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'Best of' Closes with Big-Time Broadcasts
August 12, 2014
A Football Playoff Semifinal game which went down to the wire highlights the eighth and final week of the "Best Of 2013-14” offerings on the MHSAA.tv Website.
For eight weeks over the summer, MHSAA.tv spotlighted some of the best tournament action from the 2013-14 school year, presenting four games each week.
Each contest is easily identified with a “Best Of 13-14” thumbnail on the home page of the MHSAA.tv Website. Here’s a look at games which will be featured from Aug.11-18:
Ithaca v. Montrose: 2013 Division 6 Football Playoff Semifinal. Ithaca rallied to claim a 21-20 victory, which wasn't secured until Travis Smith intercepted a Montrose pass with a minute to play and then picked up a first down on a quarterback keeper on the subsequent drive.
Gladstone v. Unionville-Sebewaing: 2014 Division 3 Softball Final. Amid chants of “U.P. Power” and “U-S-A,” the Braves made a third-inning run-scoring double by Lexi Hongisto stand up and took the Division 3 championship trophy across the Straits with a 2-1 win over the Patriots.
DeWitt v. Richmond: 2014 Division 2 Baseball Semifinal. Zach Leach pitched a complete-game four-hitter, and Dillon McInerney drove in what proved to be the game-winning run with a sixth-inning double as Richmond advanced to the Final game with a 2-1 win over DeWitt.
Detroit Country Day v. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood: 2014 Division 2 Boys Lacrosse Final. Emilio Sosa scored three goals, and four other players had two goals apiece as Country Day cruised to a 12-8 victory over the Cranes.
During the course of the 2013-14 school year, more than 3,000 events were produced on MHSAA.tv by PlayOn! Sports and MHSAA member schools participating in the School Broadcasting Program, covering everything from athletics to announcements to commencements to the performing arts and school board meetings.
DVD’s of the “Best Of 13-14” game videos are available through the MHSAA.tv Website.
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2011 8-Player Final: Carsonville-Port Sanilac Wins Inaugural Title
December 16, 2011
MARQUETTE – Carsonville-Port Sanilac sophomore Dan Rickett emerged from his team’s final huddle of this season, pulled close to an assistant coach and said, “This one says MHSAA this time.”
His Tigers also celebrated a championship last season – a perfect season in fact, but unofficial title because the MHSAA has not yet instituted playoffs for the now 3-year-old sport.
This year, the first playoffs were held. And that made Friday’s 59-20 win over Rapid River at the Superior Dome – and the trophy C-PS then received – mean so much more.
The Tigers are the first MHSAA 8-player football champions.
“All the people saying last year was nothing, this will shut them up,” C-PS senior quarterback Hayden Adams said. “It means a lot more because we actually had to make a run in the playoffs. It’s that much harder, and we had to play that much better every game.
“I think we topped it off at the end of the season.”
A total of 1,433 fans – most wearing Rapid River’s purple and yellow – cheered on the teams in the inaugural game. C-PS finished 12-1 overall to move to 21-1 in coach Tim Brabant’s two seasons. The Rockets finished 11-2 in their first season of 8-player.
The sport was added by the MHSAA in 2009 to provide another option for schools with enrollments so small they had difficulty fielding an 11-player squad. Playoffs were added this season after the necessary 20 schools announced they’d be sponsoring 8-player teams.
That was not lost on either team, even for Rapid River in the loss. The Rockets had won one game each of the last two seasons playing 11-player teams.
“We had never played in the postseason at all since I’ve been here,” Rapid River senior running back Jacob Berglund said. “To make it this far, it’s awesome.”
Offense has reigned in the early stages of the MHSAA 8-player game. The Final kept to that standard.
The teams combined for 901 yards. Adams completed 12 of 17 passes for 324 yards and five touchdowns, and ran for 130 more yards and two scores. Two of his scoring passes were to his brother Trevor Adams, also a senior, including a 43-yarder on the second play of the game. Rickett ran for 78 yards and a touchdown on five carries, and also caught six passes for 133 yards and two scores.
The Tigers jumped out to a 19-0 lead and pushed it to 27-6 by the end of the first quarter. But in 8-player football, a 21-point advantage generally is not a safe one.
Rapid River outscored C-PS in the second quarter to get within 39-20 by halftime. After completing just one pass during the first quarter, Rockets sophomore quarterback Jake Pearson threw for 144 yards and two scores during the second.
But then something somewhat unimaginable happened. The Tigers held the Rockets scoreless the rest of the game.
“At halftime we made some adjustments on what we should do when they motioned. We picked it up real fast,” said C-PS senior linebacker Steven Koehler, who finished with a game-high 20 tackles, including 12 solos.
“I think that the fact they had 10 seniors, and the speed. They’re a year older, two years older in some cases,” Rapid River coach Steve Ostrenga listed as reasons his team had difficulties. “You get two more years of development in that respect as far as strength, and their speed was noticeable. I think that was the big key, their speed.”
Half of C-PS’s players were seniors who had served large roles on this and last season’s teams.
“It’s very fun to watch when we have a group of kids who are that athletic, hard working, and very polite. It’s hard for me to send these guys off,” Brabant said. “I get emotional just thinking about it. But … I know they’re going to be very successful in life.”
The Rockets, meanwhile, graduate just seven players, and also had seven freshmen and three sophomores this fall. Said Pearson, “It was a great learning experience. We know what we have to do for next year now.”
“Now all the teams are going to see what we do,” Adams said. “And they’re going to start doing all the things we do.”