High School Football Notes: The stories behind the final scores
Football and figure skating don’t have a lot in common, but Erie Mason football coach Steve Bowers found a link to motivate his team Friday night.
Moments before Mason took the field for its homecoming game against Summerfield. Bowers told his team the story of American figure skater Janet Lynn in the 1972 Olympics.
“All eyes were on her to win the gold,” Bowers said. “During her singles competition, she slipped and fell, putting her out of the gold medal. She wound up getting the bronze.”
What Bowers stressed was how Lynn handled the adversity.
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“They asked her what went through her mind when she fell and she said, ‘Get up!,’” Bowers said.
The coach told his players they needed to get up after a 1-3 start to the season.
“It related to our guys because when you get knocked down, you have to go out there and fight,” Bowers said. “I don’t know a whole lot about figure skating, but I heard the story on a podcast I listened to.
“They seemed to get the point. They popped up and took off out of the Eagle’s Nest.”
Must see TV
As soon as Airport put the finishing touches on its 44-6 victory over Grosse Ile, the Jets' players and the coaches raced to watch the end of the Riverview vs. Flat Rock game.
"They still had 10 minutes left in that game when we finished," Airport coach Jim Duffy said. "Everybody had it up on their phones. Riverview does a great job with their livestream. They have announcers and everything. So we watched almost the entire fourth quarter."
Airport had a lot of interest in the final result. The Jets defeated Riverview 48-27 in Week 2 and then lost 33-21 to Flat Rock the next week.
Flat Rock was the last remaining undefeated team in the Huron League before losing to Riverview 36-34 Friday night. Now, the Jets, Pirates, and Rams all have one loss.
"Now it's a three-game league season for all three of us," Duffy said. "Everybody controls their own destiny, which is a better place to be in than we felt two weeks ago."
Push starting for Huron?
New Boston Huron has been here before.
Last year, the Chiefs started out 1-2 before winning 4 of their last 5 games and earning a playoff spot.
This year, Huron fell to a 1-3 start, which improved to 2-3 after Friday night’s 49-26 victory over Jefferson.
It could be the first step in yet another playoff push.
“It’s go time. We’ve been through some young kids, and mistakes, and growing pains — but the kids played hard tonight, and we’re still learning,” head coach Tom Hoover said. “It was a step in the right direction, though.”
Junior Austin O’Dell concurred with his coach and thinks the experience from a year ago hardened him and the team to repeat the run.
“Great win, it was certainly what we needed — last year, we lost some seniors so I moved from (defensive back) to linebacker, and it definitely toughened me up and I think gave myself and our team some experience to make a similar run,” he said.
The road ahead includes games against two teams atop the Huron League standings with a home contest against Airport (4-1), and then the team will make the short trip to Flat Rock (4-1) a few weeks later.
Monroe puts up a fight
Monroe lost to Saline Friday night, but the game was nothing like last year’s contest.
“Last year they beat us 40-0,” Monroe coach Kyle Reed said.
This year the Trojans were tied 28-28 in the third quarter and pulled within 42-35 late in the game. An unsuccessful onside kick try kept Monroe from having a chance to tie the score.
“We played a good team,” Reed said. “Whenever you play a Joe Palka-coached team, you know they are going to be well-coached. … The kids just battled. They believed.”
Parker piles up losses
Trey Parker ran for 91 yards and a touchdown for Dundee Friday night and took nearly that many yards off the ledger for Adrian Madison.
He had 4.5 tackles for losses of 57 yards.
Parker was one of several defensive standouts for the Vikings.
Cooper Buhl had an interception and 11 tackles, Quintin LePhew and interception and 7 tackles, Ethan Layton 6 tackles, and Caleb Vaugh was very active on the defensive line.
Dundee earned its first victory on its new turf field.
Rams put loss behind
Flat Rock had the perfect remedy for a tough loss Saturday.
Hours after suffering a heartbreaking 36-34 loss to Riverview, Rams’ coach Buck Reaume and team captains Graham Jung, Brian Booms, Rocco Breslin, Alex Gillum, and Michael Beaudrie took part in Woodhaven’s Victory Day.
“It gives us a little more perspective,” Reaume said. “That was a disappointing loss, but this is what it’s all about – giving back to kids.”
Kicker Mitchell Smith helped get Flat Rock back in the game after the Rams fell behind 20-0 early.
“He executed two perfect onside kicks,” Reaume said.
The Rams were successful on two of three onside kicks in the game. They were recovered by Jaycob Pieprzyk and Tim Claiborne.
Big day for Ruddy
Former Whiteford star Shea Ruddy caught 5 passes for 114 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown grab for Hillsdale College Saturday.
Bedford maintains confidence
Bedford coach John Phillips was frustrated by second-half mistakes that were costly to the Mules in a 20-14 loss to Ann Arbor Pioneer, but he remains confident in his team.
“Mistakes put us behind the 8-ball, but we’re just going back to basics,” Phillips said. “We talked to the guys and told them, ‘We’re going to keep coaching you up.’
“We’re still positive. The kids are here. We haven’t lost anyone other than the ones who are injured. They are still in the weight room and working hard in practice every day.”
It was one of the best games for sophomore Isaac Henman, who took over at quarterback when Drew Logsdon went down with an injury.
“Isaac Henman ran the option really well, and on defense, some youngsters stepped up,” Phillips said.
Whiteford youngsters contribute
Like every team this time of the season, Whiteford is fighting through some injuries.
The Bobcats have utilized the five-quarter rule in each of the last two weeks to play a lot of freshmen and sophomores and are getting contributions from a lot of players while improving to 5-0.
“We are like a MASH unit right now,” Bobcat coach Todd Thieken said. “The good news is we have a lot of younger kids getting a lot of valuable experience.”
Jake Iott, who leads the team in rushing, didn’t carry the ball once Friday night but played defense. Starting tight end Ryin Ruddy directed a couple of touchdown drives while starting quarterback Tre Eitniear sat out. Freshman Brek Ruddy has 101 yards on just 10 carries over the last two games.
One player the Bobcats are thankful not to have injured is senior Kolby Masserant, who is off to a great start.
Masserant picked off his fourth pass of the season in Friday’s win over Sand Creek. He also has 18 receptions for 410 yards and six touchdowns this season.
Mensing's team unbeaten
Former Whiteford coach Jason Mensing has engineered a remarkable turnaround at Westland John Glenn.
Mensing coached Whiteford to a state championship in 2017 but left after the 2021 season to take over the head coaching duties of the Rockets. Last year, John Glenn went 3-6.
This season, Glenn is off to a 5-0 start, which is the most wins in a season for the Rockets since winning six games in 2014.
Glenn shares the lead in the Kensington Lakes Athletic Association East Division with top-ranked Belleville and Dearborn Fordson. The Rockets take on Belleville this week in a battle of 5-0 teams.
Homecoming fans generous
Fans at Erie Mason’s homecoming game were plentiful and generous.
The winner of Friday’s 50-50 drawing walked away with a $1,226 – a record for the school.
BEST OF WEEK 5
RUSHING YARDS
Brennan Caldwell, Huron 193
Dean Thomas, Ida 174
Cole Kreger, Mason 165
Izaiah Wright, Carlson 165
Luke Beaudrie, Jefferson 150
PASSING YARDS
Ryan Zanger, Dundee 257
Vaughn Brown, Mason 215
Luke Beaudrie, Jefferson 121
Graham Junge, Flat Rock 144
Cooper Nye, Airport 112
RECEIVING YARDS
Kolby Masserant, Whiteford 117
Braiden Whitaker, Dundee 111
Michael Narew, Mason 90
Karson Petit, Jefferson 87
Ethan Layton, Dundee 85
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: High School Football Notes: Figure skating inspires football win
