Playoffs: Regional Finals in Review
December 16, 2011
The first MHSAA football champion of 2011 will be crowned Friday, and by the end of Saturday we’ll know who will play for the rest Thanksgiving weekend at Ford Field.
Here’s one take of the most significant results from the postseason’s third weekend, plus links to coverage from the biggest games and a brief look at all 16 Semifinals coming up Saturday.
Let us know if I missed a game or a highlight I should've mentioned by posting below. And click here for results, schedules and more. (Rankings below by The Associated Press' panel of media voters.)
1st and 10
DIVISON 1: Detroit Cass Tech 6, Warren DeLaSalle 0 – Before 2010, Cass Tech had never won a Regional championship. Now, the Technicians have won two straight.
DIVISION 2: Walled Lake Western 21, Port Huron 20 (2OT) – A celebration for one and heart break for the other as Walled Lake Western left with its first Regional title since 2001.
DIVISION 3: East Grand Rapids 42, Holland 21 – The Pioneers avenged a Week 2 loss to the Dutch to extend their playoff winning streak to 28.
DIVISION 4: Grosse Ile 18, Battle Creek Pennfield 13 – Best win in Grosse Ile history? Gotta be up there. Pennfield was ranked No. 3, Grosse Ile unranked, and the victory gave the Red Devils their first 10-win season and second Semifinal berth ever.
DIVISION 5: Grand Rapids West Catholic 55, Menominee 34 – It came a game earlier this season, but West Catholic knocked Menominee out for the second in a row. West Catholic is ranked No. 7 and Menominee No. 5.
DIVISION 6: Ithaca 22, Montague 19 (OT) – The top-ranked Yellowjackets have had few scares during their 26-game winning streak, but No. 7 Montague likely gave them their biggest of the run.
DIVISION 7: Hudson 35, Detroit Loyola 0 – So much for rankings on this one. Loyola was No. 2 and Hudson No. 3, but the Tigers extended their own 26-game win streak in a big way.
DIVISION 8: St. Ignace La Salle 27, Crystal Falls Forest Park 14 – An Upper Peninsula team might again represent in the Division 8 Final in two weeks. But No. 4 St. Ignace will get its shot this time after knocking off near-annual Finals road-trippers, the Trojans, who came in ranked No. 6.
8-PLAYER: Rapid River 40, Engadine 0; Carsonville-Port Sanilac 47, Marine City Cardinal Mooney 0 – A coincidence that these Semifinals both ended in decisive shutouts. But they appear to be equally decisive statements about which teams belong in Friday’s first-ever MHSAA 8-player Final.
NUMBERS GAME
26 – Winning streaks by both Hudson and Ithaca thanks to Regional wins. Hudson is the reigning Division 7 champion and Ithaca won the Division 6 title in 2010, when both finished 14-0.
42 – Combined rushing touchdowns scored this season by Carsonville-Port Sanilac quarterback Hayden Adams and running backs Ryan Davis and Dan Rickett. All have at least 11 scores on the ground.
20 – Number of completions, in 20 attempts, Lansing Catholic quarterback Cooper Rush strung together to begin Friday’s win over Dowagiac. The streak tied the MHSAA record.
6 – Seasons, out of the last eight, that Rockford has advanced at least to the MHSAA Semifinals. The Rams will play in their second straight Saturday, and have won three MHSAA championships during that run.
MORE FANTASTIC FINISHES
Detroit Cass Tech 6, Warren DeLaSalle 0 – A bit of continuation on the above comment, as the Technicians clinched that second-straight Regional title with a touchdown run with 1:38 to play. Click to read more from the Detroit Free Press.
Rockford 30, Grand Blanc 28 – Rockford got up 23-7 before holding off a late charge by a Grand Blanc team averaging 54 points in this season’s playoffs heading into the night. Read more about it in the Grand Rapids Press.
Mount Pleasant 28, East Lansing 20 – East Lansing led by six with 11 minutes to play before Mount Pleasant, and especially its defense, took over. Find out more from the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun.
Almont 31, Jackson Lumen Christi 21 – Almont has strung together six straight winning seasons, but its only other Regional final of the 256-team playoff era ended in a loss to Lumen Christi in 2008. Two late touchdowns sent the Raiders to their first Semifinal. Click for more from the Jackson Citizen-Patriot.
UP NEXT – 8-player FINAL and 11-player SEMIFNALS
8-PLAYER: Rapid River (11-1) vs. Carsonville-Port Sanilac (11-1) – 7 p.m. Friday at Northern Michigan’s Superior Dome – The inaugural MHSAA 8-player Final matches teams separated by 382 miles and Mackinaw Bridge.
DIVISION 1: Rockford (11-1) vs. Detroit Catholic Central (11-1) – 1 p.m. at Battle Creek Central; Utica Eisenhower (11-1) vs. Detroit Cass Tech (9-3) – 1 p.m. at Troy Athens – Rockford, DCC and Utica Eisenhower are ranked 1-3, respectively, and Cass Tech didn’t make the top 10 heading into the playoffs. But the Technicians have proven their merit. The Rockford/DCC game is a rematch of the 1998 Class AA Final, which DCC won before these players had started elementary school. Eisenhower is playing for its fifth Finals berth, and first since 2003.
DIVISION 2: Lowell (11-1) vs. Walled Lake Western (11-1) – 11:30 a.m. at Central Michigan; Birmingham Brother Rice (8-4) vs. Detroit Martin Luther King (9-3) – 1 p.m. at West Bloomfield – Brother Rice beat King on opening night 28-21 and entered the postseason tied for No. 7 in the state poll with Wyandotte-Roosevelt, which King shut out last week. Lowell and Walled Lake Western aren’t completely unfamiliar either – they faced off on opening night 2010. The Warriors have won their three playoff games by a combined 11 points, and will look to harness a Lowell offense that has scored fewer than 35 only once during October and November.
DIVISION 3: Mount Pleasant (12-0) vs. East Grand Rapids (9-3) – 1 p.m. at Ferris State; Battle Creek Harper Creek (12-0) vs. Orchard Lake St. Mary (10-2) – 1 p.m. at Jackson’s Withington Stadium – Three of the top four in the Associated Press poll plus the reigning state champ making up this field, and the No. 1 Oilers are the next to try to halt EGR’s playoff winning streak (see above), which has included wins over Mount Pleasant three of the last four seasons. Orchard Lake St. Mary also is a regular in this round, coming off three MHSAA runner-up finishes in the last four seasons. Harper Creek's last Semifinal appearance, in 1999, also was against the Eaglets.
DIVISION 4: Comstock Park (10-2) vs. Zeeland West (12-0) – 1 p.m. at Jenison; Grosse Ile (10-2) vs. Marine City (12-0) – 1 p.m. at Birmingham Groves – Top-ranked Marine City and No. 2 Zeeland West are likely heavy favorites against unranked opponents. But like Grosse Ile (see above), Comstock Park is riding high in the underdog role and is in its first Semifinal since 1983.
DIVISION 5: Grand Rapids West Catholic (10-2) vs. Lansing Catholic (12-0) – 1 p.m. at East Kentwood; Almont (11-1) vs. Flint Powers Catholic (8-4) – 1 p.m. at Ortonville Brandon – Last season’s champion West Catholic must now defend against this fall’s top-ranked favorite Lansing Catholic. But the other game has similar intrigue: Almont is No. 4 and knocked off annual giant Jackson Lumen Christi, while Flint Powers knocked off a giant itself on the way here in No. 3 Millington.
DIVISION 6: Iron Mountain (11-0) vs. Ithaca (12-0) – 1 p.m. at Northern Michigan; Constantine (10-2) vs. Ecorse (10-1) – 1 p.m. at Gibraltar-Carlson – Top-ranked Ithaca is headed back to the Superior Dome for the second straight season, and knocked off No. 3 Iron Mountain in the same round, same location on the way to last year’s MHSAA title. Constantine is looking to break through playing in its third straight Semifinal, but faces an Ecorse team that has won 10 games for the first time.
DIVISION 7: Traverse City St. Francis (11-1) vs. Saginaw Nouvel (11-0) – 2:30 p.m. at Central Michigan; Pewamo-Westphalia (12-0) vs. Hudson (12-0) – 1 p.m. at Vicksburg – All four of these teams entered the playoffs ranked among the top six, and St. Francis, Nouvel and Hudson have combined to win an MHSAA championship six straight seasons (Nouvel’s two came in Division 6). P-W has never played in a final – but also has never been 12-0.
DIVISION 8: St. Ignace La Salle (12-0) vs. Fowler (10-2) – 1 p.m. at Traverse City’s Thirlby Field; Mendon (12-0) vs. New Lothrop (12-0) – 1 p.m. at Howell – Mendon has taken down two top-eight teams so far this postseason, but No. 3 New Lothrop might be the toughest still with a defense giving up 3.9 points per game. The winner will take on a rejuvenated power – St. Ignace is playing for its first MHSAA Final berth since 1985, while Fowler is looking to get back to Detroit for the first time since 1998.
(Photo courtesy of Terry McNamara Photography.)
1st & Goal: 2024 Week 9 Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 24, 2024
Over the next 72 hours, high school football will end for many and championship hopes will restart for several, and we will honor and appreciate both.
This is the final weekend of the 2024 regular season, and just more than half of 600 varsity teams will conclude three months that for most were several years in the making. On Sunday, we’ll announce the pairings for this season’s MHSAA Playoffs, and 288 of those teams will begin another season they hope will end in late November with a Finals championship.
And here’s the best part in this moment: There’s still plenty to decide and memories to be made.
Games listed below are tonight unless noted, with results posting as they are reported all weekend on the MHSAA Scores page, and every division’s playoff points summary updating as well as scores are received. Full playoff brackets will be announced at 4:30 p.m. Sunday on FanDuel Sports Network (formerly Bally Sports Detroit), with game dates and times added to MHSAA.com throughout Monday.
Bay & Thumb
Davison (6-2) at Lapeer (5-3) WATCH
Although Grand Blanc wrapped up the Saginaw Valley League Red title last week with its 55-49 win over Davison, the Cardinals can bounce back and lock down not only second place but more importantly a spot among the top half on the Division 1 playoff list. Davison is No. 13 and Lapeer is No. 24, and those two and Grand Blanc have ended up in the same District the last two seasons. Last year Davison and Lapeer played each other back-to-back in Week 9 and then a District Semifinal, with the Cardinals winning 56-55 and 76-35.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Gladwin (6-2) at Frankenmuth (8-0) WATCH, Midland Dow (5-3) at Midland (7-1) WATCH, Port Huron Northern (6-2) at St. Clair (6-2), Ovid-Elsie (7-1) at Standish-Sterling (5-3) WATCH.
Greater Detroit
Detroit Martin Luther King (6-2) vs. Detroit Catholic Central (8-0) at Ford Field
This matchup will conclude a day of Catholic High School League Prep Bowl festivities at Ford Field, and it’s an incredible regular-season finale for the entire state as the 7:30 p.m. kickoff matches the CHSL Central champion Shamrocks against the Detroit Public School League Blue title-winning Crusaders. They last met in a 2019 season opener, won by DCC 24-22, but do have a common opponent this fall as King fell to Warren De La Salle Collegiate 35-13 in Week 2 and the Shamrocks doubled up the Pilots 31-14 in Week 5.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Birmingham Seaholm (6-2) at Birmingham Groves (8-0) WATCH, Saline (5-3) at Lake Orion (6-2) WATCH, Macomb Dakota (7-1) at Oxford (6-2) WATCH. SATURDAY Macomb Lutheran North (7-1) vs. Clarkston Everest Collegiate (8-0) at Ford Field.
Mid-Michigan
Belleville (8-0) at Howell (8-0) WATCH
This Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship game could be considered among Howell’s most notable opportunities in 60 years. The Highlanders are playing for a first perfect regular season since 1963 – according to Michigan-Football.com – and to achieve it they’ll have to overcome a team that has played in three straight Division 1 championship games and won them in 2021 and 2022. Every serious high school football fan in Michigan knows of Tigers four-year star quarterback Bryce Underwood, but Howell also will have to contend with a defense that hasn’t given up a point since Week 6. The Highlanders are familiar with top competition, however, opening with a win over Hudsonville before making their first undefeated league title run since 2008.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Hopkins (6-2) at Belding (7-1), Lansing Everett (6-2) at DeWitt (8-0) WATCH, Petoskey (8-0) at Clare (7-1) WATCH, Fenton (7-1) at Mason (6-2).
Northern Lower Peninsula
Fowler (8-0) at McBain (8-0)
Fowler is the top-ranked team in the Division 8 coaches poll, and McBain is No. 5 in Division 7. Both will carry impressive league title runs into the playoffs, as McBain’s in the Highland Conference included a four-point victory over Division 8 No. 4 Beal City and a seven-pointer over Evart, while Fowler was challenged by Division 7 No. 6 Pewamo-Westphalia in a 14-11 win and opened this season with a 20-6 victory over No. 9 Hudson. Fowler won last year’s Week 9 meeting with McBain 40-0, but this Ramblers team has avenged all three of its other 2023 regular-season defeats.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Croswell-Lexington (6-2) at Ogemaw Heights (7-1) WATCH, Kingsley (6-2) at Charlevoix (6-2) WATCH, Traverse City West (5-3) at Traverse City Central (4-4) WATCH, Traverse City St. Francis (6-2) at Boyne City (6-2) WATCH.
Southeast & Border
Dexter (8-0) at Chelsea (7-1) WATCH
This is a matchup of champions in the Southeastern Conference between the Red’s Dexter and White’s Chelsea, their second as nonleague opponents after years together in the White or the formerly one-division SEC. Chelsea won last year’s matchup 31-21 and owned this rivalry for several seasons until the Dreadnaughts claimed their 2022 contest. The Bulldogs are coming off a 21-20 win over Trenton last week but have otherwise marched through most of their schedule since a season-opening loss to still-undefeated Grand Rapids Northview. Dexter has won six straight by double digits after receiving a forfeit win from Saline in Week 2 and edging Livonia Franklin 27-26 to open the fall.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Ida (7-1) at Clinton (6-2) WATCH, Manchester (6-2) at Jonesville (5-3). SATURDAY Leslie (7-1) at Hanover-Horton (8-0), Kalamazoo United (7-1) vs. Jackson Lumen Christi (7-1) at Ford Field.
Southwest Corridor
Niles (7-1) at Paw Paw (8-0) WATCH
The Wolverine Conference championship comes down to a winner-take-all Week 9 matchup between these two for the second straight season, and with the only loss between them this time Niles’ to St. Joseph all the way back on Aug. 30. The Vikings defeated Paw Paw 56-18 to take the league title last year and again 42-13 for a District championship two weeks later. And there’s no arguing that Niles hasn’t dominated Wolverine play so far, outscoring its six league opponents by a combined 298-27 – although Paw Paw accomplished just about the same, outscoring then same teams by a combined 262-26. The Red Wolves also had early wins over eventual league champions Big Rapids and Berrien Springs before beginning the pursuit of their own.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY White Pigeon (7-1) at Bronson (6-2) WATCH, St. Joseph (7-1) at Portage Central (6-2), Constantine (6-2) at Lawton (6-2) WATCH, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix (5-3) at Kalamazoo Central (5-3) WATCH.
Upper Peninsula
Marquette (6-2) at Kingsford (8-0) WATCH
There are a few storylines here of note. Kingsford, coming off its first 10-win season last year since 2004, is seeking to finish off a first perfect regular season since 2002. But Marquette has a ton riding on this as well; the Sentinels, with their best record since 2021, sit three spots outside the Division 2 playoff field. They will be aiming to defeat the Flivvers for the first time since 2021, and then relying on their previous opponents from this season to have enough Week 9 success (and gain them enough bonus points) to boost them into the field.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Negaunee (6-2) at Iron Mountain (8-0) WATCH. FRIDAY Bark River-Harris (5-3) at Menominee (7-1), Houghton (3-5) at Hancock (1-7), Escanaba (4-4) at Gladstone (1-7) WATCH.
West Michigan
Cedar Springs (7-1) at Coopersville (5-3)
These two and Lowell enter the final week of the first season of the River Cities Alliance all tied for first place – meaning the winner of this game is guaranteed at least a share of the championship, and Lowell can pick up a share as well with a win over Greenville. Cedar Springs has bounced back nicely from last season’s 4-5 finish, with its only loss to Lowell in Week 5. Coopersville has guaranteed a fourth-straight winning regular season but is in league title contention this late for the first time in several. The Broncos are coming off back-to-back losses, a two-point heartbreaker against Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills and then a 24-7 defeat to a league champion in Big Rapids last week.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Grand Rapids West Catholic (6-2) at Zeeland West (7-1) WATCH. FRIDAY Rockford (6-2) at East Kentwood (5-3) WATCH, East Grand Rapids (5-3) at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (6-2), Manistee (5-3) at Mason County Central (7-1).
8-Player
Alcona (8-0) at Deckerville (8-0) WATCH
The 8-player slate this week has multiple league-title deciders – but this one could impact the pursuit of the Division 1 championship over the next month. Deckerville is No. 1 in 8-player Division 1 playoff-point average at 37.750, and Alcona is just behind at No. 2 and 37.542. Of course other numbers come into play, both will be need to win their first three playoff games, and maps aren’t even drawn yet – but if they end up on the same side of the bracket, tonight’s matchup could end up determining which teams hosts a Semifinal rematch if that becomes reality.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Powers North Central (7-1) at Crystal Falls Forest Park (8-0), Gaylord St. Mary (7-1) at Indian River Inland Lakes (8-0), Pittsford (7-1) at Climax-Scotts (7-1), Munising (6-2) at Pickford (8-0).
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PHOTO A pair of Ovid-Elsie defenders close in on New Lothrop’s Michael Schachter (9) during the Marauders’ 42-0 Week 8 victory. (Photo by Click by Christine McCallister.)