Football Playoffs: Finals in Review (with videos)
November 28, 2011
Game over. But what a way to finish.
How should we end a four-month MHSAA football season? With 26 hours worth of Finals over the course of two days, viewable from the comfy confines of Detroit's Ford Field.
Following are my final takes from our Finals weekend. Click on the headers below to see our coverage from each game, and check out the videos for a taste of some of the weekend's hoopla.
The first video was done by Potterville grad and MHSAA Scholar-Athlete award winner Sam Davis, and has at least a couple of us ready to put our helmets back on and hit the field. The other is a slice from one of the most raucous student sections from the weekend.
1st and 10
5 and 4 to No. 1: Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice and Flint Powers Catholic weren’t the first teams to reach Finals with a 5-4 record entering the postseason. But both doing so and winning speaks loudly not just of their respective talents, but also on the gains each made by playing tough opponents. Both came out of tough leagues – Brother Rice was one of three finalists from the Detroit Catholic League Central, and Powers played much larger schools in the Big Nine. Both also played and lost to eventual MHSAA champions during the regular season – Brother Rice against Division 3 winner Orchard Lake St. Mary, and Powers against Division 7 champ Saginaw Nouvel.
Like a rock – or Stone: Detroit Cass Tech linebacker/fullback Royce Jenkins-Stone might’ve been the most impressive all-around player from the weekend. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Michigan prospect ran for 65 yards and had seven tackles – numbers that don’t stick out. But he scored on a 32-yard run, a three-yard pass and a 36-yard interception return.
Just the beginning: Technicians freshman quarterback Jayru Campbell will be in the statewide lens for the next three seasons after throwing for 240 yards and five touchdowns in the Final. He’s 6-3 and 170 pounds, and easily blended in among his star-studded teammates in just his first year of high school. He’ll also have junior Jordan Lewis (four catches, 89 yards, TD) to throw to for another year.
Good company: Brother Rice’s Devin Church was the other individual performer who seemed to wow the media crowd most with his Finals performance. He capped a 900-yard playoffs with 244 and three touchdowns – and drew comparisons from Lowell coach Noel Dean to past star backs like Kevin Grady and T.J. Duckett. Church will sign with Northern Illinois this winter.
Making tracks: Talk about a running attack, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s came within eight yards of putting three backs over 100 each in its Final. The Eaglets ran for 479 yards total – falling just 53 short of the MHSAA Finals record book minimum. Spencer McInnis ran for 214 yards and three scores, while Grant Niemiec and Parker McInnis both ran for 96 yards and a touchdown.
Rough and rumble: Zeeland West’s physicality in the Division 4 game was simply stifling. Keep in mind the Dux were without all-state linebacker Josh Blanton because of an injury. Then note that the team had just eight players weighing 200 pounds or more – and only three between 250-275. Zeeland West ran for 288 yards, but more impressively held Marine City to 79.
Charging forward: The weekend’s biggest stunner had to be Flint Powers over Lansing Catholic, for a number of reasons. Powers entered the postseason 5-4 (see above), Lansing Catholic was 9-0. The Cougars had beaten the Chargers 37-17 in Week 2. Lansing Catholic was ranked No. 1 by The Associated Press, while Powers was unranked.
Just the beginning, part II: Ithaca sophomore quarterback Travis Smith is another who will be watched closely after a big-time Ford Field debut. He threw for 299 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in the Yellowjackets’ Division 6 win. Ithaca will graduate a lot in the spring. But the 6-1, 180-pound Smith provides the base needed for a quick rebuild.
Backing it up: Saginaw Nouvel’s Bennett Lewis was another player as good as advertised to those who hadn’t seen him play this season. He ran for 200 yards and five touchdowns in a half in Division 7, using both speed and muscle to make his way. At 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds, the Division 7-8 AP Player of the Year is getting some Division I looks and is at least a high Division II prospect.
Consistently contending: Here’s an idea why Mendon’s is such an impressive machine – eight of John Schwartz’s assistant coaches also played for him. The ninth, Bob Critz, has been at Schwartz’s side since the latter took over the program in 1989. During the post-championship press conference, Schwartz revealed that he’d had cancer surgery in June and his assistants ran the program through all of the summer prep.
Numbers game
55,360 – Number of fans who attended the 2011 Finals. The total was slightly higher Friday than Saturday.
5 – Number of touchdown passes by Cass Tech’s Campbell and number of rushing scores by Nouvel’s Lewis. Both tied MHSAA Finals records.
56 – Number of points scored by both Saginaw Nouvel (Division 7) and Flint Powers (Division 5) to set the Finals record for most in a championship game. Nouvel scored all of its points in the first half. Both games ended with scores of 56-26 -- and oddly, no other MHSAA game ended with that score this season.
413 – Total yards by Powers junior quarterback Garrett Pougnet, just 13 shy of the MHSAA Finals record set by Holland Christian quarterback A.J. Westendorp in the 2008 Division 4 Final.
97 – Distance in yards of Zeeland West senior Brad Mesbergen’s Finals record kickoff return in the Division 4 Final.
Link up
MHSAA.tv: See full postgame press conferences (and field interviews after the Divisions 3 and 4 Finals).
Fox Sports Detroit: Dan Dickerson and John Wangler wrap the two days of finals.
McKelvey Fills Record-Setting Kicking Role with Lenawee Christian Football
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
October 11, 2022
ADRIAN – A couple of years ago it would have been easy to image Brady McKelvey scoring a last-second shot for Adrian Lenawee Christian to win a basketball game or for him to find the back of the net with a game-winning goal in soccer.
But fast forward to today and McKelvey might be more likely to kick a game-winning field goal for the No. 2-ranked Cougars 8-player football team.
“I watched football of course, but I never played it until last year,” McKelvey said. “It’s interesting. It’s been a lot of fun. I’m glad Coach (Bill) Wilharms asked us to try out.”
McKelvey is a two-sport athlete in the fall, playing for both the Lenawee Christian soccer and football teams. He’s played on MHSAA championship teams in both sports. Last week McKelvey reached rare territory when he kicked his 100th career extra point – the state record for 8-player football.
“We were never big football players,” McKelvey said, referring to him and his brother, Jacob, now a student at the University of Michigan. “We just always had a soccer ball in our hands.”
Wilharms is the strength and conditioning coach and varsity football coach at Lenawee Christian, which has grown into an 8-player powerhouse, winning Division 1 championships in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Brady and Jacob McKelvey were working out at the LCS facilities two springs ago when Wilharms asked if they wanted to try out kicking for the football team.
“I always wondered what it would be like to kick a football,” Brady McKelvey said. “I’ve always wanted to, but never had the opportunity. We were excited to try it out.”
Both came out for the team last season and were coached by Casey Opsal, a former Hudson kicker and now a Lenawee County sheriff’s deputy who is one of Wilharms’ assistants. With Opsal’s guidance, Jacob and Brady blossomed into outstanding kickers.
“He’s been the person who has taught me everything I know about it,” McKelvey said. “He helped me improve a lot.”
McKelvey has never attended a football camp or had a lesson in kicking a football from anyone outside of the LCS staff. Yet, his statistics are nothing short of amazing.
Last season, McKelvey had a string of 52 consecutive extra points at one point and finished the season making 59-of-61 attempts. He has a current streak of 23 straight makes heading into this week’s game and is 44-for-45 overall this year. In two seasons, that makes him 103-for-106. He kicked his first field goal earlier this season, giving him 106 career kicking points.
Twice in his career he’s kicked 10 extra points in a game. This year he’s hit at least eight PATs four straight weeks. He also averages about 45 yards per kickoff.
Wilharms said he’s happy McKelvey decided to try his leg at football and said the senior is still learning nuances of football, such as where to place the ball on kickoffs.
“He is a good athlete,” Wilharms said. “His PATs are consistent. We are definitely glad to have him on the team.”
Brady and Jacob shared duties last season, although by the end of the season Jacob was kicking off and Brady was handling the bulk of the extra points.
“At first, one of us would go out and kick and the next time the other one would go out there,” McKelvey said. “Toward the end of the season, I was better at extra points, and he was better at kicking off. It is cool to be on a team that scores a lot because you get to kick a lot.”
LCS has no trouble scoring. The Cougars are 6-1 and average 49.8 points per game.
Soccer continues to be McKelvey’s favorite sport. The Cougars are having a solid season on the pitch as well, and he is a big part of that team’s success too.
“I still love soccer,” McKelvey said.
Cougars soccer coach Nathan Sharpe said McKelvey is a team leader. He has three goals and three assists this fall. “He’s a captain and a key player on our team,” Sharpe said.
McKelvey said kicking the ball in soccer and kicking the football are very different things requiring different technique.
“It’s surprisingly different,” he said. “A soccer ball is a lot bigger. You have more room to hit it. You want to lean over and try and keep it toward the ground. A football you have to make a much different type of contact because you want to get it up into the air.
“The first time I kicked a football with no coaching, it was interesting. I had to try and completely switch how I was kicking.”
He’s learned the technique so much that this winter he is considering not playing basketball so he can go to football kicking camps. He’s hoping to become good enough to try out or walk-on to a football team in college.
“I didn’t really expect to be as consistent as I have been,” he said. “You watch college kickers, and even they miss sometimes. I work at it as much as I can. With soccer games, there are times I cannot go to football practice, but I try and get out there as much as I can.
“I think it would be awesome to kick in college,” he added. “I plan on going to some camps this winter. If I’m able to walk-on somewhere, that would be fine with me.”
Besides soccer, the McKelveys have a basketball background as well. Their dad Scott has coached boys and girls basketball in Lenawee County for years. He recently was hired as the boys varsity coach at Blissfield. The boys grew up being managers and hanging around the teams that Scott coached.
McKelvey is setting the bar high in the 8-player football record book. LCS still has two regular-season games remaining and is considered among the favorites to make a long postseason run – meaning he could push that extra point number a lot higher.
“I’m very happy I tried out for the team,” he said. “Being part of it is a lot of fun. The guys on the team have always treated me as part of the team. I really like being on the team. All the success we have makes it so much fun.”
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) Brett McKelvey prepares to kick off during a game this season. (Middle) McKelvey, with father Scott McKelvey and mother Melissa Dempsey. (Photos courtesy of Jeff Jameson/Lenawee Christian.)