Belleville Finds Championship Formula, Completes 1st Finals Run
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
November 27, 2021
DETROIT – Belleville’s football team found Ford Field after a series of near-misses in recent seasons. The Tigers found it much to their liking, too.
Belleville put its speed, athleticism and depth of talent on full display in a 55-33 runaway victory over Rochester Adams in the MHSAA Division 1 title game Saturday. The fast track and climate-controlled environment were ideal for the Tigers in their first-ever Finals appearance.
Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood passed for 284 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions, three of the scores to senior Jeremiah Caldwell as the Tigers (13-1) came within a point of tying a record for most scored in a Finals game.
“You get a bunch of athletes on a fast track and without the elements, you know, it was going to be some opportunities for Bryce …,” said Belleville coach Jermain Crowell, the former Detroit Cass Tech assistant, who is now 72-10 in seven years with the Tigers program.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Underwood, who is only 14 years old, finished 12-of-21 passing. He capped Belleville’s scoring with a 30-yard run in the fourth quarter when he delivered a forceful stiff-arm in the backfield to a would-be tackler.
The 6-3, 175-pound Caldwell was on the receiving end of only four passes, but the playmaker converted them into a whopping 204 yards. Underwood connected with the lanky, speedy senior on scoring strikes of 56, 64 and 72 yards, all in the first half, as Belleville entered the locker room with a 21-20 edge.
“I would say I wasn’t that nervous, I just knew that I had to come out and execute our plan and finish the football game,” Underwood said.
Belleville took control in the third quarter, when the Tigers converted two Adams turnovers into touchdowns – one on a blocked punt and the other on a fumble recovery. They led 35-20 entering the fourth quarter, and that margin never dipped below 14 points the rest of the way.
Six different players scored TDs for Belleville, illustrating Crowell’s point in the postgame press conference that it was a team effort. The Tigers had no turnovers.
“It was the team. I mean, to be honest with you, it was the team,” said Crowell, whose squads lost semifinal heartbreakers to eventual 2020 state champ West Bloomfield (35-34 in double-overtime) and Brighton in 2019 (22-19). The Tigers also lost in the 2018 semifinals to eventual state champ Clinton Township Chippewa Valley.
“All the other years, it was always about this individual guy, that individual guy, that individual guy, and it’s not high school football. That’s not how it’s supposed to be. It’s not supposed to be that way.”
Even though Belleville’s defense surrendered 33 points, the Tigers made enough plays on that side of the ball and they did it with several players contributing.
Seniors Cameron Dyson and JaShawn Greene led Belleville’s defense with eight tackles apiece. Greene also had a forced fumble and sack, while Caldwell picked off a pass.
As much as Crowell stressed “team,” it was hard to ignore the individual talents of Underwood and Caldwell.
“I feel like it’s amazing because he’s so young,” Caldwell said about Underwood. “Once he gets to my age as a senior, it’s going to be, like, ‘Wow!’ Like, he’s doing this as a freshman now, so when he becomes a senior, it’s going to be mind-boggling.”
Said Adams coach Tony Patritto about Underwood: “His resume was pretty strong before he even got to Belleville. He can really sling it and, you know, his receivers made some big plays and a lot of yards after the catch. A lot of that’s on us.”
Adams (13-1), which went unscathed through the rugged Oakland Activities Association as well as a challenging playoff road, made some plays on Saturday, too.
Senior QB Parker Picot completed 8 of 21 passes for three TDs, four of his completions going to 6-6, 215-pound sophomore Brady Prieskorn for 117 yards and two scores.
Like Underwood, Picot was recognized at a young age for his athletic talents. He committed to University of Alabama for baseball as a freshman, but he also poured everything he had into this football season.
“Well, when it’s football season, it’s football season and this year we definitely had something special,” Picot said. “All of us players were all, you know, some of the best friends. At the start, every day (of) summer workouts, we knew we had something special and it was going to be really fun this year and I think we really held onto (it).”
Adams was seeking its first state title since 2003, which was Patritto’s first season at the helm, when the Highlanders captured the Division 2 championship.
On Saturday, it was Belleville’s time.
“I mean, it means a lot, especially to the community of Belleville,” said Caldwell, whose receiving TDs and receiving yards ties him for second in both categories in Finals history.
“It’s a new Belleville this year, so everything that happened in the past years was not happening this year. We all came together and made a change as a whole.”
PHOTOS (Top) Belleville’s Jeremiah Caldwell (2) prepares to make his move as Rochester Adams’ Marco Dicresce (4) looks to make a stop. (Middle) The Tigers’ Davieon Pitchford (20) attempts to run past Adams’ Parker Picot (11). (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Long Losing Streak Becoming Distant Memory as Adrian Football Re-Emerges
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
October 10, 2023
It’s hard to point to one particular move that led to the resurgence of the Adrian High School football program, but there’s no doubt the Maples are back.
Just a few years ago, they were in the throngs of a 30-game losing streak, had a difficult time fielding a junior varsity team and the school’s administration conducted a survey about possibly leaving the Southeastern Conference.
Now, Adrian is 6-1, finished just a game out of first place in the SEC White and is primed for a Division 4 playoff run.
“There are a lot of really good things going on with the football program, the school and athletic program,” said second-year varsity football coach Joel Przygodski. “We have great kids who love to work hard. I’m glad to see them being successful because they work so hard.”
Przygodski is part of an overhaul at Adrian, which has seen a new superintendent, high school principal and athletic director over the last couple of years.
“The leadership is all in line with a similar point of view about how high school athletics should be a positive experience for kids,” Przygodski said. “It’s really fun to be a part of a school district like Adrian when everybody is rowing in the same direction.”
Historically, Adrian has had success on the football field. From 1999 to 2011, the Maples missed the playoffs just twice. Then came a series of 2-7 and 3-6 years, but a bounce-back 7-5 in 2016.
The program took a downturn after that.
Adrian didn’t win a game during the 2018, 2019 and 2020 seasons. The Maples lost 30 straight in all before defeating Brooklyn Columbia Central in Week 2 of the 2021 season. Those losses included the Maples forfeiting a 2020 playoff game – when almost all teams made the postseason due to COVID-19 – due to a lack of available players.
Przygodski was one of the Adrian assistants during the playoff years, then left to become an assistant coach at Saline. He remained a teacher in the district, however.
When the Adrian head coaching job opened after the 2021 season, Przygodski didn’t hesitate to throw his name into the candidate pool.
“I taught the same kids who are playing now in middle school, so it’s not like I had to meet these kids for the first time,” he said. “It was more of a re-introduction to them. They only knew me as Mr. P, not as Coach P.
“The kids wanted to win, they wanted that discipline and structure, and they just hadn’t had it for one reason or another.”
Chad O’Brien, in his third year as the Adrian athletic director, is pleased with the progress of the athletic program. The baseball team won an SEC title last year, and the basketball team has had success as well.
“I think we have a lot of good people in good positions right now, and that makes a huge difference,” he said. “The continuity of the staff is huge. We have everyone on the same page. We discuss it as a group. We interact a ton. We aren’t separated. Everyone is moving in the same direction.
“There are still things that need to be addressed, but it’s definitely different than it was two years ago.”
The biggest turnaround has been in the football program. With some of the same players who were part of the 30-game losing streak, the Maples went 5-5 last year and are 6-1 this fall.
The Maples opened the season with four straight wins before falling 28-18 to Chelsea, the only blemish on a great season so far. They followed up the loss to the Bulldogs with back-to-back conference wins over Jackson and Pinckney to finish 4-1 in the SEC White. They have two nonleague games left to get ready for the postseason.
Quarterback Sean Parker is the unquestioned leader of the team. A four-year starter, Parker has thrown for 1,147 yards and 13 touchdowns this season while completing 65 percent of his passes. He has also rushed for 356 yards.
“He’s one of the smartest kids I’ve ever coached,” Przygodski said. “He has 4.1 GPA. He’s a very intelligent young man who works very hard. He’s kind of a silent leader, but a fun kid to be around. He’s gotten better each and every day.”
Chase Henline is the rushing leader with 780 yards and eight touchdowns. Five Maples have more than 100 yards receiving and are in double digits for catches.
Parker is one of 15 seniors.
“The majority of them have played all four years, and a handful of them are four-year starters,” Przygodski said. “When you have kids who have been battle-tested and have endured some of the things they did as freshmen and sophomores, then having a pretty decent year as juniors, it sets the stage for a pretty good senior campaign with everything falling in line.”
Przygodski is an Ann Arbor native who was head coach at his alma mater – Ann Arbor Huron – for four years before coming to Adrian in 2010. He served time as an assistant with the Maples under Phil Jacobs and was in Milan for a year. He then worked under Joe Palka at Saline for four years.
“I learned a lifetime of football working for Joe for those four years,” he said. “I think the biggest thing I got from him is how he organized. Everything was down to the details. If you put our practice plan and their practice plan next to each other, it would probably look similar. That’s probably the thing I learned the most.”
Przygodski isn’t worried about an encore just yet, but praised Adrian for its facilities and strength and conditioning program under Toby Ernst, now in his second year.
“They check all of the boxes of what you need to be competitive and successful in high school sports,” Przygodski said. “The community support has been phenomenal. It’s a place where you can compete and win.”
O’Brien said Adrian will continue to move forward with its athletic program.
“We’ve always had good kids here. We just had to have the right people directing them,” O’Brien said. “The biggest thing is we are going to do what’s right for kids, do what’s right for our district and do what’s right for our league. Every decision we make, we make sure we are following that.”
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) Adrian’s Carson DeKeyser (7) and Thomas Dayharsh celebrate a touchdown during Friday’s 34-0 win over Pinckney. (Middle) Maples quarterback Sean Parker rolls right behind the protection of Antonio Brown. (Photos by Deloris Clark-Osborne.)