Monroe SMCC Wins Championship Grind
November 29, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
DETROIT – If Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central could draw up the perfect game for its preferred style of play, it might look a lot like Friday’s Division 6 Final.
Yes, the Falcons defeated Maple City Glen Lake to win their first championship since 2014, so that makes it memorable no matter what. And sure, SMCC would’ve loved to score more – the offense averaged 34 points per game heading into the night.
But look past all of that and consider: The Falcons had 63 plays to Glen Lake’s 32, and ran the ball 58 times. They had 22 first downs to Glen Lake’s six. They had the ball nearly twice as long – 31:17 to 16:43 – and didn’t have one penalty called against them. And the defense posted its first shutout of the season.
Offensive efficiency and defensive prowess have been hallmarks of a program that was playing in its eighth MHSAA Final – and the victory was proof again that the workmanlike approach remains a viable a championship approach during an era dominated by wide-open and fast-paced attacks.
“It’s not really the score that we anticipated, but it’s OK – we’re a grinding team, we have faith in our defense and our offense to eat up time on the clock,” SMCC senior quarterback Wyatt Bergmoser said. “We just rep our plays, and if it does come down to the defense we let them do their thing and it’s not a big deal – we have trust in the other players on the field.
“We were on different teams (before high school) but we knew we’d come together and play together in the future, and that’s something we dreamed of and hoped for forever. As a kid, I went to the 2014 state championship game. I just remember sitting in the stands and thinking to myself, I want to be here one day. I want to be here with my friends, with my other players and grind it out and get a state championship for myself. And that’s what we did, and I love all my players and teammates for that.”
The Falcons finished 12-1, their only defeat this season 28-21 to Division 4 Milan in Week 3.
That close loss, which eventually decided the Huron League title, provided a lesson that would serve St. Mary as it worked to finish off its mission for the ultimate playoff prize.
SMCC led in the fourth quarter by a point, and punted on 4th-and-4 with just under seven minutes to play. Milan went ahead on the next possession, and the Falcons ran out of time.
On Friday, SMCC punted only twice and converted on four of five fourth-down tries, including two during a 14-play, 55-yard fourth-quarter possession that didn’t result in a score but did drain 7:48 off the clock. That possession also left Glen Lake to try to tie beginning at its own 7-yard line with 2:27 to play.
“Earlier in the year we were hitting some big runs, but three, four, five yards are great plays for our offense,” SMCC coach Adam Kipf said. “We don’t need to hit a home run. We don’t need to get 10 yards every time we touch it. But if we’re getting three yards a pop … 2½ yards, we’re in great position. We like to do that, and we’ll chew up 35, 36, 37 seconds on the play clock too, and that’s by design. We want to keep it out of their hands.”
The game’s lone score came on a Bergmoser six-yard touchdown run just under five minutes into the second quarter, which capped a 10-play, 94-yard drive lasting 5:22.
The Falcons ran for 249 yards total, led by senior Alex Morgan’s 123 on 22 carries. They held Glen Lake (12-2) to 127 yards total, 75 of it coming through the air on passes by senior quarterback Reece Hazelton. The Lakers got no deeper into SMCC territory than the 36-yard line.
“They were probably the biggest team we faced all year, since we’re pretty big ourselves,” Glen Lake junior receiver/defensive back Finn Hogan said. “It was a little different change of pace for us. It took a drive or two for us to get used to, and they capitalized.”
The seven points tied the fewest Glen Lake gave up in a game this season – seven times the Lakers gave up seven, and they allowed a solid 16.2 on average over the entire fall. Hogan and senior linebacker Jonathan Wright led Friday’s effort with 12 tackles apiece, and as a team Glen Lake had six tackles for loss.
Bergmoser also was his team’s high tackler with seven.
Glen Lake had last appeared in a Final in 2016, also finishing Division 6 runner-up that year. The Falcons, meanwhile, finished a rare 4-5 that fall, but came back with seven wins in 2017 and nine last season to set up this year’s run.
“Going into high school my freshman year, I knew we had a special group in our class. I think everyone knew we were special,” Morgan said. “My sophomore year we had 11 starters on the team that made the playoff run. Our junior year we had a ton of juniors starting on that team. So we had one goal in mind this senior year, and it was to be right where we are right now.”
PHOTOS: (Top) St. Mary’s Alex Morgan (26) is slowed by Glen Lake’s C.J. Helfrich (2) and Finn Hogan. (Middle) A Glen Lake defender works to bring down the Falcons’ Samuel Cousino.
Fueled by Year's Worth of Motivation, Lenawee Christian Caps Perfect Run
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
November 18, 2023
MARQUETTE --- Adrian Lenawee Christian won MHSAA Finals titles in its first two seasons of 8-player football.
But last year the Cougars didn’t, falling to eventual Division 1 champion Martin in a Regional Final.
“I’m not joking when I say the Monday after we got beat by Martin, they were all in the weight room,” Lenawee Christian coach Bill Wilharms said.
Since then, they’ve been doing early Saturday morning workouts, they’ve gone to powerlifting meets with him, anything to get better, anything to get back to where they want to be – lifting the championship trophy.
The Cougars did that Saturday afternoon after they defeated Marion 36-18 in the Division 2 Final at the Superior Dome in Marquette.
“That’s why we’ve been doing it,” said senior quarterback Sam Lutz, who was 20 of 23 for 350 yards through the air while accounting for all five touchdowns (two rushing, three passing). “It’s the kind of legacy we’ve been trying to make. You put in the work, you get the results.”
They certainly get the results. The Cougars went undefeated like they did in their first two championship runs, and this 18-point win was their closest game of the season.
Lutz and the rest of the seniors had one last chance to win a title they could call their own. He said that early exit last fall was the motivation to get here, and this win proved to be a pretty good feeling.
“I played a little bit as a sophomore, but it’s certainly different to be one of the main leaders of this team and it feels really great,” Lutz said.
“Martin was the better team last year; they took it to us in that Regional,” Wilharms said. “This group of seniors, they wanted one of their own, they wanted their own legacy.”
He said it was awesome to see their hard work pay off.
“What high school kid wants to get up at 6 o’clock on Saturday morning?” Wilharms said. “They come in, they believe in it. It’s nice. And we have fun. The coaches lift and stuff, so it’s just a blast. And then we walk away sore and they laugh at us, and that’s a good thing, too.”
Marion had a long road to Marquette as well.
While their five-hour drive was actually about two hours shorter than Lenawee Christian’s, the Eagles had been trying for several years to get here.
They finally got to the Superior Dome after always running into juggernaut Powers North Central. The Jets won the three previous Division 2 titles after defeating Marion in a Semifinal every time.
“It was the final step. We finally made it here,” Marion coach Chad Grundy said. “We came up a little bit short, but they’re a real good team and we just made a couple mistakes. They’re too good for us to make those mistakes.”
The game started out in Marion’s favor.
Senior Gavin Prielipp returned the opening kickoff 76 yards for a 6-0 lead just nine seconds in.
“Most people don’t kick to us,” Grundy said. “He ran one back last week, too. It’s been a great season, and we’re just proud of our kids.”
Wilharms expected a good effort from Marion, and saw it right away.
“We knew they were a heck of a football team – you don't get to 12-0 and the state championship (otherwise), so we knew there were gonna be some bumps and stuff along the way,” he said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t think it was going to be that early.”
Lenawee Christian scored 36 straight points after that.
The Cougars led just 1 minute, 41 seconds later when Lutz found senior tight end Easton Boggs for a 15-yard touchdown. The Eli Brainard extra point made it 7-6.
Lutz ran for touchdowns of seven and one yard as Lenawee Christian expanded its lead to 20-6 early in the second quarter. He found Boggs again for a 12-yard TD midway through the second quarter, and a 42-yard field goal by Max Stamats with 20 seconds left in the half made it 29-6.
Lutz hit Boggs for the third and final time with six seconds left in the third quarter. The Brainard extra point made it 36-6. In all, Boggs caught nine passes for 210 yards.
“Easton’s been a force for us through seventh and eighth grade, and Sammy came as a ninth grader,” Wilharms said. “I hope (Lutz) is in the consideration for the 8-player Player of the Year, because I think he’s definitely deserving of it.”
Marion scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, a 30-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Collin McCrimmon to junior James Williams and a three-yard run by junior Cole Meyer.
Lenawee Christian outgained Marion 405-274 and was just the second team to score more than 14 points against the Eagles this year.
“Just the speed,” Grundy said of what makes the Cougars so tough. “They’ve got so much speed everywhere. They’re very well-coached. We struggled with that when they spread it out, trying to defend the quarterback and defend all their receivers.”
It was six years ago when Wilharms bought into the type of workouts that promoted the kind of speed that keeps his team coming to the Upper Peninsula.
On the field, the Cougars enjoy playing offense, which is easy to understand with the way they can score. But Wilharms thought the defense played even better Saturday, suffocating a Marion offense that came in averaging 55 points per game.
“They just were awesome,” he said.
PHOTOS (Top) Lenawee Christian’s Easton Boggs (10) and Sam Lutz celebrate a touchdown Saturday at the Superior Dome. (Middle) The Cougars’ Jesse Miller (2) forces Marion’s Collin McCrimmon out of bounds. (Below) Lutz finds a receiver as Marion’s James Williams applies pressure. (Click for more photos by Cara Kamps.)