Performance: Muskegon's La'Darius Jefferson
November 29, 2017
La’Darius Jefferson
Muskegon senior – Football
Muskegon’s 6-foot-2, 215-pound quarterback ran 32 times for 247 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Big Reds to a 28-10 win over Farmington Hills Harrison in Saturday’s Division 3 Final, earning Jefferson the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.” The championship was Muskegon’s first since 2008 and came after the Big Reds fell by a point to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in the 2016 championship game – when the Eaglets scored with four seconds to play.
Jefferson, who also celebrated his 18th birthday Saturday, finished this season with 2,097 yards and 33 touchdowns rushing and 1,205 yards and 21 touchdowns passing. His rushing touchdown total will make the MHSAA record book, and his performance Saturday earned four entries for accomplishments in a championship game. After splitting time at quarterback as a junior – and running for two touchdowns in the 2016 Final – Jefferson led arguably the best team in the state, regardless of division. The Big Reds scored 722 points, which rank third-most in state history, averaging 51.2 per game, which ranks 10th. Their average margin of victory was 45 points, and they outscored their five playoff opponents by a combined 221-36.
Individual awards are piling up for Jefferson, who was named Division 3-4 Player of the Year by The Associated Press and statewide Michigan High School Football Player of the Year by MLive. He previously had committed to continue his football and academic careers at University of Central Florida, but has re-opened his recruiting with Michigan State and Georgia Tech among those recruiting him hardest. Jefferson, who also ran track last spring, has big plans aside from football; he carries a 3.4 cumulative grade-point average and is a member of National Honor Society, and he plans to study aerospace engineering wherever he ends up.
Coach Shane Fairfield said: “He is just a selfless kid that loves to win, that loves family. He’s driven by the relationships in his home. And he loves his teammates. And he was more vocal and determined this week to get this win, because his biggest thing is he wants all the kids who aren’t going to have the chance to experience what he’s going to experience after he graduates to have some type of experience that they can say either, ‘Hey, I played with La’Darius’ or ‘I won a state championship when I was in high school.’ And that’s it – he’s very aware of how lucky and fortunate he is to be in the position he is, and he just wants to share that with all of his teammates.”
Performance Point: “It’s amazing. It’s something people dream of,” Jefferson said. “People dream about scoring the last touchdown in their backyard, making the final hoop. It’s a blessing. I’m trying to hold my tears in. We worked so hard to get here. We’ve been gassed and pounded. It’s so special. … This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me besides my family.”
Team of destiny: “It’s something these boys have been dreaming about. I kid you not; I told Eli Jackson, 44, our eighth grade year that we were going to win it. I mean, we’re here.”
Motivated Muskegon: “We had a chip on our shoulder until (the clock) was zero-zero. We weren’t done. We had a chip on our shoulder all year. Everybody we played, we said we’re going to punish. … Everybody doubted us. Everybody said we lost Kalil Pimpleton, one of the best players in the state (who played this fall at Virginia Tech). We lost JaCorey Sullivan (Central Michigan) … Andrew Ward (Nebraska), one of the best defensive players in the state last year. We lost them big boys up front. So we overcame.”
Checkmate: “I’ve been more humble (this season). I enjoy the moment. I feel like last year it was an amp moment; I wasn’t feeling it. I told myself, it’s all I’ve got. It’s my last job. I go through every day and I do a checklist. As a kid I dreamed about winning player of the year and breaking records and doing all this, and I did all that. The final checklist was win a state championship, and I can go home and check that off.”
Soaring on and off the field: “I know I want to be a successful young man beyond football. I want to go to college and study aerospace engineering, get my degree and help provide for my family. I’ve got goals beyond football. I thought as a kid that football was the only thing that I had, (but) I can do without football. I’m a great student. I work hard; I work my butt off in the classroom. I want to build planes. Who don’t want to build planes? Who don’t want to be like, ‘Oh, La’Darius built this big machine that’s flying?’ It’s cool; it’s unique.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2017-18 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2017-18 honorees:
November 23: Ashley Turak, Farmington Hills Harrison swimming - Read
November 16: Bryce Veasley, West Bloomfield football - Read
November 9: Jose Penaloza, Holland soccer - Read
November 2: Karenna Duffey, Macomb L'Anse Creuse North cross country - Read
October 26: Anika Dy, Traverse City Central golf - Read
October 19: Andrew Zhang, Bloomfield Hills tennis - Read
October 12: Nolan Fugate, Grand Rapids Catholic Central football - Read
October 5: Marissa Ackerman, Munising tennis - Read
September 28: Minh Le, Portage Central soccer - Read
September 21: Olivia Theis, Lansing Catholic cross country - Read
September 14: Maddy Chinn, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) La'Darius Jefferson crosses into the end zone for one of his four touchdowns during the Division 3 Final on Saturday at Ford Field. (Middle) Jefferson breaks into an opening while Harrison defenders pursue.
Grinding Ground Game Has White Pigeon Eyeing Memorable Run
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
September 8, 2021
With just a cursory glance at the 2020 results for the White Pigeon varsity football team, the Chiefs’ 4-3 record might not seem all that impressive.
Their opponents this year, however, know not to discount a program that has the potential to both reshape the Southwest 10 Conference standings by the end of the fall, but also to shake things up once the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 8 playoffs get rolling.
Losing two of those contests to eventual D8 champion Centreville — a 14-8 defeat in Week 2 and a 16-0 loss in the District championship game — White Pigeon’s only other misstep was a 26-24 loss to Mendon in what was the Hornets’ final season before moving to the 8-player ranks. White Pigeon’s District opener win over Saugatuck was the school’s first postseason victory since 2009.
The Chiefs are rolling so far this year with sizable wins over Saugatuck (48-6) and Galesburg-Augusta (38-7) to set up a conference opener this Friday against Decatur (1-1). Comstock is White Pigeon’s Week 4 opponent before the anticipated matchup with Centreville on Sept. 24.
"It definitely was a misleading (record) last year,” fourth-year head coach Shawn Strawser said. “(Centreville) was just a little better than us and ended up being state champs. Knowing that we were right there and that’s how close we could have been to having a nice run and being one of the better teams in the state … we watched those teams play and there wasn’t anybody that scared us. We would have loved to have chances against some of those schools last year.
"I think our guys seeing a team from our conference won a state title, it gives them some confidence that they can do that too if they work hard.”
Perhaps that wish will come true this year as Strawser’s Wing-T offense is pounding opposing defenses thus far despite the graduation of 12 seniors, only 17 players on the varsity roster and several underclassmen in starting roles. If so, it will be because of heart and not size.
At a preseason scrimmage, Strawser instituted a new rule as a result.
"The boys come walking down the sideline and they don’t have their pads on,” he said. “I said, ‘Dang it; what are you guys doing? Don’t you ever walk out here with your pads off. We ain’t intimidating nobody with our pads off, so go get them back on. Some people might see us with our pads off and they think we’re a JV team. But I’ll tell you what, we don’t play like a JV team.”
Seniors Jack Davidson and Dylan Carper so far have amassed staggering rushing production for the Chiefs, who have thrown the ball just three times. Davidson, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound fullback, ran for 299 yards and three touchdowns against Saugatuck and he added 137 yards and three more TDs vs. the Rams in Week 2. Carper, a 5-9, 165-pound back, piled up 130 yards and two scores in Week 1 and added 99 yards and a pair of touchdowns last week. The two also line up at linebacker — a position of strength for the White Pigeon defense
"Carper is a football player,” Strawser said. “You can play him anywhere. He’s the hardest hitter on the team. He could have had 300 yards the first night had I been giving him the ball more. Jack Davidson is not the type of fullback we had the first couple years. He sees holes really well and is a really strong runner.”
Of course, success begins up front with junior tight ends Jordan Stamper and Chris Jackson, left tackle Chaz Underwood (freshman), left guard Esteban Castro (junior), center Wyatt Carunchia (junior), right guard Luke Gropp (senior) and right tackle Seth Miller (sophomore).
"Our line has probably been the best it has been in a few years, so that’s a big reason why we get so many yards per carry and so many touchdowns,” Carper said. “Them doing their job consistently helps us a lot. It makes it really easy for us to just run through the big hole they made.
"It’s really fun watching Jack go for all these yards. And then the next thing you know, I get to carry and go for a big touchdown. We just get to go back and forth with each other. It’s fun to play and fun to watch. I’m faster than Jack, so I hit the hole quicker. But he’s more powerful and patient than I am. He waits for the hole to develop while I go right through it.”
Davidson has a unique perspective on how the front seven should operate having spent last season at left guard to shore up the offensive line.
"Yeah, I got yelled at a few times,” Davidson joked. “It made me understand how tough it is. I get now why they ask a lot of questions and that I have to be more patient in the backfield.”
"We knew it was going to be a one-year deal,” Strawser added of Davidson’s line days. “We were a little thin on the line last year and he stepped up and did a nice job. But we knew he’d be moving back this year.”
With the meat of the schedule ahead, the Chiefs believe they have what it takes to get to the next level.
"I just think we work really good as a team. And with us all working together, I think we can cause them some trouble,” Carper said. “Every year I think we’re in the mix for (a conference championship), but this year there is a good team at Centreville and at Comstock, so it should be a close race.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) White Pigeon’s Jack Davidson pulls away from a potential tackler last week against Galesburg-Augusta. (Middle) White Pigeon’s defensive front seven – including Davidson (30), Luke Gropp (54), Chris Jackson (8) and Jordan Stamper (84) – loads the box against Saugatuck during Week 1. (Below) Dylan Carper (21) gets to the edge against Saugatuck. (Photos courtesy of the White Pigeon football program.)