit Martin Luther King and Ann Arbor Pioneer among them – likely gave Brother Rice the playoff points boost it needed to get into the postseason.
“We were worried about making the playoffs again. You get down, but the kids, they taught me a lesson. They came out and they worked their tails off,” Fracassa said. “We had a motto before our season started. … Anything is possible. This motto really personifies this football team. Anything is possible, and they’re going to remember it the rest of their lives.”
Church – who will sign with Northern Illinois in February – ran the ball 33 times. His yards were the sixth-most in an MHSAA Final ever. And they were followed by some flattering comparisons from Lowell coach Noel Dean.
“I don’t want to belittle their team by making it about one player; they have a great team,” Dean said. “(Church) is a fantastic football player. One of the better ones I’ve seen. And I’ve coached against some pretty good running backs in my day. The Grady brothers and the Ducketts, I’ve seen some pretty good ones. He’s fantastic.”
Fracassa added: “He’s done that all year, for the last three years. This is not only his good game he played. He’s played good in every game he’s played.”
And while Church ran wild, the Warriors were able to contain Lowell all-state quarterback Gabe Dean, who was making his third straight appearance in the Division 2 Final. A senior now, he led the Red Arrows to a championship game win in 2009
Dean did throw for 190 yards and two touchdowns, but was able to get free for just 34 yards on the ground as Lowell (12-2) attempted to catch up, and catch Church, most of the afternoon.
“The veer offense, we learned how to shut it down this week in practice. And we did a great job in the game,” Brother Rice junior linebacker Jon Reschke said. “We got them out of the veer and into a shotgun formation, the spread offense, which they didn't want to be in, which helped us.”
Senior linebacker Mark Doman had a team-high 13 tackles for Brother Rice, and Reschke had 10. Junior linebacker Reed Stormzand had 20 to lead Lowell, followed by sophomore linebackers Garrett Stehley and Jake Stehley with 14 and 12, respectively.