#SocialStudies v4.0
February 23, 2012
The best part about #SocialStudies, as I’m sure you’ve all realized by Week 4, is that the sum of its parts make entirely zero sense when combined into one.
There are no easy transitions from flying squirrel wrestling moves to some guy dancing down a professional sporting arena aisle while Bon Jovi blares in the background. Nevertheless – we love compiling the weird and wacky each week.
So, without further ado …
1. You won't see this in Battle Creek, but ...
Last summer, this Chicago-area high schooler stunned an arena with acrobatics not seen on a wrestling mat since… well, never. Yes, we are very aware that this type of "flying squirrel" move is illegal under high school rules – but that doesn’t make it any less cool to watch. Don’t worry: multiple angles shown.
2. Dance Machine, circa 1986
The lip-syncing is fairly horrific. The moves aren’t anything spectacular. And this video is more than three years old. And yet, once you start watching this weird dude at a Celtics game – you cannot stop. His stellar sassy-steppin’ solo starts around 10 seconds in. Ladies and gentlemen: I give you Mr. Jeremy Fry in HD.
3. He is the Hunter; Robichaud, the hunted.
Junior Vincent Hunter of Detroit Consortium knows how to dunk. Here’s a compilation of no less than four of them from their game last week against Dearborn Heights Robichaud. The Cougars won the game, 73-67 – pushing their latest winning streak to four straight.
4. Say it with us: Battle ... of ... the ... Fans!
And finally, it seems amiss to neglect the final day of fan polling for our Battle of The Fans contest. View all five finalist submissions here and click the image below to vote on Facebook for your favorite. Good luck to Frankenmuth, Grand Rapids Christian, Petoskey, Reese and Rockford!
It's MHSAA tournament time, which should reveal a bevy of video highlights and social media madness as we finish up February and fly full bore into March.
See something high school sports-related online that the rest of us must see? Capture some cool video yourself? Upload it to We're always looking for more to add to your weekly #SocialStudies.
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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.