Highlight Reel: Saturday Football Finals

November 28, 2016

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director

The final day of the MHSAA 11-Player Football Finals at Ford Field in Detroit – powered by the Michigan Army National Guard – produced a first-time gridiron champion and a game-winning play that will be talked about for a long time.

Division 7

Pewamo-Westphalia 28, Detroit Loyola 14

Logan & Lehman Go Long - The Pewamo-Westphalia combo of quarterback Jimmy Lehman and receiver Logan Hengesbach connected for two touchdowns in the Division 7 title game against Detroit Loyola. Here's the second TD in the third quarter, with Hengesbach winning the jump ball to complete a 37-yard scoring play.

Johnson Powers Into the End Zone - Detroit Loyola gets on the board midway through the fourth quarter, when TE Keith Johnson makes a great play to catch a pass from Price Watkins and then power into the end zone to complete the 18-yard score.

Division 1

Detroit Cass Tech 49, Detroit Catholic Central 20

CC Takes the Early Lead - Detroit Catholic Central led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter, taking the lead on this 35-yard pass interception return by Jack Morris.

The Peoples' Choice for Cass Tech - Detroit Cass Tech QB Rodney Hall tied a Finals record with five touchdown passes against Detroit Catholic Central - two going to Donovan Peoples-Jones, including this 49-yarder in the third quarter.

Division 5

Grand Rapids West Catholic 43, Menominee 7

Meyers Off to the Races - Grand Rapids West Catholic scored its first TD against Menominee on a pitch and catch from Gaetano Vallone to Brett Meyers covering 91 yards.

Hass Records a Finals First - Menominee uses special teams to get on the board in the third quarter. Sam Larson blocks the West Catholic field goal attempt, and Hunter Hass returns it 76 yards for a TD – the first time in Finals history a blocked field goal has been returned for a score.

Division 3

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 29, Muskegon 28

Pimpleton's Second Score - Lined up in the slot, Muskegon's Kalil Pimpleton gets his second 18-yard rushing touchdown of the Division 3 Final against Orchard Lake St. Mary's on the end-around to give his team a 21-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.

A Catch for the Ages - In the closing seconds of the Division 3 Final, Orchard Lake St. Mary's QB Caden Prieskorn hits Ky’ren Cunningham in the end zone with an 18-yard touchdown strike to give the Eaglets the win.

The MHSAA Football Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.  

PHOTO: Orchard Lake St. Mary's Chris Bean celebrates during Saturday's Division 3 Final. 

Today in the MHSAA: 6/5/23

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

June 5, 2023

2. TRACK & FIELD/GIRLS TENNIS The busiest Saturday of the MHSAA school sports calendar again saw Finals for 14 divisions of track & field and four of Lower Peninsula girls tennis provide this time 19 team champions, with a tie in Upper Peninsula Division 3 girls track. We covered all 18 events – MHSAA.com

2. BASEBALL Unranked Lake Orion enjoyed the most major upset of the weekend, downing top-ranked Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 3-2 in a Division 1 District Final – Cold Weather Bats

3. GIRLS SOCCER No. 3 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek delivered top-ranked Rochester High its lone loss, 3-1, in a Division 1 District Final – Oakland Press

4. BASEBALL Unranked Midland Dow also did its part to shake up Division 1 with a 2-1 upset of No. 2 Bay City Western in a District Final – Midland Daily News

5. SOFTBALL Division 2 top-ranked Gaylord won a matchup of favorites, 13-1 over No. 2 Escanaba before finishing the District title run with a 10-0 win over Cheboygan – Petoskey News-Review

6. GIRLS LACROSSE Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern repeated as a Division 1 Regional champ with a 14-11 win over Rockford – FOX 17

7. BASEBALL No. 12 Birmingham Seaholm edged No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 4-3 in a Division 1 District Final – Oakland Press

8. BASEBALL Unranked Grandville also repeated as a District champ with a 5-3 upset of No. 9 Jenison in Division 1 – Grand Rapids Press

9. SOFTBALL/BASEBALL The Lansing Waverly softball team and Mason baseball team celebrated their first District championships – Lansing State Journal

10. SOFTBALL Royal Oak also was a first-time District champion with its 20-9 clinching win over Berkley – Oakland Press