Cass Tech, Campbell's Glories Grow
November 24, 2012
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
DETROIT — Thomas Wilcher is a former Detroit Public School League football star who has become one of the most successful coaches in the state.
Perhaps such a future awaits the city’s brightest current star, Detroit Cass Tech quarterback Jayru Campbell.
Wilcher raved about his sophomore signal caller’s mental grasp of the game after the Technicians became the first PSL team to win back-to-back MHSAA football championships with a 36-21 victory over Detroit Catholic Central on Saturday at Ford Field.
Campbell has orchestrated the offense during both championship runs, each of which ended with a dominant performance against perennial power Catholic Central. Cass Tech routed the Shamrocks 49-13 in last year’s title game, as Campbell threw for five touchdowns.
Campbell’s stats weren't as gaudy this time around (4 for 12, 154 yards, one touchdown), but it’s not his physical gifts that drew high praise from Wilcher after the game.
“I told him on the telephone one night, ‘I don’t care about your arm right now. I just love the way you think on the football field,’” Wilcher said. “That’s what makes him so important to me right now. We’re teaching.”
As a freshman, Campbell was given limited ability to change plays at the line of scrimmage. As a 10th-grader who has already started 28 varsity games, he has earned more trust from his coaching staff than many seniors.
“They gave me more of a green light this year,” Campbell said. “Last year, they pretty much told me I could change the play from left to right; that was the most green light I had. This year, I’m changing passes to runs, runs to passes. It’s not getting difficult, but it’s more responsibility on me. I’m up for the challenge.”
Campbell altered the original call on two of Cass Tech’s biggest offensive plays.
On the Technicians’ first play from scrimmage, he audibled senior receiver Jourdan Lewis from a stop route to a go route. Lewis made a leaping catch between two defenders along the left sideline and took off for an 89-yard touchdown to open the scoring with 9:31 left in the first quarter.
“It was supposed to be a stop,” Campbell said. “The corner was playing so far up, I knew Jourdan Lewis was going to get around him. I just told him to go ahead and do what you do.”
In the fourth quarter, with Cass Tech trying to put the game away, Campbell changed a pass to a draw play to running back Mike Weber on fourth-and-10 from Catholic Central’s 30-yard line. Weber exploded 26 yards to the 4-yard line, setting up a 3-yard touchdown run by Campbell that expanded the lead to 29-7 with 7:59 remaining.
“I saw they had only one linebacker in the back,” Campbell said. “Coach Wilcher really believes in me. He knows I will get the job done. He really trusts me.”
Catholic Central came in looking to avenge last year’s 36-point loss in the Final, but the Shamrocks fell behind 12-0 in the first five minutes on the 89-yard catch by Lewis and a 58-yard fumble return by 260-pound defensive tackle Kenton Gibbs.
The Shamrocks (9-5) slowed the momentum and got back in the game at 12-7 on an 18-yard pass from Garrett Moores to Zach Bock with 2:02 left in the first half. The Technicians (12-2) tacked on a 31-yard field goal by Ken Snapp to take a 15-7 lead into halftime.
A 57-yard run by Weber on third-and-17 set up a 30-yard touchdown run by Deon Drake Jr. on the following play, giving Cass Tech a 22-7 lead on the first series of the third quarter.
“We knew going in from last year’s experience that we can’t make mistakes, because they capitalize well on mistakes, but we did,” Catholic Central coach Tom Mach said. “They made a great throw and catch on the first touchdown. Then we made a couple of mistakes that they capitalized on. We found ourselves in a hole and had to try to get out of that hole. We were doing a good job of that, I thought. Then they exerted themselves and put another touchdown in.”
It became a 29-7 game when Cass Tech went 79 yards in 16 plays, taking 7:14 off the clock before Campbell scored on his 3-yard run with 7:59 left in the fourth quarter.
Catholic Central twice made it a two-possession game in the final 5:57 on touchdown passes by Moores, but the Technicians had an 84-yard interception return for a touchdown by Delano Hill in between them.
“It was no different than last year,” Catholic Central senior running back Anthony Darkangelo said. “We knew last year they were a fast team and we had to keep contain on the edges outside. They executed their game plan and we didn't execute the plan we had for the game.”
Click for full statistics and to watch a replay of the game. See below for the full press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Cass Tech David Dawson hoists quarterback Jayru Campbell (10) during Saturday's Division 1 Final. (Middle) Cass Tech running back Mike Weber runs into a crowd of Detroit Catholic Central defenders including Sean Birney (18) and Dylan Roney (89). (Click for more from Terry McNamara Photography.)
FHC Caps Ford Field Return by Sending Out Coach, Seniors with 1st Finals Win
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 26, 2023
DETROIT – Ty Hudkins and his Forest Hills Central teammates were not going to be denied Sunday in the Division 3 Football Final.
Not even if it meant – in Hudkins’ case – having to drag a Mason defender 20 yards for a touchdown.
Not after coming up one win short of bringing their program its first Finals title a year ago.
And certainly not in the final game of their coach Tim Rogers’ career.
So Hudkins dragged that defender, the Rangers got that last win, and they sent Rogers out a winner, defeating Mason 27-10 at Ford Field.
“We’ve been talking about this since sixth grade,” Hudkins said, before pointing to his teammates assembled at the press conference. “We’ve been playing for each other since we can remember. All our dads have been the coaches – coach’s kid, coach’s kid, coach’s kid, coach’s kid – it’s just been a real blessing. (Rogers) has been around with us the entire time, as well. It’s just a great way to end. We’ve been talking about it since sixth grade, and the fact that it finally came true is just crazy. It’s a blessing.”
Forest Hills Central had lost to Warren De La Salle Collegiate in the Division 2 Final a year ago. After that game, Rogers told the assembled media that the Rangers would be back, and he was proven correct.
This year, he made another major statement following the game, when he announced that he had just coached his final game at Forest Hills Central, calling it the “worst-kept secret in the state.”
“It’s tough,” Rogers said before taking a moment to collect himself. “Their fathers are dear friends, my assistant coaches. There’s been plenty of inquiries if I was stepping down this year, and the last thing I wanted to be was a distraction to our team. So, do what we always do, put our head down and grind. I feel great. I watched these kids grow up. I think I’m leaving it better than I found it. These assistant coaches I have are fantastic – great fathers, great people, great husbands. So, it was great in our final game to do that. Send them off the way they deserve to be sent off. This community has waited a long time for something like this, and they’re fantastic. The student body was fantastic, our administration was very supportive. Storybook ending for my career to finish with these guys and do what we just did today.”
The Rangers (13-1) did it with defense, holding Mason to 36 yards rushing and 4.3 yards per play. They also forced three turnovers, including a pick-six from linebacker Drew Fortino with 7 minutes, 13 seconds to play, which made the score 27-10 and essentially put the game away.
“I saw the guy across the field, and I saw him coming across, and I kind of just stuck my hand out and was like, ‘Shoot, I got the ball,’” Fortino said. “The whole team blocked really well, and I was able to get into the end zone and they were all in there celebrating with me.”
Mason coach Gary Houghton called the Rangers’ front seven the fastest his team had seen this season, including that of Detroit Martin Luther King, who the Bulldogs played in the Semifinal. As the Bulldogs struggled to find room to run – both with and without star running back AJ Martell, who had eight carries for 14 yards before leaving the game with an injury – that became more and more apparent. But Rogers said it went beyond his team’s athleticism.
“They’re talented for sure,” Rogers said. “But they’re smart. They do so much. The offense gets so much credit for checks at the line of scrimmage and all the things they do. We do that all the time on defense. If you watch me and you knew our signals, half the time you’d just think I was calling base. But these guys check everything at the line of scrimmage. It’s a testament to their football IQ, how they get us in the right play all the time on defense, and just a relentless pursuit of the football.”
JT Hartman led the defense with an interception, a sack, two tackles for loss and eight total tackles. Brady Drueke had a team-high 12 tackles, Fortino added a sack and Hudkins had a diving interception.
The defensive performance was a far cry from a year ago, when the Rangers allowed 52 points in the loss to De La Salle.
“We knew we had to be better, just this offseason, so we worked extra hard in the weight room,” Hartman said. “I think all the extra work made us better players and better people. That translated out on the field.”
While the Mason defense had a fine day itself, holding the Rangers to fewer than 300 yards of total offense and 5.5 yards per play, Central was able to break the game open in the second half thanks to a max-effort play from Hudkins. The Purdue commit hauled in a pass from quarterback Mason McDonald at the 28-yard line and was latched onto at the 20 by a Mason defender. Hudkins stayed on his feet, however, and powered his way into the end zone, diving for the pylon and giving his team a 20-3 lead.
“Just a touchdown in and of itself is a big deal, but to see the will – he was not going to be denied,” Rogers said. “With that, you could literally see the whole sideline just start to elevate. Ty was going to put us on his back literally and figuratively, and he wasn’t going to be denied.”
Hudkins finished the game with 115 yards on six receptions. McDonald led the Forest Hills rushing attack with 74 yards on 21 carries, while Hartman had 68 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Kicker Alex Moeller had a pair of field goals (35 and 27 yards).
For Mason (13-1), it was the end of its own storybook season, even if it didn’t come with the ultimate happy ending. The Bulldogs were playing in their first Final after knocking off King, the team that had ended their previous two seasons in Semifinals.
They had served as a rallying point for a community in mourning following the passing of classmates Lillian Klages and Amanda Blue, who died in an August car crash.
Mason players ran onto the field led by players carrying flags bearing their names.
“We gave it our best shot,” Mason senior receiver Kaleb Parrish said. “It wasn’t the outcome that we wanted, but we tried for the community. We knew this game was bigger than just a football game. At the end of the day, we all tried. When I looked up in the beginning, it was great to see all of the community that showed up. It was thousands – probably most of our community showed up.”
Parrish had a big day receiving in his final game at Mason, hauling in eight catches for 102 yards. Derek Badgley, who scored the Bulldogs’ lone touchdown on a 2-yard run late in the third quarter, added 71 yards on eight catches. Quarterback Cason Carswell was 22 of 40 passing for 229 yards. Kicker Collin Winters connected on a 26-yard field goal during the first quarter.
PHOTOS (Top) Forest Hills Central coach Tim Rogers holds up his program’s first championship trophy Sunday at Ford Field. (Middle) Ty Hudkins (5) hauls in a catch down the sideline for the Rangers. (Below) Jacob Harleton (22) breaks up a Mason pass at the goal line. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)