Orchard View Buy-In Reaps Big Turnaround
October 30, 2019
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
It was far from love at first sight.
When returning Muskegon Orchard View standouts like senior Dayton Rose and junior Owen Swanson first met their new varsity football coach Fred Rademacher back in January, they weren’t so sure what to expect moving forward.
“I was very skeptical,” said Rose, who at 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds was asked to move from tight end back inside to guard in Rademacher’s wing-T offense. “I caught a lot of passes last year, and I really didn’t want to go back to the wing-T.
“Then I told him that I was a second-team all-state punter. He told me: ‘That’s nice, but I don’t punt.’ At that point, I was really wondering about this dude.”
Fast forward to present day, and there’s overflowing mutual admiration between team and coach at this eastern Muskegon County school district, which had emerged as a mid-sized state powerhouse for a solid decade from 1995 to 2005 before falling off the map.
The Cardinals are not only back in the MHSAA Playoffs after a 10-year hiatus, but they returned in style improving from 2-7 last fall to a perfect 9-0 this regular season. OV is ranked No. 2 in Division 4 heading into Friday night’s home showdown against No. 7 Sparta (8-1).
“We have a great senior class,” said Rademacher, whose most recent head coaching job was at Hastings, where he was 44-43 over nine years. “There are 14 seniors that are great football players, and they like to work hard. You add in a coaching staff that has bought in and an administration that is backing us, and it’s a formula for success.”
Orchard View opened the season with a hard-fought home win over Spring Lake, then went on the road for three straight weeks – coming home a perfect 4-0 after wins over Kent City, perennial power Muskegon Catholic Central and Belding.
The Cardinals did it on the field by ditching the spread offense and going back to the wing-T, which they ran to so much success under John Shillito (making the MHSAA Finals in 1995 and 1999) and Matt McDonald (winning the school’s lone championship, in Division 4 in 2004).
Rose, a dominating pulling guard, is one of six seniors among the starting front seven on offense – with the only underclassmen junior guard Jayshawn Sandin-Davis. The other starters up front are center Jordan Tuttle, tackles Dominic Baushke and Xavier Ruiz and ends AJ Herrera and Hayden Stanfield.
The ground game is keyed by the 1-2 punch of shifty junior fullback Brendan Hyatt and bruising senior halfback Edmari Mitchell, along with regular subs in senior Alex Andrews and sophomore Darius Williams.
“I like my backs to be unselfish,” said Rademacher, 51, who was an assistant at East Kentwood for four years under Shillito before taking the Hastings job. “They have adopted my viewpoint that it doesn’t really matter who scores the touchdown as long as we score a touchdown.”
Rademacher is a Flint native whose father, Fred, was the first varsity football coach at Flint Powers Catholic. His varsity assistants include OV principal Dan Bolhuis and defensive coordinator Brian Andrews, along with Morgan Wansten (running backs and defensive line), Eric Prow (offensive and defensive lines) and Pete Vellenga (defensive backs and offensive line).
The trigger man for the Cardinals is Swanson, who has done an admirable job distributing the ball and carrying out all of the fakes that are an integral part of the wing-T. He has been deadly on keeper runs, and his strong arm adds another dimension to the attack – which may be required to win a loaded District that also includes Grand Rapids Catholic Central, which has won two Division 4 titles over the past three years.
“I love to throw the ball, like any quarterback, so I wasn’t real happy at first about the new offense,” said Swanson, who plays four sports – football, basketball, bowling and baseball. “But going 9-0 makes up for everything.”
The Cardinals capped their turnaround tale with a 32-20 home victory last week over North Muskegon. OV raced out to a 24-0 lead in that game, before NM rallied back behind the arm of senior quarterback John Hayhurst.
Rose, the leader of the Cardinals’ defense at middle linebacker, knows that unit is going to have to play much better pass defense against Sparta, which is led by four-year starting quarterback Jakel Davis.
The secondary of Hyatt and Andrews at safety and Brendan Nelson and Williams at cornerback will be put to the test, both in coverage and in knowing when to come up and fill on keeper runs.
True to his coach’s word, Rose has punted just three times the entire season, as Rademacher has chosen to go for it on fourth down from all over the field.
Rose said he and his teammates have come to understand that there is a method to their new coach’s madness, and that belief has produced a new-found confidence in the OV program. Rademacher got a head start on preparation this week, skipping the team’s playoff selection show watch party Sunday to map out this week’s practice plan.
“He’s a little weird, and it takes awhile to get to know him,” concedes Rose, who hopes to continue playing football at the Division II or Division III college level next year. “I mean, we have no music at our practices and he doesn’t get any of our jokes. He is the definition of an old man. But hey, we’re winning.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Senior guard Dayton Rose pulls down the line as Alex Andrews gets a handoff from quarterback Owen Swanson during Orchard View’s 42-35 win at Belding on Sept. 20. (Middle) First-year coach Fred Rademacher (gray hat) talks to his team during that Cardinals' win. (Below) Orchard View is back to playing wing-T football as the backfield, from left, of Alex Andrews, Brendan Hyatt and Edmari Mitchell get their proper spacing before a play during a 32-20 win over visiting North Muskegon on Oct. 25. (Photos by Katie Ream.)
North Central Extends Dominance with 37th-Straight Win, 3rd-Straight Title
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
November 19, 2022
MARQUETTE – What a run it’s been for North Central.
The Jets haven’t lost a game over the last three years and very few, if any of those games, have been close. They’ve won them all by multiple touchdowns and just three games have finished with a margin under 30 points. Most have been won by a lot more.
Their opponent in Saturday’s Division 2 championship game, Mendon, brought a strong tradition of its own, with 12 previous Finals appearances.
But this is North Central’s era, and that’s no secret. So imagine what it must do to a team’s psyche when that juggernaut returns the opening kickoff and adds another touchdown before a full minute runs off the clock.
The Jets turned that 14-0 lead into a 66-26 win for their third consecutive – and fifth total – 8-player championship Saturday at the Superior Dome. They also won a state-record 37th straight game.
“It’s gotta be part of the mystique and part of what these kids built,” North Central coach Leo Gorzinski said. “You want to have a two-touchdown lead in their head before you get off that bus. When you come out there and do that, set that tone, of course it’s going to get in their mind.”
And North Central did it with standout quarterback, and reigning Associated Press Player of the Year Luke Gorzinski, playing through what the Jets suspect is an ACL injury.
It was Elijah Gorzinski who returned the opening kickoff 85 yards to put North Central on the board just 11 seconds into the contest. Mendon muffed the ensuing kickoff and North Central’s kicker, Adrian Mercier, recovered. Two plays later, Lane Gorzinski caught a 14-yard Luke Gorzinski pass for a touchdown and a 14-0 Jets lead 50 seconds into the game.
And North Central didn’t let up.
The Jets scored two more touchdowns in the first quarter, one on a 36-yard run by Dillon Raab and the other a 36-yard pass from Luke Gorzinski to Lane Gorzinski to make it 28-0.
Luke Gorzinski threw two TD passes in the second quarter, a 30-yarder to Dylan Plunger and another 20 yards to Jordan Messenger for a 41-6 lead at the half.
That opening kick return that set the tone came after North Central waited and waited for the D-1 title game to get over. The Jets went from amped up to play to the concession stand getting brats.
“We were flat; they were ready to take a nap,” Coach Gorzinski said. “Once that (return) happened, it was game on from there.”
That made four touchdown passes in the half for Gorzinski, who is explosive getting to the edge normally, but not Saturday with his injury. Leo said he wouldn’t get it checked out before the game because he just wanted to play, but Leo fears it will be an ACL injury once diagnosed.
“Thank God they didn’t catch on for a whole half that Luke Gorzinski can’t run,” Coach Gorzinski said. “He never ran a single time, and they never adjusted or blitzed him. I’ll praise God for that. Because if they would have blitzed him, I would have pulled him. That, for me, was the single thing – we knew they had a weak pass defense.”
Gorzinski ran for one touchdown in the second half, from a yard out. He caught a 33-yard TD pass and Lane Gorzinski ran 38 yards for six.
Jacob and Lane Gorzinski picked up the slack running the ball with 132 yards and 90 yards, respectively, with both getting eight carries. Four receivers caught touchdowns – Lane Gorzinski, Plunger, Messenger and Luke Gorzinski.
“If you watch what Jacob Gorzinski did today (on the ground), that’s Luke to a T, that’s Luke’s specialty. With Jacob Gorzinski stepping up, with Lane stepping up, with Dylan Plunger stepping up, the heart that Dillon Raab showed up there tonight, all of them, Max Nason, Jordan Messenger, Andrew Weber,” Coach Gorzinski said.
Luke Gorzinski finished the day with the single yard on the ground, and only that one carry, but he was 13 of 24 passing for 207 yards and four touchdowns.
He didn’t want to talk about how much it hurt.
“It’s Luke, man, he can play through anything,” Jacob Gorzinski said. “He’s a tough kid.”
Any way you slice it, Luke helped boost his team to a third-straight title.
“You come into this game knowing we could probably get the edge on these guys and we had good running out of our trip set, but with a bum wheel, we were limited,” he said. “We came out throwing a little more and put faith in our pass catchers, and they got it done.”
They made so many big plays, the kick return, long runs by the other guys, those big pass plays. It’s hard for an opponent to keep up.
“We did a lot of good things; we just gave up too many big plays. That’s really been our Achilles in our losses is giving up those big plays. But I give them a lot of the credit – they made the plays, they were making plays, ” Mendon coach Robert Kretschman said. “(Gorzinski) can sling the ball, he just put the ball on the money. They’re physical on the edge. That was probably one of the best perimeter blocking teams I’ve seen in a long time, 11-man, 8-man, they get after it. … Their physicality on the edge is something I don’t think we were quite prepared for.”
Mendon had an explosive player of its own in junior back Jack McCaw. He ran for three of the Hornets’ touchdowns, a 30-yarder in the second quarter to get on the board, a 58-yard rush to start the second half and a 70-yard score a few minutes later. Evan Lukeman scored Mendon’s final TD.
“We have Jack coming back. We’re excited about that,” Kretschman said.
North Central wants to keep its run going next year, but it won’t be easy after losing such a decorated group of seniors headlined by Luke Gorzinski.
Now they can savor all that they’ve done the last three years.
“We came out here to do it again; that was the goal for this season,” Jacob Gorzinski said.
And nobody was able to stop them.
PHOTOS (Top) Powers North Central’s Lane Gorzinski (6) and Dylan Plunger (10) celebrate an early touchdown Saturday at the Superior Dome. (Middle) Mendon’s Jack McCaw (21) bursts into an opening. (Below) The Jets line up on offense, led by quarterback Luke Gorzinski. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)