Hearts Heavy, St. Mary's Keeps Promise
November 29, 2014
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
DETROIT — The most important football game in Brandon Adams' life suddenly didn't seem so important.
At a time when excitement should've been rising within the Orchard Lake St. Mary's junior, he was holed up in his bedroom, coming to grips with the lowest moment in his young life.
Football? Who cares about something as trivial as football — even a state championship game — when your mother just died two days earlier?
Playing a game may not have been important, but fulfilling a promise to his mother and continuing to live as she would have wished helped him to get up, get out of his room and move forward.
"At first, I didn't think I was going to play this game," said Adams, whose 1-yard run with 5:42 left in the first quarter was the only touchdown in the Eaglets' 7-0 victory over Muskegon in the MHSAA Division 3 Final on Saturday night at Ford Field.
"Thursday, after she passed, I was sitting in my bed at home. My dad walks in and says, 'I don't want you to sit here and sulk,' so I went to practice Friday. We had a team meeting at 1 before our practice at 2. All the guys gave their condolences and said, 'We're not losing this game. We're making a promise to God, to my mom and to the team that we're gonna win,' and we did. I don't know. It's just ..."
Adams' voice trailed off as he held the game ball, standing before reporters and bravely articulating his feelings while still in the midst of grief.
His mother, Katie, was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer three months ago. She continued to follow her son's team, all the way up through the Semifinal victory over New Boston Huron just five days before she died on Thanksgiving.
"All the guys came to the hospital, because she was in hospice for her last hours," Adams said. "The one thing she was saying to all the guys was, 'I'm going to watch the game on TV and I want you guys to bring me back the trophy. Well, she's not here, but we did. It was a promise my brothers made to me and to my family and to each other that we would win the game.
"She never missed a game. Even with her chemo, she was sick as a dog and she'd come sit in her car and come watch. This was the first game in my football career she's missed."
In a time of tragedy for the team, St. Mary's coach George Porritt saw inspiration in the way Adams was supported by his teammates.
"The last 48 hours have been a whirlwind," Porritt said. "What's great is watching kids take care of kids when there are tough times. This team rallied behind this kid. Last night was special."
From a football standpoint, Porritt supported Adams by giving him two straight carries after his fumble nearly ended the game's only scoring drive.
Adams broke through the line and appeared primed to scamper into the end zone on a 4-yard run from the 6-yard line, but he lost the ball, only to recover it himself.
Adams got the next carry, moving the ball one yard closer to the end zone, before going untouched around the left side to cap a nine-play, 34-yard drive.
Adams was appreciative of the opportunity to get the next two carries following his fumble.
"My coaches are very persistent on hanging on to the ball," he said. "After that fumble, it's human nature to get down on yourself and hang your head, but my coaches kept preaching, 'Hold your head up, we'll get through it,' and they gave it back to me again. I knew I was going to get into the end zone."
Porritt insisted that Adams wasn't given the chance to bounce back just because he was going through a hard time in his life.
"Sometimes we like the kid to get the ball right away, get it right back in his hands," Porritt said. "We had to have him."
Real life beyond the football field was also the theme for Muskegon as coach Shane Fairfield addressed his players after the Big Reds lost in an MHSAA Final for the third straight year. They lost to Birmingham Brother Rice in the last two Division 2 title games.
"It's not going to be easy," Fairfield told his team. "It hurts. It should hurt, because it means so much. ... We have to continue the pursuit of greatness in our lives."
Adams tempted fate with his early fumble, but wasn't as fortunate in the second quarter. On second-and-goal from Muskegon's 2-yard line, Alezay Coleman popped the ball loose from Adams' grasp and Taron Smith recovered for the Big Reds with 10:53 left in the first half.
Having escaped a possible early 14-0 deficit, Muskegon's offense began to click after its first three possessions resulted in only four yards on eight plays. The Big Reds marched 95 yards in 14 plays, taking 6:56 off the clock, but came away with no points when they also failed to score from the 2-yard line.
Those missed opportunities by each team from the opponents' 2-yard line would be the closest either would come to scoring after the Eaglets opened up with a touchdown.
The defensive standoff was surprising, given the fact St. Mary's averaged 47.5 points and Muskegon 37 in four playoff games.
"You never know what kind of game it's going to be," Porritt said. "We know we have a great defense and they have a great defense. So, that's what happens. The defenses were a little bit better than the offenses today."
The Eaglets nursed their 7-0 lead through a scoreless second half by not allowing Muskegon to get closer than 31 yards from the end zone.
The Big Reds had four possessions after halftime, with two ending in interceptions. Tyler Cochran picked off a pass on the first play of Muskegon's second possession of the third quarter. The key interception came with 6:37 left in the game when Dwayne Chapman came up with an errant pass on fourth-and-three from the St. Mary's 31.
Muskegon would never touch the ball again. St. Mary's ran out the final 6:37 by getting four first downs on a 14-play possession that covered 49 yards.
When time expired, St. Mary's had its sixth MHSAA title, while the Big Reds had to settle for the runner-up trophy for the third year in a row.
"A lot of teams around Muskegon can't say they've been there three years in a row," Muskegon senior lineman Rowland Sharp II said. "I've been here since my sophomore year. I'm very proud to say I made it to Ford Field. As I go into my career, I'll be able to say, yes, I played at Ford Field; that's an NFL stadium I played in."
Muskegon's explosive ground game was held to 109 yards on 33 carries. St. Mary's also struggled with its trademark running game, gaining 133 yards on 45 carries.
PHOTOS: (Top) Orchard Lake St. Mary’s hoists its Division 3 championship trophy after the final football game of the 2014 MHSAA season Saturday. (Middle) St. Mary’s Josh Ross (5) breaks through the line as Muskegon defenders pursue. (Click for action photos and team photos from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
BIG REDS GOAL LINE TAKEAWAY - Early in the second quarter, Muskegon forces an Orchard Lake St. Mary's fumble, which is recovered by Alezay Coleman.
EAGLETS THWART MUSKEGON'S LAST CHANCE - Muskegon's last offensive chance came near the midpoint of the fourth quarter, where on a fourth down play, a Big Reds pass by intercepted by Orchard Lake St. Mary's Dwayne Chapman. The Eaglets then ran out the clock and won the Division 3 championship game, 7-0.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Kicker Steps Into Historic Moment
December 8, 2020
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
CLINTON – After what Jonathan Baughey has gone through, kicking a football through two yellow goal posts doesn’t seem like a very big deal.
But, when it came against an undefeated, state-ranked team on the last play of the Division 6 District championship game, it was just that.
“It was definitely a scary moment,” said Baughey, a junior from Clinton High School in Lenawee County.
Baughey’s 22-yard field goal as time expired gave Clinton a 16-13 victory over Blissfield and sent his team into a Regional Final against Warren Michigan Collegiate.
It’s been a long road for Baughey, who thought that after a successful kidney transplant in 2015 that his football career was over. At the urging of a family friend and Clinton middle school coach, however, Baughey tried kicking. It was a good choice as he’s now etched his name into Clinton football lore by making probably the biggest field goal in school history.
“He’s been through so much, and I couldn’t be happier for him,” said Clinton football coach Jeremy Fielder. “We had a lot confidence in him kicking in that situation. There was no hesitation.”
Baughey was born with one kidney functioning at 25 percent and the other at 75.
“From birth he always had kidney issues,” said his mother, Kelly Baughey. “We knew growing up he would need a transplant. They tested his father and I, and we were both matches. His dad (Kevin) decided that he wanted to do it for him. He was his donor.”
Kevin Baughey never hesitated.
“It wasn’t a decision at all,” he said. “I would have given him both if I needed to.”
For years, dealing with the kidney issue was just part of Jonathan’s life. He would tire easier than other kids, but he learned to cope with it.
“I was more of a tired kid,” Baughey said. “When I was younger, it wasn’t about contact, it was about how tired I would get. I couldn’t keep up with a lot of other kids. It was hard.”
He had a kidney removed in December of 2012. After that, he said, “it was a roller coaster.” The transplant didn’t come until June of 2015, soon after he finished the sixth grade.
It took roughly six weeks in the hospital for Baughey to recover from the transplant.
“As soon as I had the transplant, I started feeling better than I had felt,” he said. “I had more energy.”
Baughey played flag football as a kid and had started playing tackle football. But when he neared the time for a transplant, he figured his football days were done. That’s when family friend and Clinton middle school coach Keith Tschirhart suggested he try kicking for the Clinton middle school team.
“I had played soccer and thought it was something I could do, so I tried it,” Baughey said. “I went out with him to the football field to see how I would do. It was pretty rough at the beginning. It took some time.”
He didn’t get much practice that first season.
“We never really kicked extra points,” he said.
Baughey kept working at it though and made it through his eighth-grade season. As a freshman he figured he would continue kicking, most likely for the Clinton JV team. He went to the tryouts.
“I kicked my first football and the coach said I was on the varsity,” he said.
Fielder said Baughey made an immediate impact.
“We didn’t have a kicker,” he said. “We had no one. I even told the coaches, ‘What are we going to do?’ Then, I saw him kick the ball and it was like, ‘He’s our kicker.’”
It was big adjustment for Baughey. Not only had he once thought he would never play football again – but he found himself suddenly on the varsity as a freshman, not knowing anyone on the team. And, being exclusively a kicker, meant he practiced mainly by himself.
“That was the struggle that I went through,” he said. “I didn’t know anyone. The only kids I knew were the snapper and the holder.”
Clinton grad Erik Bouse stepped in to help Baughey. Bouse had been a standout kicker for Clinton for three seasons before graduating in 2017.
“He was the one who I mainly worked with,” Baughey said. “He helped me a lot. He really started me out not creating bad habits and helped with the mental part of it.”
As a freshman, Baughey made 42 of his 50 extra-point attempts and a 21-yard field goal. As a sophomore he made 48 of 54 with a 19-yard field goal. This season he has made 29 of 37 extra-point attempts. The winning field goal against Blissfield was his only field goal of the season, on two tries.
Baughey is exclusively a kicker because of the potential risk of injury following the transplant. He wears a special pad on his stomach under his uniform because that is where doctors put his new kidney.
His mother said the no-contact rule causes some angst for her.
“He knows there is a chance he could get hit,” she said. “He wears a shield for padding. The transplant team has okayed him to play.”
Baughey practices every day, often by himself. He goes to the game field and starts at the extra point yardage and works his way back, making at least two kicks at each distance before moving on to the next level. He’ll use his cell phone to record himself, then watch the videos to make sure he is kicking correctly and not developing bad habits.
“The biggest part for me is to go out and know that I can do it,” he said. “You have to know you are going to kick it through the uprights, not just think you are going to. I like to pick out a small target, even a leaf or something, and just clear my mind and just kick the ball.”
When Clinton got the ball back with just over three minutes to go in the District Final against Blissfield, Baughey started thinking the game might come down to his foot.
“I went to the net and started kicking,” he said.
Clinton drove the ball inside the Blissfield 10-yard line, but did not reach the end zone. Fielder called a timeout on fourth down with only a few seconds left. Baughey jogged onto the field and lined up when Blissfield called a timeout.
“I remember walking to the sidelines and taking a deep breath,” he said. “People came up and talked to me and told me I could do it”
Baughey blocked everything out.
“I was really mentally focused,” he said. “After I made the kick, I started clapping. I turned around and all my teammates were jumping up and down. I ran to our coaches and everyone started hugging.”
His father, his donor, could not have been happier to see the ball go through the uprights.
“I was beside myself happy,” Kevin Baughey said. “Thinking about all of the time he spent working in the offseason, and then seeing the confidence his coaches showed with making the call to go for the field goal ... I was as proud as I could possibly be.”
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) Clinton's Jonathan Baughey connects on a kick. (Middle) Baughey, following through on another kick this season, clinched his team's District title with a game-winning field goal. (Photos courtesy of the Clinton football program.)