#TBT: 600-plus Teams Ready for Kickoff
August 27, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Football teams have represented Michigan high schools for more than a century, beginning long before the MHSAA was formed during the winter of 1924-25.
This weekend, nearly all of the 614 varsity teams scheduled to play this fall will kick off their seasons – and for a fortunate 18, start a journey that will last more than three months through the MHSAA Finals.
This will be the 40th season of the MHSAA football playoffs, which were first played with a much smaller field of teams in 1975. The field expanded to its current 256 11-player teams in 1999, and an 8-player tournament was added in 2011.
The above photo was taking during a 23-0 Muskegon victory over Escanaba during the 1989 Class A playoffs (senior Marcus Longmire celebrates scoring his team's second touchdown). The Big Reds advanced from this Pre-Regional game to face Midland, then Lansing Sexton, and finally Detroit Martin Luther King in the Class A Final – which Muskegon won 16-13.
The Big Reds have won five MHSAA titles total, and also made Finals the last three seasons, finishing runner-up in Division 2 in 2012 and 2013 and last season in Division 3 after falling 7-0 to Orchard Lake St. Mary's.
Be the Referee: Football Rules Similarities
By
Sam Davis
MHSAA Director of Officials
August 30, 2023
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Football Rules Similarities - Listen
Last week we highlighted some major differences between high school football and the college and pros. This week — how about some of the things that are similar?
New as of last year is the addition of a tackle box when judging intentional grounding. In high school, like college and pros, the QB must be outside of the tackle box and throw it past the line of scrimmage for it to NOT be intentional grounding.
Horse collar tackles are penalties at all three levels of play. The ball carrier must be pulled down backward or to one side for there to be a foul … but if there is, it’s 15 yards.
And a receiver at the high school level needs to have a body part down in bounds, the same as in college. But the NFL requires two feet in for a catch.
Previous Editions
Aug. 23: Football Rules Differences - Listen
(PHOTO by Douglas Bargerstock.)