Muskegon Catholic Earns Photo Finish
November 29, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
DETROIT – Muskegon Catholic Central’s players emerged from the Ford Field tunnel Friday morning for the first time, in shirts and ties and with awe over their faces.
The Crusaders as a community are used to making this trip, with 11 MHSAA Finals appearances and eight titles. But this was their first time in a championship game since 2008, before any of these players were in high school.
“We have a bunch of pictures in our weight room of all the state champions. And we always talk at the end of each year about how we want to be the next picture on the wall,” MCC junior quarterback Nick Holt said. “Especially this group of kids, we wanted to come down here and win.”
And now they’ll be remembered forever among the school's best.
The Crusaders shut down one of the highest-scoring offenses in Michigan history and moved up to sixth on the list of most MHSAA football titles in beating Beal City 35-12 in the Division 8 Final.
Beal City finished this fall with 737 points, second-most all-time. But the top-ranked Aggies (13-1) mustered only 263 yards against an MCC defense that gave up more than 16 points only once this fall – on opening night.
Meanwhile, Crusaders senior running back Alex Lewandoski ran for 218 yards, good for 15th-most in Finals history. He scored on runs of 78, 1 and 66 yards.
The team – ranked sixth at the end of the regular season – was directed by first-year coach Steve Czerwon, a player during the early 1990s and among the many on his sideline connected with MCC’s historical success.
The backfield alone included Lewandowski, whose dad played for the Crusaders, and third-generation MCC students Tommy Scott and Blake Sanford. Holt’s dad has taught at the school for 12 years.
“It’s a lot of the same families coming through, and that’s what makes it so special here – it’ the second and third generation we’re getting of (Muskegon) Catholic kids,” Czerwon said.
“I always dreamt of playing at Ford Field,” Scott added. In ’06 coming to watch that Catholic team and that Muskegon team, and in ’08 watching both teams play. To have that experience, it’s awesome.”
Beal City was experiencing Ford Field for the second straight season and with most of its standouts from 2012’s Finals loss to Harbor Beach back for one more shot at the school’s first title since 2009.
By the end of the first quarter, the Aggies had nearly evened Lewandowski’s touchdown on his team's first offensive play of the game, just missing on an extra point to trail 7-6. MCC added a second-quarter touchdown, but didn’t break things open until scoring twice during the first eight minutes of the third quarter. That allowed the defense to take a few more risks and send a few more rushers and make Beal City’s comeback attempt much tougher – especially after the Aggies' initial strategy included long possessions to drain the clock.
“You’re trying to dig yourself out of a hole right off the bat, but it puts you in a different play-calling situation when they break off those big runs,” Beal City coach Lou Rau said. “We responded, and then we gave up another big play. That definitely changes what we do and how we do it.”
Senior Hayden Huber led Beal City with 52 yards rushing and its lone touchdown on the ground. Senior quarterback Kurt Gross did complete 8 of 16 passes, but the Aggies just couldn’t get their offense clicking.
MCC's defense had is share of big plays as well. The Crusaders had three tackles for losses, two interceptions and broke up five passes. Lewandoski had a team-high nine tackles and two of those break-ups.
“They sent a lot of guys; they were on a mission,” Gross said. “A couple of times when I was passing, I knew what they were doing. But the DBs were covering well, and they shifted over well and played their zone really good. They were really disciplined; that’s the best way I could describe them.”
Although Holt didn’t complete any of his four passes, it wasn’t needed. He ran for 123 yards and a touchdown and Scott ran for 53 yards including a 21-yard score.
MCC’s last three playoff losses had come by seven points or fewer, including once to Beal City in a 2009 Semifinal and last season to Harbor Beach by five in another semi. But a number of this year’s contributors got valuable experience during that run, no doubt preparing them to finish the job.
“I think the expectations were there because this is the same group of kids that lost, and we knew we had started some sophomores and some freshman in the Semifinals last year,” Czerwon said. “Not only did we have expectations, but the kids had expectations for themselves. That being said, we were able to take that next step.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Muskegon Catholic Central players hold up their first MHSAA championship trophy earned since 2008. (Middle) A trio of Crusaders tacklers wrap up Beal City running back Ty Rollin. (Click to see more from Terry McNamara Photography.)
With Seasoned Seniors in Lead, Deckerville Set to Begin Another Title Pursuit
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
October 30, 2024
Preston Holman was an eighth grader when his family moved to Deckerville from the west side of the state, but it didn’t take long for him to realize how much football meant to the community.
“Instantly, it was all clear to me that Deckerville was a powerhouse program around here, and if you’re going to play for them and Coach (Bill) Brown, you needed to be the best version of yourself,” said Holman, now a senior and all-state two-way lineman for the Eagles. “It was really cool. I remember my eighth-grade year, Deckerville lost to Mayville on Homecoming. I remember how upset the players were. I could tell in the atmosphere that Deckerville does not like to lose. But it was really cool to see how the community supported the program.”
Holman and the Eagles have set themselves up to have that support through the 8-Player Division 1 Semifinals, should they keep winning, as the highest-rated team by playoff points in the bracket.
Deckerville, which finished a 9-0 regular season with a win over previous No. 1 Alcona in Week 9, will open the postseason at home Friday night against Bay City All Saints.
“It’s been great,” senior quarterback Hunter Garza said. “We’ve been taking it one game at a time and preparing all season for this, and I think the hard work is showing and paying off. This started three years ago, when we were all sophomores and freshmen, and the hard work is all paying off.”
When Garza and Holman were sophomores, they were part of a core group in that class who were playing key roles on the varsity. That group went 7-4 and won a playoff game in 2022, and Brown was starting to see the potential for something special in the future.
A run to an 8-Player Division 2 Semifinal the next year proved him right.
“We have six kids that started when they were sophomores that are now seniors, and last year, our defense was one freshman, three sophomores and four juniors, so our whole defense is back,” Brown said. “So we knew we had a lot of potential there. We knew we had something going on, even back then. We knew when they were sophomores, even though they were pretty young. The next year, we got halfway through the season, and they were juniors that were starting to play like seniors.”
Knowing what he had coming back, and what a Deckerville crowd could bring during a playoff run, Brown set out to build a schedule that could guarantee the Eagles homefield advantage through the first three weeks of the postseason. That meant scheduling All Saints in Week 1 and Alcona in Week 9. Even had the Eagles lost those games, the benefit of playing a tougher schedule would have been a net positive. Of course, they won them, getting the best of both worlds.
“We play some tough competition in our conference,” Brown said. “But to get to 9-0, that’s pretty special.”
The Eagles outscored opponents, on average, 49-14 on their way to the program’s first unbeaten season since 2019, and fifth in Brown’s 32 years as head coach.
“I think we’ve played very good defense,” Brown said. “Last week (a 50-42 win against Alcona) was tough, but we were playing one of the best teams in the state. Sometimes you have to outscore someone. I think, defensively, we match up and are able to defend a lot of people. Then, being able to turn around and Hunter Garza is having a great year at quarterback – he can run, and he can throw – so I think we’re a little more diverse offensively.”
Garza has rushed for 1,134 yards and 21 touchdowns on 104 carries this season, leading an Eagles’ offense that is averaging 304.9 yards per game on the ground. Senior Parker Merriman had added 859 yards and 11 TDs.
Garza also has thrown for 747 yards and nine touchdowns on just 76 pass attempts.
Defensively, the Eagles specialize in getting teams out of sync, as they have recorded 42 tackles for loss as a team, led by Holman’s 17. He also has nine sacks, while sophomore Brandon Halowitz leads the team with 83 tackles, including 13 for loss and five sacks.
Being a defensive stalwart is nothing new for the Eagles. When they joined the 8-player ranks in 2012, they brought a smashmouth style to what had been a wide-open division, and won a Finals title. The score of that championship game against Bellaire: 14-12.
They’ve made the postseason in each of the 12 years since, advancing to Finals in 2016 and 2017.
“Our goal each year is to win the state championship,” Brown said. “Maybe those seem like lofty goals for many, but I think you have to do that. And, as it goes, right now we’re peaking at it. Last year, nobody would have thought we were going to make a run and get to the Semifinal. I would say the expectations are high for us, and I think that gives our team the drive to always be better than the team that did it before.”
Managing to chase those goals while remaining grounded in the day-to-day work necessary to reach them can be tough. But with senior leaders like Garza and Holman, Brown is confident his team will stay on the right path.
“Deckerville has such a good winning tradition, that it does put a lot of pressure on us, but Coach always says, ‘Just because you’re Deckerville, you’re not guaranteed to make the playoffs,’” Garza said. “Just because you wear the D, doesn’t mean you’re going to make a run in the playoffs. You gotta go out and work for it. You have to go out and win it.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) The Deckerville defense converges on a Kingston ball carrier during this season’s 44-0 victory. (Middle) Hunter Garza eludes an Alcona defender last week. (Below) Eagles coach Bill Brown, in headset, checks his chart on the sideline. (Photos by Mike Gallagher/Saranac County News.)