Division 8 Final: Elite 11

November 24, 2012

DETROIT – All Mendon, all the time.

That was the story of Friday morning’s Division 8 Football Final at Ford Field. It’s also the best way to describe the Hornets’ season, which ended with a 33-0 win over Fowler to claim their 11th MHSAA football championship.

After entering the postseason tied for the top spot in The Associated Press’ Division 8 state poll, Mendon took down four other ranked teams on the way to the title – including the No. 9 Eagles, who were making their first Finals appearance since 1998.

The 11 MHSAA titles is tied for third-most with East Grand Rapids, and just two off Farmington Hills Harrison’s record 13. Friday marked Mendon’s first Finals appearance – and championship – since 2007.

“At the beginning of the season, you know you want to be a state champion. But you can’t think like that because you’ve got to take one game at a time. Then you finally get here and you’re in awe,” Mendon senior linebacker Cody Bingaman said. “You don’t know how to react. And then the coaches calm you down and get your nerves settled down, and you just go and play like it’s another game.

“We just looked at it like another game we had to win.”

Mendon junior Tyler Harris opened the scoring with an 84-yard punt return touchdown – second-longest in MHSAA Finals history – just 2:44 into the game.

The game was closer than its 21-0 score seemed to indicate during the first half, but Mendon held Fowler to just 62 yards of offense over the final two quarters.

Harris ran for 92 yards and two more touchdowns, and senior Tanner Cook had 95 and a touchdown on the ground. Senior quarterback Chance Nightingale also ran for a score. Junior linebacker Rodney Arnott and Cody Bingaman each had 12 tackles.

“Someone outside asked me to rank this team with all the teams we’ve had, and I certainly can’t do that. But I can rank the schedule,” said Mendon coach John Schwartz, who has led the Hornets through 23 seasons. “Battling through that 14-game schedule that we had, against some of the teams we played … spread teams, we played teams that like to pound it. This is a well-seasoned football team. They have seen everything, and it showed.”

The Eagles (11-3) were making their first Finals appearance since 1998 and in just their second season under coach Craig Koenigsknecht – who played on Fowler’s 1993 team that won the first of the school’s four MHSAA championships. Fowler is 20-4 over the last two years, and took a number of next steps this fall after entering the playoffs 9-0 in 2010 and then losing in the Pre-District round.

“I’m not saying that these guys were just satisfied by being here. (But) they’ve got to understand the caliber of teams that get to this point, and what we have to do to get ourselves to play that standard of football when it gets this late in the season,” Koenigsknecht said. “Bottom line, if we want to do good things next season, we have to work that much harder in the offseason so we can be quicker off the ball, stay on blocks a little bit better, hit the hole a little bit harder and tackle a little bit better.”

Junior linebacker Tyler Koenigsknecht led the Eagles with 11 tackles.

Click for full final stats and play-by-play. 

Kalamazoo United Teammates Personify Program's Friendly Rivalry After Fall is Done

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

December 17, 2024

KALAMAZOO – Troy Ayotte was cheering on his son, Jack, at Kalamazoo Christian’s rivalry basketball game against Hackett Catholic Prep two weeks ago.

Southwest CorridorAll of a sudden, he felt conflicted.

He found himself cheering for a couple of Hackett players.

Ayotte is head football coach of Kalamazoo United, a co-op team with players from both schools. 

Three of those players – Keegan McCue, Gavin St. Martin and Elijah Brooks – were now wearing Irish green on the floor.

“I was like, ‘Oh no, (K-Christian) is getting beat, but then you see someone like Keegan or Elijah or Gavin, any of the football players over there and they make a shot and you go, ‘Yes!’” Ayotte said.

United football coach Troy Ayotte.“It’s like, what’s wrong with me? Until you experience it, you don’t know how to explain it. You’re happy for them. They’re playing against kids you coached, and you’re just glad to watch them out there competing.”

Besides Jack Ayotte, K-Christian basketball players who also played for United are Jackson Herder, Carter Manion and Chris Daniels.

Hackett won the game, 79-35.

“It wasn’t the way I wanted (the game) to go, but it was fun,” Herder said. “It was fun to see all my football buddies without their helmets and football jerseys, playing another sport they work hard at.”

McCue quickly chimed in, laughing, “I liked the outcome.”

Continuing the bantering, Herder responded, “We’ve got one more game and maybe the postseason, so we’re coming Keeg.”

Being part of the football family in the fall – then rivals by winter – is no big deal, the juniors agreed.

“We go at each other during the (basketball) game, then after the game you’re talking to each other like best friends,” McCue said. “It’s an awesome place to be.”

The friendly rivalry started in eighth grade when United fielded two middle school teams, one for K-Christian players and the other for Hackett.

“We scrimmaged each other every week, and the one time we had an actual game, they beat us for the only time,” Herder said.

“It was fun. Ever since then, we’ve clicked both on the football field and off the football field.”

Clicking is an understatement.

Herder, right, directs the football offense at quarterback against Berrien Springs, with McCue his top receiver advancing the ball. McCue and Herder led United to a Division 5 Regional Final where the Titans lost to Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 21-14.

Both players put up monster numbers throughout the season.

Herder, a 6-foot, left-handed quarterback, amassed 2,615 total yards, 2,041 of them passing, with 33 for touchdowns including 28 through the air.

Many of those yards were with McCue, a 5-10 wide receiver who compiled 1,500 all-purpose yards and 16 touchdowns.

McCue not only piled up numbers on offense, but was also proficient on defense. The safety recorded 111 total tackles, many for loss, and snagged four interceptions. He also had six pass breakups, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and two blocked punts.

McCue favors defense because “I love making plays on the ball and tackling people and hitting them hard. It’s so fun.”

Last week he was named Michigan Sports Writers Division 5 first-team all-state.

10-year anniversary

United had a bumpy start 10 years ago trying to combine players from two rival schools into one team.

Both Herder and McCue said they think that being faith-based schools helped the team mesh.

“We pray before every practice, after every practice, before games, after games,” McCue said. “Having that religious aspect to it definitely helps.

“It’s actually really awesome because those guys you don’t see every day during school, but you see then every day during practice during the season and it’s like you don’t go to a different school at all. You’re just family, just brothers, so it’s awesome.”

Troy Ayotte said the biggest challenge for him is answering to two schools.

As for the players, faith is an attribute, the coach said. “They all have common goals.

“Both schools share the same faith-based element, and there are a lot of similarities there. Athletically, both schools stand for the same thing, and that’s excellence.”

Ayotte is not surprised at the success of both Herder and McCue and expects even better things from them next season.

“These two take it upon themselves to become the great athletes they are, and it’s an honor to be on the ride for it,” he said.

Herder, top, prepares to inbound the basketball, and McCue gets to the hoop against Constantine.Herder went through his lumps last year and he learned from them, Ayotte said. “That’s the highest compliment. Everybody’s going to fail; it’s how you succeed,” the coach noted. “He really put in the time and the effort and had a great junior year.”

Ayotte said there are other players in the system who want to play quarterback, which is good to keep people sharp.

For now, Herder is atop the depth chart.

“Jackson’s got great moxie and a boatload of confidence,” he said. “Saying he’s confident doesn’t mean he sits higher than the rest of the team. He’s very humble in the way he does it.

“It’s a unique thing. You just know when somebody’s ‘got that,’ the ability to lead but not be too boisterous, just have that nice combination.”

As for McCue, “Keegan brings the thunder,” Ayotte said. “He’s the vocal, he’s king hype. There’s nothing ingenuous at all. It’s not fake.

“What the kids see is the truth in it. Keegan plays with such heart and passion for the game, it’s undeniable.”

With football season over, Herder is translating those skills from the turf to the hardwood.

“I feel like the Lord has blessed me with the ability to lead,” he said. “All the work and dedication that fits that role fits the personality and attitude he gave me. 

“It fits with my character and attitude off the field, too. Leader off the field, leader on the field.”

K-Christian basketball coach Seth Dugan appreciates that skill.

“We have seven seniors on our team and Jackson is a captain as a junior, which says a lot about him,” Dugan said.

“He’s good at getting guys in the right spot and sees the floor very well. He’s a natural leader and, as a quarterback, that comes pretty naturally. He puts the team first and is positive and vocal.”

McCue’s leadership on the football field also has carried over.

“He is a competitor who makes his teammates better by pushing them in practice,” Hackett basketball coach Ryan Basler said. 

“He is a leader who is not shy to lead by example. I love that he leads our team in prayer many days; this shows his leadership and faith life.”

Pam ShebestPam 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 pamkzoo@aol.com with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo United football teammates Jackson Herder and Keegan McCue are rivals during basketball season playing for Hackett Catholic Prep and K-Christian, respectively. (2) United football coach Troy Ayotte. (3) Herder, right, directs the football offense at quarterback against Berrien Springs, with McCue his top receiver advancing the ball. (4) Herder, top, prepares to inbound the basketball, and McCue gets to the hoop against Constantine. (Top photo and headshot by Pam Shebest. Football photos by Kristin Browning. Herder basketball photo by Travis Long, and McCue basketball photo by Chris Ogrin.)