Hudson Rides Dominating Defense to Lock Down Division 8 Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 26, 2021
DETROIT – For a team not used to giving up points – or yards, for that matter – it would have been easy Friday for Hudson to make some big changes at halftime to slow down a Beal City offense that had found success through the passing game.
But the Tigers – who entered the MHSAA Division 8 Final having allowed 107.7 yards and less than a touchdown per game through the Semifinals – didn’t stray from the gameplan.
“Honestly, (the adjustment was) just keep playing,” Hudson coach Dan Rogers said. “They did a great job, their line, we couldn’t get pressure on the quarterback. He could get out on the edge and we struggled getting to him. That made us cover a lot longer than we want to, so we were trying to get to the quarterback a little bit more, keep the receivers in front of us and make plays on the football.”
It worked, as Hudson smothered Beal City in the second half, allowing just 17 yards over the final 24 minutes of its 14-7 victory at Ford Field to claim its second Finals title.
“I can’t even describe it yet; it hasn’t really hit me yet,” said Hudson senior running back and safety Bronson Marry, who had a crucial late-game interception. “I’m just waiting to walk out of the locker room and find our families. It’s going to (hit like) a brick wall.”
While Hudson (14-0) never led by more than one score, Beal City never threatened to overcome it, spending the entirety of the second half offensively on its own side of the field. The Aggies’ five second-half possessions went for 4, -6, 13, 1 and 5 yards, and totaled 5 minutes and 29 seconds.
A fumble, an interception and downs ended the last three drives, with Nick Kopin breaking up the final Beal City pass attempt with 1:51 to play, sealing the game. It was a fitting end to Kopin’s big day, as he also had forced a fumble earlier in the fourth quarter and rushed for 131 yards and both of Hudson’s touchdowns.
“It’s amazing,” Kopin said. “Obviously, I’m going to credit all my runs to our offensive line and our play-calling by coach (Jeremy) Beal. It set up really good cutbacks, and they were blocking real well. Defensively, credit to (Coach Rogers), he’s very strict on us reading our keys and doing our jobs. I think all of us, including myself, just did that, and the game turned out in our favor.”
Kopin’s second score, a 2-yard run, came with 6:58 to play and put the Tigers up 14-7. The two-point pass was no good, however, keeping Beal City within a touchdown. The Aggies received a further boost with the return of quarterback Hunter Miles, who had been injured midway through the third quarter, but Hudson’s defense didn’t allow for a storybook comeback.
“Hunter Miles is Hunter Miles; he’s a warrior,” Beal City coach Brad Gross said. “That’s Hunter Miles. Ankle, ribs, everything else (was hurt). We have a lot of guys dinged up. Cade Block’s had a (injured) shoulder that he’s been playing with for three weeks. Wade Wilson has a broken hand that he played the whole game with. We’re just banged up. We have a bunch of warriors. That’s why we’re here.”
Miles had more success in the first half, mostly on the strength of a pair of big pass plays to Carter Fussman. The first was a 53-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter. Miles rolled to his right before finding Fussman open near the 10-yard line.
The second was a 56-yard throw and catch on the penultimate play of the first half, which came immediately after Hudson had taken an 8-7 lead on a 2-yard run from Kopin and a two-point conversion pass from Anthony Arredondo to Ambrose Horwath. The big pass play ended with Fussman being hauled down by Horwath at the Hudson 7-yard line with four seconds left in the half.
That tackle wound up being enormous, as an incomplete pass on the next play ended the half with Hudson still in the lead.
“It probably made the conversation at halftime better,” Rogers said. “It was a huge tackle. That’s what we talk about: You just have to keep playing. They’re going to make plays, things are going to happen, and it would have been just as easy to hang your head and he runs into the end zone. Our kids don’t do that, and Ambrose, he made a play, and that’s what we had to have.”
Hudson’s offense had success on the ground, rushing for 282 yards, but strong red zone defense from the Aggies kept them in the game. All five of Hudson’s second half drives – excluding the final one, which consisted of three kneel downs – ended at least within the Beal City 35, but just one led to a score.
“You have to give credit to Beal City, too,” Rogers said. “When we got down there, they stiffened up defensively and took all the inside runs away. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to score and it kept the game close.”
Payton Rogers added 62 yards on the ground for Hudson, while Horwath hauled in the lone completed pass for the Tigers, a 17-yard catch from Easten Strodtman that converted a 3rd-and-long on the Tigers’ fourth-quarter touchdown drive. Kopin led the Hudson defense with six tackles, while Strodtman and Ethan Harris each recorded a sack.
Fussman led the Beal City (12-2) offense with two catches for 109 yards, while Miles finished with 128 yards through the air – all in the first half. Josh Wilson recorded 13 tackles to lead the Beal City defense, while Miles had eight.
PHOTOS (Top) Hudson’s Easten Strodtman brings down Beal City quarterback Jack Fussman during Friday’s Division 8 Final. (Middle) The Tigers’ Ambrose Horwath (10) tries to get a hand on the ball with the Aggies’ Carter Fussman (2) and Jack Fussman defending. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Long Losing Streak Becoming Distant Memory as Adrian Football Re-Emerges
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
October 10, 2023
It’s hard to point to one particular move that led to the resurgence of the Adrian High School football program, but there’s no doubt the Maples are back.
Just a few years ago, they were in the throngs of a 30-game losing streak, had a difficult time fielding a junior varsity team and the school’s administration conducted a survey about possibly leaving the Southeastern Conference.
Now, Adrian is 6-1, finished just a game out of first place in the SEC White and is primed for a Division 4 playoff run.
“There are a lot of really good things going on with the football program, the school and athletic program,” said second-year varsity football coach Joel Przygodski. “We have great kids who love to work hard. I’m glad to see them being successful because they work so hard.”
Przygodski is part of an overhaul at Adrian, which has seen a new superintendent, high school principal and athletic director over the last couple of years.
“The leadership is all in line with a similar point of view about how high school athletics should be a positive experience for kids,” Przygodski said. “It’s really fun to be a part of a school district like Adrian when everybody is rowing in the same direction.”
Historically, Adrian has had success on the football field. From 1999 to 2011, the Maples missed the playoffs just twice. Then came a series of 2-7 and 3-6 years, but a bounce-back 7-5 in 2016.
The program took a downturn after that.
Adrian didn’t win a game during the 2018, 2019 and 2020 seasons. The Maples lost 30 straight in all before defeating Brooklyn Columbia Central in Week 2 of the 2021 season. Those losses included the Maples forfeiting a 2020 playoff game – when almost all teams made the postseason due to COVID-19 – due to a lack of available players.
Przygodski was one of the Adrian assistants during the playoff years, then left to become an assistant coach at Saline. He remained a teacher in the district, however.
When the Adrian head coaching job opened after the 2021 season, Przygodski didn’t hesitate to throw his name into the candidate pool.
“I taught the same kids who are playing now in middle school, so it’s not like I had to meet these kids for the first time,” he said. “It was more of a re-introduction to them. They only knew me as Mr. P, not as Coach P.
“The kids wanted to win, they wanted that discipline and structure, and they just hadn’t had it for one reason or another.”
Chad O’Brien, in his third year as the Adrian athletic director, is pleased with the progress of the athletic program. The baseball team won an SEC title last year, and the basketball team has had success as well.
“I think we have a lot of good people in good positions right now, and that makes a huge difference,” he said. “The continuity of the staff is huge. We have everyone on the same page. We discuss it as a group. We interact a ton. We aren’t separated. Everyone is moving in the same direction.
“There are still things that need to be addressed, but it’s definitely different than it was two years ago.”
The biggest turnaround has been in the football program. With some of the same players who were part of the 30-game losing streak, the Maples went 5-5 last year and are 6-1 this fall.
The Maples opened the season with four straight wins before falling 28-18 to Chelsea, the only blemish on a great season so far. They followed up the loss to the Bulldogs with back-to-back conference wins over Jackson and Pinckney to finish 4-1 in the SEC White. They have two nonleague games left to get ready for the postseason.
Quarterback Sean Parker is the unquestioned leader of the team. A four-year starter, Parker has thrown for 1,147 yards and 13 touchdowns this season while completing 65 percent of his passes. He has also rushed for 356 yards.
“He’s one of the smartest kids I’ve ever coached,” Przygodski said. “He has 4.1 GPA. He’s a very intelligent young man who works very hard. He’s kind of a silent leader, but a fun kid to be around. He’s gotten better each and every day.”
Chase Henline is the rushing leader with 780 yards and eight touchdowns. Five Maples have more than 100 yards receiving and are in double digits for catches.
Parker is one of 15 seniors.
“The majority of them have played all four years, and a handful of them are four-year starters,” Przygodski said. “When you have kids who have been battle-tested and have endured some of the things they did as freshmen and sophomores, then having a pretty decent year as juniors, it sets the stage for a pretty good senior campaign with everything falling in line.”
Przygodski is an Ann Arbor native who was head coach at his alma mater – Ann Arbor Huron – for four years before coming to Adrian in 2010. He served time as an assistant with the Maples under Phil Jacobs and was in Milan for a year. He then worked under Joe Palka at Saline for four years.
“I learned a lifetime of football working for Joe for those four years,” he said. “I think the biggest thing I got from him is how he organized. Everything was down to the details. If you put our practice plan and their practice plan next to each other, it would probably look similar. That’s probably the thing I learned the most.”
Przygodski isn’t worried about an encore just yet, but praised Adrian for its facilities and strength and conditioning program under Toby Ernst, now in his second year.
“They check all of the boxes of what you need to be competitive and successful in high school sports,” Przygodski said. “The community support has been phenomenal. It’s a place where you can compete and win.”
O’Brien said Adrian will continue to move forward with its athletic program.
“We’ve always had good kids here. We just had to have the right people directing them,” O’Brien said. “The biggest thing is we are going to do what’s right for kids, do what’s right for our district and do what’s right for our league. Every decision we make, we make sure we are following that.”
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) Adrian’s Carson DeKeyser (7) and Thomas Dayharsh celebrate a touchdown during Friday’s 34-0 win over Pinckney. (Middle) Maples quarterback Sean Parker rolls right behind the protection of Antonio Brown. (Photos by Deloris Clark-Osborne.)