Entries Sought for Excellence Awards

January 28, 2015

By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director

MHSAA members participating in its School Broadcast Program have two opportunities to receive recognition for their efforts and learn more about the world sports broadcasting.

Last week, the formal “Call for Entries” took place for the MHSAA’s Second Annual SBP Excellence Awards. This program, in partnership with Herff Jones, allows SBP schools to submit their work in five categories – Single Camera and Multi Camera Production of athletic events, Best Use of PlayOn! Graphics/Software, Best Produced Commercials/Features and Best Student Play-by-Play Announcing. A Program of the Year Award also will be presented.

Entries will be accepted until 4 p.m. Feb. 20, with winners announced in April. Complete rules and entry information can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.

SBP participants also have the opportunity to attend the NFHS Network’s inaugural Broadcast Academy, July 17-19 in Atlanta, Ga. The Academy is designed for student broadcasters to hear from successful sports broadcasters from major networks, develop skills through hands-on broadcast training sessions and be recognized for their accomplishments during the first annual NFHS Network Broadcast Academy Awards ceremony. Academy attendees also will attend an Atlanta Braves game and be able to share best practices and experiences with other student broadcasters from schools across the country.

The NFHS Network also will present awards to SBP schools from across the county in multiple categories, including Best Overall Program, Best Live Sports Broadcast, Best Student Broadcaster and Best Teacher of the Year. The application deadline for the awards program is Feb. 15. Click for more information about the NFHS Network Broadcast Academy

The MHSAA also will be providing SBP participants with two more “Field Trips” during the Girls and Boys Basketball Semifinals in March, where students will get a behind-the-scenes look at broadcast operations at those events, be able to create their own content at the games and visit with broadcast professionals about careers in sports broadcasting. The field trips are run in cooperation with the Student Broadcast Foundation and Herff Jones. More information will be available soon on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.

This week’s live SBP-produced events on MHSAA.tv again will feature a hockey showdown, as the top-ranked teams in Division 1 and Division 3 respectively – Detroit Catholic Central and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood – face off Friday (Jan. 30) at 7:15 p.m.  A great nonconference boys basketball matchup in the week ahead will have Stevensville Lakeshore, the top team in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West, at Dowagiac, the second place squad in the Wolverine Conference West, on Tuesday (Feb. 3).

The School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.

Here’s the schedule of School Broadcast Program members planning to cover varsity competition this week for broadcast at MHSAA.tv  (as of Jan. 26). The following events will have live streaming video unless otherwise indicated:

Wednesday, January 28
Wrestling – Triangular with Belding & Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern at Comstock Park, 6 p.m.

Thursday, January 29
Boys Swimming – DeWitt at Haslett, 6 p.m.

Friday, January 30
Boys Basketball – Saginaw Arthur Hill at Mt. Pleasant, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Johannesburg-Lewiston at Mancelona, 7 p.m.
Boys basketball – Coloma at Dowagiac, 7 p.m.
Ice Hockey – Detroit Catholic Central at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, 7:15 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Standish-Sterling at Pinconning, 7:30 p.m.

Monday, February 2
Girls Basketball – Hancock at Calumet, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, February 3
Boys Basketball – Elk Rapids at Mancelona, 6:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Saginaw Heritage at Mt. Pleasant, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Okemos at Haslett, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Lake Fenton at Montrose, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball – Stevensville Lakeshore at Dowagiac, 7:15 p.m. 

Also available this week is an SBP highlights package from the past week (see bottom of this screen) which includes a 2-2 ice hockey tie between Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood and Detroit U-D Jesuit; plus Goodrich scoring a 55-43 victory in girls basketball at Haslett in a clash of top-10 teams in Class B.

Live stats of select basketball games also are available on MHSAA.tv. Check out the MHSAA.tv website on game nights to see which schools are streaming live stats, or stop by to view stats following games on an On Demand basis. A Day Pass to view live stats is $1.95. All sporting events – live or delayed - are available on MHSAA.tv on a subscription basis for their first 72 hours online. A portion of each subscription is returned to school originating the broadcast. Video subscriptions run $9.95 for a Day Pass and $14.95 for a Month Pass. Some schools also are offering Annual Passes at a discounted rate. All sporting events become available for free On Demand viewing three days after they have been posted.  

To view all of the recent School Broadcast Program productions, go to MHSAA.tv, click On Demand on the nav bar of the left side of the page, and on the Filters tab at the top of next page, click on All States and then select Michigan.  

Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.

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.”

Final Stats and Play-By-Play