Football Finals Flashbacks

1977

Matt O’Connor racked up 124 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown run, as Birmingham Brother Rice defeated Portage Central for the Class A crown, 17-7, at the Pontiac Silverdome. Portage Central struck first when quarterback Pete Metzelaars connected wit h Pat Marek for a 74-yard TD play on the Mustangs’ first possession. The Mustangs shut down Brother Rice on the next series, but O’Connor took the snap on the fake punt attempt and rambled 35 yards to Portage 13-yard line for the first down. The senior back scored on the next play, and following Brian Swanson’s PAT, the game was tied. Swanson made it 10-7 with a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter following a Gary Zatkoff fumble recovery. Midway through the fourth quarter, Joe Fontanesi wrapped things up for Rice with a 6-yard TD run on a draw play.

In Class B, Jackson Lumen Christi stormed back from a 16-3 deficit with a pair of Kip Parker fourth-quarter touchdowns to defeat Saginaw MacArthur,17-16. Running a dominating wishbone offense, MacArthur built its lead on the strength of quarterback Mark Gerald’s second-quarter touchdown run from 2 yards out and a 50-yard scoring dash by Rich Martin in the third quarter, sandwiched around a safety. But then Titan quarterback Tom O’Dowd went to work, engineering two scoring drives, each capped by short Parker TD plunges. Kip Conway’s PATs, provided the margin of victory. MacArthur had a chance to win with 22 seconds to play, but saw its 28-yard field goal attempt sail wide.

In Class C, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s powerful backfield of Jim Paciorek, Barry Riddeck and Tom Sikora ran roughshod over Iron River-West Iron County, 48-12. Coached by gridiron veteran Art Paddy, the Eaglets rolled up 216 yard on the ground in the first half and 391 on the day. Riddeck ended with 163 yards on 15 carried and three touchdowns, while teammate Dave Kay racked up 130 yards on 13 totes, including TD runs of 40 and 31 yards.

In a rematch of the 1975 and 1976 Class D Finals, Flint Holy Rosary notched 21 second-quarter points, including a pair of touchdown passes from Ron Fray to his brother Jeff, enroute to a thrilling 21-20 victory over heavily-favored Upper Peninsula powerh ouse Crystal Falls-Forest Park. Dan Lato, who notched his 33rd touchdown of the year in the contest, established a finals record with 40 rushing attempts for previously unbeaten Crystal Falls, which had defeated Holy Rosary the two previous years.

1982

Dearborn Fordson’s Kevin Harris made a game-saving tackle of Farmington Hills Harrison tailback John Miller at the 2-yard line on the final play of regulation to force overtime in the 1982 Class A contest, won by Harrison, 17-14. After each team scored a TD in the first overtime, Harrison kicker Dave Blackmer, the only returning starter for the Hawks, booted a 24-yard field goal to lift Harrison to its second consecutive MHSAA title in the first double-overtime contest in finals history. Fordson grabb ed a 7-0 lead just before the half as Harris bowled over from 3 yards out to cap an 80-yard drive. Harrison knotted the game early in the fourth quarter as Miller found the end zone from a yard out.

Bobby Morse rushed for 114 yards and kicked a 28-yard field goal as Muskegon Catholic Central edged Dearborn Divine Child, 17-14, for the Class B title. Muskegon Catholic Central, making its third consecutive title-game appearance, used a stifling def ense, holding the Falcons to 28 yards of total offense in the first half, and a total of 17 yards rushing in the entire contest.

Detroit St. Martin dePorres grabbed its third Class C MHSAA football crown in as many attempts with a 44-0 thumping of Rogers City. The Eagles rolled up 402 yards on the ground, including 261 for senior tailback Kevin Bozeman. Bozeman scored a pair of touchdowns on runs of 81 and 71 yards, while Dwain Love collected TD receptions of 68, nine and 47 yards.

Eric George, Tim Jones, Rich Truckey, Jerry Batten and Doug Cupp each found the end zone for the Hornets as Mendon rolled to a 12-0 season with a 44-8 victory over Rudyard in the Class D title game. Tony Ceccacci scored the lone touchdown for Rudyard on a 15-yard run. Ceccacci ended his career as the state’s leading scorer with 268 points. That total currently ranks second.

1987

Chris Moore’s 35-yard field goal in the second quarter provided the only points of the Class A Final, as Ann Arbor Pioneer grabbed its second MHSAA title in four years with a 3-0 defeat of Detroit Catholic Central. The kick capped a 63-yard 13-play driv e that ran 7:51 off the clock. The game remains the lowest scoring contest in final history.

Second-half touchdown receptions by Dan Tietema, Brad Mathis and Darby Spielmaker broke open a scoreless contest as the Cougars of Grand Rapids Catholic Central downed Farmington Hills Harrison, 19-7, in the Class B title game. Catholic Central limited the Harrison offense to seven yards rushing on the evening. The Cougars contained Harrison’s Mill Coleman, holding the quarterback to eight-of-16 passing for 138 yards and two interceptions, and sacking the sophomore sensation on four occasions.

In Class C, Erie-Mason slipped past Saginaw Nouvel, 14-7. Eagle quarterback Darin Bowman opened the scoring with a 21-yard touchdown run over left tackle in the third quarter. Nouvel rebounded, tying the game on a Dan Bourcier to James Debardelaben 42-yard touchdown reception with 8:59 left. Derek Bowman, Darin’s brother, carr ied 11 times for 79 yards, including a 38-yard gain late in the fourth quarter to set up Ed St. Bernard’s winning TD from a yard out. Bernard ended the day with 93 yards. Panther tailback Tony Jackson finished with 57 yards rushing in 16 attempts.

Tight end Jeff Crosby scored on pass plays covering 55 and 65 yards, while teammate Randy Hunt broke a 67-yard touchdown run as Martin shocked Beal City, 21-0, to take the Class D crown.

1992

Trailing 20-14 at the half, the Shamrocks of Detroit Catholic Central converted Paul Nemzek’s third-quarter fumble recovery into seven points, then hung on for a 21-20 win over Saginaw Arthur Hill in a classic Class AA rematch. The win avenged a 13-12 lo ss to the Lumberjacks in the 1991 title game. The Shamrocks marched 91 yards following the fumble recovery, scoring on a 37-yard touchdown reception by Brady Pankow—the first of his career—from halfback Fred Taylor. Adam Borchert added the PAT for the slim one-point lead that would hold up. Arthur Hill scored on three of its first four possessions: a 4-yard run by Howard Foster; a 55-yard dash by quarterback Marvin Wright; and an 80-yard scoring strike from Wright to Kedrick Redeemer.

It immediately became known as ‘The Catch.’ Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s desperation play against a strong Walled Lake Western squad resulted in a spectacular touchdown reception and a 21-18 victory in the Class A Final. Five Reeths-Puffer fumbles had nega ted the Rockets’ 310-133 rushing advantage. Trailing 18-14 with 1:40 to play in regulation, Reeths-Puffer took control of the football for the final time. Starting at their own 45-yard line, the Rockets drove to the Walled Lake Western 49, but faced a c rucial fourth-and-four situation. Quarterback Geoff Zietlow hit sophomore Keith Burkett for a 12-yard gain and the first down. With 32 seconds to play, Zietlow pitched to Demarkeo Hill, who handed the ball to Luke Bates on the reverse. Bates pitched b ack to Zietlow who lofted a pass down field. Tipped at the 10-yard line, the ball landed in the hands of an alert Stacey Starr, who dashed into the end zone with the game-winning touchdown and Reeths-Puffer’s first MHSAA football championship. With the win, Pete Kutches became the first to coach two different teams to MHSAA titles. His 1980 and 1982 Muskegon Catholic Central squads also won crowns.

Carl Reaves scored a pair of 1-yard touchdowns, including one in the overtime period, to lead Oxford to a 20-13 Class BB victory over Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills. The Knights jumped out to an early 13-0 lead on first quarter touchdowns by Mike Mohn and St eve Ungrey. Oxford pulled to within six in the second quarter on Reaves’ first TD, then tied the game in the third, as Jim Walker picked up a Reaves fumble, and raced 59 yards untouched for the score.

Dennis Delor rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown, while his brother Ben threw for one touchdown, and ran for another in leading Marysville to a 21-12 victory over Kingsford in Class B.

Detroit St. Martin dePorres notched its eighth MHSAA football championship in eight attempts with a 12-7 win over Montague in Class CC. Coach Ron Thompson’s Eagle defense held Montague to five first downs and 86 yards on the day. Montague grabbed an e arly lead as quarterback Pat Collins scored from 3 yards out on its first possession. DePorres bounced back with a seven-play, 62-yard drive capped by Rashawn Cunningham’s 5-yard run for the touchdown. The Eagles scored their final TD on a 16-yard Kier re Stinnette-to-William Glaspie pass with 57 seconds remaining in the first half.

Touchdowns in each frame of double overtime gave Traverse City St. Francis a 28-21 win over top-ranked Harper Woods Bishop Gallagher in Class C. Trailing 14-6 with 8:18 to play, St. Francis faced a fourth-and-seven at the Gallagher 27. Despite heavy pr essure, Paul Gauthier completed the halfback pass to Kevin Endres in the end zone for the touchdown. St. Francis lined up to kick the PAT, but holder Scott Doroit took the snap and pitched to Gauthier instead. Gauthier’s pass to Dan Curtin in the right corner of the end zone tied the game. Wasean Tait scored twice for Gallagher and finished with 168-yards.

Defeated in MHSAA title games in 1989 and 1991, Lake Linden-Hubbell finally tasted victory with a 16-3 win over Sand Creek in Class DD. Trailing 3-0 at the half, the Lakes mounted a 17-play, 80-yard drive to open the third quarter, highlighted by a fake punt. Quarterback Joshua Peters punched it in from a yard out, then completed a pass to Joel Keranen for the two-point conversion. Daniel Barkell scored the second TD, then added the two points to seal the victory. It was the first MHSAA Final win in nine attempts for a team from the Upper Peninsula, since St. Ignace’s title in 1983.

Kyle Klein connected with tight end Ben Bates for a pair of touchdowns, but it was not enough as Portland St. Patrick stopped two-time defending titlist Frankfort, 34-13, in a rematch of the 1991 Class D contest. Brent Goodman, Dave Fox, Ryan Channell a nd Matt Meyers all scored touchdowns for St. Patrick.

—Ron Pesch