2 Quarterbacks Vault Muskegon to #1
November 1, 2016
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Stopping the Muskegon High School offense has never been easy.
This year, it’s twice as tough.
The Big Reds, 9-1 and ranked No. 1 in the season-ending Associated Press Division 3 poll, are attacking opponents with a two-headed monster at quarterback – diminutive senior Kalil Pimpleton (5-7, 160) and physically imposing junior La’darius Jefferson (6-2, 210).
“I’m blessed with two great men, two great leaders, at quarterback,” said seventh-year Muskegon head coach Shane Fairfield, whose team won the Ottawa-Kent Conference Black title. “Using both of them makes us a better team. We don’t go into games with a specific plan for when each will play (quarterback). We see what the defense is doing and how our kids are responding and go from there.”
The result of the dual QB attack has been a Muskegon offense which is averaging 54 points and 428 total yards per game heading into Friday night’s Division 3 District championship game against visiting East Grand Rapids (8-2).
Pimpleton, who has run a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash and has verbally committed to Virginia Tech, has started all 10 games for the Big Reds.
He is primarily a running threat, regularly taking snaps out of the pistol formation from senior center Devin Sanders and then finding a seam somewhere along the line to squeeze through. “KP,” as he’s known, has carried 101 times for 1,081 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns. He also has been effective through the air, completing 34 of 66 passes for 639 yards and six more TDs.
“I look at the system we use as a chance for me to use all of my weapons,” said Pimpleton, who also has three punt returns for touchdowns on his resume. “It doesn’t matter if I am at QB or in the slot. My character doesn’t change, and my focus doesn’t change.”
As good as Pimpleton has been, there have been times in recent years where opponents have bottled up Muskegon’s running quarterbacks.
One example was the 2014 Division 3 championship game at Ford Field, where Orchard Lake St. Mary’s shut down the Big Reds in a 7-0 victory. Another was last year’s Division 2 Regional championship game at Lowell, where Pimpleton and the Muskegon attack got stuck in the mud in a 36-7 loss.
If that same scenario begins to unfold this fall, Muskegon offensive coordinator Brent White has a Plan B.
And what a Plan B it is.
Jefferson, who has the look of Cam Newton and the big arm to match, presents a whole new set of challenges for opposing defenses when he enters the game, which is normally around the Big Reds’ third offensive series. Jefferson brings a deep vertical passing threat, mixed with the size and strength to run over linebackers.
“I always tell myself that I can’t be stopped – that’s the mentality I like to play with,” said Jefferson, who also has delivered some big hits this fall during limited playing time at outside linebacker. “I just want to thank my coaches for using a two-QB system. Now we’ve got two hungry guys trying to win a state title.”
The benefits of Muskegon’s dual quarterback offense were apparent in last week’s 63-14 Division 3 Pre-District victory over visiting Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
Muskegon’s offense struggled briefly in the early going before Jefferson ignited the Big Reds and their crowd with a 56-yard TD pass to Pimpleton, who had moved out to slot receiver. Near the end of the first quarter, Jefferson scored on a 2-yard run.
In the second quarter, it was back to Pimpleton at QB and he led a scoring drive, ultimately sprinting in from five yards out. And then it was back to Jefferson, who hit standout senior wide receiver Jacorey Sullivan on a 44-yard bomb over the top to complete Muskegon’s first-half scoring.
“The idea is that we have a system and our kids know how to play with either quarterback,” explained Fairfield. “If we do it right, it puts much more pressure on the defense, not knowing what they are going to get.”
Jefferson finished the win over Forest Hills Northern 7 of 8 passing for 175 yards and three touchdowns, along with 11 rushes for 91 yards and two more touchdowns. For the season, Jefferson has completed 42 of 69 passes for 724 yards and 15 touchdowns, against just two interceptions. He has rushed 66 times for 534 yards and 10 TDs.
The two quarterbacks are by far Muskegon’s top two rushers in an offense that lines up with four receivers on most downs. The lone starter in the backfield is senior Division I linebacker prospect Andrew Ward (6-1, 210), who is a devastating lead blocker. In recent weeks, the Big Reds have started to hurt opponents with jet sweeps featuring speedy juniors Da’vion McCall, Clinton Jefferson and Lonnie Clark Jr.
Fairfield, whose team has ripped off eight straight wins after a Week 2 loss to pass-happy Lincolnshire (Ill.) Stevenson, has guided Muskegon to MHSAA Finals three times in his first six years as head coach. The Big Reds have failed to take that final step on each of those occasions, falling to Birmingham Brother Rice in 2012 and 2013 and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in 2014.
Given that recent heartbreak, the Big Reds have made it clear since Day 1 that the only acceptable outcome this season is an MHSAA title. The next challenge is a dandy matchup in Friday’s District championship game between two of the top tradition-rich programs in Michigan high school football history.
Muskegon is the state’s winningest with 816 wins and 17 state titles, including five in the MHSAA playoff era. East Grand Rapids, meanwhile, has won 11 championships since the playoffs began in 1975, including five in a row from 2006 to 2010. The Pioneers have won seven straight this fall after stumbling to a 1-2 start.
The two powers have played only two times in history, with Muskegon winning both times.
“We need to come out and play our game,” said Pimpleton. “We believe in our coaches and that they will put us in the best spots to win. That’s really all that matters. We can’t lose sight that no matter who is out there, that is our one goal.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Muskegon quarterback La'darius Jefferson picks up yards on the ground this season against Byron Center. (Middle) Kalil Pimpleton, here following through on a pass, also is a threat to run. (Jefferson photo courtesy of Muskegon football program, Pimpleton photo by Tim Reilly.)
Driven by 2022 Semifinal Loss, GR Catholic Central Reclaims Top Spot in D5
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
November 26, 2023
DETROIT – Corunna coach Steve Herrick’s final words at the postgame press conference pretty much summed up his team’s struggles in Sunday’s Division 5 title game.
“It’s tough to prepare for a team like Grand Rapids Catholic Central,” explained Herrick, whose school was playing at the Finals for the first time.
“We took care of preparing for their receivers and linemen pretty well, but No. 7 and No. 23 were hard for us to mimic at practice. We don’t have anyone like them.”
With that, Herrick and his players exited the interview area just as GRCC’s No. 7, senior quarterback Connor Wolf, and No. 23, senior running back Kellen Russell-Dixon, squeezed past them, the stars of the Cougars’ 21-7 victory.
Wolf scored all three touchdowns for GRCC, on a pair of 1-yard runs in the second quarter and a 10-yard burst in the fourth quarter, as the Cougars won their eighth Finals title in 10 championship game appearances.
Russell-Dixon didn’t get in the end zone, but was the game’s leading rusher with 20 carries for 133 yards, to go with two receptions for 19 yards.
Both senior leaders said it was a devastating loss to eventual champion Gladwin in last year’s Semifinal, 28-21, which fueled the team’s desire to get back to the mountaintop.
“That loss last year showed us we still had so much work to do to be our best,” said Wolf, who completed 10-of-22 passes for 82 yards and rushed 11 times for 78 yards and the three scores.
Added Russell-Dixon: “I remember watching the Division 5 championship game on TV last year, and just thinking about how we had it in our hands and we weren’t focused and we let it slip away.”
GRCC, which finished 13-1 after a season-opening home loss to powerhouse Chicago Loyola, was focused and prepared Sunday, mixing up the pass and run exquisitely to take a 14-0 halftime lead.
Corunna, also 13-1, averaged more than 41 points per game coming in, but struggled in the first half against the experienced Cougars.
“I felt like they were more physical than us,” said Corunna senior quarterback and defensive back Wyatt Bower. “I felt like all year we didn’t get the respect we deserved, but we battled those guys in the second half.”
The Cavaliers did exactly what they had to do coming out of halftime, taking the third-quarter kickoff and marching 67 yards in 14 plays, capped with a 7-yard burst up the middle by Bower on a 4th-and-goal play, that cut the lead to 14-7.
That score brought a sizable group of black-and-gold clad fans from Corunna, a community of about 4,000 people between Lansing and Flint, to its feet.
However, that turned out to be as close as Corunna would get against a quick and hard-hitting GRCC defense.
The Cougars added an insurance touchdown in the fourth quarter after a short punt gave them the ball at Corunna’s 35-yard line. Eight plays later (six of those runs by Russell-Dixon), Wolf took it the final 10 yards to ice the win.
“It never gets old,” explained 12th-year GRCC coach Todd Kolster, who has guided the Cougars to titles in four of the past five years and six of the last eight. “One of the things I cherish the most from the Finals is the team photo we take down on the field. I never get in those photos. Then when I get a moment, I can look at all those kids who worked so hard and gave so much.”
GRCC, which held a 315-239 edge in total yardage, made Corunna work for every yard Sunday.
Senior linebacker Austin Baxter (6-foot, 185 pounds) set the tone for the Cougars’ defense with eight tackles. Adam Whalen and Derek Weiss made six tackles apiece, and Mill Coleman III added five tackles and the game-clinching interception in the end zone with five minutes remaining.
Wolf said family ties drive the Cougars’ year-in, year-out success – the connections to both his football brothers and his actual biological family.
“My dad, grandparents, uncles, they all went to Catholic Central,” said Wolf, a 6-3 dual threat QB who passed for more than 2,500 yards with 23 TD passes and only two interceptions. “This means a lot to all of us, to continue the Cougar tradition.”
Corunna, which was led all season by Wyatt Bower and his identical twin brother, Tarick (one of his favorite receiving targets), got a strong final game from senior fullback/linebacker Jaden Edington, who made a game-high 10 tackles and rushed 14 times for 70 yards.
The Bower twins, sprinters who helped Corunna win the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Track & Field championship last spring, finished their football careers in style. Wyatt completed 6-of-16 passes for 123 yards, no touchdowns and one interception, while making eight tackles on defense. Tarick made two catches for 69 yards.
Kaden Cowdrey and Dayne Zeeman each made eight tackles for the Cavaliers.
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Kellen Russell-Dixon (23) prepares for contact with Corunna’s Kaden Cowdrey (8) during Sunday’s Division 5 Final. (Middle) The Cavaliers’ Wyatt Bower (4) and Dayne Zeeman work to bring down GRCC’s Lucas Thelen short of the goal line. (Below) Brayden Sweeney (6) and Derek Weiss (30) wrap up Corunna’s Parker Isham. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)