Now Showing: Best of Spring, part 1
August 5, 2014
Spring sports championships dominate the final two weeks of the "Best of 2013-14” offerings on the MHSAA.tv Website, which is in its seventh week.
For eight weeks over the summer, MHSAA.tv will spotlight 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 the games which will be featured from August 4-11:
Gladstone v. Decatur: 2014 Division 3 Baseball Semifinal. Cody Huston delivered a two-out single in the bottom of the eighth inning to drive in the game-winning run and pitched a complete game one-hitter in Decatur’s 2-1 decision over Gladstone.
Utica Eisenhower v. Northville: 2014 Division 1 Girls Soccer Final. Jamie Cheslik had a goal and an assist to lead Northville to a 2-1 win. Emily Maresh had seven saves in goal for the winners.
Eaton Rapids v. Grand Rapids South Christian: 2014 Class B Girls Basketball Final. Allie Dittmer posted a double-double with a game-high 26 points and 13 rebounds as Eaton Rapids won its first-ever MHSAA girls championship with a 51-38 victory over South Christian.
Bay City Western v. Portage Central: 2014 Division 1 Softball Final. Western scored twice in the first and sixth frames and got three-hit pitching from Hannah Leppek to win the Division 1 title, 4-2
DVD’s of the “Best of 13-14” game videos are available through the MHSAA.tv Website.
Division 7 Final: Blue Streak
November 29, 2011
DETROIT – Only a few drives into the MHSAA Division 7 Final, Bennett Lewis came to Saginaw Nouvel coach Mike Boyd with a request.
Give me the ball until Pewamo-Westphalia stops me.
Never happened. The senior running back ran for five touchdowns, and his Panthers scored 56 points – both to set or tie MHSAA Finals records.
And both were accomplished over just two quarters as Nouvel cruised to a 56-26 win and its third football championship.
“I can’t say enough how proud I am of my teammates, especially the offensive line. We’ve been playing together a long time and they really executed in the first half,” Lewis said. “Their defense is one of the defenses we can run our offense against really well. We just executed and made big plays. ”
This championship goes with Nouvel’s back-to-back Division 6 titles in 2006 and 2007, and the Panthers finished 13-0 to match their perfect record in 2006. Pewamo-Westphalia made its first appearance in an MHSAA Football Final and finished 13-1.
The Panthers had scored 63 and 62 points, respectively, during the first two rounds of the postseason. And as Boyd said after, he had an offense built for speedy strikes – especially at an inside venue like Ford Field.
Nouvel blew past the previous MHSAA Finals record of 42 points in one half set by both Farmington Hills Harrison in 2000 and Jackson Lumen Christi in 2001.
“Maybe our third drive, Bennett came off the field and came right up to me and said, ‘I want the football. Until they stop me, give me the football,’” Nouvel coach Mike Boyd said. “I said, ‘Absolutely.’
“Great competitors, great leaders. Just a great group.”
Lewis, the Associated Press’ Division 7-8 Player of the Year this fall, ran 15 times for 200 yards – all in the first half – to push his season rushing total to 2,077. The five touchdowns gave him 36 rushing for the fall. Senior quarterback Joseph Buchalski was 7 for 10 passing for 196 yards and three scores. He also ran five times for 50 yards – again, all in the first half.
“That’s the best team I’ve ever played. The fastest. (And) I don’t hesitate to say Bennett Lewis is the best player I’ve ever played,” P-W senior quarterback/cornerback Justin Thelen said. “We fought, and I’m proud of that. But they had us on our heels right away.”
Thelen was 10 for 21 passing for 176 yards and two touchdowns, and senior Alex Thelen ran 16 times for 77 yards and a score. It was a tough end to a courageous run by the Pirates, who suffered through the death of classmate and baseball teammate Brendon Nurenberg in a car crash earlier this month, but battled through with his memory an additional motivator.
“He was just a fun guy. The guys loved being around him. And the guys rallied around that,” P-W coach Brad Weber said. “They did it for Brendon for the most part. They knew he would have fun, so they did too.”