Logo

Back from Brink, Concord Surges On

By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half

September 9, 2016

By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half 

CONCORD – Two years ago this week, Concord head football coach Max Clark and the school district faced a difficult decision.

Clark pushed for the school to forfeit varsity games until it had enough healthy players to fill a team. Concord had started the season with 16 players, but injuries had the Yellow Jackets down to nine by Week 3, and pulling up kids from the junior varsity wasn't an option for Clark.

“We had the same argument almost every year,” Clark said. “Do we shut down a couple of varsity games? We even talked about trying to play some 8-man varsity games so we could keep a JV intact.

“In 2014, I got backing from the superintendent and my administration, and I said we just have to do this. If we bring up JV kids, we're just doing the same old stuff. They are going to get hurt, they are going to get discouraged, and we're going to lose kids.

“We took a beating and took our lumps, but we wanted to make sure to keep that JV team intact, which is this year's seniors. They needed to develop that mentality on how to win and be a team, and if we would have just stripped them, we would have been right back where we had been.”

Concord forfeited two games before it was able to field a team for Week 5, and it finished the season 1-8 for the second year in a row and third time in four years.

Since then, it has been a rags-to-riches story. That junior varsity team is now the senior class on the varsity – a varsity that went 7-2 during the regular season last year, lost in a MHSAA Division 7 Pre-District game, and has started the season 2-0 this year.

Already, Concord is gaining attention. The Jackson Citizen Patriot ranked Concord No. 1 in its area “Power Poll,” ahead of No. 2 Grass Lake, No. 3 Jackson Lumen Christi and No. 4 Jackson.

It is uncharted territory for Concord, which has had just two winning seasons since 2001.

“It's a whole new challenge,” Clark said. “Everyone is loving up this No. 1 power-ranking thing, which I don't think I've ever seen before at Concord, but it's just press.

“I tell the team, 'If you are focused on the little things, bad things happen when they're big.' One of their biggest strengths is their confidence, and as long as they continue to work hard, they can relish in that No. 1 and enjoy it. They've never had it here before, and the community is treating them in a phenomenal way. We had an amazing crowd last week at Homer.”

Turning it around

Clark is one of those “glass half-full” kind of guys, although, in reality, he might just feel the glass is always filled to the brim. He grew up in Concord and played on the 2001 team that advanced to the Division 7 Semifinals before losing to Detroit St. Martin dePorres.

To him, coaching is more than a job. It is who he is in a lot of ways.

“I'm 32 years old, and for 17 of my 32 years, I've been a part of this program, whether as a player or a coach or in some capacity,” he said. “A big part of who I am as a person is from what I learned from Coach (Clint) Alexander and the guys that taught us what we know back in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“I just try to carry that on and bring a lot of that tradition back. I know how important it was to me and helping me become a teacher and a coach and be a good father and a good husband. That's the mentality we're trying to bring to these buys here so they can carry on that legacy.”

Clark is in his fourth season as the head coach, and for the first two of those years, he was not a teacher at the school. It certainly did not help him recruit the hallways for players, and even though he was a local guy, that identity might not have been strong with the younger players.

He landed a teaching job last year. He teaches history and social studies, and it has strengthened his connection with the student body. He also preached a positive attitude, not only to his players, but to the community.

“Maybe it's my personality or my mentality, but I try really hard to be positive all the time,” he said. “I remember my first year. It didn't matter if I was at the hardware store downtown or wherever, if somebody asked me about our numbers, I always told them, 'We're going to have the biggest team we've ever had.'

“Maybe that was the greatest lie I ever told, but the point was that it was about marketing and creating a positive aura around our program, rather than in the past, how there had always been that negativity surrounding the program. We wanted to change that mentality. It's changing, but it's still in the beginning.”

Clark said the first big step was the season finale in 2014 – the season during which the two games were forfeited. Concord blasted Bellevue 62-20 to avoid a winless season. Those tied the most points Concord had scored in a game dating back to 1950 and were more than the combined point total from 2005 and 2006.

“Bellevue had beat us two years before, and I think that made our players believe in our new offense,” Clark said. “That one win really carried us into the offseason.”

Last year, Concord defeated Union City in Week 2 to end a 27-game losing streak against the Chargers. It was the springboard for the turnaround season.

“That was a big deal for the community and the kids, and I think that really tripped the trigger and made them believe,” Clark said.

Senior running back Tony Brooks, Jr., said the victory was a huge confidence boost.

“It made everyone know that we could win,” he said.

History of futility

Concord football has a resume filled with futility. Since 1950, it has a record of 216-363-13.

It has never won a Big Eight Conference title, and the league has been in existence since 1973.

It has an all-time losing record against every member of the Big Eight, and most of those records aren't even close.

It went three consecutive seasons without a win twice and endured losing streaks of 35 and 30 games.

Yet, the school has enjoyed much athletic success in sports like basketball, golf, volleyball and track & field. The boys basketball team won 10 consecutive District titles under coach Bob Urschalitz during the 1980s. But at least one person thinks that might have hindered the football program.

The last time Concord won a conference championship in football was 1964 as a member of the Cascades Conference. Kilbourn Snow was a member of that team, and he has stayed in the community and followed all the teams throughout the years.

“He told his basketball players that if they wanted to play basketball, they couldn't play football,” Snow said. “I remember coming to games back then and all of the basketball players were out for golf, and he was the golf coach, too. We had a golf team that could have probably been a good football team, and they were all sitting on the sidelines. From there, it all went downhill.”
Snow has a lot of praise for Clark and said Clark reminds him of his old coach from the 1960s, Van Green.

“He has the same rapport with his players and the same kind of determination,” Snow said. “He is very focused on the legacy of Concord football. They are getting the young kids involved, and on the night the little kids are playing, they run through the varsity and JV players, and the players all stop and clap for them.

“Max has re-instilled that football culture back in the school.”

Another win to build upon

Brooks, who rushed for 129 yards, gained 71 as a receiver and scored three touchdowns last week in an exciting overtime victory against rival Homer, was on the junior varsity two years ago when the varsity had to forfeit two games.

“We would go against them in practice, and we would keep up with them,” he said. “It was frustrating because they only had 13 or 14 guys, and if one person gets hurt, it's going to hurt you.”

The Homer game, much like the Union City game last year, might be a springboard to success, and it gave the Yellow Jackets possession of the Little Brown Jug – the prize in the rivalry.

“It was phenomenal, it felt really good and I was pretty emotional afterwards, I'm not going to lie,” Clark said. “We needed to get over that hump, so I think this momentum will carry us a little bit. That's the goal, anyway.

“We don't want to get lackadaisical at practice because we won. Great teams practice harder after they win.”

This year's team faced a big challenge from the start. Last year's quarterback, Chase Hinkle, was a senior and was named the Most Valuable Player of the Big Eight Conference. Jacob Randall is the new starter, and Austin Hoxie is the backup.

“Chase was a great quarterback, and he did great things for us,” Clark said. “He worked hard in the offseason, so we had designed a lot of stuff that we did around him and his abilities, and we've done the same thing with our new guys.

“Jacob is a good runner and has a lot of ability. He has an amazing arm, and he throws a 90 mph fastball in baseball. But we have depth there. In our first game, Jacob had an asthma attack and had to go out, and Austin went in and goes 5-for-9 and throws a touchdown pass.”

Concord runs a spread-power no-huddle offense with Clark calling all the plays from the sidelines.

“I've never seen anyone use my system; I just holler out plays,” he said. “We have the ability to change the numbers and letter that we use to call the same stuff. It works for us.

“We've been pretty run-heavy the first two weeks. We have phenomenal running backs. We have great receivers, and we can pass when we need to, but I guess if we don't need to pass, we won't. There is that old-school mentality that three things can happen when you pass, and two of them are bad. So I like to keep it on the ground.”

Concord connection

The players say a brotherhood has developed on the team. That often is seen on winning teams, and Concord does not appear to be an exception to the rule.

“This has been great because the team has such a strong connection,” senior Bradley Hawkins said.

One of the players who can attest to the connection is senior strong safety Montez Brewer, who came to Concord two years ago when Albion closed its high school. All the Albion students were spilled into nearby schools such as Concord, Marshall, Homer, Springport and Parma Western.

“It wasn't a fast connection when I came over, but sports helped a lot,” Brewer said. “Sports helps everyone get closer.

“It's hard that Albion doesn't have a school, but this is a positive thing because we can still do what we love to do – play football. At Albion, there was a point in time when we couldn't even play football because everyone was moving, but now we can play, and we still stay in contact.”

That Concord connection is one of the backbones of the football program.

“I think the biggest mentality is that it's an attitude, and me bringing it every day and keeping the intensity up,” Clark said. “You can't ever have days when you just stop when it's hot. You have to go hard every single day, but at the same time it's making sure the kids love being here.

“You're taking care of them. It's not the old school anymore where the kids show up and work hard because they're afraid. They show up and work hard because they love their coaches and we love them. Love is a lot more powerful, and that's what I learned as a player. We loved each other like brothers as a team, we loved our coaches and they loved us, and then you're willing to work a lot harder.”

Clark knows the job isn't done, but he is changing the football culture. He said last year he learned a hard lesson himself in the playoffs – a game Concord lost at Dansville 28-6.

“I learned something about myself,” he said. “I didn't do a good enough job of re-evaluating our goals after we made the playoffs because all year we talked about just making the playoffs. I think overall there was a little bit of an exhale and excitement that we made it. It was almost like we lost our hunger, and as a coach I learned a lot from that situation. I had never been in that situation as a coach.

“Now, I preach that it's our expectation. Never again will Concord football be happy just to make the playoffs. Our goals this year were one, to win our rivalry games, and we got that do that in Week 1 and Week 2. Now, we have to make the playoffs and win the first Big Eight Conference championship for Concord.

“We want to be the best team to ever play here.”

While that might be a lofty goal, there is another that Clark plans to accomplish and will have more control in doing so.

“If you look at the history of the football program, we've had good coaches come and go,” he said. “Go all the way back to the 70s and Coach (Glen) Stevenson, and they won. In the 60s, they won a lot. In the 80s, they had a couple of years when they won games, and then Coach Alexander came in the 1990s and early 2000s and left.

“I am not going to sit here and say that I'm at the level that they were at – someday, hopefully, I can be compared to those guys – but there a difference between me and those other guys: I'm not going anywhere. My kids go here, I live a block from the school. I love it here. There's nowhere for me to go.”

Chip Mundy served as sports editor at the Brooklyn Exponent and Albion Recorder from 1980-86, and then as a reporter and later copy editor at the Jackson Citizen-Patriot from 1986-2011. He also co-authored Michigan Sports Trivia. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) Tony Brooks, Jr., runs for some of his 166 yards against Homer during Concord's victory last week. (Middle top) Nick Stump jumps to block off a potential pass. (Middle below) Concord players celebrate earning the Big Brown Jug awarded annually to the winner of the Concord/Homer game. (Below) Brooks works to break free; his grandfather Gary also was a standout for the school. (Photos by Kilbourn Snow.) 

Niles Brandywine football

1st & Goal: 2021 Week 1 in Review

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

August 30, 2021

Michigan high school football has been ripe for a fresh start after a COVID-rattled 2020 (and into 2021) season. 

Win or lose this past weekend, nearly 600 varsity football teams across the state should continue to have plenty to look forward to this fall – and of course, some have a few more reasons for early excitement.

Four of last season's champions fell, which meant big headlines for Rochester Adams, Edwardsburg, Jackson Lumen Christi and Niles Brandywine. Three showcase events further fed anticipation as top teams gave us first looks at what we can expect over the next three months. 

Below is our look back at Week 1 and some of the results that could matter most as we start another 14-week championship chase. 

Bay & Thumb

HEADLINER Grand Blanc 40 East Lansing 34 The premier matchup of the Vehicle City Gridiron Classic pitted two of the highest-regarded teams in the state, and didn’t disappoint. The Bobcats emerged with Elijah Jackson-Anderson and kicker Dylan Hertzberg providing plenty of offense – Hertzberg had four field goals – while in defeat Brevin Jackson (396) and receiver Mason Woods (212) set Trojans single-game school records for passing and receiving yardage, respectively. Click for more from the Flint Journal.

Watch list Millington 42, Cass City 19 The Cardinals are carrying the longest current streak of winning seasons (32) in the state, but doubling up a Cass City team that came within two points of making last season’s Division 7 championship game has to be one of Millington’s best opening wins during that streak.

Remember this one Hemlock 33, Breckenridge 8 Hemlock’s Huskies are looking to take another step after three-straight eight-win seasons and only one loss a year ago, and downing Breckenridge’s Huskies in this fashion is a notable.  

More shoutouts Freeland 24, Clare 14 The Falcons enjoyed another great start after making the Semifinals last season, against a Clare team that lost only in the playoffs. Saginaw Nouvel 21, Sandusky 6 The Panthers also enjoyed a solid start against a Sandusky team coming off a one-loss season.

Greater Detroit

HEADLINER Clinton Township Chippewa Valley 45, Detroit Catholic Central 20 This Xenith Prep Kick Off Classic matchup featured two are sure to be counted among Division 1 title contenders in two months, and Chippewa Valley’s start is especially impressive coming off a 3-4 finish a year ago. Cephus Harris scored four touchdowns as one of many standouts for the Big Reds, while DCC QB Declan Byle made some big-play throws that surely will have defenses on notice. Click for more from the Macomb Daily.

Watch list Rochester Adams 35, West Bloomfield 17 The memory of last season’s 3-4 finish for Adams should be drifting away after the Highlanders downed the reigning Division 1 champion, avenging a 37-0 defeat and breaking a four-game losing streak against the Lakers.

Remember this one Clarkston 29, Davison 26 Both lost just once last season – Davison in the Division 1 championship game and Clarkston in a District Semifinal – and it would hardly be shocking to see them meet up again in November. This time, Davison led at halftime and Clarkston came back and then held off a late rally.

More shoutouts Dearborn Fordson 38, Canton 23 The Tractors also earned an impressive win over a team that lost just once last season – and Antonio Gates Jr. was just fun to watch with two touchdown catches and two interceptions. Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 35, Macomb Dakota 21 Two traditional powers, another big-time opener – and this one saw Rice take a 21-0 lead, Dakota tie it in the fourth quarter and Rice then pull away.

Mid-Michigan

HEADLINER DeWitt 47, Traverse City Central 27 With a star quarterback and two college-bound receivers back from last season’s Division 3 championship team, DeWitt’s offense wasn’t going to sneak up on anyone. But the Panthers’ playmakers were among the most impressive of Battle at the Big House performers as quarterback Tyler Holtz connected with three receivers for six touchdown passes total, including four to Bryce Kurncz. Central had given up only 18.7 points per game last season in reaching the Division 2 Semifinals. Click for more from the Lansing State Journal.

Watch list Williamston 43, Croswell-Lexington 20 The Hornets reached the Division 4 Semifinals last season, and they rolled out of the gate again with this road win over a Croswell-Lexington team that lost to only one opponent (twice) in 2020.

Remember this one Charlotte 49, Olivet 40 Olivet has been the more football successful of these neighbors for going on two decades, and they only started playing each other last season for the first time at least in recent history. But Charlotte won’t be forgetting this one any time soon after winning two games a year ago and falling to the Eagles 28-14 in that 2020 meeting.

More shoutouts Grand Ledge 36, Coldwater 14 The Comets also may have set the stage for a big season with a strong road win against a Coldwater program that regularly is among contenders in its league. Lansing Eastern 36, Flint Hamady 0 The Quakers didn’t play at all last season, and their two wins in 2019 were also their only two over a five-season stretch. But Eastern came out big against a Hamady team that hasn’t finished less than .500 since 2014.

Northern Lower Peninsula

HEADLINER Cadillac 18, Reed City 14 The reigning Division 4 runner-up Vikings should make a run at being the top team from the northern Lower Peninsula, and this victory should be a pretty strong catalyst with Traverse City West and Central looming in league play. Cadillac held the Coyotes scoreless over the second half, and the defeat was only the fifth for Reed City during the regular season over the last seven years. Click for more from the Cadillac News.

Watch list East Jordan 36, Johannesburg-Lewiston 12 The Red Devils are seeking their first winning season since 2016 and have come close over the last two. Defeating the Cardinals is an incredible way to start again as Johannesburg-Lewiston reached the Division 8 Semifinals last season.

Remember this one Traverse City West 35, Midland 28 The Titans won’t be forgetting an impressive comeback including a go-ahead 82-yard punt return touchdown at U-M.

More shoutouts Maple City Glen Lake 35, Houghton Lake 6 Both had winning records and close playoff defeats to end last season, and the Lakers’ offense looks to be humming again. Lake City 30, Beaverton 21 The Trojans had a tough go in 2020, finishing just 2-5 after three winning seasons in a row, but they could be on the move again after edging a Beaverton team coming off a fifth-straight winning campaign.

Southeast & Border

HEADLINER Jackson Lumen Christi 27, New Lothrop 14 The southeastern section of the Lower Peninsula was loaded with notable finishes, but Lumen Christi toppling the reigning Division 7 champion made the biggest statewide wave. The Titans broke away for the game’s final two scores and stopped a Hornets offense that scored at least 36 points per game in going 11-0 last fall. Click for more from the Jackson Citizen Patriot.

Watch list Ottawa Lake Whiteford 52, Blissfield 21 Whiteford always is in the title mix in the Tri-County Conference, and downing the reigning Lenawee County Athletic Association champ is a great way to prep for another run.

Remember this one Hudson 59, Ithaca 14 Last year’s matchup between the programs owning the longest winning streaks in MHSAA history wasn’t played due to the late season start. But Hudson stormed back to even the recent series after losing to Ithaca in 2019 – a major win as the Tigers go for their first winning season since 2017.

More shoutouts Napoleon 27, Brooklyn Columbia Central 14 The Pirates already have equaled last season’s win total, and in the process broke a five-game opening-night losing streak against the Golden Eagles. Saline 34, Hudsonville 30 The Hornets stopped Hudsonville just short of the goal line on the final play at Michigan Stadium.  

Southwest Corridor

HEADLINER Niles Brandywine 38, Centreville 32 The Bobcats have been a playoff team for most of the last decade and went 9-1 in 2019. This opening win certainly could spur more big things this fall. Centreville gave up 29 points total in going 11-0 and winning the Division 8 championship last season. Click for more from the Niles Daily Star.

Watch list Edwardsburg 38, Montague 0 Few have slowed down the Eddies’ offense over the last eight years – they scored more than 400 points in all of them – and this seems a strong indicator that things will continue along that track. The defense also deserves plenty of credit for shutting out the reigning Division 6 champ.  

Remember this one Stevensville Lakeshore 26, Portage Central 22 The season is just getting started, but a Lakeshore go-ahead touchdown with 10 minutes to play could mean a lot in the final Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference standings.

More shoutouts Battle Creek Central 12, Portage Northern 6 This is a huge start for the Bearcats. Northern had won the last seven matchups between the two, including last season’s by 40, and went undefeated in league play in 2020 although the SMAC didn’t award a champion because of the abbreviated regular season. Cassopolis 20, Schoolcraft 19 After four straight double-digit win seasons, the Rangers fell back to 2-5 last fall. But defeating a Schoolcraft team coming off a Division 7 Semifinals trip may have begun a fast rebound.

Upper Peninsula

HEADLINER Iron Mountain 14, Negaunee 12 These Western Peninsula Athletic Conference rivals had to take a year off from their annual game because of the shortened 2020 season, but they continued what’s become a series of close finishes – this the third straight decided by three points or fewer. Iron Mountain has won all three, which in this case again means a significant start to the Copper division season. Click for more from the Iron Mountain Daily News.

Watch list Gladstone 26, Calumet 20 (OT) The Braves won their season opener for the fifth year in a row, and the timing of this big victory couldn’t be better – four straight league games are up next.

Remember this one Ishpeming 22, Manistique 6 The Hematites didn’t play a game last season, but they returned with a victory by the identical score of their 2019 opener against Manistique.

More shoutouts Bark River-Harris 28, Gwinn 6 Bark River-Harris closed last season winning five of its last six and making a Division 8 District Final, and they may be back in stride. Ishpeming Westwood 52, Houghton 8 The Patriots extended their winning streak against Houghton to four, setting up this week’s league showdown with the Mountaineers.

West Michigan

HEADLINER Grand Rapids Catholic Central 43, Lapeer 21 The reigning Division 5 champion opened the season for the whole state with a noon Thursday kickoff at the Battle at the Big House, and looked like they’d just left Ford Field in January. QB Joey Silveri threw for two scores and ran for two more, and Nolan Ziegler caught three touchdown passes. Click for more from FOX 17.

Watch List Zeeland West 44, East Grand Rapids 27 The Dux have won eight straight season openers and now have an open week before beginning play in what might be the toughest league in the state this season, the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green.

Remember this one Caledonia 41, Holt 14 The Rams are expected to be one of the Lansing area’s best this fall – which means this could turn out to be an even more impressive start for Caledonia.

More shoutouts Muskegon Mona Shores 56, Lowell 14 The Sailors opened their pursuit of a third-straight Division 2 championship with a new quarterback but same offensive output. Ravenna 21, Beal City 20 The Bulldogs held on as the Aggies scored 13 fourth-quarter points.

8-Player

HEADLINER Marion 42, Merrill 12 The Eagles quietly have strung together five winning seasons in a row and made an impression in their first game since last season’s Division 2 Semifinal loss to eventual champion Powers North Central. Merrill was one of the best 8-player Division 1 teams in its first season playing the format in 2020. Click for more from the Cadillac News.

Watch list Pickford 36, Gaylord St. Mary 6 One game is merely that, but if history holds this would seem to indicate Pickford is a team to watch again in Division 1.

Remember this one Genesee 56, Mayville 52 The Wolves ended last season with a 48-20 playoff-opening loss to Mayville.

More shoutouts Blanchard Montabella 54, Bellevue 18 The Mustangs made a late move to 8-player this offseason and are three students too large to qualify for the playoffs – but their 8P debut will be remembered regardless if they continue to rebound from last year’s 1-5 finish in 11-player. Rogers City 14, Brethren 8 The Hurons won five games total over their last two seasons of 11-player, but debuted in 8-player with a win over a solid Brethren program coming off a third-straight finish at .500 or better.

PHOTOS: (Top) Niles Brandywine’s Ivory McCullough works to break the grasp of Centreville’s Xander Frederick during Thursday’s win. (Middle) Plainwell won its 120th meeting with Otsego, 21-6. (Below) Alpena's Joseph Blewett (21) and Mason Mumford (15) aren't able to get to Marquette's Justin Jurmu in time as Jurmu pulls in a pass from quarterback Austin Ridl to score their team’s first touchdown Thursday. (Top photo by Michael Caterina/South Bend Tribune, middle by Gary Shook, and below by Cara Kamps.)