As most fans know, Brother Rice plays one of the state’s toughest schedules, year-in-and-year-out. That doesn’t leave much room for error. This year the errors came during league games against DeLaSalle, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and Catholic Central. These are three pretty good teams and never easy to beat. But, Rice had a strong team with a deep bench. At the beginning of the year, I though Rice would sweep its three league rivals, with two out of three a fairly safe bet. After starting the season with three consecutive non-league wins, I felt even more optimistic that it would be a successful CHSL season. Rice played well enough to win all three games—two of which went into overtime. I didn’t count on a breakdown in the kicking game. A one point loss to DeLaSalle in overtime was directly the result of a missed field goal on the last play of regulation and a missed extra point in overtime. Two weeks later, Rice lost to OLSM in overtime. Just like the DeLaSalle game, Rice had a chance to win on the last play of regulation. Again, they missed a field goal. Again, they missed an extra point after their overtime touchdown. The two-point loss to CC was not due to being outplayed in the game, but rather a missed extra point which forced the Warriors to go for a two point conversion to tie after its third touchdown. They came up short and lost by two points. An ordinary team might have collapsed under the pressure of those three losses. A championship team regroups and plays the rest of the season one game at a time, making the necessary changes in personnel along the way.

The kicking woes were not the fault of the kicker. It was a team effort. There were a couple kicks that were shanked, but a couple misses were the result of bad snaps and others due to bad holds. Two were caused by blocking failures on the line. The kick personnel were shuffled so that a fresh start could be made. A key move was the addition of Jason Alessi to the roster. Alessi, a sophomore QB, Safety, Kicker, was due to be the kicker this year, but he didn’t come out for football. He was a freshman on the varsity lacrosse and basketball teams last year and he decided to concentrate on those sports. After the kicking problems, the Rice captains approached Alessi and convinced him to come out for the team. He joined the team in Week 8. In the seven games he played, Alessi was 5 of 6 on field goal attempts and 21 of 24 extra points. One of his extra points was after a 15 yard penalty made the PAT the equivalent of a 35 yard field goal. The other two misses were blocks. His five field goals in seven games are the fourth best in Rice history. His two field goals in the King game rank Alessi third in the Rice record book. Better snaps and holds helped, but the arrival of Alessi was one of the main reasons for the championship run.

Another factor in the Rice playoff run was team depth. Rice was able to play over several key injuries to starters and fill the void with outstanding players. Kyle Marsh, one of the team’s best linemen, went down with a season-ending injury. William Pieroni, a former guard who had been playing center, was moved to guard to replace Marsh. Pieroni was replaced by the JV center, Sage Baltrusatis. The line didn’t miss a beat and continued its outstanding play. Baltrusatis recovered a fumble in the Lowell game to keep a key drive alive. Word has it that there are a few other JV linemen like Baltrusatis who are capable of stepping in and contributing on the varsity next year. Including Marsh, Rice will have four returning starters on its offensive line next year. DeShun Brown, Rice’s number two running back, missed the playoffs with an injury. Depth at running back, led by senior Devin Church and sophomore Brian Walker kept the Warriors ground game humming. Brown and Walker will be a formidable duo next year, along with returning fullback Greg Marzec. Waiting in the wings will be two outstanding young runners—Shon Powell and Bo Pickens. Junior cornerback Anthony Dalimonte started his first game late in the season and had a team high three break-ups, including one in the end zone. He was hurt on that play and didn’t play in the playoffs. The rest of the secondary stepped up and had a great playoff series. Cody Ellwanger was a standout, with key solo tackles and pass break-ups. Eddie Kidd stepped up his game also. He had two interceptions in the Lowell game. The depth that served Rice well during its playoff run will be there next year as the Warriors defend its Division 2 title.

Lowell presented a big challenge to Rice. I thought Rice could win (I predicted a 28-21 win), but I was concerned about their veer offense—something Rice hasn’t seen much recently. The two previous meetings with Lowell didn’t end well. But, each year is different. How good could Lowell be if Walled Lake Western put up 35 on them and took them to overtime. Forest Hills Central lost to Lowell 13-7. FHC is not a great team. Lowell got blown out by Grand Rapids Christian during the season. Lowell did beat Rockford and East Grand Rapids and they won big over everyone else, but the OK White is not the CHSL Central. Rice had four losses, but all were close games. Still, there was a certain mystique around the Red Arrows—much due to the secrecy of Coach Noel Dean. The published roster didn’t have positions, heights, weights or class. It made long-distance scouting difficult. I didn’t see the Lowell roster until I arrived at Ford Field. That’s when I became even more confident of a Rice victory. I saw the size of the Lowell linemen. They were by far the smallest team I’ve seen this year. Game films had revealed that they weren’t very fast either. Small and slow linemen on both sides of the ball sounded like a good match-up for Rice. Lowell supposedly had a great running game, led by three-year starter Gabe Dean and supported by Josh Addington. But, run defense is one of Rice’s biggest strengths. It turned out to be bigger than ever, as Rice held Lowell to 57 yards of rushing. That total was matched by Rice’s number two and three runners. Of course, Church had 243 yards all by himself. Dean did complete 14 passes for 190 yards—less than his average. A lot of those yards came late in the game after the outcome was already determined and Rice was in a prevent defense. Rice did have three interceptions and eight sacks, which helped control the usually-potent Lowell passing attack. The ease at which Rice was able to move the ball on its first couple drives was all I needed to see to feel very comfortable with the Rice game plan and ultimate outcome.

I’m not going to go into great detail about the game. It’s already been well reported and anybody who was interested probably saw the game and can draw their own conclusions. I would like to cover a few random thoughts—key players, key plays, etc. Any discussion of key players has to begin with Devin Church. The Northern Illinois recruit has been Rice’s best runner all year and he had the best game of his career against Lowell. He gained 243 yards rushing on 33 carries and had two receptions for 13 yards. His 256 all-purpose yards exceeded Lowell’s team total offense. Church scored all three Rice touchdowns. His best run, and the most important, was a fake reverse just before halftime that went for 53 yards. He ran the play perfectly and his speed allowed him to run untouched for the score. The play was a great call by Coach Fracassa. The reverse was successful in each of the last three games and was surely scouted by Lowell. The fake call was genius. Church was effective inside as a power runner and on sweeps where his team-best speed allowed him to turn the corner on most carries. His 243 yards were the sixth best in MHSAA finals history. There will be a lot of competition for the Dream Teams, but in my book Church ranks right up with Dennis Norfleet as the state’s best running back. No other back has played against as many top-level defenses. No other back missed as much time in the second half because of big leads. No other back shared as many carries with a deep stable of running backs. Church deserves Dream Team recognition, and I hope he gets it. Another offensive standout was senior fullback Austin Echols. I’ve heard the coaches call Echols the best blocker on the team—one of the best ever at Rice. He is a ferocious lead blocker—up the middle and on sweeps. Echols has been battling nagging injuries all season and missed three games early in the year and played sparingly in several others. He was injured again in the King game after he scored his 50-yard touchdown. It wasn’t known until game time whether he would be available. He played about half the offensive snaps and he was a monster blocker. I think Echols is one of the top Division 1 prospects on the Rice team. He’s been under the radar of some programs that could use him. I hope the exposure he got in the Lowell game helps him get his deserved offer.

There were several defensive standouts. Senior linebacker Mark Doman had the best game of his career. He led the Warriors with 15 tackles and had three sacks, a tackle-for-loss and two quarterback hurries. Junior linebacker Jon Reschke, as usual, was all over the field and was second in tackles with 10. He also had a sack and a tackle-for-loss. The two junior defensive ends were relentless in their pursuit of Dean. Each player had three sacks. Perkovic had two additional tackles-for-loss and two quarterback hurries. Henry also had a quarterback hurry. Senior linebacker Michael Bouchard had his best game of the season with 7 tackles, 3 sacks, a tackle-for-loss and an interception. Joe Warner only had two tackles, but both were sacks (10 yards of losses) and he had four quarterback hurries. Eddie Kidd, who is second on the team in pass break-ups this year, had two interceptions and 22 return yards. With so many players having career games, it’s no wonder the defense looked so dominating.

The kicking game couldn’t have been better. Andrew Toth kicked off five times and put three in the end zone and two went to the one. Both of the “short” kicks resulted in a starting field position for Lowell inside their 20. Jason Alessi made all three extra points and had a 26-yard field goal, which was tipped at the line, but still made it through the uprights. R.J. Bain averaged 48 yards on two punts. His long was 55 yards. Kickoff returns and punt returns both gave Rice good field position. Andrew Siroskey had 34 yards on two kickoff returns and Brian Roney returned a punt 40 yards, only to have a penalty reduce the return to 18 yards.

The player of the game: Devin Church. His 243 yards rushing gave him 1,918 for the season, which topped John Goebel’s season record of 1,917 by one yard. Church had the record beat by 9 yards late in the game, but he lost eight yards on his last carry. He was shaken up on the play and didn’t play again. Church also broke two other John Goebel records. His 132 points scored this season topped Goebel’s 126. His 22 touchdowns topped Goebel’s 20 for the Rice record. Mark Goebel also had a record eclipsed by Church. Devin’s 288 rushing attempts this year topped Goebel’s 276 in 1999. Jason Wolf’s rushing touchdown record of 19 in 1987 was topped by Church’s 20. In addition to those records, Church set three other Rice records earlier in the year. It was truly a record-breaking performance for Church in the most important game of the year on the biggest stage of the year. The Northern Illinois Huskies must be thrilled that they made their early offer and won out over Boston College for Church’s services next year.

One final thing that impressed me about Rice on Friday was the crowd on the visitor’s side. I expected Lowell to bring the whole town. I don’t think it’s because there’s nothing else to do in Lowell, as many think. Give the Lowell fans their due. They are great supporters of the Red Arrows and travel very well to support them. I was pleasantly surprised to see about the same number of fans on the Rice side. BBR fans have often been criticized for not supporting their team. That wasn’t true this year as the Rice crowd at all the playoff games was larger than usual. The game at Ford Field this year had a larger crowd than I can remember from other finals. They certainly weren’t disappointed.

Division 1:

Detroit Catholic Central 14. Detroit Cass Tech 6

Division 2:

Birmingham Brother Rice 28 Lowell 21

Division 3:

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 31 Mt. Pleasant 24

Semi-final Results: 4 Right, 2 Wrong

The King game was much closer and came down to a missed two-point conversion, followed by a long clock-killing drive by the Warriors. With eight minutes left in the game, King pulled to within one point and opted for a two point conversion and the lead. The Crusaders lined up in a Wildcat formation with double twin receivers. Norfleet took the direct snap and immediately ran up the middle. He was met in the backfield by junior linebacker Lucas Cerocci and junior defensive end Sergio Perkovic. The pair dropped Norfleet for a loss and the Warriors kept its one point lead.

Rice was aware that they had lost the momentum that was all theirs in the first half and the charging Norfleet-led King offense had scored three unanswered touchdowns. Their goal: control the ball with a long drive that took as much time off the clock as possible. A touchdown at the end of the drive would have been nice, but it was more important to keep Norfleet off the field and run out the clock, although as the Rice drive began, it was not known whether Norfleet would be able to play again. He was injured on the two-point conversion attempt and was laying on the sideline during the Rice drive. The Rice drive would end up lasting thirteen plays and cover 56 yards. Almost 7:00 minutes was used up before Rice turned the ball over on downs at the King six yard line. King had 1:30 left and no time-outs. On first down, throwing from his own end zone, Davon Williams hit Maurice Johnson for six yards. On second and four, Norfleet was thrown for a five yard loss by Perkovic. On 3rd and 11, Williams attempted to pass again, but was forced out of the pocket, then sacked by Cherocci. The two Warriors who stopped the two point conversion a few minutes earlier, each had a key tackle for loss on this last King drive. The final play was a desperation pass to Mycial Allen at mid-field. It was broken up by Cody Ellwanger—his third break-up of the game and his team-leading eleventh of the season.

In the battle of All-State running backs, Devin Church out-gained Dennis Norfleet 209 yards to 165. Church also had 32 yards on kick-off returns. Both Church and Walker had more yards per carry than Norfleet. The Rice defense was prepared for Norfleet and kept him bottled up most of the game. He did manage to escape from that bottle long enough to score three rushing touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough on this day. The Rice defense was led by Jon Reschke, in addition to the aforementioned Cherocci and Perkovic. Reschke led both teams in tackles with 12 (9 solo). He also had a pass break-up. Mark Doman and Jordan Rabban each had 11 tackles. Rabban also had an interception in the end zone on the last play of the first half—a key play that kept the Rice 20 point lead heading into the intermission.

Church started off strong, just like last week against Southfield. On the first play from scrimmage, Church ran through King for 56 yards before being knocked out of bounds. Three plays later, Brian Walker scored from the one. Rice held King to three and out—forcing a punt. It took the Warriors eight plays to move the ball 69 yards before Church scored from the 2. The key play in the drive was Walker’s 33 yard run to the King 2. Leading 14-0, Rice kicked off to a King team that had barely warmed up (they arrived 15 minutes before game time). The line drive kick-off bounced off a King up lineman and back to mid-field where it was recovered by kicker Andrew Toth. On the first play following the fumble recovery, Austin Echols ran off right tackle for 50 yards and Rice’s third touchdown. Led by Norfleet running out of the Wildcat formation, King scored to make the score 21-7. But, Rice answered with two consecutive 37 yard field goals by Jason Alessi. Rice ended up scoring points on its first five possessions of the game. The second half was a different game as King played with an increased sense of urgency. They ran without a huddle at a much quicker pace than their usual no-huddle offense. Williams, the QB, wasn’t in the game most of the second half. Norfleet ran from the Wildcat by himself or with another running back. The King passing attack, which was very strong in the win against Wyandotte Roosevelt, was not a factor in this game, although Williams did throw a nice touchdown pass to Johnson early in the 4th quarter. Both teams won a half; it all came down to the key two-point conversion attempt after King’s fourth touchdown and the two field goals by Alessi. The field goals made up for the fact that Rice was outsored four touchdowns to three. Also contributing to the win was the blocked extra point by Ellwanger after King’s third touchdown. Without that block, King would have been kicking for the win rather than going for two for the win after their last touchdown.

The PA announcer kept the crowd current on the back and forth Lowell-Walled Lake Western game. I’m not sure how I felt. I wanted another crack at Lowell (loss in the 2002 final and 2009 semi-final), but I thought Walled Lake Western would have been an easier game. Then again, doesn’t Rice always play the toughest schedule? Who wants easy games anyway. To be the best, you have to beat the best. Which team will win on Friday? I’ll post my picks on Wednesday, but if you want a clue, look at my pre-season Top 25 teams. #2 Brother Rice, #3 Lowell. By the way, #1 was Farmington Hills Harrison. Rice took care of the Hawks in the District Final. Next up: Lowell.

Division 1

Detroit Catholic Central vs. Rockford at Battle Creek Central

Both teams have a history of deep playoff runs and play challenging schedules during the regular season. Both teams feature smothering defenses and solid running games. Both teams’ best players are big linemen who have committed to the University of Michigan (Matt Godin of CC and Ben Braden of Rockford). On the surface, it looks like a toss-up. Look below the surface and you find a CC team that is more dangerous offensively that in the past because of the passing of Kyle Cooper and the receiving of David Racey and Matt Doneth. Watch for Zach Bock on special teams. This game stays close for a half before CC pulls away for a decisive win.

Prediction: Detroit CC 24 Rockford 10

Utica Eisenhower vs. Detroit Cass Tech at Troy Athens

Ike’s coach, Bob Lantzy, hit the 300 mark in career victories this season. Will he now get his first State Championship. Or, will Cass Tech become the first team from the Detroit PSL to win a Division 1 State Championship. Cass Tech surprised me by its shutdown of DeLaSalle in the Regional Final, while Ike continued to dominate good teams by easily handling Walled Lake Central. Ike’s defense seems to be its strength, while Cass Tech, led by freshman quarterback Jayru Campbell, struggles to put points on the board. CT has the athletes; Ike has a more well-rounded team. Cass ends the season the way it started, with a disappointing loss.

Prediction: Utica Eisenhower 28 Detroit Cass Tech 8

Division 2

Walled Lake Western vs. Lowell at Central Michigan University

This game features two one-loss teams and is a re-match of last year’s opening week game. In that meeting, the team’s first, Western kept the game close for a half before Lowell broke it open for a 30-7 victory. This year’s game has a lot more at stake, with the winner getting a trip to Ford Field. Walled Lake Western’s only loss was by two points to Grand Blanc. Lowell was pounded by Grand Rapids Christian 45-21. The Warriors have had to contend with the fall-out from a hazing incident and the suspension of three players. The suspended players are back and I think the controversy is all behind them and shouldn’t have an impact in this game. Playing Lowell however, will have an impact. The Red Arrows have been one of the best teams in the state all year, the GRC drubbing notwithstanding.

Prediction: Lowell 35 Walled Lake Western 7

Birmingham Brother Rice vs. Detroit M.L. King at West Bloomfield High School

This is one of the most intriguing match-ups in the semi-finals. The teams met in week one at Eastern Michigan University. Rice won that one 28-21 on a late 78-yard pass from Cheyne Lacanaria to Travis Ferguson. Most of the game was fairly even. Both teams have improved since the opening week. King has added a lethal passing attack to an already explosive offense that features one of the top backs in the state—Dennis Norfleet. The Crusader’s defense is playing very well—allowing only 7 points in its three playoff games. Rice’s defense has allowed 21 points in its three playoff games, but they have played much better teams, including Harrison and Southfield. The Rice offense also features a great running back—Devin Chuch, and Rice has two other very good backs—Deshun Brown and Brian Walker—who are capable of a big run and can help keep Church fresh. Rice doesn’t pass much, but has success when they do—a lot like CC teams of the past. The last playoff meeting between these schools was the famous Ice Bowl played at Flint Atwood Stadium in 1989. King won the battle on the frozen field 6-0. The conditions should be better this time, but the game should be just as close, maybe overtime. Special teams might decide outcome.

Prediction: Brother Rice 21 M.L. King 20

Division 3

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s vs. Battle Creek Harper Creek at Jackson Withington Stadium

Something’s got to give in this semi-final between two teams which have blown out every opponent in their runs to the semi-finals. OLSM is one of the state’s top programs year in and year out. The Eaglets play one of the state’s toughest schedules during the regular season, against Division 1 and 2 powers, then drop down to Division 3 for the playoffs. That almost guarantees blow-out playoff wins and trips to Ford Field. BC Harper Creek has had more modest success in its history, but this year’s team is one of their best ever. The Beavers are undefeated for the first time in its 55 year history. The difference between the teams is the level of competition. Harper Creek plays in a very competitive league, but the SW Michigan Athletic Conf. East is no CHSL Central. This will be the best team OLSM has faced in the playoffs.

Prediction: Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 35 Battle Creek Harper Creek 14

Mt. Pleasant vs. East Grand Rapids at Ferris State University

The Oilers are a Class B-Division 3 team that has been undefeated against the larger schools in the Saginaw Valley Association for the past three seasons. However, they can’t seem to get by East Grand Rapids in the playoffs. Mt.Pleasant has lost to EGR in three out of the last four playoffs—last year in the semi-finals. It looked like this could be the year for the Oilers to make it to Ford Field as East Grand Rapids looked vulnerable during the regular season with losses to Holland, Lowell and Grand Rapids Christian. But, in the playoffs, Mt. Pleasnat has struggled while the Pioneers handily disposed of two of the three teams which beat them during the season.

Mt. Pleasant keeps this one close for a half, but East’s playoff experience and coaching prevail.

Prediction: East Grand Rapids 38 Mt. Pleasant 24

Rice jumped to an early lead as Devin Church broke through the middle of the line and sprinted 55 yards for a touchdown on the game’s second play. Church showed why he is such a valuable speed back as he outran a fast Southfield secondary for the score. Church had 100 yards of rushing and two touchdowns in the first half to give Rice the cushion it would need. Church finished with 154 yards on 22 carries. It was his ninth 100+ yard game of the year. He increased his season rushing yards to 1,466 yards, the third highest in Rice history. He is 119 yards behind the #2 rusher, Mark Goebel.

Another big play in the 1st half occurred on the last play of the 1st quarter at the Southfield 34 yard line. Southfield lined up for a 4th down punt, but a trio of Rice defenders broke through the protection and forced the block. The ball bounced off James Hendrix’s head and sailed backwards toward the end one. The ball rolled through the end zone for a safety and a 9-0 lead. Hendrix was credited with a 34-yard punt return on the play. Sophomore Corey Lacanaria returned the ensuing free kick 13 yards to set up a short field at the Southfield 40 yard line. Rice scored seven plays later on a Church 10-yard run.

Southfield looked like a different team in the second half, and Rice looked flat. The combination made it an exciting game for a while, especially after Leviticus Payne rambled 49 yards for a touchdown on Southfield’s first possession of the half. The Cincinnati-commit looked like he was stopped on three or four occasions, but he kept breaking tackles and made it all the way into the end zone. Rice senior Cody Ellwanger intercepted a Justin Danzy pass on a two-point conversion attempt to keep the score 16-6. Rice couldn’t do anything offensively in the second half as Southfield, led by linebacker Willie Duncan, played inspired defense. Southfield took over at its own 22 yard line with 6:56 remaining in the 3rd quarter and put together a drive that looked like it would cut the Rice lead to two or three points. Behind the rushing of Brandon Watkins (10 rushes on this drive) and two passes to Ron Thompson. Southfield held the ball for 6:56 and ran 15 plays for 75 yards. As the quarter ended, Southfield quarterback Justin Danzy tried to hit Brandon Bean on a 4th down slant pass in the end zone, but it was broken up by Ellwanger. Southfield took a lot of time off the clock and came up empty.

Rice put together a great drive of its own as the 4th quarter started. Starting at its own 4 yard line, Rice moved the ball 91 yards in 16 plays, taking 8:40 off the clock, and keeping the improving Southfield offense off the field. The drive was engineered by junior quarterback Cheyne Lacanaria and featured the running of Church (8 carries, 34 yards on the drive). Greg Marzec had a couple key runs on the drive and he caught a pass on 3rd and 3 for a first down. The biggest play on the drive came on 3rd and 7 from the Rice 39 yard line. Travis Ferguson gained 30 yards on a reverse play to put the ball on the Southfield 31 and keep the drive alive. The drive ended when a Lacanaria pass to Marzec missed its mark and Soutfhield took over at its 4 yard line. Time was running out on Southfield—down two scores and with only one time-out left. The Bluejays managed to run 14 plays, but could only gain 34 yards before missing on a 4th and 8 pass at mid-field. The Rice defense was aided on the drive by two sacks—one by Sergio Perkovic and one by Joe Warner. Jordan Rabban had a career game for the Warriors on defense. He led both teams in tackles with 15, including one for a loss. He had two pass break-ups and was part of the group that blocked the 1st quarter punt. The Rice defense did a good job on Brandon Watkins, holding him to 74 yards rushing on 18 carries—most in the second half. Ron Thompson, who earlier in the week had committed to Syracuse, had his best game of the year receiving with 10 catches for 104 yards. Payne had 172 all-purpose yards, a good effort in defeat.

Rice will have to pick it up a notch or two for the King game. They will need to match their intensity from the Harrison game if they expect to complete with an improved King team—led by the outstanding running back Dennis Norfleet. It should be a good battle of the backs between Norfleet and Church. They are similar backs with similar speed and both will be playing at the next level—Norfleet at Cincinnati and Church at Northern Illinois. Rice has also improved since week one when they beat King 28-21. The offensive and defensive lines are much better and the linebackers have had a great year. They will have to be at their best to contain Norfleet and advance to Ford Field.

Division 1

Grand Blanc 27 Rockford 21 (U)

Detroit Catholic Central 28 Ann Arbor Pioneer 14

Walled Lake Central 13 Utica Eisenhower 10 (G) (U)

Warren DeLaSalle 28 Detroit Cass Tech 15

Division 2

Lowell 35 Fenton 7 (B)

Port Huron 17 Walled Lake Western 16 (G)

Birmingham Brother Rice 31 Southfield 13

Detroit M.L.King 31 Wyandotte Roosevelt 21 (G)

Division 3

Mt. Pleasant 35 East Lansing 8 (B)

East Grand Rapids 30 Holland 7

Battle Creek Harper Creek 27 Adrian 20

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 45 Linden 7 (B)

Top Games of the Week (G)

Walled Lake Central vs. Utica Eisenhower

Detroit M.L. King vs. Wyandotte Roosevelt

Port Huron vs. Walled Lake Western

Top Upsets of the Week (U)

Walled Lake Central over Utica Eisenhower

Grand Blanc over Rockford

Best Bets of the Week (B)

Lowell over Fenton

Mt. Pleasant over East Lansing

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s over Linden

LAST WEEK’S DISTRICT FINALS: 15 RIGHT, 9 WRONG

PLAYOFFS TO DATE: 50 RIGHT, 22 WRONG

Most people connected with Brother Rice football, including the players, coaches, parents and alumni knew that Rice had a good chance to win the game. But, the margin of victory and the ease with which the mission was accomplished surprised a lot of people. I had predicted a 24-21 Rice victory—perhaps a late field goal by new kicker Jason Alessi breaking a tie game to seal the win. Of course that was before I knew Jake Vento would not be playing. I figured that the Hawks would miss Vento more than the half game absence of Mario Ojemudia. That theory proved to be correct. Ojemudia was a non-factor in the second half while Vento’s absence was clearly felt. Having said that, the dominance of the Rice lines on both sides of the ball lead me to believe even Vento’s presence would not have made a big enough difference. Vento was not going to stop Rice’s powerful running game, nor would he have helped Collins, Hunter and company penetrate the Rice defense. Maybe Vento picks up a few yards on quarterback scrambles, but his usual contribution on defense would have been negated by the fact Rice didn’t throw the ball much. The well timed passes that were thrown were spot on to under-rated receivers who happened to beat Aaron Burbridge downfield.

Vento had a great year, but he was not invincible and the way Rice played, I doubt he would have made the difference. One thing that came to light during the game was that Harrison had built its record and high ranking off of a schedule in a weak OAA. The league now appears to be down this year, and Harrison’s only non-OAA contest was against a highly-over-rated Cass Tech. On the other hand, Rice suffered its four losses at the hands of CHSL Central powers CC, DeLaSalle and OLSM—all part of this weekend’s elite eight and a good Cincinnati LaSalle team. The so-called experts in the media over-looked Rice, forgot that they should have won last year’s game and under-estimated the strength of Rice’s schedule. Even if Harrison had been at full strength, I think Rice’s chances to win were better than 50-50—even with three of its own starters out with injuries.

The Warriors played a perfect game—its best of the season—its best in recent years. They won the coin toss and had the opportunity to defer. The defense did its job—forcing a Harrison punt after four plays. Rice drove the 59 yards to the end zone in ten plays—all on the ground, and with eight of the ten runs by Devin Church, who gained 48 yards on this drive alone. Church ended up being the offensive star of the game with 159 yards on 32 carries and two touchdowns. The 32 carries is the third most in a game in Rice history. With 1,312 yards and 16 touchdowns on the season, Church is moving up in the Rice record book in both categories. With a couple more games, he could end up being one of the best ever at Rice. Church also had a key 32-yard pass reception in the second quarter to set up Alessi’s 28-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. The other Rice offensive stars were sophomore running back Brian Walker and senior captain and wide receiver Brian Roney. Walker played his best game of the season. He scored Rice’s first touchdown on a 9-yard burst through the right side of the line. A similar short burst from the 5-yard line in the 3rd quarter extended the lead to 24-0. Walker finished with 72 yards on 13 carries. His yardage exceeded the entire Harrison team. A side event that interested me was the Walker-Collins battle. Which of the two Super Sophs would prevail. I’d have to give the season to Collins, as Harrison’s lead runner. Walker, playing alongside Church and DeShun Brown did not have Collins-like stats and started slowly, but after this game, I’d have to say the jury is still out on which back will have the best career—high school, college, pro. I suspect both will be successful. In this game, the edge went to Walker, although Collins did play both ways and was perhaps better on defense than on offense, as Rice held him to 43 yards on 11 carries.

Brian Roney’s importance to the Rice offense was visible for all to see. He made two huge plays—both set up Rice touchdowns. Rice only passed the ball four times in the game, but two were thrown to Roney, who beat Burbridge deep on both. He almost made a diving catch on the first, and hauled in the second for a 48-yard gain to the Hawks 13 yard line. Roney’s biggest play was on the second half kick-off. Roney fielded a short, bouncing kick at the Rice 21 yard line and headed across the field to pick up his blockers. He then cut back across the grain all the way to the other side, eluding the entire Harrison team along the way. It looked like he would go all the way, but Burbridge ran him down and stripped him of the ball. An alert Andrew Siroskey, who was lined up 20 yards behind Roney as the primary receiver, recovered the fumble to preserve the possession for Rice. Church scored two plays later to give the Warriors a 17-0 lead. Without the great play by Roney and the alert recovery by Siroskey, Harrison gets the ball and it may have been a different game. That was pretty typical of how Rice’s night went. They got first downs by inches when the chains were brought out, the other team got the annoying false start penalties, Rice recovered all three of its fumbles and one of Harrison’s. In other games this year, it seemed like those breaks went the other way. The Warriors kept plugging away and finally the breaks went their way.

A couple other offensive kudos: Cheyne Lacanaria played most of the game at quarterback and acquitted himself well. He was only asked to pass four times and he threw the ball well and didn’t get sacked once—a problem from earlier games. He didn’t see a wide open receiver in the end zone on one of his scrambles, but that happens. He’ll learn to scan the field as he scrambles. He did pick up positive yards on his scrambles. He also orchestrated the running game beautifully. It was a well-played game by the junior QB. The offensive line played outstanding—opening huge holes all evening. Even in the second half, when the Hawks defensive line was at full strength, the Warriors OL prevailed. The two fullbacks, Austin Echols and Greg Marzec, had excellent games blocking. On the OL, right guard Alex Oles (6’4” 255, senior) had a career- best game. He was pancaking the Harrison defenders all night, particularly on pulling plays. I rarely notice offensive linemen when I watch a game, but I noticed Oles in this one. He was outstanding.. It looked like he was the lead blocker on three of the four Rice touchdowns.

As well as the offense played, I think it may have been the defense that won the game for Rice. It was their best effort of the year. After all, Harrison is known for its offensive firepower more so than its defense. Even without Vento, this is a formidable group. Lamar Marshall is a very capable quarterback. At the beginning of the year, I thought Harrison would have been better going with Marshall at QB and moving Vento to WR. Obviously, Coach Herrington went with Vento and had a lot of success. My point is, Marshall is a good passer and with receivers like Burbride, Garius Coleman and Devin Funchess, it was a concern that needed addressing in the Rice game plan. The defense performed brilliantly. The stopped the run. They minimized the great FHH passing game and they covered the kick-offs and punts. Harrison only got in the Red Zone one time and that was in the 4th quarter after the outcome was determined. Rice forced four fumbles and had an interception. The pick was a beautiful play with safety Jordan Rabban picking the ball from a much taller Funchess. The defense, led by junior linebacker, Jon Reschke, limited Harrison to only 67 yards rushing. Harrison had more success passing, but even through the air, they managed only 15 yards per completion vs. Rice’s completion average of 40 yards. Reschke led the Warriors in tackles with 11 (7 solo) and a forced fumble. Senior linebacker, Mark Doman, had a great game and was second in tackles with eight (four solo). Rice defenders with sacks: Kevin Henry (17 yards), Lucas Cherocci, Sergio Perkovic, Austin Echols and Joe Warner. Michael Bouchard had a fumble recovery. Travis Ferguson had seven tackles from his free safety position and he had a forced fumble. Kicker Jason Alessi, saw action at safety and had two pass break-ups—both near the end zone.

A perfect storm hit the Hawks at Buller Field on Saturday night. I don’t know if that effort by Rice can ever be repeated in a big game like this. Rice fans can hope they put this game behind them and concentrate on a good Southfield team—next week’s opponent. If the Warriors can get by Southfield, it looks like two familiar foes will be waiting– King in the semi-final and Lowell at Ford Field. We’re now into concentrating on one game at a time. Southfield is not Harrison, but they are a good team with some great athletes. It will be a battle. Rice will need another big effort from Church (a Southfield resident), Walker , Reschke, Roney and Company. The crowd won’t be as big this weekend, but the stakes are just as high.

Division I

Rockford 21 Grand Ledge 14

Midland 24 Grand Blanc 20

Ann Arbor Pioneer 28 Temperance Bedford 14

Detroit Catholic Central 21 Canton 14 (G)

Clarkston 32 Walled Lake Central 20

Utica Eisenhower 34 Romeo 13

Detroit Cass Tech 26 Dearborn Fordson 15

Warren DeLaSalle 35 Warren Mott 14 (B)

Division II

Okemos 20 Fenton 10

Muskegon 27 Lowell 14 (G)

Walled Lake Western 19 South Lyon 17

Rochester Adams 34 Port Huron 7 (B)

Birmingham Brother Rice 24 Farmington Hills Harrison 21 (G)

Southfield 32 Farmington 20

Wyandotte Roosevelt 14 Southgate Anderson 13

Detroit M.L. King 26 Allen Park 21

Division III

Mt. Pleasant 40 Petoskey 18 (B)

East Lansing 22 DeWitt 20

East Grand Rapids 17 Grand Rapids Christian 16 (U)

Zeeland East 16 Holland 10

Mason 24 Battle Creek Harper Creek 21

Chelsea 17 Adrian 14

Linden 10 Lapeer East 7 (U)

Redford Thurston 22 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 21 (U)

Games of the Week (G)

Brother Rice vs. F.H. Harrison

Muskegon vs. Lowell

Detroit CC vs Canton

Upsets of the Week (U)

Redford Thurston over OLSM

Linden over Lapeer East

East Grand Rapids over G.R. Christian

Best Bets of the Week (B)

Rochester Adams over Port Huron

Mt. Pleasant over Petoskey

DeLaSalle over Warren Mott

First Round Results:35 Right 13 Wrong

About the only thing that went wrong for Brother Rice in Friday’s opening round of the playoffs, was losing the coin toss. But, even that turned fortuitous as North Farmington deferred to the second half and Brother Rice chose to receive. Devin Church took the opening kick-off at the six yard line and returned it for a touchdown. It was his second kick-off return for a touchdown this season—a Brother Rice record. Rice went on to score on five of its first six possessions while the Rice defense held North Farmington in check throughout the game. The Raiders didn’t get on the scoreboard until 1:00 remained in the game and the Rice defense had mostly JV and Freshmen players. Even then, the young Rice defense forced a fumble at the goal line by North Farmington’s best runner, Kevin Miller, but the ball bounced into the end zone and was recovered by Raider left tackle Michael Mackie.

Church followed up his opening kick-off heroics with his best rushing performance of the season. Playing only in the first half, Church had 172 yards on only 9 carries His 19.1 average yards per rush was also a Brother Rice record. Church scored Rice’s second touchdown on a 4-yard run and set up a Brian Walker touchdown with a 60-yard run from scrimmage. Walker also had his best game of the year, finishing with 121 yards rushing on 20 carries and a touchdown. Playing without its second leading rusher, the Warriors amassed a season high 339 yards on the ground. Eight players contributed to the rush total. The other touchdowns were scored by Austin Echols, a 27 yard run on his only carry and Nick Rao on a 10 yard quarterback keeper.

Defensively, the Warriors were in control throughout the game. North Farmington’s rushing total of 122 yards was the third-lowest of Rice’s ten opponents. Passing yards were a little better (fifth-lowest) aided by a 41-yard completion late in the game. North Farmington only got into the red zone once during the game, and the Warriors intercepted quarterback Kevin Penny twice (James Hendrix and Travis Ferguson) and forced four fumbles—recovering three. Jon Reschke led the Warriors with nine tackles while Cody Ellwanger had a career game with eight tackles—six solo. Ellwanger also had two tackles-for-loss and a pass break-up on a deep sideline pass. JV call-up Shaun Jones, playing on the kick-off team had four tackles in the game and for the second game in a row forced a fumble on the kick return. Jason Alessi got into the game at safety in addition to his place-kicking duties and he had four tackles in limited action. It was an impressive effort by the defense and a good tune-up for next week’s game at Harrison.

I spotted Steve Morrison (Brother Rice/UM/Colts) in the crowd. No doubt he was there to see Rice’s trio of Division 1 linebacker prospects (Reschke, Doman, Cherocci). I think there may have been a sleeper in the game wearing #40 for the Raiders. Kevin Miller played an outstanding game in defeat for North Farmington He led the Raiders in rushing, receiving and tackles. He was all over the field on both sides of the ball, but particularly on defense where the linebacker led both teams in tackles. I’m sure Morrison of the EMU coaching staff took note of Miller’s performance.

The victory over North Farmington sends the Warriors into the much-anticipated District Final next weekend against Farmington Hills Harrison. Both teams have been looking forward to this game for a year, ever since Harrison knocked Rice out of the playoffs in last year’s first round. Rice wants to atone for the two late game turnovers that turned an almost sure win into a defeat and Harrison wants to prove that being out-played last year was an aberration and that they really are the better team. Rice did beat Harrison in the summer 7 on 7 competition and in the 4-Way scrimmage, for what that’s worth. Rice has also played the tougher schedule. Harrison, largely on the basis of its 2010 Championship, has been rated number one all season and has garnered national recognition. Had it not been for the sudden turnaround in last year’s game, maybe the tables would be turned and Rice would be the defending champion looking to avoid some payback from a Division 2 rival.

Looking at the game, both teams look fairly even. Both have a stable of Division 1 athletes. Both are led by outstanding all-state candidates (Devin Church and Aaron Burbridge). Both have outstanding sophomore running backs. Both have explosive special teams. Both have aggressive defenses which are tough against the run and pass. Both defensive backfields are loaded with talent and capable of a pick-six on any given play. Both have tight ends that will play at the next level. Both have legendary coaches—number one and two in career wins in Michigan.

As similar as the two teams are, each also has its advantages. Harrison has an edge at quarterback with the dual threat of Jake Vento. Harrison’s tight end is a better pass receiver; Rice’s a better blocker. Rice has the edge on the offensive line; Harrison’s defensive front is more aggressive in its pass rush. Rice has more depth at running back and can run with speed and power. Harrison relies on the talented sophomore Lorenzo Collins. Rice has the edge with its linebacker trio. Harrison has more depth at wide receiver. Harrison runs a more balanced offense between the run and pass; Rice relies mostly on the run.

This will be the Game of the Week in the Metro Detroit area for many fans, although the CC-Canton game will attract a lot of attention while Lowell vs. Muskegon will top the West Side matchups. Check back later in the week for Round Two picks.