1st & Goal: Week 4 Preview
September 17, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
After a slight delay, we’re back – and landing right in the heart of the 2020 Michigan high school football season.
After missing the previously-scheduled first three weeks due to COVID-19 precautions, there’s no time for teams to ease into the action. This week’s schedule is loaded with some of the major matchups we circle every fall.
Below is a look at storylines coming out of every region of the state and 8-player for this opening weekend (we’re going to continue calling it Week 4). We’ll again be tracking scores in real time with the MHSAA Score Center. And remember, attendance limits are in place – but we’ll have at least 32 games broadcast Friday and Saturday on MHSAA.tv. (Nine games kicked the varsity season off Thursday night, and you can catch one of those as well on demand.)
Records below are for the 2019 season.
Bay & Thumb
Beaverton (10-1) at Sanford Meridian (8-4)
The Beavers are coming off their best season ever, after claiming the Jack Pine Conference championship and closing the regular season with four straight shutouts. The zero streak began with a 20-0 win over Meridian, which went on to finish third in the JPC but then claimed a District title. The Mustangs are hoping to next beat Beaverton for the first time since their best season ever, in 2015.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Linden (4-5) at Flushing (5-5), Frankenmuth (9-2) at Freeland (9-3), Flint Carman-Ainsworth (2-7) at Grand Blanc (5-5), Ubly (10-3) at Harbor Beach (10-1).
Greater Detroit
Detroit Martin Luther King (11-3) at Detroit Cass Tech (7-5), Saturday
The Detroit Public School League kicks off with its annual game of the year. These rivals will play in different divisions of the PSL again and could meet a second time, as is frequent, in the PSL championship game in five weeks. King is coming off a big win in last season’s matchup after a similar Cass Tech victory in 2018 – so another classic may be due.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Macomb Dakota (6-5) at Clinton Township Chippewa Valley (9-1), West Bloomfield (10-2) at Oak Park (8-2), Utica Eisenhower (9-3) at Sterling Heights Stevenson (8-5) SATURDAY Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (6-5) at Warren De La Salle Collegiate (5-5).
Mid-Michigan
Portland (8-3) at DeWitt (10-3)
Both will look to hit the ground running in what should again this season be one of the best matchups in the Lansing area. The Panthers’ three losses last year came by a combined 28 points, and their closest was a 29-27 defeat to the Raiders in Week 2. Portland scored the most points DeWitt gave up last fall, but arrived in a similar spot later with three losses over its final four games and by a combined 29 points.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Williamston (5-5) at Fowlerville (7-4), Pewamo-Westphalia (14-0) at Laingsburg (6-4), Saginaw Nouvel (7-5) at Ithaca (8-2), Saginaw Swan Valley (8-4) at Alma (4-5).
Northern Lower Peninsula
Traverse City West (7-3) vs. Traverse City Central (8-2) at Thirlby Field
Talk about a different look this season. The “Patriot Game” between these rivals generally brings about 10,000 fans to downtown Traverse City. But this region is allowed a maximum of 500 people (including players) at outdoor games under Phase 5 of the MI Safe Start Plan. Still, smaller crowds won’t change the meaning for the teams on the field. Central’s 32-0 win last year was the first double-digit victory in the series since 2012, and it decided the Big North Conference title.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Kingsley (12-1) at Cheboygan (4-5), Boyne City (4-5) at Maple City Glen Lake (12-2), Lake City (6-4) at McBain (6-5) SATURDAY Sault Ste. Marie (7-4) at Traverse City St. Francis (8-4)
Southeast & Border
Dexter (8-2) at Chelsea (12-1)
Dexter – remember one of the great stories of 2018 when it made the playoffs for the first time – continued its surge last fall with its most wins during at least the MHSAA playoff era. And the Dreadnaughts were close to accomplishing possibly much more, with last year’s defeats by a combined seven points. Chelsea’s 22-17 win over Dexter in Week 1 ended up deciding the Southeastern Conference White title, making this rematch potentially another of the “right into the fire” moments of this season’s start.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Ida (4-5) at Clinton (9-1), Hanover-Horton (4-5) at Michigan Center (4-5), Pittsford (4-5) at Sand Creek (8-3), Dundee (5-5) at Blissfield (6-4).
Southwest Corridor
Constantine (8-3) at Schoolcraft (10-2)
These were two of three teams that shared the Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore title last season, thanks to Schoolcraft’s 27-24 win of their matchup. The Eagles have won six straight meetings with Constantine, including two in the playoffs – and this game will still mean a lot to both although the teams are in different divisions of the SAC this fall.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Portage Northern (10-2) at Stevensville Lakeshore (4-5), East Lansing (7-3) at Portage Central (5-5), Fennville (4-5) at Lawton (10-1), Jackson Lumen Christi (12-1) at Marshall (6-5).
Upper Peninsula
Menominee (7-4) at Marquette (5-5)
This rematch could be one of the best regular-season games north of Mackinac Bridge this fall. Marquette is the reigning Great Northern Conference champion as both of these teams made the postseason a year ago. Marquette’s 28-21 win over the Maroons broke a seven-game losing streak against the annual league foe.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Harbor Springs (6-4) at St. Ignace (5-5), Kingsford (4-5) at Calumet (10-2), Gwinn (1-8) at Hancock (5-4), Manistique (3-6) at Negaunee (6-4).
West Michigan
Hudsonville (8-4) at East Kentwood (6-5)
The Eagles have had to wait all offseason and then some for a chance to avenge a painful 2019 loss. Despite falling to Rockford the previous week last season, Hudsonville came into last year’s matchup with East Kentwood still tied for first in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red – and then was upset 31-20 by the eventual fourth-place Falcons. Maybe it wasn’t an upset though, as East Kentwood has beaten Hudsonville in three straight and picked up a playoff win over Rockford at the end of last fall.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (8-3) vs. Grand Rapids Christian (7-3) at Forest Hills Eastern, Muskegon Mona Shores (12-2) at Muskegon Reeths-Puffer (5-4), Jenison (4-5) at Rockford (8-2), East Grand Rapids (5-5) at Lowell (1-8).
8-Player
Deckerville (10-1) at New Haven Merritt (8-2)
Deckerville’s only loss last season came in a Regional Final, and the Eagles yearly are one of the strongest statewide contenders. Merritt is looking to make that jump. The Mustangs have reached the playoffs five of the last six seasons, and they’ll get two serious tests – plus major postseason prep – right away this month in Deckerville and Morrice as a new member of the North Central Thumb League Stars.
Keep an eye on these: FRIDAY Camden-Frontier (6-4) at Climax Scotts (9-3), Martin (10-1) at Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (5-5), Cedarville (6-5) at Engadine (8-2), Bellevue (6-4) at Colon (13-0).
PHOTO by Robert Batzloff.
Lumen Christi Answers Early Deficit, Scores Game-Winner Late to Earn Record-Tying Title
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
November 26, 2023
DETROIT - Jackson Lumen Christi piled up 92 percent of its total yards Sunday morning on the ground.
So, trailing by three points with time running down in the fourth quarter and facing a 4th-and-4 situation on the Menominee 11-yard line, the Titans, of course, went to the air.
“It was a play we put in this week, and we (practiced) it over and over,” explained Lumen Christi junior quarterback Timmy Crowley. “Actually, it goes back to the summer and the connection that I developed with Gabe (King).”
Crowley delivered a strike to King on the sideline near the goal line, and King then spun into the end zone for the game-winning score with 4:04 remaining in an eventual 34-30 victory over upset-minded Menominee in a Division 7 title game shootout at Ford Field.
Menominee (11-3) had one final chance, driving into Lumen Christi territory, before senior quarterback Trevor Theuerkauf was hauled down from behind by freshman Lundon Hampton on fourth down to seal the win.
“It was an entertaining game, for sure,” said 44th-year Lumen Christi coach Herb Brogan, who was frustrated by some of his team’s blown coverages. “I like the way that we answered, time and time again.”
Lumen Christi (13-1) won its second consecutive Division 7 title, its fifth championship over the past eight years and 13th overall – 11th under Brogan – moving the program into a tie with Farmington Hills Harrison for the most football titles in MHSAA history.
It didn’t look good early for the Titans, as the Maroons used a 2-yard run by Landan Barkowski and a 34-yard pass from Theuerkauf to tight end Eli Beal to take a stunning 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The Titans settled down in the second quarter and fought back behind the speed, power and tackle-breaking ability of junior running back Kadale Williams (6-foot-1, 180 pounds), who finished with 27 carries for 276 yards and three touchdowns.
“It starts with the guys up front,” explained Williams, who rarely went down without multiple Maroons clutching onto him. “Once they do their jobs and create a gap, I owe it to them to make a play every time.”
Williams broke loose on TD runs of 1 and 45 yards during the second quarter, making the score 14-14 at halftime.
That set the stage for a classic back-and-forth second half, with both teams refusing to lose.
Menominee, a perennial power for years behind its tightly-packed, single-wing offense, showed off its offensive evolution under second-year coach Chad Brandt, who has incorporated elements of the spread. The Maroons kept the Titans guessing with a balanced attack, passing for 199 yards and rushing for 143.
“We were able to run and throw to keep them off balance, which is what we have been doing all year,” said Brandt, who was head coach at Stephenson in the Upper Peninsula for 20 years before coming to Menominee as an assistant coach in 2018. “We saw the predictions, but our kids are resilient. We were able to display our skills and just came up one play short.”
Lumen Christi stuck almost exclusively to the ground, with 351 rushing yards and 29 passing yards, scoring in the third quarter on a 1-yard run by Crowley and then early in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard run by Williams.
Each time the Titans took the lead in the second half and appeared poised to take control, the Maroons struck back, first on a 21-yard scoring scramble by Theuerkauf and then a 76-yard pass from Theuerkauf to Isaiah Odom, which gave them a 30-27 lead in the fourth quarter.
Then came the game-winning drive, as the Titans went 61 yards in 10 plays, culminating with the game-winning, 11-yard pass from Crowley to King.
Menominee was surely keying on Williams by that point in the game, which set up the winning play-action pass.
“I think we wear people down up front,” said Brogan, who took over the Lumen Christi program in 1980 after the death of Jim Crowley, who guided the Titans to their first two titles in 1977 and 1979. “When you do that and create seams, Kadale is going to make plays.”
The Titans started four juniors up front in guards Andrew Salazar and Maverick Stergakos, center Drew Sweeney and tight end Charlie Saunders. The only senior starters on the offensive line were tackles Aiden Pastoriza and Luke Smith.
Both teams performed admirably on the big Ford Field stage, with just six total penalties and no turnovers.
Theuerkauf (5-11, 175) was all over the field during his final prep game, starting at his safety spot with a game-high 17 tackles (10 solos). He completed 9-of-22 passes for 199 yards and rushed 15 times for 84 yards.
Eli Beal made four catches for 63 yards and Tanner Theuerkauf, Trevor’s sophomore brother, had two catches for 42 yards. Blake Paasch made six tackles, and Beal and Tanner Theuerkauf each had five stops.
Both Crowley and Williams return next season for Lumen Christi, and their goal is to break the record for Finals wins.
“It’s so much fun handing the ball off to (Williams) and watching him run,” said Crowley, who finished 2-of-6 passing for 29 yards. “It means a lot with our tradition to win it, but I want to get back here next year and do it again.”
Isaac Rehberg carried seven times for 49 yards for Lumen Christi, while Josh Dumont and Ryan Walicki led the defense with eight tackles apiece.
PHOTOS (Top) Kadale Williams (1) pulls aways from a defender during Jackson Lumen Christi’s Division 7 win Sunday morning. (Middle) The Titans’ Gabe King leans into his fourth-quarter score. (Below) Lumen Christi raises its latest championship trophy at Ford Field. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)