![Clockwise from top left: (1) Oxford’s Carl Reaves (5) breaks a tackle during Oxford’s 20-13 overtime win over Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills in Class BB in 1992. (2) A Crystal Falls Forest Park ball carrier is wrapped up by a New Lothrop tackler during New Lothrop’s 34-13 win in Division 8 in 2006. (3) Muskegon and Detroit Martin Luther King players collide during the Crusaders’ 41-25 victory in Division 3 in 2018. (4) Schoolcraft’s Paul Garrison (75) applies the pressure during his team’s 42-7 win over Frankfor](/sites/default/files/2024-09/240904_100_2H.png)
Century of School Sports: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 4, 2024
We’ve only just begun to celebrate the MHSAA’s 100th anniversary – a “Century of School Sports” dating back to our start Dec. 13, 1924.
This celebration just happens to coincide with another major milestone this fall – the 50th season of MHSAA Football Playoffs.
After decades of football champions being determined by media polls, the MHSAA offered its first postseason for football in 1975 – 16 teams qualified to compete across Class A, B, C and D. Livonia Franklin, Dearborn Divine Child, Ishpeming and Crystal Falls Forest Park, respectively, hoisted those first championship trophies.
The first year’s Finals were played at Central Michigan University and Western Michigan University, two games at each site, before moving to the Pontiac Silverdome the following season – the home for MHSAA football championships until their move to Ford Field in 2005.
Meanwhile, the playoff field grew to 32 teams – eight per class – in 1977, and again to 64 teams over four classes in 1985. Classes AA, BB, CC and DD were added in 1990, bringing the number of 11-player football championships to its current eight. The 11-player field and format expanded one more time in 1999, doubling to 256 teams total – 32 per division – with a fifth week of postseason games bringing the playoff schedule to its current five weeks.
As more small schools began to have difficulty sustaining their programs during the first decade of the 2000s, the 8-player format began to grow with the first playoffs for that division in 2011. The 8-player bracket was split into two divisions in 2017.
Football remains the most played sport in this state, and its playoffs the most attended MHSAA postseason tournament. As of this writing, an estimated 35,000 athletes representing 601 varsity teams are vying for championships this 2024 season. This year's Finals are Nov. 23 for 8-player and Nov. 29-30 for 11-player.
Now, for the fun facts:
- A total of 24 teams have qualified for the MHSAA Football Playoffs at least 30 of the first 49 seasons. Beal City and Crystal Falls Forest Park lead the way with 38 qualifying seasons, followed by Mendon with 37 and Fowler and Traverse City St. Francis with 36. Forest Park and Mendon’s totals include appearances in both the 11 and 8-player brackets. Farmington Hills Harrison remains tied for seventh on the list with 34 postseason appearances despite closing at the end of the 2018-19 school year. NOTE: The totals above do not include the 2020 season, when all schools were entered into the tournament as the regular season was shortened due to COVID-19.
- Rockford has the longest overall and active streaks of qualifying for the playoffs at 28 straight seasons, again not counting 2020 when all teams were added to the bracket. Forest Park at 26 seasons, Jackson Lumen Christi at 25 and Muskegon at 23 seasons are the next four on the overall and active streak lists (Muskegon is tied on the overall list with Felch North Dickinson’s run from 1991-2013).
- Farmington Hills Harrison still has the most appearances in 11-Player Finals, with 18, but with Detroit Catholic Central just one back and Lumen Christi with 16. Lumen Christi has won the last two Division 7 titles to move into a tie for the lead on the total 11-player championship list with 13, the same number won by Harrison during its mighty history.
- On the 8-player side, Powers North Central leads with five appearances in Finals and five championships having won all of them.
- The Jets also own the longest championship streak in 8-player, with three straight titles from 2020-22. Grand Rapids West Catholic from 2013-17, Harrison from 1997-2001 and East Grand Rapids from 2006-10 all have won five 11-player championships in a row, with eight more 11-player programs having won at least three consecutive titles.
This is but a glance at the playoffs’ past. MHSAA historian Ron Pesch has written several exceptional pieces on the MHSAA Football Playoffs for MHSAA.com, and these are a few of our favorites:
- “Culmination of Ideas, Cooperation Lead to Creation of MHSAA Football Playoffs”
- “Farwell Silverdome; Our Memories Live On”
- “Football Finals: Top 10 of the first 15 Years”
You also can check out a list of all-time playoff qualifiers and 11 and 8-Player Finals records by visiting the MHSAA Football Record Book.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
PHOTOS Clockwise from top left: (1) Oxford’s Carl Reaves (5) breaks a tackle during Oxford’s 20-13 overtime win over Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills in Class BB in 1992. (2) A Crystal Falls Forest Park ball carrier is wrapped up by a New Lothrop tackler during New Lothrop’s 34-13 win in Division 8 in 2006. (3) Muskegon and Detroit Martin Luther King players collide during the Crusaders’ 41-25 victory in Division 3 in 2018. (4) Schoolcraft’s Paul Garrison (75) applies the pressure during his team’s 42-7 win over Frankfort in Class D in 1988. (5) A Farmington Hills Harrison ball carrier pushes toward the end zone against Midland Dow in 1976; Dow would prevail 36-27.
![Addison’s Spencer Brown (22) attempts to elude a Detroit Voyageur defender during a 50-14 Week 1 win.](/sites/default/files/2023-09/230926_Addison_2H.png)
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.)