Moment: Marcotte's Return Sets Record
November 12, 2020
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
Lake Linden-Hubbell took advantage of a Mendon miscue in the 1991 MHSAA Class DD Football Final to prevent a potential score and extend its lead at the time with one the longest defensive scoring plays in a championship game.
After falling behind 8-0 midway through the first quarter, Mendon marched down the field to the Lakes' 8-yard line. On a 3rd-and-8, quarterback Mike Smith rolled left and under pressure lofted an errant pitch which was picked up by Lake Linden linebacker Rick Marcotte, who ran 79 yards the other way on the final play of the first quarter for the longest fumble return in a title match.
It was the second time that weekend the fumble return record had been broken. In the Class C finale the day before, Nate Cierlak of Muskegon Catholic Central returned a fumble 56 yards for a score against Harbor Beach.
Marcotte's score gave the Lakes a 14-0 lead at the time. Smith, however, would engineer a scoring drive off the ensuing kickoff, negotiating the last 10 yards himself to start the comeback for the Hornets, who would score the next 22 points en route to a 30-14 victory and second championship in three years for coach John Schwartz’s squad.
Be the Referee: Automatic 1st Downs
October 29, 2020
This week, MHSAA assistant director Brent Rice explains how high school football rules differ from those at the collegiate and professional levels when it comes to awarding automatic first downs.
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment - Automatic 1st Downs - Listen
Today we are going to talk about one of the biggest rule difference areas in high school football from those rules used in college and pro games, and that deals with automatic first downs.
When watching that college game on Saturday or the pro game on Sunday, all of us know there are several defensive fouls that give the offense an automatic first down. However, under high school rules, the opposite is true most of the time.
The only high school fouls that result in an automatic first down for the offense are the roughing fouls – roughing the passer, the kicker, the holder and the long snapper. Fouls such as defensive pass interference or any other personal foul do not bring an automatic first down under high school rules.
Past editions
10/22: You Make the Call: Illegal Kick - Listen
10/15: Toe the Line on Penalty Kicks - Listen
10/8: Disconcerting Acts - Listen
10/1: Ball Hits Soccer Referee - Listen
9/24: Clocking the Ball from the Shotgun - Listen