1st & Goal: 2023 8-Player Finals Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 17, 2023
Northern Michigan University on Saturday will host two recent 8-player football champions looking to build on their recent success – and two more contenders hoping to celebrate at Superior Dome for the first time.
Martin in Division 1 will be seeking its second-straight title against Indian River Inland Lakes, which will be appearing in its first MHSAA Final in either football format.
Adrian Lenawee Christian in Division 2 will attempt to win a third title in four seasons, while Marion is making its first championship game trip in more than three decades and after a series of just-misses the last few years.
Martin and Inland Lakes kick off at 11 a.m., and Lenawee Christian and Marion follow at 2 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online through NMU or at the door – click for details – and both games will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv. Audio of both games will be streamed live on MHSAANetwork.com.
Below is a look at all four finalists:
Division 1
MARTIN
Record/Rank: 10-2, No. 9
Coach: Brad Blauvelt, sixth season (56-11)
League finish: Tied for second in Southwest Michigan 8-Man Football League White
Championship history: 8-Player Division 1 champion 2022, 11-Player Class D champion 1987.
Best wins: 42-34 over No. 5 Kingston in Semifinal, 28-6 over No. 10 Gobles in Regional Final, 44-18 (Regional Semifinal) and 28-14 over Marcellus.
Players to watch: QB/DB Gavin Meyers, 6-2/170 jr. (1,058 yards/11 TDs passing, 1,171 yards/11 TDs rushing); RB/LB Haylen Buell, 5-8/150 soph. (967 yards/13 TDs rushing), WR/DB Taegan Harris, 5-10/150 sr. (538 yards/6 TDs receiving); TE/LB Abe Dykstra, 5-10/195 sr. (199 yards/3 TDs receiving).
Outlook: Martin graduated three all-staters including its two main offensive contributors and still finds itself back where it defeated Merrill 74-24 to finish last season. Meyers has stepped nicely into the dual-threat quarterback role after all-stater J.R. Hildebrand graduated, and he has the Clippers averaging 38.5 points per game. The team’s only losses came to undefeated Bridgman and Gobles, and Martin avenged the latter in the Regional Final. Dykstra was the team’s second-leading tackler in last season’s Final, and Buell also was a top contributor on that side of the ball before taking on a large share of the rushing load this fall.
INDIAN RIVER INLAND LAKES
Record/Rank: 11-1, No. 6
Coach: Travis Meyer, fifth season (35-17)
League finish: First in Ski Valley Conference
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 12-0 over No. 2 Pickford in Semifinal, 40-36 over No. 3 St. Ignace in Regional Final, 22-6 over No. 7 Alcona in Regional Semifinal, 54-46 over Division 2 No. 10 Lake Linden-Hubbell.
Players to watch: QB/DB Aidan Fenstermaker, 5-9/160 jr. (1,695 yards/25 TDs rushing, 1,090 yards/14 TDs passing); RB/LB Payton Teuthorn, 6-0/190 sr. (219 yards/3 TDs rushing, 2 TDs receiving); TE/DB Jacob Willey, 6-0/200 sr. (514 yards/6 TDs receiving); RB/DB Andre Bradford, 5-10/180 soph. (400 yards/6 TDs rushing, 2 TDs receiving). (Only Fenstermaker’s stats include the Semifinal).
Outlook: Inland Lakes' two winningest seasons have come over the last three, and the Bulldogs’ only loss this fall was 30-28 to St. Ignace in Week 4 – with that defeat avenged in the Regional Final. The playoffs have included two of the most impressive defensive performances in either 8-player bracket, as Pickford averaged 47 points per game heading into their matchup and Alcona was averaging 52 ppg. Inland Lakes had 21 interceptions entering the Semifinals, with Fenstermaker snagging seven and sophomore Wyatt Hanel five. Willey earned an all-state honorable mention last season.
Division 2
ADRIAN LENAWEE CHRISTIAN
Record/Rank: 12-0, No. 1
Coach: Bill Wilharms, 10th season (91-24)
League finish: First in Southern Central Athletic Association East
Championship history: 8-Player Division 1 champion 2021 and 2020.
Best wins: 42-14 over Deckerville in Semifinal, 56-16 over Climax-Scotts in Regional Final, 48-28 over Kingston, 73-20 over Mendon.
Players to watch: WR/CB Jesse Miller, 6-0/175 sr. (537 yards/8 TDs receiving); QB/S Sam Lutz, 5-7/165 sr. (2,003 yards/32 TDs passing, 973 yards/27 TDs rushing); RB/CB Blake Drogowski, 6-0/175 sr. (502 yards/7 TDs rushing, 513 yards/8 TDs receiving); WR/LB Paul Towler, 6-2/185 sr. (550 yards/8 TDs receiving).
Outlook: This season’s Lenawee Christian run has been reminiscent of the undefeated seasons of 2020 and 2021, as the Cougars have defeated their opponents on average 54-10. Kingston at 20 points provided the closest challenge. Junior back-up quarterback Brenner Powers has run for 513 yards and seven scores and thrown for three more, and senior tight end Easton Boggs has been another significant target with a team-high 37 catches for 524 yards and seven touchdowns heading into last weekend. Lutz ran for three TDs and threw for three in the Semifinal win.
MARION
Record/Rank: 11-0, No. 2
Coach: Chad Grundy, 14th season (102-45)
League finish: First in West Michigan D League.
Championship history: 11-Player Class DD champion 1990.
Best wins: 42-36 over No. 10 Lake Linden-Hubbell in Semifinal, 48-6 over No. 4 Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart in Regional Final, 64-14 over Bay City All Saints in Regional Semifinal, 62-0 over Mesick.
Players to watch: QB/LB Collin McCrimmon, 5-8/180 soph. (1,006 yards/18 TDs passing, 679 yards/10 TDs rushing); RB/DB Gavin Prielipp, 5-10/180 sr. (964 yards/16 TDs rushing, 519 yards/10 TDs receiving); FB/LB Cole Meyer, 6-2/210 jr. (749 yards/9 TDs rushing, 289 yards/4 TDs receiving); C/NG Hayden Ostrowski, 5-10/240 sr.
Outlook: After running into eventual Division 2 champion Powers North Central in Semifinals the last three seasons, Marion broke through to take the next step this fall. The Eagles had four shutouts and gave up eight points total over their first five games and still haven’t given up more than 14 points in a game except once, in their Semifinal win. The offense, meanwhile, is averaging 55 points per game and gaining 9.8 yards per rush with McCrimmon keeping defenders on their toes with an incredible 32.5 yards per completion. Prielipp also has 10 interceptions to go with his offensive output.
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Flashback 100: Before Leading Free World, Ford Starred for Champion GR South
October 25, 2024
The only U.S. president from the state of Michigan, Gerald Ford also is the only person to become president without winning an election to become either president or vice president.
But before a career in politics, Ford starred on the gridiron at Grand Rapids South High School. South opened in 1917 and closed as a high school in 1968. Ford graduated in 1931, playing as a senior on a football team that would go undefeated and eventually be named a state champion according to statewide media – whose rankings determined champions before the creation of the MHSAA Playoffs in 1975.
Ford's final game was a scoreless tie played against cross-town rival Grand Rapids Union, a game Union would later forfeit for using ineligible players.
Ford also played basketball and ran track at South. After high school, he attended the University of Michigan and played football for the Wolverines. In 1934, his senior year, he was named team MVP. Following that, he attended law school at Yale and was an assistant football coach for the Bulldogs.
Ford was elected to Congress in 1948 and served 13 terms in the House of Representatives. When Spiro Agnew resigned as vice president in 1973, President Richard Nixon selected Ford as the new VP. A year later, after Nixon resigned, Ford assumed the presidency – becoming the 38th president of the United States.
Ford was inducted into the State of Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1977 and the University of Michigan Hall of Honor in 1978. He died in 2006 at the age of 92. The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids is the presidential museum and burial place of Ford and his wife Betty.
Previous "Flashback 100" Features
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Oct. 11: Fisher Races to Finals Stardom on Way to U.S. Olympic First - Read
Oct. 4: Lalas Leaves High School Legacies on Ice & Pitch - Read
Sept. 27: Tamer's History-Making Run Starts in Dexter, Continues to Paris - Read
Sept. 20: Todd Martin’s Road to Greatness Starts at East Lansing - Read
Sept. 13: James Earl Jones, Dickson High Hoops to Hollywood Legend - Read
Sept. 6: Pioneers' Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons - Read
Aug. 30: Detroit dePorres Rushes to 1995 Class CC Football Championship - Read
PHOTOS (Top) Clockwise from top left: Gerald Ford headshot from 1929. (2) Ford appears in a team photo with Grand Rapids South that fall. (3) Ford stands in football pants in 1930. (Middle) Ford appears in his uniform in 1928. (Photos courtesy of The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.)