Fracassa's Remarkable Records Still Rule
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
June 24, 2020
As a senior at Sterling Heights Stevenson during the 2009 season, Jason Fracassa lit up the high school football world with his aerial display.
Fracassa shattered the MHSAA career totals for passing yards and touchdowns held by Mill Coleman of Farmington Hills Harrison. Fracassa also etched his name into the national record book in three career passing categories before the remarkable run ended with a 31-21 loss to Detroit Catholic Central in the Division 1 Final at Ford Field.
The numbers he posted at Stevenson indeed were staggering. And just more than a decade later, after securing two undergraduate degrees and a masters in finance from Walsh University in Ohio, Fracassa lives in Auburn Hills and continues to crunch numbers – now for a development company in Birmingham – while also planning for a Sept. 12 wedding to fiancé Kelsey Torzy.
Fracassa has always been a highly-motivated person, and that held true in the classroom and as a three-sport varsity athlete and continues now in the business world. But while driven by success, Fracassa doesn’t dwell on what he accomplished in the sports world – which also included Division II college careers in both football and baseball. What was important then remains so now, and those are the relationships he built through trust, hard work and having a little fun.
“I miss going to practice each day and hanging out with my friends,” he said. “Just walking around school and trying to set an example to the kids, that’s what was important. I’ll go to the golf course now and I’m with all of my friends. That’s what it’s all about. That was the best part. We had the best relationships, no matter if we won or lost. Playing for Coach (Rick) Bye and your friends, that’s the best memories I have.”
A four-year varsity starter for Bye, Fracassa led Stevenson to a combined 23-3 record over his last two seasons, culminated by that fourth trip in program history to an MHSAA Final.
During his junior season, Fracassa threw for 3,353 yards and 34 touchdowns over 12 games. He then took aim at Coleman’s career passing records for touchdowns (77) and yards (7,464), records that had stood for 20 years.
Fracassa and his teammates put on a show that 2009 season as he threw for 4,433 yards and 44 touchdowns. His career (10,615) and single season (4,433) passing yards remain MHSAA records, the career total by nearly 2,000 yards. Fracassa also continues to own the records for career passing attempts (1,104) and completions (656), accrued over 44 games, and he briefly held the MHSAA record for career TD passes with 97 before it was broken in 2013. The career attempts and yards and senior-season yardage all rank in the National Federation record book as well.
Fracassa credits the coaching staff at Stevenson for the success he and his teammates enjoyed. He couldn’t have imagined playing for anyone but Bye and his staff. Fracassa said he’s spoken with many of Bye’s former players, and they all agree playing for Stevenson and Bye was a phenomenal experience.
Like Fracassa, Bye – who retired after 2009 with a record of 268-94 over 35 seasons – also keeps tabs of his cronies by playing golf once a week with former assistants like Ken Fiott, Jerry Lajeunesse, Larry Zimmerman, Joe Emanuele and D.J. Hill among others. Bye is quick to point out that many of his former players, including Fracassa, keep in touch on a regular basis.
“I saw (Fracassa) at a Stevenson playoff game,” Bye said. “He calls me at least once every two months or so to see how I’m doing. I appreciate that. He was always a highly-respected kid. He’s not a kid anymore.”
Bye recalls hearing about Fracassa when Fracassa was in the eighth grade at St. Lawrence in Utica. Fracassa enrolled at Davis Junior High, Stevenson’s feeder school, for his ninth grade and tried out for the football team not knowing whether he’d make the varsity or not.
“His dad wasn’t pushy one bit,” Bye said. “(Rick Fracassa) asked if Jason was going to be on the JV. A big reason he wanted his son to come (to Stevenson) was Joe Emanuele, who was our baseball coach, and Rick knew Joe had a good program. He wanted Jason to play baseball, too.
“Jason came out and won the (quarterback) job. He proved himself. And he had to win over our seniors.”
Jason Fracassa said that was the hard part – convincing a group of seniors that a freshman could come in, start at quarterback and lead the team can be daunting.
“I knew I could compete at that level,” Fracassa said. “It was more of my getting to associate myself with the older players. That was the most difficult part. The coaches were always there to back me.”
Stevenson made the playoffs that 2006 season finishing 5-5. The next season was rough as the Titans lost a number of close games and finished 2-7. Stevenson improved substantially to 10-2 in 2008, losing to Lake Orion, 38-36, in a Regional Final.
That all built up to the memorable 2009 season, which included a tense Semifinal game against Clarkston won by Stevenson 37-35 on a Fracassa scoring pass on the final play.
Emotions also ran high the game before when Stevenson took on Detroit Public School League power Detroit Southeastern, led by Michigan State-bound and now-NFL defensive end William Gholston. Fracassa threw for a career-high 494 yards, and Stevenson defeated Southeastern, 38-32.
After a busy and accomplished prep career, Fracassa maintained a hectic athletic schedule in college first at Northwood University – where he started on the baseball team for three seasons and was a member of the football team for two.
After sitting out a term, Fracassa transferred to Walsh, located in North Canton, Ohio. There he revived his football career starting at quarterback his last two years. Walsh, then a recent addition to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, nearly upset conference power and undefeated Ferris State in Fracassa’s final game. Fracassa threw his second touchdown pass of the game to give Walsh a 42-32 lead with 9:38 left before Ferris State came back with two touchdowns, the second with 36 seconds left, to win 46-42.
Fracassa hasn’t completely abandoned football since his last game at Walsh. He and his father coached the Oakland University club team in 2018 and that team reached a championship game. Jason was the offensive coordinator, his father the head coach – branches from the coaching tree rooted with Jason’s grandfather Al Fracassa, the second-winningest high school football coach in MHSAA history and Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice legend.
Jason’s competitive juices continue to flow.
“We had a great run,” Fracassa said, “and any other year could have taken the championship trophy.”
Made in Michigan 2020
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Tom Markowski is a correspondent for the State Champs! Sports Network and previously directed its web coverage. He also covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Jason Fracassa rolls out during the 2009 Division I championship game at Ford Field. (Middle) Fracassa and fiancé Kelsey Torzy. (Below) Fracassa drops back to pass while playing for Walsh. (Middle and below photos courtesy of Jason Fracassa.)
FHC Caps Ford Field Return by Sending Out Coach, Seniors with 1st Finals Win
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 26, 2023
DETROIT – Ty Hudkins and his Forest Hills Central teammates were not going to be denied Sunday in the Division 3 Football Final.
Not even if it meant – in Hudkins’ case – having to drag a Mason defender 20 yards for a touchdown.
Not after coming up one win short of bringing their program its first Finals title a year ago.
And certainly not in the final game of their coach Tim Rogers’ career.
So Hudkins dragged that defender, the Rangers got that last win, and they sent Rogers out a winner, defeating Mason 27-10 at Ford Field.
“We’ve been talking about this since sixth grade,” Hudkins said, before pointing to his teammates assembled at the press conference. “We’ve been playing for each other since we can remember. All our dads have been the coaches – coach’s kid, coach’s kid, coach’s kid, coach’s kid – it’s just been a real blessing. (Rogers) has been around with us the entire time, as well. It’s just a great way to end. We’ve been talking about it since sixth grade, and the fact that it finally came true is just crazy. It’s a blessing.”
Forest Hills Central had lost to Warren De La Salle Collegiate in the Division 2 Final a year ago. After that game, Rogers told the assembled media that the Rangers would be back, and he was proven correct.
This year, he made another major statement following the game, when he announced that he had just coached his final game at Forest Hills Central, calling it the “worst-kept secret in the state.”
“It’s tough,” Rogers said before taking a moment to collect himself. “Their fathers are dear friends, my assistant coaches. There’s been plenty of inquiries if I was stepping down this year, and the last thing I wanted to be was a distraction to our team. So, do what we always do, put our head down and grind. I feel great. I watched these kids grow up. I think I’m leaving it better than I found it. These assistant coaches I have are fantastic – great fathers, great people, great husbands. So, it was great in our final game to do that. Send them off the way they deserve to be sent off. This community has waited a long time for something like this, and they’re fantastic. The student body was fantastic, our administration was very supportive. Storybook ending for my career to finish with these guys and do what we just did today.”
The Rangers (13-1) did it with defense, holding Mason to 36 yards rushing and 4.3 yards per play. They also forced three turnovers, including a pick-six from linebacker Drew Fortino with 7 minutes, 13 seconds to play, which made the score 27-10 and essentially put the game away.
“I saw the guy across the field, and I saw him coming across, and I kind of just stuck my hand out and was like, ‘Shoot, I got the ball,’” Fortino said. “The whole team blocked really well, and I was able to get into the end zone and they were all in there celebrating with me.”
Mason coach Gary Houghton called the Rangers’ front seven the fastest his team had seen this season, including that of Detroit Martin Luther King, who the Bulldogs played in the Semifinal. As the Bulldogs struggled to find room to run – both with and without star running back AJ Martell, who had eight carries for 14 yards before leaving the game with an injury – that became more and more apparent. But Rogers said it went beyond his team’s athleticism.
“They’re talented for sure,” Rogers said. “But they’re smart. They do so much. The offense gets so much credit for checks at the line of scrimmage and all the things they do. We do that all the time on defense. If you watch me and you knew our signals, half the time you’d just think I was calling base. But these guys check everything at the line of scrimmage. It’s a testament to their football IQ, how they get us in the right play all the time on defense, and just a relentless pursuit of the football.”
JT Hartman led the defense with an interception, a sack, two tackles for loss and eight total tackles. Brady Drueke had a team-high 12 tackles, Fortino added a sack and Hudkins had a diving interception.
The defensive performance was a far cry from a year ago, when the Rangers allowed 52 points in the loss to De La Salle.
“We knew we had to be better, just this offseason, so we worked extra hard in the weight room,” Hartman said. “I think all the extra work made us better players and better people. That translated out on the field.”
While the Mason defense had a fine day itself, holding the Rangers to fewer than 300 yards of total offense and 5.5 yards per play, Central was able to break the game open in the second half thanks to a max-effort play from Hudkins. The Purdue commit hauled in a pass from quarterback Mason McDonald at the 28-yard line and was latched onto at the 20 by a Mason defender. Hudkins stayed on his feet, however, and powered his way into the end zone, diving for the pylon and giving his team a 20-3 lead.
“Just a touchdown in and of itself is a big deal, but to see the will – he was not going to be denied,” Rogers said. “With that, you could literally see the whole sideline just start to elevate. Ty was going to put us on his back literally and figuratively, and he wasn’t going to be denied.”
Hudkins finished the game with 115 yards on six receptions. McDonald led the Forest Hills rushing attack with 74 yards on 21 carries, while Hartman had 68 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Kicker Alex Moeller had a pair of field goals (35 and 27 yards).
For Mason (13-1), it was the end of its own storybook season, even if it didn’t come with the ultimate happy ending. The Bulldogs were playing in their first Final after knocking off King, the team that had ended their previous two seasons in Semifinals.
They had served as a rallying point for a community in mourning following the passing of classmates Lillian Klages and Amanda Blue, who died in an August car crash.
Mason players ran onto the field led by players carrying flags bearing their names.
“We gave it our best shot,” Mason senior receiver Kaleb Parrish said. “It wasn’t the outcome that we wanted, but we tried for the community. We knew this game was bigger than just a football game. At the end of the day, we all tried. When I looked up in the beginning, it was great to see all of the community that showed up. It was thousands – probably most of our community showed up.”
Parrish had a big day receiving in his final game at Mason, hauling in eight catches for 102 yards. Derek Badgley, who scored the Bulldogs’ lone touchdown on a 2-yard run late in the third quarter, added 71 yards on eight catches. Quarterback Cason Carswell was 22 of 40 passing for 229 yards. Kicker Collin Winters connected on a 26-yard field goal during the first quarter.
PHOTOS (Top) Forest Hills Central coach Tim Rogers holds up his program’s first championship trophy Sunday at Ford Field. (Middle) Ty Hudkins (5) hauls in a catch down the sideline for the Rangers. (Below) Jacob Harleton (22) breaks up a Mason pass at the goal line. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)