Burns Taking Turn in Family Tradition By Leading Tecumseh to Memorable Start
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
September 13, 2022
TECUMSEH – At a recent Tecumseh football practice, head coach Greg Dolson watched his senior quarterback Jake Burns make the right read on run-pass option play, and Dolson turned to assistant coach Al Romano.
“I said, ‘I’m really going to miss that kid,’” Dolson recalled.
The Tecumseh coaching staff isn’t rushing anything yet. They are hoping to have Burns at the helm of the offense for the rest of the regular season and hopefully into the postseason. Tecumseh is 3-0 and off to its best start since 2012, playing with a stacked deck on offense, with numerous weapons but perhaps none more important than the multi-sport athlete Burns.
He’s the glue that bonds the Tecumseh line with the backs and receivers and has the team scoring about 47 points a game.
“Jake has really matured,” Dolson said. “He doesn’t like the spotlight. You could see last year he really started coming into his own. This year he is playing at such a high level. It’s exciting watching him grow.”
Burns, 17, is a senior and Tecumseh through-and-through. His grandfather and his grandfather’s family played sports at Tecumseh. His dad Brian played at Tecumseh. Now, Jake’s turn to wear No. 2 – just like his dad – and represent the family on Friday nights under the lights.
“There’s been a long line of Burnses going through Tecumseh,” the senior QB said.
Jake Burns might be the best of them before he’s through.
“He is poised to take us on a playoff run,” Dolson said.
Under his leadership, Tecumseh is hoping to keep things rolling Friday against rival Adrian and make some noise in the Division 4 playoffs.
“It’s a great feeling,” Burns said. “We all worked really hard in the offseason. We worked really hard in the weight room. It’s a great feeling to be where we are at.”
Burns has played a huge role in each of Tecumseh’s first three wins.
Against Michigan Center he threw for 132 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 79 yards and a score. In Week 2 against Richland Gull Lake, Burns threw four touchdown passes and had nearly 300 yards of total offense. In the Southeastern Conference White opener last week against Pinckney, he had 120 yards rushing and 116 yards passing. He scored on an 81-yard run.
Tecumseh went 4-5 last year, and Burns said that left a bad taste in the players’ mouths.
“We all want to win,” Burns said. “Last year didn’t fit our standards. We all knew we couldn’t settle. We got the younger kids involved in the weight room and active, and it’s really awesome to see it pay off.”
Tecumseh runs the spread offense that is directed by Romano, a Hall of Fame coach who guided Erie Mason to the Class C championship in 1987 and has coached at the high school and college levels for years. He returned to high school football a couple of seasons ago to become Dolson’s offensive coordinator. It’s been a perfect fit with he and Burns.
“I enjoy playing quarterback. I couldn’t be more thankful for Coach Romano,” Burns said. “He’s always looking out for me and helps me so much. It’s great to have a mentor like that.”
Romano and Dolson have put together a great offense in Tecumseh. Junior running back A.J. Bryan is a threat to score every time he touches the football, and receivers like Ryder Zajac, Gavin Chenevey and Jobe Benschoter have already proved their value to the team this season.
“Every play we run I have the ability to hand it off, keep it myself or throw it,” Burns said. “It’s just a matter of making the right read. We have weapons all over the field.
“Coach Romano spends a lot of time talking to me and watching film. He is always pulling tricks out of his bag.”
Dolson said Burns tries to stay out of the spotlight, but it’s tough for the standout to elude.
“He plays in the neighborhood with all of the little kids, throwing the ball around and stuff,” Dolson said. “He’s in leadership classes at the school and is like a 3.7 student. He goes out of his way to be nice to everyone. He hangs out with his offensive line. Nothing about him is fake, either. He’s genuine.”
Burns is an elite baseball player as well and hasn’t decided which sport he will play at the next level.
“Football is special,” he said, “but I love baseball, too. I love both sports. It’s going to be hard to decide.”
Adrian (2-1) travels to Tecumseh on Friday and is typically its biggest rival on the football field. A win puts Tecumseh in great position with key SEC White battles coming up with Chelsea and Jackson.
“The game always brings some sort of buzz and hype,” Burns said. “We just want to play the game and get the job done.”
Burns said this year’s team has a different feel than previous ones he’s played on. Everyone gets along and is working toward the same goals.
“I think the team leadership is different,” Burns said. “Everyone is friends. We all mesh really well. We enjoy ourselves at practice. We try and have fun. At the end of the day, it’s a game. We want to have fun with it. We believe in each other.”
Burns is making Tecumseh fans believers, too.
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) Tecumseh quarterback Jake Burns outruns the Michigan Center defense during a season-opening win. (Middle) Burns works to elude a Gull Lake rusher during a Week 2 victory. (Photos by John Discher.)
Addison Emerges from Difficult Offseason Focused on Embracing Challenges Ahead
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
September 26, 2023
ADDISON – Addison’s football team was dealt multiple blows this past offseason, enough to bring many teams to their knees.
After going 5-5 last fall with a young team, the Panthers were expecting big things in 2023. But tragedy struck twice. Junior Chad Miller, a fullback and safety, died in July. Starting linebacker Jay Griewahn, also a junior, was diagnosed with leukemia and began chemotherapy that same month.
Add in the transfer of a starting offensive lineman, and losing three expected contributors from a team of fewer than 30 players looked difficult to overcome.
Yet, through five games, Addison is undefeated and ranks at the top of the MHSAA playoff points list in Division 8. The Panthers have turned to what their coaches have been teaching them for years – control only what you can control.
“I felt strongly that we would embrace the challenge and not make excuses, because we just don’t allow it,” said Addison head coach Joshua Lindeman.
“We can’t control everything, right? It’s what we instill in kids every single day. The football team is an extension of the classroom. Anything you do through education and educational athletics is preparing you to become a man. That is really what we build our entire program around. We talk about it daily.”
Lindeman is in his 10th season as the Addison head coach and recently passed the 50-win mark. He said it took a couple of years to build the current culture at the school in southwest Lenawee County, but seasons like this one – where the team comes together to overcome adversity – shows it is working.
“There are going to be events in your life that are going to happen that you can’t control,” he said. “Everybody knows this, whether you are a faith-driven person or not. There are events in our lives that are out of our control. We can’t waste energy or time and effort on those things.
“The only thing we can focus on is our response to those events.”
Addison also has remained true to its culture when it comes to toughness on the football field, too. Lindeman employs a full house T formation, an offense he learned while playing at nearby Hudson. In most games, as many as four backs carry the ball at least eight times apiece. Spencer Brown had 19 carries in Friday’s win over Jonesville, by far the most of any Addison back in a single game this season.
“That doesn’t change,” Lindeman said of the offense. “We don’t get envious about who carries the ball. We teach that to our backs. If you ask anybody about our program, about who gets taken care of in our program … they’ll tell you the linemen.
“Football is so many times glorified by the guy carrying the ball or the guy throwing the ball,” Lindeman added. “I don’t care who has the ball. I care about the seven guys up front. That’s where football is won or lost, no matter what anybody says.”
Addison has been an offensive juggernaut, scoring 258 points over five games. That includes wins of 50-14, 60-27, 58-14, 50-28 and 38-14, making the Panthers one of the highest-scoring teams in the state. They have 10 pass completions all season.
Brown is a perfect example of a player who has embraced the Addison culture. Coming in as a freshman, Brown shied away from contact. Once he hit the weight room and grew into his body, he became a bruising runner who fights for tough yards inside but has the speed to break long runs.
“When I came in as a freshman, I was tall and skinny,” Brown said. “I didn’t want anything to do with contact or someone touching me. As a sophomore, I started lifting, and last year things clicked.”
He said the team has remained close through the difficult offseason.
“It was hard losing a couple of guys, but you just have to look at the next guy up and lock in and do your job,” Brown said. “It’s talked about. It would be great to have those guys with us, but you just have to tell the guy there now to fill your spot and play your role.”
Brown is one of four captains with fellow seniors Jaxen Sword and Gabe Pepper, plus junior Joe Clark.
“Our captains say the right thing,” Lindeman said. “All four of them have done a really good job.”
This week Addison hosts Homer on Thursday in hopes of improving to 6-0.
“The mindset is to keep working hard in practice,” Brown said. “We are trying to go undefeated here.”
The Panthers know some difficult games lie ahead. No matter what happens, Lindeman will continue to do things like shake hands with every player after every practice and game and tell his players he loves them.
“All of that stuff creates the word culture that everybody speaks about,” Lindeman said. “It’s an identity. It’s not unnormal to see our football players in the hallway and they tell me they love me, and I say I love you back.”
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) Addison’s Spencer Brown (22) attempts to elude a Detroit Voyageur defender during a 50-14 Week 1 win. (Middle) Panthers coach Joshua Lindeman greets his players before a game. (Photos by Deloris Clark-Osborne.)