Climax-Scotts '11' Playing for 1 More Run
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 16, 2018
CLIMAX — Braden Butler plans to make history twice at Climax-Scotts High School – and he is already halfway there.
Butler and his teammates are part of the last 11-player football team at the school.
Next year, the underclassmen will make their debut in 8-player football, a first for the small school.
With just 148 students in grades 9-12, the Panthers are the smallest public school in Michigan to field an 11-player team.
Only the Detroit Catholic League’s Waterford Our Lady and Clarkston Everest Collegiate have smaller enrollments.
“I’m blessed to be in the position of being on the first 8-man team for next year,” said Butler, who was tagged with the nickname ‘Shakespeare” by coach Kevin Langs after the 20-year coach’s former nickname for him morphed from “2 B” to “2 B or not 2 B.”
“I’m very happy with my teammates, with my coaches, with how we’ve all planned this out. It’s going to be a very eye-opening experience for the rest of my life.”
Although the school is small, it has been successful, qualifying for the playoffs the past 15 years. But Climax-Scotts faces a must-win scenario this week to earn one more trip before next year’s switch.
The Panthers take a 3-4 record into their final regular-season game, a four-plus hour journey to Lincoln Alcona on Friday. With a 4-4 record, the team would have a chance at an at-large playoff berth. The field will be announced Sunday night.
“Fortunately, because of a couple of generous donors, we will travel on a charter bus for that trip,” Langs said.
“If we can get playoffs, our season will go down in history,” Butler said. “We played the top teams in the state, top-ranked teams. We’ve played teams that have gone undefeated until now, and we’ve competed against all of those teams which is honestly the best part of the season.”
The Panthers defeated Martin (26-0), Adrian Lenawee Christian (62-20) and Athens (28-14), and lost to Sand Creek (27-16), Clarkston Everest Collegiate (44-38 in 2OT), Pittsford (17-16) and Breckenridge (19-0). Pittsford and Lenawee Christian joined Climax-Scotts in sharing the Southern Central Athletic Association title, and Breckenridge and Everest Collegiate won their respective leagues as well.
Sand Creek, Martin and Athens can clinch automatic playoff berths with wins this weekend.
Langs, who is also athletic director, said the school has been preparing the athletes and the community for the switch to 8-player for three years.
“It’s been a process,” Langs said. “Twenty-10 was the MHSAA’s first year going 8-man. We’ve been across the state talking to the U.P., all over, trying to see what we could do to save small-school 11-man. And lost that fight.
“About three years ago, we had a community meeting because we could see this coming. We just said, ‘Hey, listen. We’re going to try to hold out through this year, 2018, and after that financially, physically, mentally, emotionally, we’re going to go 8-man.’”
The 18 seniors on this year’s team were a big reason the Panthers kept 11-player this year.
“When you go to 8, you lose six starters,” Langs said “Those are a lot of young men who couldn’t have played.
“So we were willing to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to do it so these young men still get to play instead of taking their spots away.’”
Senior defensive lineman/fullback Hunter Mejeur has mixed feelings about missing a chance to play next year.
“I think it would be unique to play 8-man,” he said. “I’ve never done it before, but I think it’s cool to leave a legacy as the last 11-man team.”
He said there are both advantages and disadvantages to small school 11-player football.
“There’s no backup really. There’s one backup lineman, a couple running backs,” he said, adding, “The best part is getting to play a lot.”
Butler said going to 8-player will be nothing new for most of the underclassmen.
“Our first year of 8-man in junior varsity, we only lost one game out of eight,” he said. “Hopefully that transitions into varsity so next year we hopefully see the same outcome. I’m really excited for it.”
Climax-Scotts is just one of four teams playing 11-player in the 15-school SCAA.
The others are Athens, Adrian Lenawee Christian and Pittsford.
Switching to 8-player, the Panthers will renew their rivalry with Battle Creek St. Philip.
“They’re our archrivals and we haven’t played them in seven or eight years, so we’re excited to play them again,” Langs said.
With just three league games, Langs had to find six more opponents – resulting in just one home game this season, the win over Lenawee Christian.
The Panthers suffered a blow during that game.
“(Senior quarterback) Jake Lane, a three-year starter, on a two-point conversion, hurt his shoulder, so he’s out,” Langs said.
“We lost our center, (senior) Noah Gray, too. It’s like losing your middle infield. Hopefully, it’s like the old saying, ‘Next brother up, next man up.’”
With an unfilled Week 4, Climax-Scotts will finish the regular season with only eight games.
“We have been so blessed to have some successful teams over the last 20 years, so people always remember that,” Langs said. “So, when you go to schedule, they’re hesitant, which I understand.
“What happens is, if they’re willing to play you, they’re going to be really, really good or a lot bigger than you, and then they say you’ve got to play us at our place.”
Langs said the team worked hard the last 20 years to become one of the better 11-player programs in the state.
“So now, old dog, new tricks,” he said. “What can we do at 8-man? We don’t know. So we’re going to find out.
“I think the biggest transition is going to be the vertical spacing of the game. There’s a little bit more space for people to run and you can’t cover.”
He compares the change to math.
“For two years I said 11-man is algebra; 8-man is geometry. They’re both math, but there’s a conceptual difference.
“I’ve noticed that I’ve had to get used to that, and we’re slowly starting to figure out the geometry thing a little better.”
Other seniors on the team are Luke Mobley, Brock Borden, Zachary Sleeman, Jordan Tutt, Cole Eshuis, Sabdiel Escobedo, David Arnett, Erik Reyes, Dylan Peck, Alec Roggow, Michael Minne, Cooper Simmons, Jason Myers, Andrew Elenga and Todd Sims.
Juniors include Blake Borden, Lane Glover, Johnny Hunter, Josiah Kenney, Geano Royle, Jackson Ling, Alexandro Rojas and Ethan Huff.
The five sophomores are Ernesto Escobedo, Nathan Peck, Cole Newton, Andrew VanMiddlesworth and Ian Strong. Jackson Lawrence is the lone freshman.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Climax-Scotts’ defensive front breaks toward the play during a Week 1 win over Martin. (Middle) From top, coach Kevin Langs, junior Branden Butler and senior Hunter Mejeur. (Below) The Panthers’ offense is on the move against Athens in Week 7. (Action photos by Mary Longman; head shots by Pam Shebest.)
Cadillac Freshmen Wing, Westinghouse Become Wingmen for Each Other
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
October 18, 2024
Lawson Westinghouse has a wingman.
He really has several, but arguably no one closer than Dominic Wing, the 6-foot-5 freshman starting quarterback at Cadillac High School.
Westinghouse is also a freshman at Cadillac. A couple of other freshman, lineman Tanner Johnson and wide receiver/linebacker Will Howell, also are standing ready and willing to support.
Westinghouse, an avid long distance runner, likely will never play a down on the football field for the Vikings. But he’s usually helping the quarterbacks with drills at practice and looks like a member of the coaching staff on the sidelines during games.
He’s taken all road trips with the Vikings, sitting right next to Wing on the bus. Unfortunately, the road trip string is likely to end tonight when the Vikings head to Marquette for a matchup with league and playoff implications. Cadillac goes into the game 4-3 overall with a 3-2 Big North Conference record. Marquette is 5-2, 4-1.
Westinghouse can’t make the trip because he’s battling sickness complications from chemotherapy. He was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer called Ewing Sarcoma a few years back.
He got good news earlier this season indicating he was cancer free, but had to return to chemo this week.
Wing, Johnson and Howell spend time daily with Westinghouse reading. Westinghouse had goals of reading the book “The Twin Thieves” by the end of the school year and trying to stay in school every day.
The boys try to get Westinghouse through a few pages every day. Wing is his primary reading partner, having developed a close bond with Westinghouse since transferring to Cadillac from Morley Stanwood this fall.
They first met at a basketball game last winter at Cadillac. They reconnected on the first day of school this fall and sat side by side during road trips to Midland, Gaylord, Sault Ste. Marie and Greenville as Cadillac recovered from an 0-2 start winning four of its last five games heading into tonight’s contest.
“I had a bunch of friends (at Cadillac), so I came up for a game,” Wing recollected. “(Lawson) saw me there, and he came up and introduced himself.
The friendship started to really take off with the first day of school, the two freshmen said. “(Lawson) wanted to be on the field, and we started reading in the mornings, which was really nice,” Wing recalled.
The special bond has led to a looser game warm-up and become a key to Wing’s mental preparations. It may be even more critical than Wing’s off-field opportunities to consult with a former NFL quarterback, John Wolford.
“We both talk the whole time on the bus rides,” Westinghouse said.
Wing treasures the conversation.
“We connect on the bus,” Wing said. “Once we get off the bus, he’ll get my warm-up ball and he’ll come over and watch me warm up, and I think it is pretty cool.”
Second-year coach Nick Winkler, who also serves as a special education teacher for Cadillac, loves how the new quarterback has connected with Westinghouse, who may rank as the most popular kid in school.
“Dom does a really good job of looking out for opportunities to take some time with Lawson during games and practice,” said Winkler. “Playing quarterback is hard enough as it is, so to intentionally do that speaks a lot to Lawson and a lot of people in the program.”
Westinghouse said he loves football and running. He recently asked his parents to buy him a football, and he’s been secretly practicing away from the football field. He also has run the Mackinac Bridge Labor Day event both ways every year.
One of the most memorable moments for Winkler, Wing, Howell, Tanner and Westinghouse is far from the best one though. Lawson found himself sick on the way back from the Sault victory, and the boys had an opportunity to comfort him and practice a little caregiving.
“It was a late-night bus trip back, and Lawson gets sick,” Winkler said. “Those guys really helped him out — I think that speaks to their character.”
Another freshman, Ty Pettit, cannot play football due to a health condition, but also has been welcomed to the team. He participates in quarterback drills and serves as an equipment manger. He also serves as the resident prankster on the team, according to Winkler.
“I mostly hang out with the team and encourage them to do their best,” Pettit said of his role.
Without Westinghouse tonight, Wing will rely more on his consultation with Wolford, who first connected with Winkler in Green Bay. Wing is coming off completing 14 of 18 attempts for 200 yards in last week’s win. He has one touchdown pass and no interceptions.
Wolford played for the Los Angeles Rams from 2019-2022 and then during then during the 2023 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His first NFL start was in place of injured Jared Goff in the 2020 regular-season finale, and he led the Rams back into the playoffs with a 10-6 victory. He became the first quarterback to pass for more than 200 yards and rush for more than 50 in his NFL debut. He also backed up Matthew Stafford as the Rams won the 2021 Super Bowl.
‘‘Dominic’s grooming as a quarterback has not been normal,” said Winkler. “He has the opportunity to talk with an NFL quarterback every week if he wants to, and I would say that relationship would come second to what he and Lawson have developed.”
Wing will miss Westinghouse every time the offense comes off the field tonight.
‘I usually like to look for him and we give each other a little fist bump when I come off,” Wing said.
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) From left, Ty Pettit, quarterbacks KaLenn Harsh and Dominic Wing, Lawson Westinghouse and Cadillac football coach Nick Winkler take a moment for a photograph during a recent practice. (Middle) Tanner Johnson, Will Howell and Westinghouse read “The Twin Thieves” together. (Below) Westinghouse keeps an eye on the action. (Practice photos by Tom Spencer; reading photo courtesy of the Cadillac athletic department.)