Playoffs: District Finals in Review
December 16, 2011
Three weeks remain in this MHSAA football season, and just two for our 8-player teams. That means we’re down to 68 total still practicing and pursuing championships either in two weeks at the Superior Dome or three at Ford Field.
Here’s a look at some of the best from the playoffs' second weekend, plus links to coverage from the biggest games and my take on those to watch in every division this weekend.
Again, if I missed a game or a highlight I should've mentioned, post below and let us know. And click here for results, schedules and more. (Rankings below by The Associated Press' panel of media voters.)
GREAT EIGHT
DIVISON 1: Detroit Catholic Central 21, Canton 14 – This has become something of an expected matchup, with these two facing off in the playoffs four times over the last 10 seasons, including two of the last three. DCC has won all four matchups, and this time the Shamrocks were ranked No. 2 and Canton No. 6.
DIVISION 2: Lowell 36, Muskegon 7 – The Red Arrows increased their playoff winning streak over Muskegon to three straight. Lowell came in No. 2 and Muskegon No. 3, and the Red Arrows now become the heavy state favorite with No. 1 Farmington Hills Harrison also losing (see below).
DIVISION 3: East Grand Rapids 45, Grand Rapids Christian 27 – Their 50-49 game in Week 9 (which Grand Rapids Christian won) made statewide waves, but this one was not nearly as close. The Pioneers have three losses this season, but appear to be hitting the gear that has resulted in five straight MHSAA titles.
DIVISION 4: Battle Creek Pennfield 14, Lansing Sexton 6 – By rankings this wasn’t an upset. But considering Sexton shared a league title with three Class A schools – including one still alive in Division 3 – and that the Big Reds beat Pennfield 47-14 in last year’s District final, there’s a lot here with which to be impressed.
DIVISION 5: Flint Powers 28, Millington 7 – This arguably was the stunner of the weekend – Millington was ranked No. 2, Powers unranked – but maybe shouldn’t be as big of a shock. The Cardinals indeed were undefeated, and Powers has three losses. But those came to No. 1 Lansing Catholic, Division 7 No. 1 Saginaw Nouvel, and Class A Davison.
DIVISION 6: Ithaca 28, Montrose Hill-McCloy 13 – Despite some close games elsewhere in this bracket, this one wins out because Ithaca is ranked No. 1 and Montrose came in No. 2. The Yellowjackets also knocked out the Rams last season on the way to winning the MHSAA title.
DIVISION 7: Hudson 22, Union City 14 – Both came in undefeated, with Hudson No. 3 and Union City tied for No. 7 in the final Associated Press poll. But Hudson ended Union City’s best season in a decade.
DIVISION 8: Mendon 28, Muskegon Catholic Central 21 – The conclusion of this incredibly competitive district pitted the teams that were tied for the top spot in the state poll heading into the playoffs. But the schedule won’t get too much easier for Mendon with five more of the top 10 still alive.
8-PLAYER: Carsonville-Port Sanilac 53, Bellaire 22 – The rematch of last season’s unofficial championship game went the Tigers’ way again. The teams also met in the regular-season finale last season after winning their respective leagues in something of an 8-player title game because the MHSAA didn’t begin sponsoring playoffs until this fall.
NUMBERS GAME
1 – Number of District championships won by Hemlock, thanks to Friday’s 27-20 win over Freeland in Division 5. The Huskies made the playoffs for the first time in 2005, and had fallen in first-round games three times before opening this postseason with a win over Carrollton two weeks ago.
519 – Carsonville-Port Sanilac’s points scored this season in 10 games (not counting the 1-0 result from another win by forfeit). That’s nearly 52 points per game, and has included outputs of 53, 57, 62, 70 and 91.
5 – Overtimes combined needed to determine two Division 6 District finals. Iron Mountain outlasted McBain 36-35 in three extra periods, while Constantine downed Schoolcraft 37-30 in two.
27 – East Grand Rapids’ consecutive playoff wins. The run has included five straight MHSAA championships. The last postseason loss came in 2005 to Caledonia, which then went on to win the Division 3 title.
MORE FANTASTIC FINISHES
Port Huron 27, Rochester Adams 21 – A late 85-yard scoring run following a goal-line stand helped Port Huron advance in Division 3 and win its 10th game for the first time in program history. Click for more from the Port Huron Times-Herald.
Birmingham Brother Rice 30, Farmington Hills Harrison 7 – Not quite close, but significant. Reigning MHSAA champion Harrison was again the favorite, and did play without its starting quarterback. But No. 7 Brother Rice will be a popular choice now to reach its first final since 2005.Click for more from the Detroit Free Press.
Mount Pleasant 35, Petoskey 28 – The Oilers trailed by two touchdowns on three occasions before coming away with a season-extending – and upset-avoiding – victory. Click for more from the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun.
Grass Lake 23, Leslie 22 – One of our Prep Zone games on FoxSportsDetroit.com, this one went down to the final minute. At the end, undefeated Grass Lake prevailed – but not without a scare. Click for more from the Jackson Citizen-Patriot.
Fowler 24, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart 21 – Fowler was certainly the favorite, and tied for the No. 9 spot in the state poll. But the Eagles did have to outlast a fast start and then late run by the Irish, last season’s MHSAA champion. Click for more from the Lansing State Journal.
UP NEXT – REGIONAL FINALS and 8-player SEMIS
DIVISION 1: Detroit Cass Tech (8-3) at Warren DeLaSalle (9-2) – 7 p.m. Friday at SCS Lake Shore – DeLaSalle can reach 10 wins for the third time in six seasons, and its list of fallen foes is, as usual, impressive. But Cass Tech ranks well with the best the Pilots have seen. The Technicians own a win over Detroit Martin Luther King (see below) with losses to Division 2 No. 1 Farmington Hills Harrison and twice to Detroit Crockett (also mentioned below).
DIVISION 2: Detroit Martin Luther King (8-3) at Wyandotte Roosevelt (10-1) – 7 p.m. Friday – Roosevelt is 10-1 for the second straight season, and tied for the No. 7 spot in the state poll. But unranked King might be the best three-loss team this side of East Grand Rapids. All three of King’s this fall were to teams still alive, and by a combined 11 points.
DIVISION 3: East Grand Rapids (8-3) at Holland (9-2) – 1 p.m. Saturday – A tremor was felt all the way from the lake shore when Holland knocked off East Grand Rapids 30-22 in Week 2. And that was just the start, as Holland has gone on to earn its second playoff berth ever and first postseason win. Still, the Pioneers came into the postseason ranked No. 9, while Holland is unranked and at least some people’s underdog.
DIVISION 4: Detroit Crockett (10-1) at Marine City (11-0) – 7 p.m. Friday – Top-ranked Marine City has taken out Nos. 6 and 8 from the top 10 so far, and now will try to do the same with No. 5 Crockett. But Crockett’s only loss was to Division 2 District champ King, which Crockett then beat in a rematch. The Rockets and strong-armed quarterback Brian Blackburn made the Semifinals last season, and won’t go quietly.
DIVISION 5: Menominee (9-2) at Grand Rapids West Catholic (9-2) – 3 p.m. Saturday – West Catholic is the reigning Division 5 champion, but had to escape Menominee 24-20 in a Semifinal along the way last fall. The Maroons always are a point of curiousity because of their thriving single wing offense, and come in ranked No. 5 to West Catholic’s No. 7.
DIVISION 6: Morley-Stanwood (10-1) at Iron Mountain (10-0) – 1 p.m. Saturday – Morley-Stanwood has double figures wins for the third straight season, and already has taken out No. 6 Shelby and No. 8 Clare. Now the Mohawks will attempt the same against No. 3 Iron Mountain, which survived a close one against McBain to reach 10 wins for the fourth time in five seasons.
DIVISION 7: Hudson (11-0) at Detroit Loyola (11-0) – 1 p.m. Saturday at Madison Heights Bishop Foley – Reigning champion Hudson has won its last seven playoff games and 11 of its last 12, but comes into this as a rare underdog ranked No. 3 with Loyola No. 2. That said, the Tigers have scored at least 35 points in all but two games this season. But Loyola has posted shutouts in five of its last six.
DIVISION 8: Crystal Falls Forest Park (9-1) at St. Ignace La Salle (11-0) – 7 p.m. Friday – It’s a rare day when Forest Park isn’t the heavy favorite to get down state – the No. 6 Trojans have played in seven of the last 11 Division 8 Finals. But No. 3 St. Ignace is having its best season since 1988 and dropped a season-high 55 points on Rudyard in the District final win.
8-PLAYER: Engadine (7-4) at Rapid River (10-1) – 1 p.m. Saturday --- These two are in the same league and faced each other during the regular season; Rapid River won 50-32. With all of the points scored in 8-player games, that’s not as wide a margin as it might seem. But Engadine still must slow down a Rapid River offense averaging 52 points per game – just as the Eagles did in upsetting Cedarville 36-14 last week in another rematch.
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.)