Parchment's 1st-Time Football Seniors Writing Unforgettable Story
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 18, 2022
PARCHMENT — Nothing beats Friday night lights, said Parchment senior Will Kovl.
“The fans, the atmosphere, scoring a touchdown, nothing beats it. It’s amazing,” he exclaimed.
What is amazing is that Kovl, who has become one of the Panthers’ top receivers, never played football before this year.
In fact, Kovl is one of nine seniors who are playing their first season of football for coach Brian Huberty.
During the summer, athletic director Brennan Davis heard rumblings about the seniors trying out for the team.
“My initial thought was disbelief because I hear a lot, so my mindset was ‘I'll believe it when I see it,’” Davis said.
“Once football started working out this summer, I heard these kids were actually attending and at that point it became a reality. We have a quality senior group, and those kids have a very strong bond. It is a special group of young people.”
Senior tight end/linebacker Jacob Guzior said it was definitely a group decision.
“At first it was a joke,” he said. “Eventually it turned into ‘We are actually playing football now.’”
The other senior newbies are kicker/cornerback Mason Ragan, wide receiver/linebacker Blake Smith, defensive back Breckyn Bootland, defensive end/tight end Ashtian McClanahan, wide receiver Tanner Slack, kicker McKaylah Shank and team manager McKenna Nunn.
Huberty, who teaches in Plainwell and is the interim coach at Parchment, said he is not sure where the team (4-4 overall, 2-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore) would be without those nine.
“We would have had a team, but we would have been a lot younger and we would have had to pull a few more kids up, and that’s not what you want to do,” he said.
“You don’t want young kids having to come compete against 18- and 17-year-old kids.”
Kovl said senior quarterback Aaron Jasiak was instrumental in peaking his interest in playing this season after Jasiak scored the winning touchdown in last year’s homecoming game.
“I remember it like it was yesterday; it was awesome,” Kovl said. “The student section was bigger than ever, and I was in the student section.
“We rushed the field. He told me to play football (my senior year), and the story wrote itself.”
One aspect of the game was a bit daunting for Guzior.
“At first (hitting) was hard to get used to. Now I do like hitting people,” he laughed.
“It was a rough first week. By second week we were starting to get the hang of it, and by week three it felt like I’d been playing a while.”
Bootland is using football to help him with hockey.
“Hockey gave me a base idea of hitting in football, but hitting in football is going to take my physicality in hockey to another level, which is my biggest weakness on ice,” he said.
However, “the biggest shock for me was how analytical it is to make plays and how much smarts it is over pure athleticism.”
Huberty said Bootland was a surprise.
“He’s a hockey kid,” the coach said. “He surprisingly adapted well to playing defense. The physical part, it surprised me how he’s embraced it.”
Although she is not on the field, Nunn keeps everyone on time and on task as the team manager.
Her job varies during the week.
“Sometimes I get equipment out for them,” she said. “I’m usually taking pictures because I run our social media pages.”
Huberty said she also keeps him on task.
“She is so amazing to have here,” he said. “I give her a practice schedule, and she lets me know when our sessions are done.
“We have a drone we sometimes run at practice, and she’ll run the drone for us and record practice.”
Ragan, who is Parchment’s leading goal-scorer in soccer, said “I never imagined myself on a football field in my life. I like it. I think it’s really fun.
“Football has definitely helped me with soccer. It’s made me more physical on the field for sure. I think that’s definitely a benefit.”
Huberty said Ragan, who booted a 25-yard field goal two weeks ago, “came out just to be a kicker. We got him out playing defense, and he liked it.”
Smith had some experience after playing football in middle school. But after watching the Panthers games, he realized he missed it.
“Wish I had played before,” he said. “I recommend playing football all four years. It’s a great experience.”
Kovl, who pulled in eight catches for 96 yards two weeks ago, said his best game was in a losing effort against Kalamazoo United.
“I had 126 yards, six receptions, two touchdowns,” he said. “It was a tough loss, but it was definitely one of my best games.”
McClanahan spends summers in Tennessee and made the choice to return to Parchment early this time so he could play football.
“I definitely like the energy we get at practices and during games with all my teammates,” he said. “A lot of my friends were coming out, so I decided I’d just hop on the train and come out.
“We’ve been close since sixth grade and anything one does, we all do together. We’re a really close friend group.”
Two more seniors, Slack and Shank, are juggling first-year football with other fall sports and sometimes miss practices.
“(Slack) has really started to emerge as a guy who can contribute to the team,” Huberty said. “He caught a touchdown pass against United and is starting to emerge as a guy who should start getting more playing time.”
Shank is the second-string kicker and also balancing a club commitment this fall.
“She runs cross country, her primary sport, and also does travel soccer in the fall,” Huberty said. “She comes when she can be here.”
As for the veterans on the team, “They have done a great job of embracing those first-year kids,” Huberty said.
“There’s no real wedge between kids who have played in the past and those who haven’t.”
Now that they've tasted success on the football field, the "Senior 9" all agreed on one regret: Waiting until their senior year to play football.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Parchment’s Jacob Guzior (83) prepares to defend from his linebacker spot during a 21-17 Week 7 win over Allegan. (Middle) Front, from left: Mason Ragan, Blake Smith. Back, from left: McKenna Nunn, Will Kovl, Jacob Guzior, Breckyn Bootland and Ashtian McClanahan. (Below) The Panthers’ Will Kovl attempts to pull away from a Tigers defender. (Action photos by McKenna Nunn; group photo by Pam Shebest.)
1st & Goal: 2024 Playoffs Week 1 Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 1, 2024
Tonight, the 50th MHSAA Football Playoffs begin. And while we’ll always focus on how they finish, how the stage is set at the start makes them perhaps most meaningful to the thousands who have earned this experience over the last half-century.
Football is the only MHSAA-sponsored head-to-head sport for which teams must qualify for the opportunity to continue into the postseason. Making the playoffs for many can rank right up there with winning a league championship, and potentially higher when schools reach them for the first time, or first time in a long time.
No teams accomplished that feat this fall after Perry and Hart made their playoff debuts in 2023. But of the 601 varsities that took the field during the regular season, only seven haven’t made the MHSAA Playoffs at least once. At the same time, 682 schools have made at least one postseason appearance, including several which have since shut their doors or merged with other schools. When Beal City and Crystal Falls Forest Park take the field this weekend, they’ll do so after qualifying for the playoffs for an MHSAA-record 39th time, not counting COVID-shortened 2020 when all but a few teams made the field.
Tournaments begin with District Semifinals in 11-player and Regional Semifinals in 8-player. Tickets to both cost $7, and nearly 120 of the 144 games to be played will be streamed live on the NFHS Network. See below for some of the matchups that most pop off the page this first round, and come back to MHSAA.com all weekend for scores and updated pairings.
11-Player Division 1
Oxford (6-3) at Davison (7-2)
Oxford is coming off winning arguably the most powerful league in the state – the Oakland Activities Association Red, which includes Clarkston, Lake Orion, Rochester Adams and West Bloomfield – and a District title claimed over the next two weeks would be the program’s first since 2001. But in terms of depth of talent, the Saginaw Valley Red may not be far behind its OAA counterpart, and Davison’s only losses this season were by six points two weeks ago to champion Grand Blanc and in a season opener to Division 2 contender Warren De La Salle Collegiate.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY East Kentwood (5-4) at Hudsonville (8-1), Clarkston (6-3) at Lake Orion (6-3), Saline (6-3) at Northville (6-3), Romeo (4-5) at Utica Eisenhower (7-2).
11-Player Division 2
Grand Rapids Northview (9-0) at Byron Center (8-1)
Northview packing up the bus for a road game explains plenty of what Byron Center has seen on its schedule this season, with its only loss by two points in Week 4 to quite possibly the Division 2 favorite Muskegon Mona Shores. But Northview has seen its share of competition as well in finishing a regular season undefeated for the first time since 1970 (according to Michigan-Football.com). The Wildcats will find out how all of that transfers as they pursue more program history – their first playoff win.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Portage Northern (5-4) at Portage Central (6-3), Milford (7-2) at East Lansing (6-3), Warren Mott (7-2) at Birmingham Seaholm (6-3), Roseville (7-2) at Grosse Pointe South (9-0).
11-Player Division 3
Riverview (8-1) at Trenton (6-3)
Trenton has to be one of the most intriguing three-losses teams in the state. The Trojans opened this season with losses to Brownstown Woodhaven and Southgate Anderson – the latter would end up second in the Downriver League – but Trenton went on to defeat eventual league champion Gibraltar Carlson in Week 6 and another co-runner-up Allen Park in Week 7 before suffering a one-point loss to Southeastern Conference White champ Chelsea in Week 8. Riverview, meanwhile, hits the road with its only loss to Huron League champion Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, potentially the favorite in Division 7 this month. That defeat also was the only game over the last seven in which the Pirates didn’t score at least 43 points.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Cedar Springs (7-2) at Lowell (7-2), Zeeland East (5-4) at Zeeland West (8-1), Linden (4-5) at Fenton (7-2), Garden City (7-2) at Walled Lake Western (9-0).
11-Player Division 4
Paw Paw (8-1) at Niles (8-1)
This is a rare repeat from a Week 9 regular-season game, won by Niles 21-0 to take the Wolverine Conference championship outright. The shutout was the Vikings’ second in a row and fifth this season and lowered their points allowed average this fall to 6.3 per game. But all is not lost for Paw Paw; prior to the shutout the Red Wolves were averaging 38.1 points per game, and they no doubt would savor an opportunity to avenge such a recent disappointment.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Edwardsburg (6-3) at Battle Creek Harper Creek (8-1), Ortonville Brandon (6-3) at Goodrich (8-1), Harper Woods (6-3) at Redford Union (8-1), Croswell-Lexington (6-3) at Marysville (8-1).
11-Player Division 5
Clare (7-2) at Ogemaw Heights (8-1)
These two shared the Jack Pine Conference Division 1 championship thanks to Ogemaw Heights’ 41-34 win over the Pioneers in Week 5 (and also Ogemaw’s 27-25 loss to Standish-Sterling in Week 7). In their first meeting, Ogemaw led by 15 at the end of the third quarter, Clare tied it up with 3:57 to play and Ogemaw scored the final go-ahead points on a fourth-down touchdowns with 1:08 left on the clock. Clare’s only loss since came last week to undefeated Petoskey, while the Falcons rebounded from their lone defeat with wins over playoff teams Harrison and Croswell-Lexington.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Dowagiac (6-3) at Berrien Springs (6-3), Flint Hamady (5-3) at Corunna (7-2), Whitmore Lake (7-2) at Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard (5-4), Detroit Denby (6-3) at Flat Rock (7-2).
11-Player Division 6
Ovid-Elsie (7-2) at Almont (9-0)
These two have met in the playoffs three of the last four seasons, with Almont winning last year’s Semifinal matchup 45-21. The Raiders have had only one game closer than 14 points this fall – a 29-28 win over rival Armada in Week 6 – and last week’s 41-22 victory over Detroit Edison was especially notable as a potential spark for another run. Ovid-Elsie started this fall powerfully before running into still-undefeated Chesaning in Week 7 and then falling to Standish-Sterling last week, but the Marauders are playing for their third-straight eight-win season and between those defeats avenged a 2023 loss to New Lothrop.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Negaunee (6-3) at Boyne City (7-2), Constantine (6-3) at Parchment (7-2), Detroit Central (6-3) at Detroit Edison (6-3), Detroit Old Redford (8-1) at Detroit Pershing (7-2).
11-Player Division 7
Union City (8-1) at Hanover-Horton (8-1)
Union City not only won a third-straight Big 8 Conference title this season but also has its most wins since 2014, and despite falling to Buchanan 17-7 a week ago. Hanover-Horton is coming off a loss as well, 35-14 to Leslie in the Cascades Conference championship game, but also is at eight wins for the first time since 2014 and after winning the Cascades West championship. Both teams’ offenses were stopped last week, but Union City averaged nearly 39 points per game coming into Week 9 and the Comets were at just over 41.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Charlevoix (6-3) at Traverse City St. Francis (6-3), Harrison (7-2) at McBain (8-1), Napoleon (6-3) at Hudson (8-1), Ottawa Lake Whiteford (5-4) at Clinton (6-3).
11-Player Division 8
Ubly (6-3) at Harbor Beach (9-0)
On paper this might not seem too intriguing, but the storylines stack up nicely. Ubly is the reigning Division 8 champion but lost its first three games this fall including 45-6 to Harbor Beach in Week 3. However, the Bearcats have not lost again or even come close, winning their last six games by nearly 29 points per. That said, Harbor Beach has yet to cool down after escaping an opener with Cass City with a two-point victory. The Pirates are allowing just six points per game and scoring 46 as they passed 60 last year week for the second time this fall.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Frankfort (7-2) at Beal City (7-2), Saugatuck (6-3) at White Pigeon (8-1), Manchester (7-2) at Petersburg Summerfield (8-1), Bark River-Harris (5-4) at East Jordan (7-2).
8-Player Division 1
Martin (7-1) at Gobles (9-0)
Their Oct. 11 meeting was among the games of the year for all of 8-player football this regular season and decided a league title, and the magnitude of this rematch may eclipse it. Gobles won that Week 7 matchup 20-14, holding on to hand the two-time reigning Division 1 champion Clippers their only loss this fall. But surely Martin has noted a few times over the last three weeks that Gobles won last year’s regular-season game as well, 53-16, before Martin won the rematch 28-6 on the way to that repeat Finals championship.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Mendon (8-1) at Climax-Scotts (8-1), Fulton (8-1) at Kingston (7-2), Munising (6-3) at Pickford (9-0). SATURDAY Norway (7-2) at Ishpeming (6-2).
8-Player Division 2
Portland St. Patrick (8-1) at Morrice (8-1)
St. Patrick has won their last two meetings including 29-12 in Week 4 this fall, with that victory keyed in part by quarterback Brady Leonard – who has continued to put up big numbers. Morrice will attempt to slow him down with a defensive group that has given up only 26 points over five games since that loss to the Shamrocks, including a Week 5 shutout of Fulton – the lone team to defeat St. Patrick as all three shared the Mid-State Activities Conference Red title.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Marion (8-1) at Onekama (8-1), Burr Oak (7-2) at Pittsford (7-2), Mio (7-2) at Au Gres-Sims (8-1). SATURDAY Gaylord St. Mary (7-2) at Powers North Central (8-1).
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PHOTO Belleville's Bryce Underwood (19) prepares to take a snap during his team's regular-season win over Livonia Stevenson. (Photo by Douglas Bargerstock.)