Scheduling Solution
September 27, 2016
One of our state's consistently best high school football programs needed a ninth game this season but could find no opponent within the state of Michigan. It was able to find a game with an equally prestigious football program in an adjacent state that was having the same problem – the "problem" of being such a formidable program year after year that other schools shied away from scheduling them.
Two different schools in two different states with two different football playoff formats and qualifying procedures, facing the same problem.
This helps to demonstrate that it is not any particular football playoff system that is at the heart of high school football scheduling difficulties. Much more at fault is human nature. One could change the qualifying system or double the number of qualifiers so that even winless teams make the playoffs, and some schools would still refuse to schedule others, which would then have to travel out of state to complete their schedules.
The solution to football scheduling will have very little to do with expanding the playoff field or changing the qualifying criteria. It is only when the scheduling of varsity football games is removed from the local level and assigned to the MHSAA that all teams will play the opponents that are closest to them in enrollment and location. Hard to fathom that will ever occur. But then, no team would have to travel out of state, or even across the state, to complete a varsity football schedule.
Flashback 100: 8-Player Football Finals Right at Home at Superior Dome
November 22, 2024
The MHSAA 8-Player Football Finals will be played Saturday for the eighth time at the Superior Dome at Northern Michigan University in Marquette — though that run of eight seasons has not been consecutive.
The MHSAA began sponsoring playoffs for 8-player football in 2011, initially with just one division. The first championship game was played at the Superior Dome, where Carsonville-Port Sanilac defeated Rapid River to claim the title.
From 2012 to 2016, Greenville High School hosted the Finals. In 2017, 8-player split into two divisions and the Finals returned to the Superior Dome, where two division champions were crowned in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The COVID-delayed 2020 8-Player Finals were played at the Legacy Center in Brighton, before the champonships returned in 2021 to Marquette, where they have since remained.
To recap: one year in Brighton, five years in Greenville, and this marks the eighth year at the Superior Dome.
Powers North Central is the only team to win a Final at all three locations. The Jets are undefeated in 8-player championship games, with five titles to their name — two in Greenville, two at the Superior Dome, and one in Brighton.
The Superior Dome, which opened in 1991, is the largest wooden dome in the world. It’s a geodesic dome, meaning its structure is based on a polyhedron lattice. You might recognize this design from the Spaceship Earth exhibit at Epcot. The dome stands 143 feet tall, has a diameter of 536 feet, and covers more than five acres. Its retractable artificial playing surface serves as the home field for the Northern Michigan University football, women’s lacrosse, and women’s track & field teams.
8-Player Football Finals at the Superior Dome
2011: Carsonville-Port Sanilac over Rapid River 59-20 (recap)
2017 Div. 1: Central Lake over Deckerville 32-30 (recap)
2017 Div. 2: Crystal Falls Forest Park over Portland St. Patrick 54-12 (recap)
2018 Div. 1: Morrice over Pickford 44-16 (recap)
2018 Div. 2: Rapid River over Onekama 30-18 (recap)
2019 Div. 1: Colon over Suttons Bay 26-24 (recap)
2019 Div. 2: Pickford over Portland St. Patrick 48-15 (recap)
2021 Div. 1: Adrian Lenawee Christian over Suttons Bay 31-20 (recap)
2021 Div. 2: Powers North Central over Colon 63-0 (recap)
2022 Div. 1: Martin over Merrill 74-24 (recap)
2022 Div. 2: Powers North Central over Mendon 66-26 (recap)
2023 Div. 1: Marin over Indian River Inland Lakes 30-26 (recap)
2023 Div. 2: Adrian Lenawee Christian over Marion 36-18 (recap)
Previous "Flashback 100" Features
Nov. 8: Future Baseball Pro Led Escanaba's Legendary Football Title Run - Read
Nov. 1: Michigan High School Baseball Trio Provide World Series Voices - Read
Oct. 25: Before Leading Free World, Ford Starred for Champion GR South - Read
Oct. 18: Mercy Links Legend Becomes World Golf Hall of Famer - Read
Oct. 11: Fisher Races to Finals Stardom on Way to U.S. Olympic First - Read
Oct. 4: Lalas Leaves High School Legacies on Ice & Pitch - Read
Sept. 27: Tamer's History-Making Run Starts in Dexter, Continues to Paris - Read
Sept. 20: Todd Martin’s Road to Greatness Starts at East Lansing - Read
Sept. 13: James Earl Jones, Dickson High Hoops to Hollywood Legend - Read
Sept. 6: Pioneers' Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons - Read
Aug. 30: Detroit dePorres Rushes to 1995 Class CC Football Championship - Read