Rockford's Lewis Aims to Finish On Top
October 16, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Dewey Lewis received two rare opportunities as a freshman at Rockford High School that helped set him up for a long and successful high school soccer career.
He was promoted to the varsity soccer team – something that usually doesn’t happen at a school as big as Rockford, or in a program as successful.
And he got the opportunity to play with his brother Sean, a senior at the time who now plays goalkeeper at Western Michigan University.
But Dewey had plenty of learning to do before setting himself apart as possibly the state’s top high school player this fall with the Rams heading into their Division 1 District opener tonight at Okemos.
“When I was a freshman, I didn’t want to put in the extra work. I was willing to do the minimum I needed to do to get by,” Lewis said. “But the past couple years I’ve become more mature. My effort has gotten better, and that’s allowed me to make the team better.
“You can be extremely skilled and everything, but if you don’t put in the effort, there’s not a good chance you’re going to succeed. A big part of that is having both the skill and effort, but you’ve got to be willing to put the team before yourself.”
And frequently, Lewis has put Rockford’s team on his shoulders as well.
The senior forward, a Second Half High 5 honoree, entered this week’s postseason play with 52 goals and 46 assists for his career. Last season he broke the team’s single-season scoring record with 20 goals and made the Division 1 all-state third team. Although the career assists just make the bottom of the MHSAA record book list, his body of work from a statistical standpoint doesn’t necessarily jump out compared to some of the ridiculous numbers put up by others over the years.
But context is important. Few players above him on those lists played four years for an MHSAA power, surrounded by similarly-skilled teammates and against competition to match.
This season, bouncing all over the front line and midfield in order to avoid increased defensive attention, Lewis has 17 goals and 12 assists, and Rockford was ranked No. 2 in Division 1 heading into Monday’s games.
“This year his performance has been more dynamic because there’s been so much added pressure. Teams are trying to take him out of the game, but he has nearly the same stats,” Rockford coach Steve Thomas said.
“But that’s what’s great about Dew. He’s a pass-first guy. He’s so willing to give the ball up, to put the ball into a more dangerous situation. I would categorize him as one of the most unselfish kids I've been around.”
The two butted heads at times early in Lewis’ career. Partly, it was because of some of that immaturity that Lewis admits. He also came to the Rams playing at a high club level, but had to adjust to the more physical style of the high school game.
His first two seasons, Lewis was “just fitting in” to those teams, Thomas said. He’d talk with Lewis after practices and express his expectations for his young but talented forward. Sean also kept tabs on his brother, refusing to let him slack off.
At the end of his sophomore season, everything started to click. That next summer, Dewey played a significant role on a Grand Rapids Crew club team that won a U-17 national championship. Last fall, Lewis became the first junior Thomas knows of at Rockford to be named a captain.
He was selected for the same this fall, but not after making a major decision. For the first time, Michigan high school players were forced to pick between high school soccer and playing for U.S. Soccer Development Academy teams that also play during the fall. Lewis was among the elite with the option to do both.
Many from his grade, especially from the Detroit area, chose academy teams. But Lewis – who has committed to play at Michigan State University next fall – decided to stick with the Rams.
Part of his reasoning came down to the high school atmosphere – Rockford played East Kentwood in front of 2,000 fans last season. Part was influenced by the opportunity to play with his hometown friends one more time. And the biggest part likely came down to style of play – he considered the higher-skilled competition he’d see at the academy level, but thought he might benefit more from the harder work and effort he’d have to put in to succeed at the high school game.
And getting one last chance to succeed at this level is the biggest reason he’s back in orange and black this fall. Hailing from any other region of the state, Rockford could have made deep runs in the MHSAA tournaments his first three seasons. But the Rams fell to East Kentwood during the District tournament to end each one, and East Kentwood went on to win the Division 1 championship in 2010.
The Falcons are the only team ranked ahead of Rockford this week, and would be the District Semifinal opponent Thursday if the Rams can get past No. 7 Okemos tonight.
“I think I learned a lot from this season, and going forward it made me a better player in different areas that I wasn’t improving on before,” Lewis said. “There was a lot of pressure to be one of the stars on a high school team, and it helped me learn about dealing with the pressure.
“I don’t like leaving things half done. It was nice to come back and be able to finish things off."
PHOTOS: (Top) Rockford's Dewey Lewis works between two defenders during a game earlier this season. (Middle) Lewis works to pass an East Kentwood player. Rockford could play East Kentwood in a District Semifinal on Wednesday.
Several Northern Michigan Hopefuls Setting Up for Potential Postseason Success
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
September 9, 2022
Not a whole lot is changing — yet — in the Big North, Northwest and Lake Michigan soccer conferences this year.
Traverse City Christian, an independent, is taking on schools from all three and wants a different District result to get back to Regionals this fall. And, perhaps surprisingly, Kalkaska is looking to change things too.
Traverse City West, Elk Rapids and Christian loaded up their early season with strong nonconference competition. Nothing new. And Leland and Buckley, fast becoming arguably the biggest rivals in northern Michigan, did the best they could to schedule nonconference competition aimed at leading to yet another deep postseason run.
Of course West and Elk Rapids have their eyes on the postseason — again — as well.
West, coming off its annual Labor Day weekend tournament hosting Grand Haven, Midland Dow and Mason, is off to a 6-1 start, posting shutouts in its first four contests. Christian is 5-1-1.
Elk Rapids is off to a 2-5-1 start. That’s not a misprint.
And, by the way, Kalkaska is undefeated in regulation in its first six games.
That’s not an error either. Third-year coach David Wagner has his Blazers playing well and has seen some stellar goaltending by junior Kayden Dueweke-Gonzales. A shootout loss is the only blemish.
Wagner is hoping his team can pick up more wins than has been the case for some time for the Blazers in the Lake Michigan Conference.
“I think we will be much more competitive than we were last year,” Wagner said of the Blazers, who are 5-1 overall and 2-0 in Lake Michigan play.
Nate Plum, now is his 15th year at the helm of Elk Rapids, is not overly concerned about his team’s win-loss record at this moment. He’s more concerned with the Elks learning from their experiences and hopes he will see stronger competition in the Lake Michigan Conference this year from teams like Kalkaska.
Despite what many would call a slow start, the Elks are still rated among the state’s top Division 3 soccer teams and are drawing the attention of the soccer community across the state.
Elk Rapids has made many postseason runs under Plum, who came into this fall with a 241-102-33 record as the Elks coach. Elk Rapids reached the Division 3 Semifinals last season before losing a shootout to the eventual champion, Grand Rapids South Christian. The Elks also reached the Semifinals in 2020, falling to South Christian. Elk Rapids has won four straight District titles, the last two in part because of one-goal and shootout wins over TC Christian.
The Elks prioritize playing teams like they may see at the end of the season, allowing the competition and conditions to force improvements. Teams are getting stronger in the Lake Michigan Conference, Plum is excited to note, but Elk Rapids hasn’t lost a league game in five years.
So the Elks have looked for opportunities to play on turf and tough environments like TC West and East Grand Rapids.
“The boys would rather be playing in late October than racking up wins now,” Plum said. “I know I’ve got to put them in situations where they have to get better — the only way the boys can get better sometimes is play games we’re not going to have the ball the entire time and they’re going to challenge us and put us in uncomfortable spots.
“When the games really matter at the end of the year and we find ourself in tough situations, we can say, ‘We’ve been in something like this, and we’ve seen it before,’” he continued. “Maybe putting us in those situations are more important to me than wins.”
TC Christian, a long-time regular and postseason opponent of the Elks, has its eyes set on knocking off the Elks in the District this time.
The Sabres are getting closer, but they haven’t made a Regional appearance since 2010. They will host the Elks on Sept. 20.
Roy Jay Montney, who owns a 37-10-3 record with the Sabres, said since they are independent, his program schedules every game with the postseason in mind.
“We are not in a league, so we are thinking of the postseason,” Montney said. “We’re preparing for the postseason each game.”
The coaches share mutual respect.
“Elk Rapids is great program,” Montney said. “They’ve put together a consistent team and program for years.
“They will be strong and they will come out to play, and hopefully we’ll be ready for it.”
Christian is not ready to focus on the Elks yet. They will play Holland, Midland and Traverse City Central before that Sept. 20 meeting on the pitch.
“They’re (Sabres) tough competition, no question about that,” said Plum. “A lot of times I feel the one during the season is a soccer game and the next one is a bunch of emotion.
“Nobody wants to lose come October, and everyone is playing like it’s their last game,” Plum continued. “They have to make it really tough to win the District and you’ve got to give them credit for that.”
The Elks have been led by junior Alex Smith, who has four goals and two assists so far. The Sabres have been led by senior Henry Reineck’s six goals and one assist.
Buckley, coming off its first Northwest Conference championship won last fall, is hoping to repeat but again must get past perennial league champ Leland (2-2-1), which has made many deep postseason runs including to the Division 4 championship in 2018.
Leland reached the Regionals in 2019 and 2020 before suffering a 1-0 District championship loss to Buckley in 2021. Rob Sirrine, now in his second year as the head coach, was an assistant coach for the Comets during those runs.
“We’ve got a really young team this year and are excited to see which underclassmen step up and contribute,” said Sirrine. “Our goal is to make it to Regional Finals at a minimum.
“We’ve had a few solid games and a few lackluster games so far, but it’s early,” he continued. “We’ll be working out the kinks over the next several weeks to be ready for playoffs this year.”
The playoffs will come after home and away games with Buckley in league play. The Bears and Comets are competing in different Division 4 Districts this year. Instead of loading up the nonleague schedule, capturing a league crown is critical to the Bears’ postseason preparation, veteran coach John Vermilya pointed out.
“We haven’t gone to the lengths of like Elk Rapids, TC Christian and Leland,” he said. “They’re always playing the biggest dog they can get.
“We’re trying to get a flavor of what is outside of our conference,” he continued. “We are just trying to win games and get one of the two seeds in District play.”
The Bears are going into a game today with Manistee, a Division 3 team, at 4-3-1. They’ve recently benefited from two Spanish and one Italian exchange student entering the district.
Buckley lost to eventual Division 4 champion Wyoming Potter’s House Christian in a Regional Semifinal last year.
Meanwhile, Traverse City West (6-1) is eying another postseason run and taking on Holland on Saturday. The Titans picked up a win in their conference opener Thursday over Petoskey.
Since taking over the West helm in 2015, Matt Griesinger has guided the Titans to a 123-30-15 record, District championships the last three seasons and Division 1 Finals appearances in 2019 and 2020.
The Titans have won the Big North Conference the last 12 years. Griesinger credits senior goalie Trae Collins for much of the early success this fall. Collins has a goals-against average of 0.81 through seven games.
Petoskey dropped to 6-5 overall with the West loss.
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) Elk Rapids' Caden Moore (9) gets his head on the ball during an Aug. 23 game against Petoskey. (2) Keeper Kayden Dueweke-Gonzales leads Kalkaska in its warm up before Thursday’s win over Boyne City. (3) Henry Reineck kicks the ball around during a Traverse City Christian practice. (4) Traverse City West keeper Trae Collins takes a moment during his school’s junior varsity game. (Top photo by Kate Parrish, Kalkaska photo courtesy of the Blazers’ athletic department, and Traverse City Christian and West photos by Tom Spencer.)