Football Classics Featured Friday on FOX
June 4, 2020
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
FOX Sports Detroit on Friday will air a series of “Classic” games from the MHSAA Football Finals, including the longest game in Finals history.
Here’s the complete schedule:
Noon - 1998 Class AA Final: Detroit Catholic Central vs. Rockford – Catholic Central repeats in Class AA with a 27-23 victory. Rockford took a 23-14 lead into the fourth quarter before the Shamrocks got a nine-yard touchdown run from Casey Rogowski on the first play of the segment. With 5:04 to play, a 70-yard pass play from Dave Lusky to Derek Anderson scored the winning points.
2:30 p.m. - 2000 Division 1 Final: Grand Ledge vs. Utica Eisenhower – One of the most dramatic finishes in the history of the Finals, as Grand Ledge scores twice in the final minute to capture the Division 1 title, 19-14. The Comets drove 80 yards in eight plays, capped by a five-yard scoring run by quarterback Matt Bohnet with 53 seconds to go, but failed on the two-point conversion which would have given them the lead. Grand Ledge recovered the ensuing onside kick, and two plays later, Bohnet hit Tim George with a 45-yard touchdown pass with 22 ticks left on the clock for the game winner.
4:30 p.m. - 2006 Division 2 Final: Muskegon vs. Warren De La Salle Collegiate – These two teams went back and forth, with the fourth lead change going Muskegon’s way en route to a 32-30 win for the Big Reds. Ronald Johnson opened the scoring for Muskegon by returning a De La Salle fumble 36 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, and then delivered the winning blow on the first play of the fourth quarter, catching a Chris Crawford pass for a 47-yard scoring play. Crawford rushed for 228 yards and passed for 137.
7 p.m. - 2007 Division 3 Final: East Grand Rapids vs. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s – After ending regulation tied at 14-14, these two teams went for five overtimes before East emerged as a 46-39 winner. During regulation, Joe Glendening scored twice on runs of 68 and eight yards; and in overtime, he scored in the fourth and fifth extra periods.
Some portions of the games may be edited out due to time constraints.
Ford Field Trip Gives Students Taste of Football Finals Broadcasting
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
December 7, 2021
Four levels above them, in the press box, a group of prospective broadcasters were touring the facilities. The high school students had spent the Fall sports season streaming games to the NFHS Network and now were learning about a career in broadcasting from Eric Vandefifer, a Montrose High grad currently serving as the radio voice of Saginaw Valley State University basketball and as a contributor to a variety of high school broadcast channels including the MHSAA Network.
Seven years ago, Vandefifer was in a similar situation. He was part of a field trip to Ford Field for the Finals that helped him realize sports broadcasting was a career he wanted to pursue. Those field trips were headed by Tom Skinner and Thom Lengyel, who became mentors to Vandefifer. As a high school junior in 2017, Vandefifer was named Best Student Broadcaster nationally by the NFHS Network.
“With Tom Skinner now deceased and Thom Lengyel retired from the broadcast business, I just felt like I had to continue this and their legacy,” Vandefifer said. “It was important to me to keep it going because when I was in school, it was something I looked forward to.”
Nearly 50 students from Lowell, Montrose, Lake Orion, Mount Pleasant and Ann Arbor Greenhills high schools made the Nov. 26-27 trip to Ford Field. They were able to film highlights, interview players, practice announcing the games, meet other members of the press and more. For Vandefifer, giving back to students who are in the position he once was is very rewarding.
“We had the ability to feel like real media members for a day. I wanted to be able to give other students that same opportunity,” Vandefifer said. “Seeing kids who have a love for sportscasting and that drive to get better gives me real hope for the next generation in this business.”
And after the field trips were done each day, Vandefifer put his headphones on, got behind the microphone and called the two afternoon games for the MHSAA Championship Network.
PHOTOS (Top) Eighth grader Sam Belill, left, and freshman Owen Leitelt from Montrose practice calling a game from the Ford Field press box. (Middle) Mount Pleasant make a stop at the press conference room. (Photos provided by the Montrose and Mount Pleasant School Broadcast Programs.)