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Brogan Shepherds Lumen Christi Legacy

By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half

November 17, 2017

By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half

JACKSON – It has been nearly 38 years since Herb Brogan became head football coach at Jackson Lumen Christi. It is hard to imagine anyone facing tougher circumstances in a promotion than he did early in 1980.

Lumen Christi was coming off its second Class B championship in three seasons, this one capping an undefeated season. Head coach Jim Crowley was named the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Class B Coach of the Year, and Brogan had been on the varsity staff since 1973 and had been part of the program since 1971.

It was a close coaching staff, but everything changed on the first Friday night of 1980. Crowley confronted a man in his driveway as he returned home from picking up his daughter. After sending his daughter inside, Crowley was shot and killed, leaving the Jackson community shocked and saddened.

At age 30, Brogan was chosen to succeed Crowley, his friend and mentor who had been the coach at rival St. John while Brogan played for St. Mary. The two schools merged in 1968, and Crowley was named head coach. Crowley and Brogan formed a strong friendship during their years together, and Brogan was the obvious choice to be the new head coach after Crowley’s sudden death.

“You’re in shock,” Brogan said of his recollections of that tragic night. “It played out slowly, and it was a long, long night. I remember that.”

Taking over the program under those circumstances was challenging for Brogan.

“It was hard just because I missed Jim,” he said. “I had the support of his family, and the coaching staff remained the same and constant, and the kids bonded together. We just worked our way through it.”

A year later, the MHSFCA created the Jim Crowley Award, and continues to hand it out each season.

Through the years, Brogan put his own stamp on the program, but the Crowley influence always has been evident to those who could recognize it.

“A lot of the plays are the same; that play-action pass is the way we ran it back then,” Brogan said. “He established the foundation, and a lot of the things are run the same way. Circumstances have changed, but the tradition has stayed the same.”

Maintaining tradition

Brogan’s first two teams both finished the regular season undefeated. In 1980, Lumen Christi lost to Farmington Hills Harrison 7-6 in the Class B Regional, and in 1981, the 9-0 Titans were denied a playoff spot despite outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 301-26.

From 1981-94, Lumen Christi made the playoffs just twice but still had 12 winning seasons out of 14 and never finished worse than 4-5. In 1995, Lumen Christi had an unbeaten regular season and won a playoff game before losing to Detroit Country Day.

The following season, Lumen Christi won its third MHSAA title – and the first with Brogan as head coach – and the most prolonged successful run in school history was underway.

Since 1992, Lumen Christi has not been worse than 6-3 in any season. It also has 263 wins – an average of more than 10 per season over 26 seasons. The Titans won seven MHSAA championships during that run, including two capping back-to-back 14-0 seasons in 2000-01.

Brogan said each title brought its own satisfaction.

“They are all different, and the kids are different,” he said. “Sometimes you expect it, like in 2000 and 2001 and in 1996. It would have been a disappointment if we didn’t win those.”

And sometimes the expectations are not as high. At the beginning of the 2016 season, Brogan saw promise in his young team but was unsure how things would turn out. It did not look real promising after the Titans started 1-2.

“The team did what we hoped it would do,” he said. “We knew we weren’t going to be very good early on, and we weren’t, but we were young and we had a chance to get a lot better and we did.”

Lumen Christi ran the table, winning its last 11 games with a few key victories along the way. One of those came in the sixth week against Coldwater.

“The Coldwater game that we won in overtime was a big confidence booster because we had already lost two games at that point,” senior fullback/linebacker Kyle Minder said. “It was a big game to win.”

Senior left guard Austin Maynard, then a junior, pointed to the victory over Schoolcraft in the Division 6 District Final as a key point in the season.

“We found out we can win it all because that team was probably the best we faced all year,” he said. “When we won that game, we looked at each other saying. ‘It’s possible that we could win it all.’ “

The 11-game run was capped with a 26-14 victory over Maple City Glen Lake at Ford Field in Detroit.

“It was what everyone dreams about; the feeling that happens when you win is indescribable,” Maynard said. “It feels like you are on top of the world and nothing can bring you down. You know all the hard work that you put in during the summer paid off.”

The players, however, wanted more.

“They have embraced the challenge of being the defending champions,” Brogan said. “We’ll see what happens, but it’s been on their minds ever since we walked off Ford Field last year.”

Driven to repeat

Brogan does not shy away from scheduling a tough foe or two in the non-conference, and this season the Titans opened against four-time reigning Division 5 champion Grand Rapids West Catholic for the second year in a row. They knocked off the Falcons 27-24 to get the season off to a rousing start.

“In the non-conference, there is nobody better to play than Grand Rapids West Catholic,” senior tight end/defensive end Cameron White said. “Just having them on our schedule is great, and to come out with a win was awesome.”

One of the neat aspects for this group of players is that it is the first to complete an entire season of playing its home games at the high school. In the past, Lumen Christi has always played its home games at Withington Community Stadium, which is located at Jackson High School. A few years ago, Lumen Christi opened its own field and eventually ended up playing all of its home games there.

“I was a little bit concerned about that because Withington is such a nice venue, and we wondered how the kids would accept it, but they love it,” Brogan said. “I think the kids in the school like it, and they have their own little section down there in the end zone and there is a lot of enthusiasm down there.

“It’s nice getting dressed here and walking out to play a ballgame.”

It certainly has been a hit with the players.

“It’s nice to be at our own school and not have to travel for home games,” senior receiver/defensive end Sam Mizner said. “It’s nice to have that LC in the middle of the field all of the time.”

Maynard said it’s a different feeling to be playing on the school grounds.

“When we played at Jackson High, they are one of our biggest rivals in football, so playing there you just didn’t feel at home,” he said. “Here we are playing in front of our home crowd at home.”

This year’s team is experienced with strong line play, and one improvement over last year – at least statistically – is on defense. The Titans have allowed an average of 12.8 points per game after giving up 17 a year ago.

“Offensively, we’re physical, and we have a great offensive line,” Brogan said. “I’d say that’s the strength of our team. We’ve been able to block everybody all year long. We have two good tailbacks who have rushed for 1,800 yards and a fullback who has rushed for 750. Our quarterback has thrown for about 1,200 yards and completed 68 percent. We haven’t thrown it a lot, but we have thrown it effectively off our play-action stuff. When we have been able to run it well, we’ve been able to hurt people.

“It’s an experienced group. Most of these kids had a role in the state championship last year. We returned a lot. It’s a mature group. They are fun to coach and fun to be around. They enjoy themselves and play hard and play with intensity, but they have a lot of fun doing it.”

Lumen Christi played an eight-game schedule this regular season and went 7-1 with a one-point loss to Battle Creek Harper Creek in the third week of the season.

“I think it was a very good point in the season when we ended up losing,” White said. “It was a wake-up call that everything wasn’t going to be easy and everything wasn’t going to be given to us.

“It showed that we need to work that much harder.”

Lumen Christi will take an eight-game winning streak into its Division 6 Semifinal on Saturday. The first eight Finals championships in school history were either in Class B or Division 5, but declining enrollment dropped the Titans to Division 6 in 2014. But that hasn’t necessarily meant an easier road to a title. This year, perennial powers Ithaca and Traverse City St. Francis are meeting in the other Semifinal game.

“Last year, I thought Division 5 was more difficult than Division 6, but overall this year, Division 6 is probably more difficult than Division 5,” Brogan said. “What I have found over the years is that there are really good teams in every division, just the further down you go there are less of them.

“We felt last week that seven of the eight teams who were left could win it, and now, any of the four could win it.”

Brogan – The Leader

With a lengthy resume as impressive as Brogan’s, there is no doubt who is in charge. And the players know of him long before they ever play for him.

“When you come into the program in seventh grade, you look at Coach and he’s a very intimidating guy,” Maynard said. “You know the hard work that he is going to put you through just from the stories you’ve heard, and true football players want that; they want coaches to come up to you and challenge you and put you through the most difficult workouts you’ve ever been through.”

And, when they mess up, they will hear about it.

“At first, you are scared of making a mistake, but you have to do everything 100 percent,” Mizner said. “You know you are going to get yelled at because you’re not perfect, but things will happen and you’ll get better during the season.”

Brogan will coach with an iron fist, but he isn’t one to run up the score. Often during his career a 28-0 halftime lead ended with something like a 35-0 victory.

He preaches clean play and will not tolerate any of his players doing something that might be deemed dirty. His players told of one such instance this season. One of the Titans pushed an opposing player after the play, and as White told it, that player felt the wrath of Brogan.

“Coach Brogan got in his face,” White said. “It solved the problem, and the player learned his lesson. And he learned his lesson at conditioning, too.”

And finally, there is a saying around football circles in Jackson. It goes something like this: “If Lumen Christi is close at halftime, the coaches will more often make the proper halftime adjustments to give the Titans the edge in the second half.”

In typical style of the low-key coach, Brogan directs that credit to his assistant coaches.

“I think we have a great coaching staff, and honestly, they do a lot more of that stuff than I do,” he said. “We have an offensive staff and an offensive coordinator and a defensive staff and a defensive coordinator, and my job is to sit here and talk to the media.”

Brogan is fifth all-time in coaching wins in the state of Michigan and second among active coaches. His career record is 341-83, and he is one of just 10 coaches to reach 300 career victories. He doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

“It’s still fun,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of classes anymore, and in the offseason I can kind of do what I want to do. I’m coaching with great guys and coaching great kids.

“I’ll be here as long as these guys want me around.”

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) Lumen Christi players stand arm-in-arm. (Middle top) Titans coach Herb Brogan talks things over with his players. (Middle below) Lumen Christi fullback Kyle Minder, left, leads the way for tailback Sebastian Toland. (Below) The Titans are succeeding again behind a powerful offensive line. (Photos courtesy of the Jackson Lumen Christi football program.)

Grand Blanc defenders converge on a Muskegon Mona Shores ball carrier during the Sailors' 28-26 win.

1st & Goal: 2024 Week 1 Review

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

September 3, 2024

Football is the only high school sport for which teams prepare an entire week to play just one game, and at most are guaranteed nine games each season.

MI Student AidThat being the case, every week contributes significantly to a team’s overall story. And we're thrilled to tell as many as possible again, starting with what struck us most from season openers this past holiday weekend.

This time, headliners included a pair of victories over 2023 Finals champions, and two of the highest-scoring games in MHSAA history. And those are just a few of the notables from this first chapter, as we restart our weekly "1st & Goal" series to highlight several of the results that especially jumped off the page.

Bay & Thumb

HEADLINER Frankenmuth 22, Goodrich 0 After falling to the Martians on a last-minute score to start the 2023 season, Frankenmuth avenged by handing Goodrich its first regular-season shutout since 2018. Logan Diener led the Eagles’ defensive effort with 15 tackles and two sacks, and Kobbi Ke outran Goodrich as a team 117 yards to 54. Click for more from the Saginaw News.

Watch list Fenton 28, Midland Dow 14 The Tigers also opened last season with a win over Dow, by two points, on the way to a Flint Metro League title – and this victory was even more impressive with quarterback Noah Sheil starring.

On the move Harbor Beach 24, Cass City 22 (OT) These two finished a combined 17-5 last year, and Harbor Beach extended its winning streak against the Red Hawks to three this weekend with an overtime defensive stand. Saginaw Heritage 48, Mount Pleasant 24 Despite graduating one of the most accomplished receivers in MHSAA history, Heritage raced to a second-straight win over the Oilers, who won a league title a year ago. Armada 28, Marine City 27 This ending was unforgettable as well, as both teams scored during the final two minutes, Armada first and then Marine City on a kickoff return – but the Tigers stopped the ensuing two-point conversion try.

Greater Detroit

HEADLINER Belleville 35, Clarkston 28 Belleville quarterback Bryce Underwood started one of the nation’s most anticipated senior seasons running for 177 yards and two scores and throwing two touchdown passes. His 55-yard TD sprint with 18 seconds left was the game-winner at the Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic. Click for more from the Detroit Sports Commission.

Watch list Warren De La Salle Collegiate 21, Davison 3 In another premier Xenith matchup at Wayne State, the 2023 Division 2 runner-up Pilots avenged last season’s 31-26 loss to Davison by dealing the Cardinals their first single-digit scoring day since 2021.

On the move West Bloomfield 42, Clinton Township Chippewa Valley 0 The Lakers left no doubt in this rematch of annual powers, impressing even more after winning last season’s matchup with the Big Reds by just a point. Lake Orion 21, Northville 13 These were both 10-game winners a year ago, and Lake Orion is back on course after last season’s lone loss came by a point in its District Final. Riverview Gabriel Richard 15, Montrose 10 Gabriel Richard began building on last season’s trip to the Division 8 Semifinals by holding on against a Rams team that reached the Division 7 Regional Finals in 2023.

Mid-Michigan

HEADLINER Lansing Everett 28, Lansing Sexton 0 Everett ended a two-game losing streak against its rival in a big way, shutting out a Sexton offense that scored 30 points per game last season and putting up 28 on a Sexton defense that gave up that many only once a year ago. Click for more from the Lansing State Journal.

Watch list East Lansing 31, Portage Central 7 Much is expected of the Trojans this season, and they showed why immediately in this matchup of 2023 league champions. East Lansing shut down a Central offense that averaged nearly 32 points per game last year.

On the move DeWitt 69, Haslett 42 These rivals ran right into the MHSAA record book combining for more than 100 points during one of the most high-scoring games of opening night, as the Panthers’ Elliott Larner and Vikings’ Kory Amachree combined to run for seven touchdowns. Pewamo-Westphalia 8, North Muskegon 7 The Pirates avenged their only two losses of a year ago (on opening night and then in a Regional Final) with a fourth-quarter touchdown and two-point conversion. Fowler 20, Hudson 6 Fowler also made some big-time small-school noise with this win over a Hudson program that was a combined 31-5 over the last three seasons.

Northern Lower Peninsula

HEADLINER Ogemaw Heights 29, Ubly 13 Ogemaw is coming off its best season in over a decade, and it’s impossible to argue with this start against last season’s undefeated Division 8 champion. Ubly has some significant changes on offense as several standouts graduated, and is a much smaller school, but the Falcons still held the Bearcats to their lowest-scoring performance since 2021. Click for more from the Bay City Times.

Watch list Traverse City West 6, Gaylord 0 West avenged last season’s 13-7 loss to the Blue Devils, who are coming off a perfect regular season and league and District titles. The Titans are seeking their first winning season since 2021.

On the move Traverse City St. Francis 67, Charlevoix 22 After opening last season with a one-point win over the Rayders, St. Francis fell to them in their Division 7 District opener. This avenges that, but they could mean again. Elk Rapids 7, Benzie Central 2 This may seem more like a baseball score, and Elk Rapids will take it after losing this matchup 47-26 last season and missing the playoffs at 4-5 while Benzie qualified at 5-4. Petoskey 8, Greenville 6 Only a few points were scored in this one too, but Petoskey knows every one of them counts after making the playoffs at 5-4 as well last season.

Southeast & Border

HEADLINER Onsted 35, Napoleon 20 The Wildcats are seeking their first winning season since 2019 and finished 2-7 a year ago. But they’re halfway to equaling that total after a loud start, as Napoleon is coming off back-to-back league titles. Click for more from the Adrian Daily Telegram.

Watch list Ypsilanti Lincoln 10, Milan 7 The Railsplitters are seeking their first winning season since 2017 and won two games a year ago as well, but they are on the right path with this victory over a 2023 playoff qualifier.

On the move Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central 22, Clinton 14 The Falcons bounced back from losing to Clinton by the same score in last season’s Division 7 District Final. Jackson Lumen Christi 49, Michigan Center 21 This matchup featured two of the Jackson area’s traditional best for the second-straight season, with the reigning Division 7 champion Titans again prevailing. Ann Arbor Pioneer 27, Adrian 17 The Pioneers avenged last season’s 36-30 loss to the Maples as they look to build on their winningest season since 2015.

Southwest Corridor

HEADLINER Paw Paw 32, Big Rapids 14 Paw Paw won this opening matchup for the second season in a row and by an almost identical score as in 2023, when Big Rapids went on to win the Central State Activities Association Gold and the Red Wolves finished second in the Wolverine Conference. PJ DeYoung led the way this time with 203 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Click for more from the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Watch list St. Joseph 30, Niles 7 St. Joseph rebounded significantly after losing last season’s opener to Niles 55-0. The Bears took strides on both sides of the ball; Niles never scored fewer than 14 points in a game last season, and St. Joseph reached 30 only three times in 2023.  

On the move Hartford 55, Niles Brandywine 24 Hartford has a varsity team for the first time since 2021 and now its first win since 2019. Dowagiac 21, South Haven 11 Dowagiac last year posted its first winning season since 2019 despite a one-point loss to South Haven in their opener, and ending a three-game losing streak against the Rams over the weekend was another solid step. Buchanan 32, Saugatuck 6 Buchanan was another season-opening avenger, having fallen to Saugatuck 25-14 a year ago in what turned into a playoff season for both.

Marquette's Drew Bradley (6) breaks a tackle and gains several yards.

Upper Peninsula

HEADLINER Marquette 55, Gladstone 0 Watch out for the Sentinels. Marquette had lost two in a row to Gladstone, including 36-7 a year ago, and hadn’t reached 50 points in a game since 2021. This also was Marquette’s first season-opening win in three years. Click for more from the Marquette Mining Journal.

Watch list Ishpeming Westwood 36, Bark River-Harris 12 Westwood is coming off a pair of sub-.500 finishes after a string of much better ones, but breaking a two-game losing streak against Bark River-Harris could be the start of a turnaround. The Broncos had won last season’s matchup 50-14.

On the move Gwinn 14, Bridgeport 6 The Modeltowners are 1-0 for the first time since 2018 – the last time the team posted a winning record for the season. Iron Mountain 26, Houghton 16 The Mountaineers ran their winning streak against Houghton to three, but the Gremlins made this the closest matchup since their most recent victory over Iron Mountain in 2021. Kingsford 21, Escanaba 0 These two renewed this rivalry after a year ago, with Kingsford claiming its third-straight victory in the longtime series.

West Michigan

HEADLINER Zeeland West 28, Muskegon 13 This jumps off the page as Muskegon is the reigning Division 2 champion and won 12 straight games – including 22-16 over West – to close last season. But looking back further, it's fair to say the Dux have been on the verge; the Big Reds had won four of the last five matchups, but all of them were decided by eight points or fewer. This one, however, was a nonleague game as they are in separate divisions of the Ottawa-Kent Conference this fall for the first time since 2019. Click for more from the Holland Sentinel.

Watch list Reed City 24, Kingsley 22 Not to be outdone, Reed City also defeated a reigning Finals champion, edging last year’s Division 6 title winner Kingsley with a touchdown and two-point conversion with one second to play. Kingsley had defeated Reed City 37-7 last fall to advance to Ford Field.

On the move Rockford 30, Detroit Cass Tech 23 These Division 1 powers met for the first time, and the next time could be with a championship on the line. Rockford held on with a late defensive stand. Hudsonville Unity Christian 43, Whitehall 21 Unity Christian is coming off its first sub-.500 season in a decade, which began with a loss to Whitehall – which went on to finish 10-1 last fall and is Unity’s only opponent from 2023 on this year’s schedule. Muskegon Mona Shores 28, Grand Blanc 26 Shores followed quarterback Jonathan Pittman across the state for an impressive win at the Vehicle City Gridiron Classic.

Otsego's Lane Blanchard breaks through an opening during his team's loss to Coopersville.

8-Player

HEADLINER Pickford 40, Powers North Central 12 Pickford dealt the Jets a season-opening defeat for the first time since 2018 as the two 8-player powers faced off for the first time since 2019. Both could again be in the championship mix in at the end of this fall; North Central made the Division 2 Regional Finals last season, and Pickford reached the Division 1 Semifinals. Click for more from the Escanaba Daily Press.

Watch list Britton Deerfield 68, Pittsford 58 This tied for the 20th highest-scoring game in MHSAA 8-player history, with Britton Deerfield rebounding nicely off last year’s 2-7 finish to defeat a Pittsford team coming off a 7-3 run.

On the move Brimley 26, St. Ignace 0 The Saints stormed into 8-player last season with a 9-2 finish, but Brimley coming off a 3-6 run pulled off one of the stunners of Week 1 as it pursues a first .500-or-better season since 2019. Gaylord St. Mary 8, Rudyard 0 This was nearly an opposite of last season’s meeting; St. Mary’s won this time after Rudyard claimed last year’s 58-32. Atlanta 40, Rogers City 36 Atlanta closed last season 2-2 over its final four games and might be on the verge of another step forward with this first win over Rogers City after two losses in their previous two 8-player matchups – including 34-24 a year ago.

MHSAA.com's weekly “1st & Goal” previews and reviews are powered by MI Student Aid, a division within the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP). MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Click to connect with MI Student Aid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.

PHOTOS (Top) Grand Blanc defenders converge on a Muskegon Mona Shores ball carrier during the Sailors' 28-26 win. (Middle) Marquette's Drew Bradley (6) breaks a tackle and gains several yards against Gladstone. (Below) Otsego's Lane Blanchard breaks through an opening during his team's 41-0 loss to Coopersville. (Top photo by Terry Lyons, middle photo by Cara Kamps and below photo by Gary Shook.)