Russell Drives West Catholic to Repeat
November 29, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
DETROIT – Travis Russell had faced this situation plenty over the last three years – first at the end of the 2012 Division 5 Final, then while lying in bed at night before games over the last two seasons.
As a sophomore quarterback that season, attempting to lead Grand Rapids West Catholic on a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter, Russell was the listener – to his then-senior receivers and linemen offering encouragement – as the Falcons came up 12 yards short of overtaking Portland for an MHSAA title.
On Saturday, in the last of his three championship game appearances and final of 42 high school games, Russell entered the huddle as leader – encouraging teammates who stood 64 yards and three points from the school’s second straight title.
He told them, “This is what we live for, guys. We worked so hard all season for this moment. It’s going to pay off. Give everything you have, and it’s going to be fine.”
More than six minutes and 17 plays later, Russell ran three yards through the middle of Lansing Catholic’s defense to give West Catholic a 24-20 lead it would defend over the final minute to claim the school’s third MHSAA championship in five seasons and first perfect season since 1976.
“Definitely I lived it in the past; sometimes the night before games I’d think about it,” Russell said of the failed final possession in 2012, which stalled at Portland's 12-yard line as the Falcons lost 12-9. “Today, it wasn’t on my mind at all. Really, all I thought about was what can we do for each other right now to get it done.”
Russell ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 203 and another score as the Falcons opened with a 17-0 lead, allowed the previously-undefeated Cougars to score 20 unanswered points, and then went back ahead late with Russell either running or throwing on all 17 plays of the final drive.
Lansing Catholic (13-1) completed a pass to its 32-yard line to begin its last-ditch possession to retake the lead, but senior Brett Wildman came down with an interception on the next play to effectively end the game.
Grand Rapids West Catholic (14-0) rarely trailed this season in outscoring its opponents on average 41-14. The Falcons fell behind last week early in its Semifinal against Menominee, also its opponent in the 2013 Final (a 27-14 win), but had never trailed in the fourth quarter this fall.
But after scoring on three of its first four possessions, West Catholic didn’t again for more than 24 minutes while Lansing Catholic scored on three of its next four after Russell’s 8-yard scoring run with 1:43 to go in the first half.
Cougars junior quarterback Tony Poljan – who also ran for a 7-yard score and threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to senior Zac Baker during the comeback – gave Lansing Catholic a 20-17 lead with a 22-yard scoring pass to junior running back Tony Palmer with 7:38 to play.
“We talk all the time (about) don’t get rattled, stay focused, teams are going to make plays,” West Catholic coach Dan Rohn said. “This is state championship football; you don’t get here with a bad football team. We had to make adjustments, they made some big plays and we were a little down on ourselves. But we stayed focused and made sure when we got the ball back that we chipped away a little bit.
“We have 24 seniors, and we need those kids to stay focused and play like leaders down the stretch. You don’t get to this level without those kind of kids and that kind of effort.”
That’s something Lansing Catholic has known as well in making the Finals twice over the last four seasons. In 2011, the Cougars were led by another sizable quarterback in Cooper Rush (now starting at Central Michigan University) but fell to Flint Powers Catholic 56-26 in that championship game. The 6-foot-7, 230-pound Poljan had never played quarterback before last season; he finished the Final with 60 yards rushing and a touchdown and 269 passing with two scores – giving him 2,806 yards and 34 touchdowns passing and 1,013 yards and 23 touchdowns rushing for the season.
“(He’s a) tremendous athlete that’s worked really hard to get where he’s at,” Lansing Catholic coach Jim Ahern said. “When we had to get some yards today, he got yards. He threw the ball well.
“I’m real proud of him. He’s worked for everything he’s got.”
Palmer was Poljan’s main target, catching eight passes, while senior lineman Ian Gorgenson paced the Cougars’ defense with 13 tackles. Senior running back Nick Buursma also ran for a score for West Catholic, and senior Charlie O’Connor had 111 receiving yards and caught the lone scoring toss from Russell. Wildman had a team-high 10 tackles and a sack in addition to his rally-stopping interception.
Lansing Catholic hadn’t scored fewer than 21 points since opening night 2013 and hadn’t given up more than 22 since West Catholic put up 38 on the Cougars in last season’s District Final. Ahern believed the teams were similar – similar offensive styles, standout quarterbacks who can run and pass. But Lansing Catholic just couldn’t stop what it knew was coming in crunch time.
“It just shows the growth and resilience of this team. We’ve been in every situation that is possible, and it’s just a credit to the guys,” Russell said. “Being able to fight, to dig deep and find something that Coach can’t really tell us to have. You can’t teach the will power guys had at practice, that was able to help us get it done today.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Rapids West Catholic celebrates its second straight MHSAA Division 5 championship Saturday at Ford Field. (Middle) West Catholic’s Brett Wildman (2) works with a teammate to bring down Lansing Catholic’s Tony Poljan. (Click for action photos and team photos from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
FALCONS FIRST TD - Grand Rapids West Catholic led 10-0 after the first quarter, its touchdown coming on an 87-yard pitch and catch from Travis Russell to Charlie O'Connor.
COUGARS BACK IN THE GAME - Late in the third quarter, Lansing Catholic tightened things up with a 96-yard drive, capped by a 41-yard pass from Tony Poljan to Zac Baker.
Watch the game in its entirety and order DVDs by Clicking Here, and watch the postgame press conference by Clicking Here.
1975 Ishpeming Title Made National News, Set Standard for Success to Come
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
November 22, 2024
ISHPEMING — Before the 1975 season started, Ishpeming football players talked about the possibility of playing Hudson for a Class C championship.
That was no easy task with just four teams in each Class making the playoffs during the first year the MHSAA sponsored a football tournament.
“We just said to ourselves, ‘Wouldn’t it be something if we played them in the state championship game?’” said Mark Marana, Ishpeming’s all-state quarterback.
When that dream came true, the Hematites felt confident they could defeat Hudson, Marana said, no matter how improbable it appeared.
Hudson entered the 1975 Class C championship game on a 72-game winning streak. The Tigers had been featured in Sports Illustrated, and they were highlighted on TV before a Sunday of NFL games. Everyone knew about Hudson.
When Ishpeming beat the Tigers, the New York Times published a wire story about it.
The Hematites stunned everyone but themselves with that 38-22 victory to become the first Class C champions in Michigan.
“It was one of the greatest things I’ve been a part of in my lifetime,” Marana said.
He said they’re still celebrating the title, and he’s 67 years old.
“It was really a highlight in our community, naturally,” Marana said. “When you’re a Yooper, I think we had the whole U.P. going for us to win the game and the state championship. It was great; we were an underdog going in. They were a good team, but we were also good ourselves.”
The Hematites played bigger schools throughout most of their schedule, including undefeated Class A Marquette, which likely helped them clinch one of the four playoff spots.
“We had some talent,” Marana said. “We had a great tailback in Mike Dellangelo (5-foot-6, 160 pounds). We were doing some things offensively that people weren’t doing at the time. We were running the option game out of the I formation. We had multiple formations, which a lot of teams didn’t do at that time.”
Ishpeming jumped Hudson early. Bill Andriacchi blocked a punt to set up the first score of the game, and Ishpeming led 24-8 after the first quarter.
Hematites’ coach Mike Mileski emphasized the importance of that play to the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
“We had three guys scout Hudson in their Semifinal, and one of the things we thought we could do was block their punts,” he said. “We had four different rushes planned, and we just called the right one in that case. It was our game after that.”
“There was pressure on those guys,” Marana said. “That was one thing that was real critical is that we jumped out to a great start.”
Dellangelo rushed for 158 yards on 21 carries and scored two touchdowns in the championship game played at Central Michigan University.
He scored his first touchdown on a 60-yard run; with Marana’s 2-point run, it gave Ishpeming the 24-8 lead going into the second quarter. Dellangelo’s other TD, a 10-yard rush in the third quarter, gave the Hematites a 36-16 advantage.
“Mike Dellangelo was a great, great tailback,” Marana said. “He had great speed, he was an extremely tough kid and he could pick them up and lay them down.”
Marana said the Hematites were well-coached by Mileski. He said he was lucky enough to get the all-state recognition from the Detroit Free Press, but he said he couldn’t have done it without his teammates.
“It happened at the right time, first year of the playoffs. It worked out you’re playing a team that’s got 72 straight wins,” he said. “I’m going to tell you, they were extremely well-coached and they were a very good football team, also.”
Marana said Ishpeming was a close group that grew up together.
“Great coach, great team, great teammates, guys that were dedicated,” Marana said. “We were very close. Actually, when you have a good team, most of the time you’re pretty close to one another.”
They continue to stay in touch. When Marana was inducted into the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame this spring, 18 of his teammates were at the ceremony. There were only 25-26 players on the team.
“We’re very tight, very tight to this day,” he said.
It was the first of seven championship game appearances for Ishpeming, which has won five Finals titles.
It all started with the 1975 team.
PHOTO: Ishpeming's Mark Marana works to break away from a tackler during the 1975 Class C Final. (MHSAA file photo).