MHSAA.TV March Hits Midpoint
February 24, 2014
Nearly 300 hours of live streaming video from MHSAA Championships in Girls Competitive Cheer and Individual Wrestling, plus Student Broadcast Program produced coverage of Girls Basketball Districts and Ice Hockey Regionals, will be available on the MHSAA.TV website as the March of Winter approaches its midway point.
The coverage begins Monday with School Broadcast Programs providing on demand coverage of Girls Basketball Districts and Ice Hockey Regionals, plus the last week of the regular season in Boys Basketball. Check the MHSAA.TV website for daily schedule updates.
Live streaming this week begins at 2 p.m. on Thursday (Feb. 27) from The Palace of Auburn Hills at the Individual Wrestling Finals. A dedicated camera will be on each of 12 mats on the floor, and include full graphics to indicate the participants in each match, plus full in-progress scoring information via Trackwrestling. Girls Competitive Cheer coverage begins Friday from The DeltaPlex in Grand Rapids.
The continued Wrestling and full Cheer coverage is part of six straight weekends of live MHSAA Championship coverage on MHSAA.TV and online viewers can catch every weekend of action for one low cost of $14.95. A Month Pass on MHSAA.TV for $14.95 will give a viewer access to events over a 30-day period from the time it is purchased. Over the next three weekends of live winter championship coverage, the following events will be featured:
- · Ice Hockey Semifinals & Finals – March 6-8
- · Girls Gymnastics Finals – March 7-8
- · Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals – March 8
- · Girls Basketball Semifinals – March 13-14
- · Boys Basketball Semifinals – March 20-21
A Day Pass is available for $9.95. All events will be available for free on-demand viewing by Wednesday the week following their initial live airing.
Catch up on some of the final regular-season games for both girls basketball and hockey on MHSAA.TV as those sports move on to postseason competition this week.
Here's a look at all listings from last week, followed by this week's MHSAA Perspective and MHSAA.TV highlight clips.
- East Lansing vs. St. Johns
- Lakeview vs. White Cloud
- AuGres-Sims vs. Posen
- Central Lake vs. Indian River Inland Lakes
- Cedar Springs vs. Greenville
- Davison vs. Flint Hamady
- Comstock Park vs. Grand Rapids Covenant Christian
- Plainwell vs. Coloma
- Central Lake vs. Ellsworth
- Montrose vs. Saginaw Arts & Sciences
Hockey
- Midland vs. Hemlock/Saginaw Swan Valley
- Detroit Catholic Central vs. Warren DeLaSalle
- Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood vs. Trenton
- Boys Basketball
- East Lansing vs. Grand Ledge
- Cedar Springs vs. Greenville
- Cheboygan vs. Gaylord
- AuGres-Sims vs. Hillman
- Central Lake vs. Ellsworth
- Watervliet vs. Lawrence
- Montrose vs. Saginaw Arts & Sciences
- Petoskey vs. Alpena
- Escanaba vs. Gladstone
MHSAA Perspective: In this week's edition, John Johnson talks about those games that are supposedly decided on their last play - The Last Play
Division 2 Final: 'Anything is Possible'
November 29, 2011
DETROIT – That was the motto of Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice’s football team this season.
And the Warriors had to believe it in order for Friday’s dream finish to become possible.
Brother Rice qualified for the Division 2 playoffs at 5-4 last month and after finishing just fourth in the Detroit Catholic League Central. But riding the legs of senior running back Devin Church, the Warriors finished this season with a 24-14 win over Lowell at Ford Field to earn their seventh MHSAA championship and first since 2005.
Church, who ran for more than 900 yards during the playoffs, piled up 244 and three touchdowns rushing in the Final.
“We did it to make Coach proud,” Church said. “We kept the tradition going.
“That’s everybody’s dream, to win a state title. To walk away with a ring, that’s a blessing.”
“Coach” is Al Fracassa, who finished his 43rd season by winning his 405th high school game. But this run provided a new experience for the longtime leader.
Playing in a conference that also includes Division 1 finalist Detroit Catholic Central, Division 3 finalist Orchard Lake St. Mary and playoff qualifier Warren DeLaSalle, the Warriors lost three league games by a combined four points. Brother Rice (10-4) picked up its fourth loss in Week 8 against Cincinnati LaSalle.
But wins over strong teams – Detroit Martin Luther King and Ann Arbor Pioneer among them – likely gave Brother Rice the playoff points boost it needed to get into the postseason.
“We were worried about making the playoffs again. You get down, but the kids, they taught me a lesson. They came out and they worked their tails off,” Fracassa said. “We had a motto before our season started. … Anything is possible. This motto really personifies this football team. Anything is possible, and they’re going to remember it the rest of their lives.”
Church – who will sign with Northern Illinois in February – ran the ball 33 times. His yards were the sixth-most in an MHSAA Final ever. And they were followed by some flattering comparisons from Lowell coach Noel Dean.
“I don’t want to belittle their team by making it about one player; they have a great team,” Dean said. “(Church) is a fantastic football player. One of the better ones I’ve seen. And I’ve coached against some pretty good running backs in my day. The Grady brothers and the Ducketts, I’ve seen some pretty good ones. He’s fantastic.”
Fracassa added: “He’s done that all year, for the last three years. This is not only his good game he played. He’s played good in every game he’s played.”
And while Church ran wild, the Warriors were able to contain Lowell all-state quarterback Gabe Dean, who was making his third straight appearance in the Division 2 Final. A senior now, he led the Red Arrows to a championship game win in 2009
Dean did throw for 190 yards and two touchdowns, but was able to get free for just 34 yards on the ground as Lowell (12-2) attempted to catch up, and catch Church, most of the afternoon.
“The veer offense, we learned how to shut it down this week in practice. And we did a great job in the game,” Brother Rice junior linebacker Jon Reschke said. “We got them out of the veer and into a shotgun formation, the spread offense, which they didn't want to be in, which helped us.”
Senior linebacker Mark Doman had a team-high 13 tackles for Brother Rice, and Reschke had 10. Junior linebacker Reed Stormzand had 20 to lead Lowell, followed by sophomore linebackers Garrett Stehley and Jake Stehley with 14 and 12, respectively.