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.

Bay & Thumb“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.

Hunter Garza eludes an Alcona defender last week. 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.

Eagles coach Bill Brown, in headset, checks his chart on the sideline.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 CostanzoPaul 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.)

Struggle Transforming Into Success as Loy Norrix Builds Best Season since 1990s

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

October 22, 2024

KALAMAZOO — Over Lorenzo Robertson’s first three years as head coach, the Kalamazoo Loy Norrix football team won a total of three games.

Southwest CorridorHis patience and guidance have paid off this year, leading to the Knights' first five-win season since 1998.

A win against crosstown Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference East foe Kalamazoo Central in Friday’s regular-season finale would clinch an outright league championship for the Knights and potentially provide enough boost to get them back into the MHSAA Playoffs for the second time in school history – and first since 1997, when Loy Norrix featured future pros (Todd) T.J. Duckett and Little John Flowers.

Both Loy Norrix and Kalamazoo Central are 5-3 overall and 3-0 in SMAC East play heading into this weekend. The Knights finished 1-7 a year ago and entering this fall had won a combined 10 games over the last 12 – but they’ve guaranteed their first winning regular season in 26 years.

“We turned it around with a new commitment to the classroom,” Robertson said. “A lot of our kids are (now academically) eligible whereas when I got here, a lot of our kids struggled to keep the lower levels eligible. Those kids are now seniors, and they’re all doing well.”

Robertson said when he was hired, athletic director Andrew Laboe told him one of the key focuses was to get the players stronger.

When the new coach realized there was no weight training program, he started one.

“Where I come from (Bloomfield Hills Lahser, Pontiac and Dearborn Heights Robichaud), weights were very important to the point that we had a class for it during the school day for the football team and those that wanted to take the class that weren’t football,” Robertson said.

Clockwise from top left: Knights coach Lorenzo Robertson, Will Dominianni, Rashad Waller and Jones. Robertson also implemented offseason training, and during the second summer camp this year he realized this could be the turnaround season.

“I knew the boys were getting it quickly, and we were able to move fast through the summer,” he said. “Because they had it down through the summer, when the season started, we hit the ground running.

“During our scrimmages, we were miles ahead of the teams we scrimmaged, though they were good teams. I could tell we were ready to go; we were moving fast. I knew that would carry over, just watching them in the summertime.”

Robertson also makes sure the players know the team’s history.

“Our coaches do a good job of researching,” he said. “Every team we play, we give (players) stats on when was the last time we beat ’em, how many times through the years, what’s our record down through the years. We teach these kids history of the Norrix program before we play.”

Before Robertson, things got so bad that in 2020 the football team, struggling to field players, left the SMAC and played as an independent.

This year, after four seasons away, the Knights are back in the conference.

“After our first SMAC game (we felt more competitive) because people were saying you won’t survive in the SMAC – and we come to the SMAC and it’s our best year,” said senior wide receiver/safety Rashad Waller. “That was really when I knew, oh yeah, I know this is it.”

A four-year varsity player, Waller said he stuck it out through the lean seasons because he knew things were bound to improve.

As a freshman, “watching behind the older guys and realizing they don’t have the time (to improve), I don’t want to be that guy,” he said. “I had to make my team lock in.

“Everybody in my class was tired of losing, so we just locked in and got it done. Coaching got a lot better, and guys really wanted it bad and made it happen.”

Waller already owns two school records. He returned two kickoffs for touchdowns to set a single-game record Sept. 20 against Mattawan. Both TD returns went for 99 yards, another all-time Norrix best and long enough to tie the MHSAA 11-player record for kickoff return distance as well.

Another senior, left guard/defensive tackle Will Dominianni, also weathered the previous three dismal varsity years.

Dominianni (64) helps protect his backfield against Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills. “We were a young program with a new head coach, so all of us kind of grew into our roles when it comes to the coaching staff and players as well,” he said. “That was a big thing.

“We’ve really become a tight-knit group over the past couple years with all of us freshmen getting moved up on varsity our freshman year, so it was a bit like baptism by fire. We’ve all embraced the struggle together.”

Dominianni is one of the team’s rotating captains.

“Will Dominianni has probably been captain most of the year,” Robertson said. “David Jones is also having a great season.”

Jones, a junior running back/safety, is a second-year varsity player.

“The new guys we have are more dedicated (than previous years),” he said. “We’re coming together as a team. I knew it could change, and it did.”

Robertson said the success is a total team effort.

“We have a three-headed monster, sometimes a four-headed monster, at running back with David Jones, Maddox Pirochta, Christian Euceda. They have great per-carry averages.

“Whenever we get in trouble, we can give the ball to any of those three. Our running backs coach (Kierre Stinnette) does a great job rotating them in games.”

Robertson also credited his new defensive coordinator, Damion West, brought up from the junior varsity. “We promote from within,” Robertson said. “He’s pitched a couple shutouts with our defense. That will always keep you in games.”

Robertson added that the offensive line also has been a big improvement. 

“This could be the best line I’ve had since being here, and we’re young with only two seniors in that group,” he said.

The quarterback position is shared by senior Jalen Evans and junior Jonavan Hare.

Besides working with players, Robertson also is building a rapport with parents, another key to the program’s success.

“When I came here, there was no parent booster program,” he said. “I’ve always known a parent booster group anywhere I’ve coached. 

“We started that from scratch, and since that’s got rolling with our first group of parents, all the way to now has grown. Volunteerism has grown, and I always think that’s key to growing programs.”

Waller gets to the edge against St. Joseph. He said he’s also thankful the administration stuck with him during the lean years. 

“I think they saw the change in the boys through the years; that kept me here,” he said. “The boys are doing better in school, better citizens and that’s also important.

“Sometimes wins and losses are put on the back burner to what kind of young man you are bringing into the world. Football is such a life-teaching sport.”

Robertson is steeped in life-teaching skills.

A retired minister, he currently commutes to Detroit for his job as captain in the Detroit Fire Department.

“(The fire department job) helps me not take anything for granted with all the tragedy I see and everything else that goes on,” he said. “It helps me care on a personal level, on a human level, for the boys.

"They see a working man, they see somebody who’s a family man that’s dedicated to them. I’ve got common sense, no-nonsense and I think that’s what attracts them.”

Once those players are attracted to the program, Waller has some advice for them.

“A lot of the younger guys complain about playing time, but coach is watching, so just keep your head on and keep grinding,” he said. “You’re gonna get your chance. Other than that, don’t worry about all the offers and all that stuff. It will come eventually.

“The first two years just work on getting your body right, getting fast and keep your grades up – and it will be the best two years of your life.”

Pam ShebestPam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Loy Norrix’s David Jones (6) sprints down the sideline during a Week 6 win over Battle Creek Lakeview. (2) Clockwise from top left: Knights coach Lorenzo Robertson, Will Dominianni, Rashad Waller and Jones. (3) Dominianni (64) helps protect his backfield against Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills. (4) Waller gets to the edge against St. Joseph. (Action photos by Steve Andrie; headshots by Pam Shebest.)