Eight-Player Options
March 10, 2017
Put this in the category of “No good deed goes unpunished.”
In 2011, the MHSAA provided an additional playoff for Class D schools sponsoring 8-player football. This helped save football in some schools and helped return the game of football to other schools. But now that the number of 8-player programs has expanded from two dozen in 2011 to more than 60, there are complaints:
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Some complaints come out of a sense of entitlement that all final games in both the 8-player and 11-player tournament deserve to be played at Ford Field.
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Some complaints come from Class C schools whose enrollments are too large for the 8-player tournament. Class C schools which sponsor the 8-player game have no tournament at all in which to play, regardless of where the finals might be held.
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Some complaints come from Class D schools which protest any suggestion that Class C schools – even the smallest – be allowed to play in the 8-player tournament.
There are now three scenarios emerging as the most likely future for 8-player football:
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The original plan ... A five-week, 32-team tournament for Class D schools only, with the finals at a site to be determined, but probably not Ford Field.
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Alternative #1 ... Reduce the 11-player tournament to seven divisions and make Division 8 the 8-player tournament with 32 Class D teams in a five-week tournament, ending at Ford Field.
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Alternative #2 ... Conduct the 8-player tournament in two divisions of 16 Class D teams, competing in a four-week playoff ending in a double-header at the Superior Dome on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
The pros and cons of these options are being widely discussed. Sometimes the discussions have a tone that is critical of the MHSAA, which comes from those who forget that it was the MHSAA itself which moved in 2011 to protect and promote football by adding the 8-player playoff tournament option for its smallest member schools. That Class D schools now feel entitled to the Ford Field opportunity and Class C schools want access to an 8-player tournament is not unexpected; but criticism of the MHSAA’s efforts is not deserved.
Performance of the Week: Colon's Justin Wickey
October 27, 2022
Justin Wickey ♦ Colon
Football ♦ Senior
Wickey caught 10 passes for 138 yards and five touchdowns as Colon finished an undefeated regular season with a 60-14 win over Tekonsha. In the process, the senior receiver set two more MHSAA 8-player records, for 31 receiving touchdowns to break the previous single-season record of 27 set by Lawrence’s Matthew Cammire in 2013. Wickey also is up to 55 career receiving touchdowns over the last two seasons, which broke Cammire’s record of 53 set from 2013-14.
Those are just the most recent records Wickey has broken this season. He’s up to 90 catches for 1,569 yards this fall – the 90 catches easily setting a record and the yardage ranking second all-time, 129 from tying the record in that category. His 3,076 career receiving yards in another record, as are his 154 career catches – and his 18 catches against Adrian Lenawee Christian set a single-game 8-player record. That 40-24 win over Lenawee Christian on Sept. 16 ended the Cougars’ 27-game winning streak.
@mhsaasports 🏈POW: Justin Wickey #performanceoftheweek #football #8playerfb #record #touchdown #impressive #colon #magi #MHSAA #highschoolsports #tiktalk #interview #TikTok #mistudentaid #fyp ♬ Beat Automotivo Tan Tan Tan Viral - WZ Beat
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2022-23 Honorees
Oct. 20: Owen DeMuth, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood tennis - Report
Oct. 13: Mia Melendez, Ann Arbor Greenhills golf - Report
Oct. 6: Shawn Foster, Grand Ledge football - Report
Sept. 30: Hannah Smith, Temperance Bedford swimming - Report
Sept. 22: Helen Sachs, Holland West Ottawa cross country - Report
Sept. 15: Nina Horning, Lake Orion volleyball - Report
Sept 8: Arturo Romero, Muskegon Oakridge soccer - Report
Sept. 1: Austin King, Midland Dow tennis - Report
Aug. 25: Olivia Hemmila, Troy Athens golf - Report
(Photos courtesy of the Colon athletic department.)