Written Wednesday August 20th at 10:23 PM
ONTV News Media Day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWzOpeZgLQg
OAA Now Football Podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpjDfF-Rjpo
AROUND THE OAA STATS FROM LAST SEASON (Top Five on points per game):
TOP OFFENSE:
1. Groves 35.4 ppg (461)
2. Harper Woods 33.7 ppg (431)
3. West Bloomfield 31 ppg (341)
4. Clarkston 27.2 ppg (300)
5. Avondale 26.3 ppg (290)
WORST DEFENSE:
1. Bloomfield Hills 33.8 ppg (305)
2. Pontiac 32.5 ppg (293)
3. Southfield Arts and Tech 31.3 ppg (282)
4. Royal Oak 25.4 ppg (229)
5. Berkley 25 ppg (225)
BEST DEFENSE:
1. Groves 10.6 ppg (138)
2. Adams 14.3 ppg (187)
3. Avondale 15.9 ppg (175)
4. Clarkston 16.8 ppg (185)
5. Harper Woods 17.8 ppg (232)
WORST OFFENSE:
1. Pontiac 7.1 ppg (64)
2. Bloomfield Hills 10.3 ppg (93)
3. Berkley 11.2 ppg (101)
4. Royal Oak 12.7 ppg (115)
5. Southfield Arts and Tech 13.7 ppg (124)
WHITE DIVISION OVERALL STATS
OFFENSE
1. Groves 35.4 ppg (461)
2. Harper Woods 33.7 ppg (431)
3. Rochester 25 ppg (225)
4. Stoney Creek 24.5 ppg (245)
5. Southfield Arts and Tech 13.7 ppg (124)
DEFENSE
1. Groves 10.6 ppg (138)
2. Harper Woods 17.8 ppg (232)
3. Rochester 21.4 ppg (193)
4. Stoney Creek 23 ppg (230)
5. Southfield Arts and Tech 31.3 ppg (282)
COACHES POLL
Harper Woods (2)
Stoney Creek
Groves
Rochester
Southfield Arts and Tech
White Division Preview Show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5X7jJwGGWg
DIVISION RECAPS/STORYLINES:
The White brings a lot of storylines this season. Groves won the division and made the Division Two State Semifinals until their own undoing cost them last season. Harper Woods made the Division Four State Semifinals falling to Goodrich in a game where they had everything that went against them. Stoney Creek made the postseason under a new coach and will look to improve in year two under their system. Rochester will be really interesting to watch. Southfield Arts and Tech should be improved but they will have some questions as well.
Groves: The Falcons had a great season but a ton of mistakes of their own undoing cost them in their 28-27 loss to Orchard Lake St. Marys in the Division Two State Semifinals last season. Groves lost a ton of experience from that team last season. It will be really interesting to see what direction they go losing all that experience and if they can keep the tradition going in Beverly Hills.
Harper Woods: The Pioneers have the balk of their team coming back from winning the Division Four crown two years ago and those who made the Division Four State Semifinals last season. The story for Harper Woods is how do they measure up against experienced big teams like those north Silver Bell Road. The Pioneers will be in the mix for the White but it will be how do they measure up particularly against those teams that are on M-24 north of Silver Bell Road.
Stoney Creek: The Cougars saw a ton of improvement under first year Coach Rick Powell even getting to the postseason. Stoney Creek will look to continue that upward motion into what could be another likely postseason appearance. There are some questions for the Cougars coming into the season especially at quarterback. The story for Stoney Creek will be keeping up that upward momentum from last season.
Rochester: The Falcons had a really controversial 22-21 overtime loss which cost them a trip to the postseason to Stoney Creek last season. Rochester wants to to continue what they've been doing heading into this season. The Falcons have been a program on the grasp of making the postseason but can they get there will be the story heading into the season.
Southfield Arts and Tech: The Warriors have gone through a lot in the last two years. They will be in Division Two for postseason but will they be improved will be the story. Southfield Arts and Tech had moments they looked really good and moments not so much. Improvement will be something to watch.
TOP FIVE GAMES:
1. Harper Woods at Stoney Creek: Pioneers had to survive the Cougars in Wayne County last season, could the crown be on the line in this game???
2. Stoney Creek at Rochester: Falcons haven't forgotten the overtime loss to the Cougars that kept them out of the postseason last season.
3. Groves at Harper Woods: Falcons have had the Pioneers number the last two years, could that change this season???
4. Stoney Creek at Groves: Both teams are much different than the last time they met when the Falcons won 34-6 last season.
5. Southfield Arts and Tech at Stoney Creek: This is a make or break game for the Warriors if they want to make progress.
COMBINED RECORDS WITH LAST SEASON'S SCHEDULES (NON-LEAGUE):
Harper Woods: 39-15 (42-12 Saline forfeits)
Stoney Creek: 26-26
Groves: 26-26
Southfield Arts and Tech: 22-28
Rochester: 25-27
Easiest Schedule: Stoney Creek: The Cougars have the easiest schedule on paper. They have Southfield Arts and Tech, Harper Woods, and Adams coming to Stoney Creek. The Cougars have to go to Lake Orion which is Coach Rick Powell's return to Dragon Country along with road trips to Rochester and Groves. The non conference looks very manageable with Warren Cousino, Berkley, and Ann Arbor Huron with the latter two being on the road. Stoney Creek has things evened out when it comes to competition.
Nightmare Schedule: Groves: The Falcons were really good with a ton of proven experience last season but many experts say that Groves could take a step back and for good reason. The Falcons have Detroit University-Detroit Jesuit, Rochester, and Stoney Creek coming to Beverly Hills. The rest includes West Bloomfield, Southfield Arts and Tech, Seaholm, Harper Woods, and Oxford are on the road. This is a brutal schedule with a very young team. Groves could be a team that takes a step back this season.
Team that's in Trouble: Southfield Arts and Tech: The Warriors had things really rough last season going 1-8 but the schedule might not get any better. Southfield Arts and Tech should be improved but they have to open with East Kentwood. I can't imagine how next season will be when they make the return trip on Interstate 96 in Kent County. They have Lowell, Harper Woods, and Groves also coming to Southfield which I can imagine when they have to make the return trip back to Kent County next season to Lowell and East Kentwood. The Warriors have to go to Chippewa Valley, West Bloomfield, Rochester, and Stoney Creek which are going to be really tough games. You never know with Pontiac. Southfield Arts and Tech could be in some trouble this season.
STONEY CREEK COUGARS:
LAST SEASON: 5-5, 2-2 White. Lost 44-14 to Adams in Division One first round. 245 points scored (24.5 ppg,) 230 points allowed (23 ppg.)
MAKE OR BREAK: September 19th vs Harper Woods
STRENGTHS: Program Strength, Both Lines, Defensive Secondary, Proven Pass Catchers.
CONCERNS: Linebackers, Rushing Attack.
PLAYER ON THE SPOT: Peyton Rummer- Offensive/Defensive Lineman
BOLD PREDICTION: Jake Lantzy has ten receiving touchdowns this season.
PROJECTED RECORD: 7-2, 4-0 White. PLAYOFFS YES.
INSIGHT: The Cougars made some strides toward the later half of the season winning games and being competitive in them which is something that has Coach Rick Powell looking forward to this season with Stoney Creek."We're excited to head into year two this year we have a lot of pieces coming back, guys trying to understand the overall culture and responsibilities and what it takes to be a successful football team in a football program so we're looking forward to the challenges that we have this coming season" said Powell. The overtime win over Rochester was a turning point for the Cougars to make the postseason last season. "Kind of the mentality that we wanted to put fourth the entire year, it's about being resilient and hanging our hat on and handling adversity, early on in that game we kind of had control of it and toward the middle and the end of the game Rochester started to punch us in the mouth a little bit and they were a very physical team, a very good football team and we were on the ropes a little bit, and we got it to overtime with them and got a huge play on a fourth down to even score in overtime and you know at that point it was like we got to go for two here to see what we're about and our guys responded very well" said Powell.
Program strength has really benefited the Cougars especially when you have an incoming sophomore and junior class that went 17-1 last season. "Our goal every season is to be able and play our best football you know toward the end of the season, obviously we get in the playoffs we're playing our best football at the end of the year, I think that's what we kind of did obviously did not go as planned with week ten in the playoffs (Adams) but it was a lot to learn, a lot to take in early on for our guys and they responded really well and you know soaked it with a sponge but you know they started believe in themselves and have a little bit of confidence and hit our stride midway toward the end of the season which was cool to see" said Powell. Powell mentioned having the extra week of practice in the postseason was huge for the program. "Huge, we started six sophomores and they had a lot of playing time about I think seventh up towards the end of the year, it really showed what we had when we played a really good Rochester Adams team you know toward the end of the regular season and played them really tough, I thought we played a good game, we could have punched it into the endzone, we played a really good football game so in the playoffs they were really experienced, they've been there, done that situation before, so that experience was huge for us hopefully heading into this season to know let our guys know what playoff football is all about and how you have to really transition and turn off to different level" said Powell. Stoney Creek has a ton of experience on the offensive side of the football coming back for offensive coordinator Mike Powell who is Rick's father. They have Brandon Gergics coming back at quarterback but Powell mentioned there might be two more guys that are battling for the quarterback spot."We got a good battle going on, we got a senior in Jake Matlis who played about five weeks for us last year and then junior Brendan Gergics who was the starter going into the season as a sophomore last year and he ended up getting hurt so he lost a little bit of confidence when he got hurt but he's a really good athlete. Jake Matlis is a great game manager, does a lot of good things well so we have two really different styles but both of them are rising to the occasion and competing very well" Powell said about his quarterbacks. The rushing attack will be the question mark for Powell despite having Brodie Telegadas and Mason Black coming back. Whoever the quarterback is will have proven pass catchers in KJ Schuster, Jack Fredenburg, Nolan Welch, and Jake Lantzy coming back. The lines should be the strength of the Cougars with Brody Rummler, Brady Ricketts, Michael Gemellaro, and Roark Stephens coming back for Powell. "He's kind of taken that one straight on, put a lot of work in, he's put on 40 to 50 pounds since the end of last season and it's good weight in terms of muscle wise, get a lot of exposure at camps, competing against a lot of good athletes, offense, defensive lineman throughout his different tours and camps and whatnot, he's a rising star on the weekends at times but he's really put fourth a lot of work and really taken ownership and pride of you know, he's one of our solid guys coming back on the offensive line. I mean we got three guys, we got Brady Ricketts is another offensive tackle who is returning for us, we moved him from tight end to tackle and then our center Michael Gemellaro is our anchor down the offensive line too and we're really excited about him coming back" Powell said about Rummler and the offensive line. The defense will be something to watch especially at linebacker despite having Ryan Dazinski at outside linebacker. It is possible that Schuster could play linebacker as well with his athleticism."We're just trying to take pride and the confidence of playing fast, you know a lot of new things, a lot of new schemes going in last year, guys were a little unsure of themselves and kind of where they fit in so going into this offseason has been a huge transition, seeing guys really take ownership of it and understand what we are trying to do philosophically and I like said we got a ton of returning pieces. We lose a little bit on our defensive line with Beckeman (Spencer) and Boyco, a couple of other guys that are gone but you know linebackers are returning, everybody in the secondary is returning, we had a kid Drew Rough who we're really excited about starting for us for a couple of games but ended up getting hurt with his knee injury early to middle of the season last year so he was out all of last season, so we're really excited to have him back too" Powell mentioned about the defense. Stoney Creek also has Quinn Zezula, Lanzy, Fredenberg, Drew Rheault, and Ethan Gendich in the defensive secondary coming back. "We got a lot of two way guys coming back for us that play offensively and defensively for us, we got Rose Telegadas is going to be a junior at tailback, Mason Black is going to be a junior tailback for us. We got Jake Lantzy and Nolan Welch that are running the slot running back position and two seniors that we're really excited in Jack Fredenburg and KJ Schuster at the wide out position that we're looking forward too and a couple of young bucks mixed in there and guys hoping to get a shot but we lost a pretty good tight end for us last year, we have a sophomore junior to be in Ryan Dazinski that started at outside backer and he'll be moving over to the offensive side of the ball a little bit too so we're excited about his transition there" Powell said about several two way players.
Program strength has been really strong for Powell especially with the majority of kids coming in from Hart Middle School although they get some kids from Reuther Middle School which the majority of them go to Rochester. "We're really excited we have the junior Cougars football program running pretty strong right now we got a few guys from the Rochester Raiders organization as well, we come in there. Hart does a great job, we get about 40 to 50 athletes, our seventh and eighth grade teams, a lot of good coaches there. We did some things going this offseason where we held a coaches clinic essentially a camp where we got all the youth coaches up to the varsity coaches together, we were able to do some clinic talk with them and we're working more closely with them, so we're really excited about building those relationships, as much as we can get those guys on board the better for us but yeah we're really excited heading into this year with our incoming freshman class of 2029, really excited for. Our lower level coaches are great, they do a great job with those guys, the biggest thing we try to look at is to compete, we don't have a ton of roster size on the lower levels The freshman does a pretty good job about 40 to 45ish but I think we had 28 on JV last year, and like I said those guys are tough competitive guys that don't come off the field and just want to be football players, that's kind of what we're all about. We want guys to be good football players be tough minded whether it's physically and mentally but yeah a lot of good programs coming out there, like I said one loss between the two of them last year (freshman lost to Adams.) The JV team has not lost a game yet, now the class of 2027's so a lot of issues to fill but hopefully we can keep that rolling" Powell said. The Cougars could be a force to watch this season and beyond.
BEST CASE: Powell's team hasn't missed a beat. Rummler leads the lines while the skill players rise to the occasion. The players from the junior class continue their dominant ways and emerging stars rise. Postseason likely in reach.
WORST CASE: Injuries mount, junior class struggles, Rummler gets hurt, line struggles, quarterback situation not figured out, chemistry not there. Postseason dreams could be in jeopardy.
SAMMY OUTLOOK: The Cougars have a ton of program strength which helps. Stoney Creek has some questions but they are talented enough to make some noise. This is clearly a program that is on the rise.
Stoney Creek Podcast (June 23rd-Second Segment)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3AM561pNAE&t=2s
HARPER WOODS PIONEERS:
LAST SEASON: 9-4, 3-1 White. Lost 28-14 to Goodrich in Division Four state semifinals. 439 points scored (33.7 ppg,) 232 points allowed (17.8 ppg.)
MAKE OR BREAK: September 19th at Stoney Creek
STRENGTHS: Proven Experience at Skill Positions and most of the Lines.
CONCERNS: Mental Mindset, Interior Defensive Line, Depth.
PLAYER ON THE SPOT: DeAndre Bidden-Wide Receiver/Defensive Back
BOLD PREDICTION: Nate Rocheleau stays healthy and Dakota Guerrant doesn't play quarterback.
PROJECTED RECORD: 6-3, 3-1 White. PLAYOFFS YES.
INSIGHT: The last two years of Pioneer football has been nothing short of remarkable which included a Division Four State Crown two years ago and a really tough loss to Goodrich in the Division Four State Semifinals last season. "Last year was a good year overall, we had to struggle with injuries early on and really battle to make the playoffs. Once we were able to do that we were able to make a run late so that was a good thing for us that we got a lot of guys meaningful reps so this team coming back is a veteran team, guys have been playing a lot last year so we're looking forward to having a good season this year" said Coach Rob Oden. It has been really clear with the theme "Built on Beaconsfield" which is where Harper Woods is that they are clearly building and sustaining their success.
Harper Woods is a proven machine on both sides of the football not only in the State and in the league but also in Wayne County as well. They were fifth in points allowed defensively and offensively they had the second best offense when it came to points per game in the OAA last season. The Pioneers have Nate Rocheleau at quarterback coming back for Oden. Rocheleau is a proven pocket passer and loves to throw the ball deep but he missed some time with an ankle injury he suffered against Novi Detroit Catholic Central. Harper Woods was a much different team with Rocheleau came back in the lineup. He had over 2,100 yards passing last season and could be in line for more this season. "Nate has improved drastically this offseason, he committed himself to the weight room, he's probably 10-15 pounds heavier than previously. He's committed to running track. He was a little bit more athletic than he was previously but he's ultimately become the senior leader we've needed, first to arrive, last to leave, he's doing an outstanding job of making his teammates better overall" Oden said of Rocheleau. When Rocheleau was hurt against Novi Detroit Catholic Central as mentioned Oden went to his nephew Dakota Guerrant as his quarterback. Guerrant can play anywhere which has Oden excited to see with his nephew most likely known as a proven wide receiver/defensive back than a quarterback. "One of the ones we call him, he's a guy who can play multiple positions, he's kind of the Swiss Army knife for us. You know he has some quarterback in his background for little league in addition to wide receiver, defensive back, and some running back so with Dakota we can line him up in six or seven different positions and get some meaningful great matchups in our favor so we're looking forward to moving him around. He's continuing to work on his game, he's about 10 pounds heavier as well from the weight room and has gotten better in terms of speed so he can blow the top off of coverage's and he's added a couple of new dimensions to his game so the sky is the limit for that kid, he's had a great summer. We're going to be able to do a lot of different things with him this upcoming season" Oden added about his nephew Dakota.The Pioneers are known for their air raid attack and have a ton of proven talent but there are some players that Oden wants OAA Nation to know about as we head into the season. "Other that everybody talks about everyday, Jayden Evans our free safety is having a great offseason, great summer, he's 6.3 190 pounds he's picked up some really big offers lately. He's going to be a ball hawk back there, he started for us as a freshman last year and he'll continue to grow and develop and he'll be a name pretty soon" Oden said of Evans. Rocheleau will have a ton of proven pass catchers in DeAndre Bidden, Guerrant, Terrell Phillips, James Jefferson, Jeremy Upshaw, and AJ Henley coming back. "James Jefferson our third wide receiver, he's kind of a long ranging kid, was a role player for us last year, caught a lot of short and intermediate balls, this year he's expanded his role so I will look forward too watching him continue to grow and develop, he's a 6.3 wide receiver as well, he'll go from a serviceable backup to having a very key role in the starting offense" Oden said of Jefferson. The rushing attack took a bit of a hit with Donald Adams and Colby Bailey graduating but they have Kiante Washington, Rashad Evans, and Avery Taylor coming back which should help. "We're going to do it with a committee, it will be two sophomores and a junior back there. We're talking Rashad Evans, most likely it will be Avery Taylor and third back will be Kiante Washington. Two of the three played in the system last year and gave us some meaningful snaps but the difference is all three kids are about 6 foot, 200 pounds and not the small scat backs we've used in the past so we're looking to be more physical in the run game but we know to replace the production of Colby (Bailey) and Donald (Adams) is going to take more than just one guy so it'll probably be those three guys as our primary ball carriers out of the backfield" Oden said about his running back situation. The lines should be very good for Oden with Christian Hayes, Errol Lewis, Torian Johnson, Jeremiah McCall, and Randy Ellis coming back. They also added a transfer in Victor Polk who comes back to Harper Woods from Detroit Cass Tech this offseason. "Our edge is going to be set by sophomore Jeremiah McCall. Played a lot of reps last year as a freshman, killing it in the weight room, he's made gains over 50 pounds in the bench cleaning his squat, he's really tearing the weight room down so he'll be the next defensive lineman up in this next class, he's about 6.3, 260 pounds, he's freakishly athletic, he'll be great there and opposite him will be one of the newest additions to the team which is Victor Polk. Polk is a senior, transferred back to his neighborhood and came to us from Cass Tech (Detroit) and I think Vick comes to us with 10 offers already but he's a heck of a player, he's continuing to grow and he's picking up a ton of attention as you know as a tight end but defensive end is where he's going to make his money for the next level I believe" Oden said about McCall and Polk. The linebackers have been the strength of the defense with proven experience in Ronald Williams, Mikah Jones, Jessie White, and Taylor coming back. "Our linebacker core is solid with sophomores, we're talking Jessie White and Mikah Jones. Both were backups on last year's team but both played meaningful snaps in all 13 games. Looking forward to them being full time starters this year and they'll be the ones that kind of make our defense go. So both of them are really high academic smart kids that will be in alignment to be two great players right here in this upcoming season" Oden said of Jones and White. They have JaJuan Jones, Guerrant, Evans, Jordan McLemore, Lionel Edwards, Corey Bailey, and JeVonte Nelson in the defensive secondary coming back. "The secondary should be one of the strengths because every starter is back from previous seasons so we got a lot of experience back there but outside the household names I would say JaJuan Jones is our top defensive back, he's a four year starter for us, recently committed to Central Michigan., he'll move inside and play the nickel position, he's been a corner the last three years, heavily involved in run support and things like that so JuJuan Jones will be a guy like Lionel Edwards, our free safety, and like I said Jayden Evans our strong safety will help provide significant pass coverage for us back there so really excited them guys play together again, they've been together a year or two now and excited to see what they do this upcoming season" Oden said of his experienced defensive secondary.
Program strength looks solid for Oden especially from the youth levels and Harper Woods Middle School. "It's tremendously important, our middle school program has been the strength of our program since we got there eight years ago (Oden was at Detroit East English Village Prep prior to coming to Harper Woods) we are now coaching kids on our high school varsity team, I think 80 percent of my team played from sixth grade for us so they are super familiar with the program and the success we're having with seven on seven this summer is showing a lot of that, they've been running this system for three four, some five years so we're able to get better in several areas because we've had kids that are really familiar with the system that we're running so our junior varsity program is our feeder system. We look forward to those guys to take the next step by the end of the year and be ready to come up and give us some serviceable time on varsity so our approach is to always build the program from the youth level up so that's the kind of what we've always been doing, their schedules are always challenging as well so we look forward working with those guys once they get to us so we spent a lot of guys and practicing in the offseason. My varsity staff coaching, developing them, younger staff so when they get to us there will be some familiarity with those guys so both levels junior varsity and middle schools they are doing extremely well, we're looking forward to coaching some of those kids coming this season" Oden said. Harper Woods should be a force again this season and could be in line for another deep postseason run in Division Four.
BEST CASE: Everyone stays healthy especially Rocheleau who has a career year in passing yards. Guerrant has another monster season. Bidden and others become stars. Pioneers are a serious Division Four State title contender.
WORST CASE: Injuries mount, Rocheleau gets hurt again, Guerrant struggles, lines struggle, others struggle. Postseason dreams could be in jeopardy if this scenario comes out.
SAMMY OUTLOOK: The Pioneers have a ton of upside and a great chance to get the Division Four State Crown back to Beaconsfield Street. Harper Woods has a tough schedule and a schedule that is juicy for postseason points. The Pioneers need to stay the course and if they do and stay healthy this is a dangerous team come postseason time.
Harper Woods Podcast (June 23rd-First Segment)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3AM561pNAE&t=2s
ROCHESTER FALCONS:
LAST SEASON: 4-5, 1-3 White. No postseason. 225 points scored (25 ppg,) 193 points allowed (21.4 ppg.)
MAKE OR BREAK: September 19th at Groves
STRENGTHS: Both Lines, Rushing Attack, Quarterback, Linebackers.
CONCERNS: Defensive Secondary, Depth, Program Strength.
PLAYER ON THE SPOT: Amarie Harris- Offensive/Defensive Lineman
BOLD PREDICTION: Devin Grabke has a 1,000 rushing yard season.
PROJECTED RECORD: 5-4, 2-2 White. PLAYOFFS YES.
INSIGHT: It was sort of like the "Game of Thrones" or inches that decided the Falcons fate last season. "Last year we were 4-5 and that's not what we wanted to do in our four wins we played really well in our five losses we played really well, we just had some turnovers and little things here and there that kind of cost us like the Adams game in week two, it was 7-0 at half and 14-0 after three quarters so defensively we played well but offensively we're playing with a young quarterback and he kind of had to get his feet wet and then we played Oxford tough (lost 28-10,) we had a couple of turnovers" said Coach Erik Vernon. It was one yard that separated the Falcons from the postseason. It was in overtime against arch rival Stoney Creek where Cougars running back Sam Fogler ran the ball on a two point attempt and was stopped by numerous Rochester defenders. The officials deemed Fogler got into the endzone while Vernon argued that Fogler was stopped before he got into the endzone but it wasn't meant to be as the officials deemed Fogler got into the endzone and Stoney Creek won 22-21 in week six which was huge in Stoney Creek making the postseason. "That was a tough one for us because it literally came down to the last play, it could have gone either way and not rehash a whole lot of that and I'll leave it at that and unfortunately we didn't rebound the following week like we wanted too (Harper Woods) and that one play was the difference of making the playoffs and not making the playoffs and our goal this year is to try to get those little things right not getting into those big games against those powerhouse OAA teams. We want to make sure that we're taking care of the football and doing those little things that we needed to do to have the results we want for sure" said Vernon about last season.
Many fans in Rochester felt that call cost the Falcons a trip to the postseason. The Falcons should have some motivation heading into this season along with a ton of proven multi sport athletes in the school this season. "We lost a lot of seniors but we have a lot of seniors coming back, we're up over 30 seniors, they're excited to make this their team this year, their legacy a lot of guys are excited and you know going back to where we coached was during their JV year as sophomores they did their jobs really well, they understood their roles, they understood their jobs, that team did a good job with the little things, they've seen it, they want to transition it over here to now it's their opportunity to show as a senior class what they can do, they've been working really hard, they've been doing a really good job with the little things that we talked about correctly so I'm excited for them" Vernon said about his seniors. Rochester has their quarterback in Matt Dyki coming back. Dyki has really improved from his freshman season and will look to have a strong bounce back year for the Falcons. "He got so much better as the year went on and the fact he was able to play the schedule we played, he had some tough games, we obliviously played some of the best teams in the state but it was a learning experience for him and the thing about him is that he's just a natural athlete, he knows the game of football really well, if he makes a mistake he'll come to the sideline and he'll right away he'll be able to explain what he saw, what he was doing and that shows his football IQ and going into his sophomore year he's put on some weight, we'll be able to use him in the running game, and he's going to have the opportunity to be a nice little duel threat quarterback so we're really excited for him" Vernon said about Dyki. Rochester has two proven running backs in Anderson Wilson and Devin Grabke among others coming back for Vernon. "Last year we had Jack Lower he was a workhorse but he started to share carries with Devin Grabke, he's a huge big play threat for us, he's going to play a lot of running back and he could play wide receiver. My running back room I'm really excited for, we have a junior coming in in Blake Chicowski who is a good baseball player, he's put on a lot of weight, big fast kid, hoping like that thunder and lightning type duo and we have a senior in Mark Jones, very physically gifted kid. We got some home run talent in the running back room in Devin and we're looking forward to see what he can do" Vernon said about his running backs especially Grabke. Dyki should have an improved pass catching group in Cole Murphy, Andrew Smith, Jacob Scott, and Nate Tandy coming back which has Vernon excited about this group. The lines should be the strength of both the offense and defense with Amarie Harris, Marcus Abram, Zoran Khawaja, Mark Jones, and Matthew Morrow coming back. "Marcus is leading our offensive line, he's a junior, he played really well on the defensive line, he'll be playing on the offensive line, he's a physical football player, does a great job with that and our senior class we got a couple of guys that can handle size and others that are smaller but faster off the ball, they've played in this run block system for a couple of years now, they know who they have to block, they understand getting a hat on hat I'm looking forward to that group kind of stepping up and there are still some positions that people are fighting for and they've had some good summers so it's exciting to see. One thing we're going to have is flexibility, we're going to play multiple positions across the line that's going to certainly help us if you know we unfortunately have injuries but just that depth and ability to have guys that play multiple positions, but there is not a lot of experience coming back other than Marcus, uh like Zoran Khawaja he got some reps at the end of the year so he's going to come up for us, we're losing some starters on the line so we're hoping for guys to step up" Vernon said. The linebackers should be solid with proven experience in Caiden Webb, Joe LaNeire, Tanner Scott, Jack Pokorny, and Caiden Siebort coming back. The Falcons should be improved for Vernon having proven and up and coming players in Tandy, Anthony Atooma, and Hudson Blake in the defensive secondary coming back. Rochester has a ton of proven experience on defense which excites Vernon heading into the season. They have Uzair Naseer handling the kicking duties. "Friday nights matter and it's awesome" Vernon said.
Program strength will be something to watch with the Falcons this season. Rochester relies on their middle school feeder programs at Reuther and West Middle Schools (some go to Adams) along with the Rochester Raiders youth football program. "When we look at the youth program in this city everything runs through the Rochester Raiders youth league, that's one of the premiere youth program in the state, we get a couple of kids, we get the kids that we get, we had two freshman that played on varsity for us last year, we don't get quite those kids as Adams and Stoney Creek but the ones we get do a great job for us. We split West with Adams and Reuther is ours and Reuther is kind of having a coaching turnover trying to get that one solidified but that's something that's out of our control when it comes to finding guys to get that job and whatever and we're hoping to get some coaches down there kind of up and running with that stuff. I've had the same freshman coaches for over a decade now, they've done a fantastic job of doing the same stuff we do and implementing them on how to teach the game of football. Our JV staff this was done before COVID, we decided to conjoin the JV and varsity program so we practice them together so the JV get coaching reps from the varsity guys, that's helped us immensely because that's helped our JV guys get ready for varsity football, it's probably one of the best things we've done which is made us more consistent we used to be. We've been pretty consistent putting good teams and competitive teams on the field, number wise we got about 60 varsity kids, I have about 25-30 sophomores and I'll have another 35 freshman so that's a good number for the program and a testament to all the other kids in the program, seniors doe a great job. We have great kids that come through the program are just fantastic people and that's the same for other programs but I think the character of our kids, culture, program, our school really does a good job to lead the culture of the program and the numbers of program strength that is for sure" Vernon concluded. The Falcons are more than capable of a postseason run, they just have to get there.
BEST CASE: The Falcons learned from last season's loss to Stoney Creek and won two straight games to close out the season. That momentum continues into this season and they get on a roll. Dyki becomes a star and Rochester shocks the state and creates balance on both sides of the football. Postseason dreams could be a reality.
WORST CASE: The Falcons lose all momentum from the final two games of the season and struggle to maintain. The concerns really struggle and under perform or get hurt. Postseason dreams would be in jeopardy.
SAMMY OUTLOOK: The Falcons are a sleeping giant, they have a lot of proven experience coming back. The secondary has some questions but there are a ton of strengths to watch for. Rochester could be a team that makes a ton of noise this season. People say they are a dark horse, there is a good reason why.
Rochester Podcast (July 21st-Third Segment)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzu-xG_RIgA
GROVES FALCONS:
LAST SEASON: 12-1, 4-0 White. Lost 28-27 to Orchard Lake St. Marys in Division Two state semifinals. 461 points scored (35.4 ppg,) 138 points allowed (10.6 ppg.)
MAKE OR BREAK: August 29th vs Detroit University-Detroit Jesuit
STRENGTHS: Both Lines, Proven Pass Catchers.
CONCERNS: Rushing Attack, Linebackers, Not a lot of Experience.
PLAYER ON THE SPOT: LaVelle Shannon-Quarterback
BOLD PREDICTION: LaVelle Shannon throws for 15 touchdowns this season.
PROJECTED RECORD: 2-7, 1-3 White. PLAYOFFS NO.
INSIGHT: The Falcons had everything in front of them and a chance to make their first state title game in school history. They had Ford Field in their grasp but very questionable play calling and decision making cost Groves in their 28-27 Division Two State Semifinal loss to Orchard Lake St. Marys falling to 0-5 in those games. "It was one of those magical years, had some really good players, some really good younger players and you know kind of that stuff that aligns, we didn't have a lot of injuries so you know sometimes you got to have luck to get down there, to get past districts. You got to have a little bit of luck going for you and we did so that was a fantastic year and you know a little bitter disappointment at the end there (losing to Orchard Lake St. Marys) I thought we had a great chance to get to the finals but we got to try to move on and focus on this year" said Coach Brendan Flaherty about last season. Flaherty made mention he wants to see more Falcon stickers in Beverly Hills and not the Warriors stickers like they have at Birmingham Brother Rice. "It's like a quarter of a century with one coach getting to know our philosophy, our mantra, when I got started it was trying to make football important, the guy before me, Coach McDougal who's my coach, so it's been 30 years of trying to make football important in Beverly Hills and Birmingham and it's not easy because we're a country club community. Swimming is huge, swimming is the thing, tennis, golf that whole thing so making football important at Groves is a challenge but I think we're swaying the way and making football important and trying to take some people along for the ride. When I first started the whole community, I come around, I drive around, and walk around the community and all I can see are these Warrior helmets stickers on people's cars (Birmingham Brother Rice) and that's why I just make it a policy to hand out Groves Falcons stickers, I want to cover up those Warrior stickers, those Maple stickers and just do it, for me it's one person at a time, just trying to be positive force in our community" Flaherty said about being a positive force in the community.
The Falcons will be a completely different team for Flaherty this season after leading the OAA in points scored and points against. Groves will have LaVelle Shannon at quarterback coming back. Shannon was the backup last season. "LaVelle Shannon is our quarterback, he's QB1, he's an extremely gifted guy immense upside talent, we've been fortunate to have good quarterbacks ahead of him (Caden Hardy and Ryan Counts) so he hasn't had a ton of starting experience but he is extremely gifted, eager you know a program guy, he's ready to play, he's waited his turn, he's ready to shine and he's pretty good, he's got a rocket of an arm and he's got some good athletic ability to run the ball so we're going to highlight him in a lot of things so he's pretty good, we're excited for him and I think more importantly since the first year he's kind of taken over the team and that leadership mantel and we're expecting good things from him" Flaherty said about Shannon. If Shannon struggles or gets hurt Flaherty has a solid backup in Groves Boys Basketball Coach Marc West's son Michael West. "Michael is a junior he's a three sport player, his dad is our basketball coach, coaches kid so if anything happens with LaVelle, Michael's right there so we feel really good about our quarterback room" Flaherty added. Shannon will have to rely on his arm but he will have proven pass catchers in Rylie Armbrustmaker, Fred Sorenson, Mike McCain, Jordan Thomas, Blake Riggins, Adrian Bryant, and Malik Cipullo, along with Jackson Tipton at tight end coming back. The rushing attack has to be replaced after their two top running backs graduated. Flaherty will look to Jeremiah Whitley be the top running back coming back. "We're still dinosaurs, we're an eye formation football and we're going to attempt to run the football and get after you so it really doesn't matter who it is, this is the stuff we do and people who play us know this is what they do so I think it's going to be okay, Jeremiah Whitley is pretty good, Carter Anderson is another running back. I think having two steady backs in an I formation team is smart and good, we got two guys and Dominic Taylor is a three year starter as well, he'll run the ball as well so we got three solid guys that we can put the ball in their hands and Elena Lewis is a sophomore for us so we feel good about the guys running the ball for us" said Flaherty. Both lines should be solid despite losing Avery Gach (Michigan) to graduation. They have Leland Swanson, Josh Hammonds, Carter Hladki, Mattia Andriano, Henry Roberts, Cooper Clark, Ezra Brown, and Kameron Smith coming back. "We got some guys up front but we got to fill some holes as well" Flaherty added. The defense should be the storyline to watch with Groves having to replace their linebackers. They could move Hladki to linebacker "I think it starts with us, how we think is stopping the run and being able to run the football so those two things are kind of like what we want to do" Flaherty added. He mentioned Carter Lackey and Taylor being two guys that can help on this side of the football. "Carter Lackey and Dominic Taylor are two linebackers, Dom can play defensive end, we're seeing him as a linebacker maybe a defensive end, maybe as a hybrid trying to highlight him so we're excited about them and then Josh and Mattis are going to play defensive tackle so stopping the run with those guys are going to be important. Two guys Zane Webb and Miles Tilman are seniors for us, not starters for us last year but they will be starters this year, they've had excellent summers and offseason so we're ready to you know get some guys who haven't played, they've played a bunch because we had some blowout games last year so they've played a lot but they're kind of looking to step up and take the mantle of leadership The Falcons have Myles Tillman, Dane Zef, Khamari Early, Sherman Christian, McCain, Martin Lavelle, and Armbrustmaker in the defensive secondary coming back. "So if we stop the run we'll be okay" Flaherty said about his defense.
Program strength is a concern for the Falcons which is something to watch especially with the youth and Middle School levels at Berkshere which is the main feeder middle school in Birmingham and Beverly Hills. "I think the Birmingham Patriots is our youth team so it starts with the youth, it's not to say a guy can be a successful player but again this is my 25th year as a head coach so it's hard to believe looking in the mirror. When I first started we didn't have youth football, we had about ten guys, sometimes more, I had to teach them put the pads in the pants and how to put shoulder pads and helmet because they never played football before so you could imagine going from my years like shoot at least a third of your team has never played football before to now most guys have played multiple years of football and have that experience, so our youth program is the Birmingham Patriots and has really built the foundation of our program, we've been kind of sticklers with it there, we want guys going to Groves or Seaholm, we don't want to be training our youth guys to go somewhere else particularly a private school so we pay particularly attention who's on our youth teams and putting our resources to those youth coaches and the youth players and really making that important and the understanding. The buzz word is culture but if you can get a parent trained in the fourth grade, they're like no Labor Day is not a holiday, that's a football weekend, football starts way before Labor Day so that's kind of been the foundation for us, you gain a lot of experience and I've been fortunate to gain experience with that and the number of guys on my staff have been with me, the majority of my staff has been with me 10 years or longer and some are former players so that they know the expectations at Groves so that's helped us really blossom" Flaherty added. The Junior Varsity and freshman programs have been a strength along with the chemistry throughout the program. "Dave Mason is our JV Coach and Nick Leon and Juan Hammonds those guys take the JV and Sean Johnson those guys are like overqualified, those guys are varsity level coaches but they embrace their role like everything about preparing the boys for Friday night, so they do a great job at getting the boys ready and have had great success and building the fundamentals and the building blocks and the competitiveness and they do a great job because our JV is the guys for us, our program, the JV is the guys that get short changed, we try to keep our freshmen together, Bill Bold is our freshman coach, does an outstanding job, Storm Mullen helps out down there, Chuck Ding, and Charlie Little, and Aaron Sherman those guys coach our freshman and like they want to keep our freshman together as long as they can. If there is a freshman that can start on the varsity we move them up but that rarely happens, so we keep those freshman guys together, grow together, win together so we'll flop if our offensive coaches are coaching with the varsity and our defensive guys would coach individuals at the lower levels so our 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders are getting some kind of exposure with our varsity coaches" Flaherty said. The middle school program is coached by Brian Ballridge and Flaherty mentioned the middle school program is just as important to the program. "I call him our dean of culture, he coached our freshman for 10 years, he had to step in and coach our middle school program last year because they didn't have somebody so our middle school program getting them exposed to football with the Patriots or Berkshere, getting guys to play football there is no substitute for experience, it's extremely important to us" Flaherty concluded about the middle school program in Birmingham and Beverly Hills.
BEST CASE: The newcomers exceed expectations and Groves doesn't miss a beat. Shannon performs well at quarterback, they find a running back and pass catchers exceed expectations, the lines are back to standard, and the secondary is also back to standard as well.
WORST CASE: The Falcons take a step back, Shannon struggles, the lines struggle, the secondary gets exposed, the rushing attack struggles. Injuries mount and lack of depth shows.
SAMMY OUTLOOK: The Falcons have some questions after losing a ton of talent. Groves has a tough schedule as well. There are a lot of reasons why they could take a step back. This is a Coach Flaherty team and he'll get the best out of them but there are so many questions with the Falcons this season.
Groves Podcast (July 21st-First Segment)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzu-xG_RIgA
SOUTHFIELD ARTS AND TECH WARRIORS:
LAST SEASON: 2-7, 0-4 White. No postseason. 124 points scored (13.7 ppg,) 282 points allowed (31.3 ppg.)
MAKE OR BREAK: August 29th vs East Kentwood
STRENGTHS: Quarterback, Rushing Attack.
CONCERNS: Mental Mindset, Defense, Depth.
PLAYER ON THE SPOT: Jeremy Porter- Quarterback
BOLD PREDICTION: Timothy Garr has 500 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns this season.
PROJECTED RECORD: 1-8, 0-4 White. PLAYOFFS NO.
INSIGHT: The Warriors had a ton of success under Coach Aaron Marshall which ended up winning the Division One State crown over Belleville in 2023. It was a really challenging season for Southfield Arts and Tech. They lost their head coach (Aaron Marshall-Birmingham Brother Rice) and the majority from that team graduated. It was going to be a challenge for new coach Keith McKenzie who came in late and the remaining members from that State Championship team. The Warriors won their first game (Flint Beecher 46-0) however things went south real quick losing seven straight games but Southfield Arts and Tech earned a hard fought 26-22 win over Detroit Renaissance to finish the year strong last season. McKenzie who is the Warriors third coach in six years believes that his team will be in line for a much better season. ""Last season was kind of a scramble, when I got in it was kind of a late start, everything was kind of a scramble trying to get the coaching staff together trying to get the team together getting some kind of comradery, it was just a whirlwind, a lot of screaming, a lot of hollering, trying to get things done, it was a tough year trying to implement your philosophy into your players it takes time and not to have that time with those players last season it was tough" McKenzie said The Warriors them is "One Mind, One Mission" which is something Southfield Arts and Tech is looking for after a rough year last season. "Our theme is one mind, one mission, everybody has got to have the same mindset going out want to be a dominant football player being mentally ready, being physically ready, one mind, and one mission and there's and I tell those guys our mission is to go to the State Championship so the mission never changes every year, we want to go to Ford Field so that's the mission so you know one mind, that's the mission, it's a whole lot into the mission, there is the start, you got the beginning, and an end to the mission and right now we're getting ready for the last phases of our mission, we had the start, we've been in the weight room since December, we've been going strong on Fridays a week working out, these guys have been doing different types of speed and explosion training during that time and you know just to see the guys build and they understand that this is just part of the mission, this is how you got to prepare ourself for the mission so right now I think we've had a great offseason, we've had a lot of guys participating, we've had anywhere from 30 to 40 kids every day in the weight room so it was good to see the guys buy into my vision and the mission we have in store, our mantra is going to be "One Mind, One Mission" McKenzie said.
The Warriors had the fifth worst offense and third most points allowed in the OAA last season. A lot of that was the transition period that the Warriors had to go through last season. "We were able to get through it, got two wins, we really thought we should of had three, we couldn't close the deal against a team we were playing, it was starting to come together toward the end, it was tough last year I was trying to get to know the kids and the kids were trying to get to know me and at the same time they were having tremendous success from the last coaching staff and we're coming in trying to explain to those kids that's on the varsity saying that you didn't play on that team, you were on the JV because there were some guys that were on the JV the year they won it, yeah you won a State title but you weren't on that field when the championship was won so we're starting over and you have to have your own identity and you have to do it yourself, I'm not going to say it was a struggle it was trying to get it to their heads that this is their team now and they have to establish their culture and they have to go out there and do it" McKenzie added. The Warriors have the majority of their team coming back from last season with Jeremy Porter coming back at quarterback for offensive coordinator Michael Smith. Smith before coming to Southfield Arts and Tech was at West Bloomfield under then Coach Ron Bellamy and current Coach Zach Hilbers. Porter had an up and down year as a passer and a runner last season and will look to have a much better year this season. The rushing attack will be key for Smith like last season. They have Timothy Garr at running back coming back. Garr was used in rushing and catching passes in the RPO (Run-Pass-Option) offense last season. Porter will have pass catchers Arturo Martin, Malcolm Pryor, Tre'Vion Williams, and Kevin Blair coming back along with new comers in Jaden Ivey. to watch. "We got a slew of guys that have played last year and I've seen a lot of them getting better, physically stronger, and improvement in your football intelligence, guys like a Torian Davis and a Jadin Richdall that's gotten stronger and his mindset has changed for an o lineman that struggled a little bit, this year he's stepping into the forefront and he's playing really well" McKenzie said about two of his sophomores becoming juniors this season. The lines were experienced last season but they won't have as much experience as in years past but they have Danyel Hardin, Caleb Lane, Jeffery Nicholson, Jadan Richdall, Chene Thompson, Adriean Reading, Rashad Taylor and Marcus Boler coming back. "You know guys just trying to get the consistency and some of the guys that played last year, still working on our consistency with our quarterback (Porter) and running back (Garr) but we have a good group of guys coming back and I'm excited about how these guys went offseason and how they performed in the offseason and we're just staring to gel as a team and they're coming together and they're buying into my philosophy, it's really exciting to see that right now" McKenzie added. The defense was really bad allowing 282 points (31.3 points per game) which was third worst in the OAA last season. This is where McKenzie needs to fix if the Warriors want to make any in roads this season. They should be much improved with the system and scheme this season. Southfield Arts and Tech has Kenneth Brooks and Keith McKenzie at linebacker along with Bryce Finch, Martin, Mark Reid, Taurean Davis, and Williams in the defensive secondary coming back. Special teams was a big problem for the Warriors and it could be again with the schedule but special teams brings an opportunity for those who want to make some noise. "Everyone has something to prove, I don't know who is going to step up and who is going to blossom and shock a lot of people, that's going to be determined on the football field but it's a lot of guys that are doing really well, I don't have kids that have transferred in or a top notch eighth grader who is coming into the school to be coming to join the team so I don't have anything like that that is going on. We just got a lot of hard work and grind that we've been putting in and just trying to improve on the guys that is here" McKenzie added. Southfield Arts and Tech should be an improved team this season.
Program strength is a concern for McKenzie despite having a very strong youth level program with the Southfield Falcons but not all of those kids go to Southfield. The middle school program has been a real big concern which McKenzie is trying to keep kids from leaving Southfield and not go to other schools in which kids have done in the past go to other districts in Oakland and Wayne Counties. "It's very important in Southfield, you got to reach out to the youth teams, I didn't think when I left college I'd still be recruiting like this but you still got to go out and talk to these kids that's in your district and you want to keep them in your district, Southfield we got a nice sized district and we lose kids to Orchard Lake (St. Marys), Groves, or West B (West Bloomfield), they leave our middle school and go there and so our biggest deal is to try and keep them in our school district and do my best to keep those kids in our school district and it's tough because those programs they want to go to to be a part of are good football programs but at the same time I tell the kids you know, if you stay here, you have a better opportunity because you grew somewhere else and you got to go out and compete against people that you're not familiar with, I come to Southfield because we all families, it's a family atmosphere so you stay here, your friends will be here, your family will be around, so I try to sell them on that sense but it's tough with the youth leagues and everything because you got to try to keep the kids home, try to keep them from wanting to entice some of the kids to come play here especially the Oakland County kids because when we talk about the youth leagues a lot of them are from all over, Wayne County, Oakland County and the way we're structured in Southfield it's sort of an open district when it comes to Oakland County, you know anyone that's an eighth grader going into the ninth grade anywhere in Oakland County can come to Southfield but once you become a sophomore or like that or your already a ninth grader you have to be in district and that doesn't apply in Wayne County so you got rules to ably by admission rules and things like that, you try to make it best to sell your positivity, entice the kids to first stay in the school district and stay here and then fight off the other schools from poaching our kids from out of school district." McKenzie said. School has been really important to McKenzie and academics has been the top priory at Southfield Arts and Tech. "It's important to me, just like some kids they aren't fans of school but at Southfield it's deeper than that, high school is really preparing you for the basics skills that you need, the reading, the writing, adding the math, that's the basic comprehension to push in life, now if you go to college you develop a different set of skills in a specialty area but academics is important because I want those guys to understand that you know smart football players are the best football players, you have to have a minimal of a 2.0 to play here, some schools use the state standards which is crazy that a 1.6 would be able to play is crazy but here at Southfield we're pushing the guys because everyone is not going to the NFL (National Football League), everyone might not make it to college and play sports uh play football as they want to because you know it's a numbers game when it comes to college football and the NFL and the higher you go up the smaller the numbers get and when you talk about education and your academics, you can still go to school, you can use the lessons you use from football, the mental toughness, the grit, the attention to detail those type of skills you develop from football, you can use that in academic life going to college and preparing for life after the game, I try to preach that to the guys as much as I can that your football expiration date will come to fruition, just like a carton of milk you go in there, a gallon of milk it has a date where it's going to go bad and everyone has a day when their football expiration and you don't know when it is, is a bunch of question marks, it will come and you're going to have to be ready for life after the game and academics is a huge part of that, making sure that you ready for life after football so we really stress it, we have study table, we have tutoring so we have a lot of things that help the kids out here in Southfield to make sure they are strong with their academics" McKenzie concluded. The Warriors should be improved but they have a tough schedule looming so it will be really interesting to watch.
BEST CASE: The Warriors see progress, find a quarterback, develop depth, and the defense performs to their regular standards which would lead to wins.
WORST CASE: The Warriors don't have a quarterback, no pass rush, no offensive line while the defense under performs and bad habits return along with the mental mindset is shot.
SAMMY OUTLOOK: The Warriors have a tough schedule in a second year of a rebuild. They should be better but they need to prove it. Program strength is something to watch with Southfield Arts and Tech. It could be a very challenging year for the Warriors.
Southfield Arts and Tech Podcast (August 4th-First Segment)
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