Second Title Just as Sweet for Sailors
November 3, 2012
By Dean Holzwarth
Special to Second Half
KENTWOOD – Two years ago, Kevin Doornbos was a sophomore when the South Christian boys soccer team won the program's first MHSAA title.
Following Saturday afternoon's Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship game, Doornbos had reason to cherish this one even more.
He booted the lone goal of in a thrilling 1-0 double-overtime win against Williamston at Pat Patterson Athletic Field.
“This is the second time for me, and this one feels even better since I got the game-winning goal,” said Doornbos, whose twin brother, Kyle, also plays on the team.
“I knew we were going to be able to do this because we have a great team. We have such great depth, and I had confidence in my team that we were going to come out with the win.”
Amid a defensive struggle that resulted in a scoreless regulation and first overtime, Doornbos delivered a booming shot from 18 yards out that soared past Hornets' keeper Charlie Coon with less than six minutes remaining in the second overtime.
“I was trying to create space between myself and the defender,” Doornbos said. “I think I took my time a little too much, but I was waiting for the perfect shot, and I'm pretty sure I got the perfect shot there. It is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
South Christian coach Jason Boersma knew the potency of Doornbos' left foot, and became excited when he lined up for the shot with little pressure surrounding him.
“Kevin has a cannon of a shot, and when I saw them letting him set up to the left, I thought they were playing smart defense, but they don't realize that he is a lefty,” Boersma said. “When the ball hit the back of the net, the emotion was amazing. It was an amazing moment, and I just watched my guys go crazy.”
Boersma said his assistant coach, Ben Cook, predicted that Doornbos would be the hero.
“He actually told him before the second overtime that he thought he was going to get on here,” he said. “He has kind of been like Nostradamus all season, calling out whose going to get that opportunity.”
While South Christian (21-2-3) celebrated its second crown, it ruined the Finals debut of Williamston.
The Hornets (19-7-1) were making their first appearance in a title game after winning the program's first Regional title.
They defeated Elk Rapids 2-1 in a shootout to reach the Finals.
“This team made history,” Williamston coach Brent Sorg said. “Twenty-three years in the program, and this was the first time ever advancing to the state finals. That is something they will remember 10, 15, 20 years down the road.”
The Sailors' defense allowed few scoring chances, and posted their 18th shutout of the season. They blanked their third straight opponent in the tournament after also shutting out Otsego in the Regional Final and Grosse Ile in the Semi.
“Our defense has been hard to score on all season, and most of them are coming back next year,” Boersma said.
Coon, a senior, kept the Hornets in the game with stellar play in goal. He made eight stops, including a diving save in overtime on a shot in front of the net by South Christian's Cody Kok.
“He is an all-state goal keeper, and he had made some tremendous saves for us,” Sorg said. “He kept us in many games all year.”
The Sailors closed the season on an 11-game winning streak.
“What a fun opportunity for these guys,” Boersma said. “They played their hearts out, and Williamston played a fantastic game. I thought they had a few chances, and we had a few chances, and it was just a good battle between two good teams and we're blessed to be on top of this one.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Rapids South Christian players hoist their second MHSAA championship trophy won over the last three seasons. (Middle) South Christian's Kevin Doornbos (11) charges ahead as Williamston's Phil Erickson gives chase moments before Doornbos scored the game's only goal.
McKelvey Fills Record-Setting Kicking Role with Lenawee Christian Football
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
October 11, 2022
ADRIAN – A couple of years ago it would have been easy to image Brady McKelvey scoring a last-second shot for Adrian Lenawee Christian to win a basketball game or for him to find the back of the net with a game-winning goal in soccer.
But fast forward to today and McKelvey might be more likely to kick a game-winning field goal for the No. 2-ranked Cougars 8-player football team.
“I watched football of course, but I never played it until last year,” McKelvey said. “It’s interesting. It’s been a lot of fun. I’m glad Coach (Bill) Wilharms asked us to try out.”
McKelvey is a two-sport athlete in the fall, playing for both the Lenawee Christian soccer and football teams. He’s played on MHSAA championship teams in both sports. Last week McKelvey reached rare territory when he kicked his 100th career extra point – the state record for 8-player football.
“We were never big football players,” McKelvey said, referring to him and his brother, Jacob, now a student at the University of Michigan. “We just always had a soccer ball in our hands.”
Wilharms is the strength and conditioning coach and varsity football coach at Lenawee Christian, which has grown into an 8-player powerhouse, winning Division 1 championships in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Brady and Jacob McKelvey were working out at the LCS facilities two springs ago when Wilharms asked if they wanted to try out kicking for the football team.
“I always wondered what it would be like to kick a football,” Brady McKelvey said. “I’ve always wanted to, but never had the opportunity. We were excited to try it out.”
Both came out for the team last season and were coached by Casey Opsal, a former Hudson kicker and now a Lenawee County sheriff’s deputy who is one of Wilharms’ assistants. With Opsal’s guidance, Jacob and Brady blossomed into outstanding kickers.
“He’s been the person who has taught me everything I know about it,” McKelvey said. “He helped me improve a lot.”
McKelvey has never attended a football camp or had a lesson in kicking a football from anyone outside of the LCS staff. Yet, his statistics are nothing short of amazing.
Last season, McKelvey had a string of 52 consecutive extra points at one point and finished the season making 59-of-61 attempts. He has a current streak of 23 straight makes heading into this week’s game and is 44-for-45 overall this year. In two seasons, that makes him 103-for-106. He kicked his first field goal earlier this season, giving him 106 career kicking points.
Twice in his career he’s kicked 10 extra points in a game. This year he’s hit at least eight PATs four straight weeks. He also averages about 45 yards per kickoff.
Wilharms said he’s happy McKelvey decided to try his leg at football and said the senior is still learning nuances of football, such as where to place the ball on kickoffs.
“He is a good athlete,” Wilharms said. “His PATs are consistent. We are definitely glad to have him on the team.”
Brady and Jacob shared duties last season, although by the end of the season Jacob was kicking off and Brady was handling the bulk of the extra points.
“At first, one of us would go out and kick and the next time the other one would go out there,” McKelvey said. “Toward the end of the season, I was better at extra points, and he was better at kicking off. It is cool to be on a team that scores a lot because you get to kick a lot.”
LCS has no trouble scoring. The Cougars are 6-1 and average 49.8 points per game.
Soccer continues to be McKelvey’s favorite sport. The Cougars are having a solid season on the pitch as well, and he is a big part of that team’s success too.
“I still love soccer,” McKelvey said.
Cougars soccer coach Nathan Sharpe said McKelvey is a team leader. He has three goals and three assists this fall. “He’s a captain and a key player on our team,” Sharpe said.
McKelvey said kicking the ball in soccer and kicking the football are very different things requiring different technique.
“It’s surprisingly different,” he said. “A soccer ball is a lot bigger. You have more room to hit it. You want to lean over and try and keep it toward the ground. A football you have to make a much different type of contact because you want to get it up into the air.
“The first time I kicked a football with no coaching, it was interesting. I had to try and completely switch how I was kicking.”
He’s learned the technique so much that this winter he is considering not playing basketball so he can go to football kicking camps. He’s hoping to become good enough to try out or walk-on to a football team in college.
“I didn’t really expect to be as consistent as I have been,” he said. “You watch college kickers, and even they miss sometimes. I work at it as much as I can. With soccer games, there are times I cannot go to football practice, but I try and get out there as much as I can.
“I think it would be awesome to kick in college,” he added. “I plan on going to some camps this winter. If I’m able to walk-on somewhere, that would be fine with me.”
Besides soccer, the McKelveys have a basketball background as well. Their dad Scott has coached boys and girls basketball in Lenawee County for years. He recently was hired as the boys varsity coach at Blissfield. The boys grew up being managers and hanging around the teams that Scott coached.
McKelvey is setting the bar high in the 8-player football record book. LCS still has two regular-season games remaining and is considered among the favorites to make a long postseason run – meaning he could push that extra point number a lot higher.
“I’m very happy I tried out for the team,” he said. “Being part of it is a lot of fun. The guys on the team have always treated me as part of the team. I really like being on the team. All the success we have makes it so much fun.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Brett McKelvey prepares to kick off during a game this season. (Middle) McKelvey, with father Scott McKelvey and mother Melissa Dempsey. (Photos courtesy of Jeff Jameson/Lenawee Christian.)