Division II Football State Champions

STATE CHAMPS! STATE CHAMPS!

Senior running back/ slot receiver Devin Church stole the show in the Division 2 state football finals on Friday afternoon.

In front of a large crowd filled with alumni, including me, at Ford Field in Detroit, Church helped carry his Brother Rice team to a 24-14 victory over Lowell. The senior running back ran for 244 yards on 33 carries and all three of the Warriors' touchdowns.

“He’s been doing that this year and for the last three years,” longtime head coach Al Fracassa said.
It was Church’s electrifying 54-yard run at the end of the second quarter that put Brother Rice on track to bring home the school’s seventh state championship. With the game tied 7-7, Lowell had to punt the ball in the final minutes of the half after a quick three-and-out.

Church didn’t waste any time breaking the tie on the first play of the Warriors' drive with a burst to the outside. He ran the ball down the Red Arrows’ sideline past Lowell middle linebacker Jake Stehley to the end zone.

“It was a fake reverse,” Church said. “As soon I held the ball out, I saw the one defender (in front of me) broke for the fake, and I pulled it back in and just saw open field.”
Fracassa was quick to add his own take on the play after the game.
“I’m a genius,” Fracassa said, smiling. “I called that.”

Brother Rice went up 14-7 and then extended its lead on the first possession of the second half.
The Warriors started the third quarter with a 68-yard drive down to the Lowell 16-yard line. Jason Alessi hit a 26-yard field goal to make it 17-7 with 7:24 to go in the quarter.

Dominant defense leads in second half

From there, Brother Rice’s defense put its stamp on the game. Michael Bouchard intercepted Lowell quarterback Gabe Dean on its first drive of the second half.

Sergio Perkovic hit Dean as he threw the ball and Bouchard picked the ball off at the Red Arrows’ 37-yard line. Perkovic would finish the game with two of the Warriors’ six sacks.

“Guys like Sergio and Kevin Henry have been getting to the quarterback all year,” linebacker Jon Reschke said. “I’m sure Sergio’s had like 10 sacks this year; he did a great job.”

Lowell’s first three possessions of the second half went: interception, punt, interception.
Dean, last year’s Division 1 and 2 player of the year, had only thrown four interceptions all season, but Dean threw three picks on Friday. “Overall, we did good,” Brother Rice defensive back James Hendrix said. “We thought they were more of a running team, we knew if we shut down the run they would have to air it out a little bit.”

In the first half, the Warriors limited Lowell to 50 yards on the ground. The Red Arrows had to abandon their veer offense — an option run offense — and move Dean into the shotgun.
“We took away his (Dean’s) running game, their veer offense,” Reschke said. “That was a big thing for us, that put them in something they didn’t want to do, that put them in passing situation and our defensive backs do a great job.” Brother Rice capitalized after Dean’s final interception with a two-play scoring drive. Church ran it in from 15-yards out to put the Warriors ahead 24-7 with only 5:55 to go in the game.
Fracassa, who saw his team give up three touchdowns in the second half to King in the semifinals, said he wasn’t comfortable until the final whistle blew.
“(Big comebacks) have happened to me before,” Fracassa said.
Dean would add a touchdown on a 9-yard pass to Luke Bigham with 3:39 to go in the game,  but Brother Rice and Church didn't give the Red Arrows the ball back until there was seven seconds left on the clock.

The win gave Brother Rice its first title since a 14-7 win over Hudsonville in 2005. The state championship game in 2005 was my favorite game of all time. My brother was a part of that team and he was a junior on the roster and started at wide receiver, just like me. The first play of that game was a designed pass to my brother which he caught for 20 yards to start out the game. It was a great game and amazing experience.

And it was also a little bit of revenge for the Warriors. Back in 2002, Fracassa's team lost to the Red Arrows 31-14 in the finals. Lowell also eliminated Brother Rice from the Division 2 playoffs in the 2009 semifinals 35-14.
“This is everybody’s dream,” Church said. “It really is a blessing.”

My good friend of Channel 2 news, Brad Galli (alumni Brother Rice Class of 2007 with my brother), did a post game report interview that of which I take these quotations from. I am  lose friends with nearly everyone on this team and am proud to call them my brothers. It was a hard fought game and hats go off to the warriors and Al Fracassa.

Michigan Wolverine Football

 Michigan lost 24-16 to Iowa on Saturday. It meant more than that. With the loss, the Wolverines effectively eliminated themselves from the Big Ten Legends division race, which means they likely won't play in the inaugural Big Ten championship game in December.

At the beginning of the season, that was a longshot thought at best. But by the middle of the season it seemed possible. Now, Michigan would need a lot of help even to think about getting back into the race.

Although I am a die-hard Michigan Wolverine football fan, I would like to congratulate my close friend Kevonte Martin-Manley on beating the wolverines. It was two years ago that we were playing football together and now he is a red-shirt freshman and starting for the Hawkeyes. He's had a phenomenal career in his first few weeks of the season and tallied a game winning touchdown in the first half of this season.

The Hawkeyes are bowl eligible for the 11th straight season. Iowa has played in nine bowls since 2001. Iowa improves to 6-0 at home this season. This was Iowa's first game of the season against a ranked opponent and was Iowa's first win over a ranked opponent, at home, since a 37-6 triumph over fifth-ranked Michigan State a year ago on Oct. 30, 2010.

Iowa was also wearing an altered helmet. The Hawkeyes had an American flag Tigerhawk on one side of the helmet today to honor Veterans.

Michigan had first-and-goal at the 3-yard line in the final 16 seconds, but Iowa's defense kept the Wolverines out of the end zone on four plays to preserve the victory, including a pass break-up by B.J. Lowery in the end zone as time expired. The Michigan Wolverines cannot complain after this one because they were given the fair opportunity in the last seconds of the game and they could not finish. This shows that the Wolverines are not a fully developed team and cannot handle the tempo of college football in the last seconds at chances for comebacks.

Iowa has defeated Michigan three-straight times for the first time in the series. Iowa won 30-28 in Iowa City in 2009, 38-28 in Ann Arbor in 2010 and 24-16 on Saturday. After Saturday’s eight-point margin, Iowa and Michigan have played seven games the last 11 years decided by eight points or less.

Iowa's defense held Michigan to 16 points, its second-fewest scoring total this season (14 at Michigan State). The Wolverines entered averaging 34.8 points per game. Michigan entered averaging 441.2 yards of total offense per game. Iowa held the Wolverines to 323 yards of total offense. Iowa clearly handled Michigan like they were the leaders of the league and fought the hardest. Michigan is going to have to tie their shoestrings, except for Denard Robinson cause he is “shoelace”, and get back on track.

The Michigan Wolverines are now 7-2 after the shocking loss to the Michigan State Spartans and now Iowa. The Wolverines are however 6-0 at home and two of the remaining games are at home. They close the season up with a game this week at Illinois and then the remaining two game at home against Nebraska and the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Big House will be full to capacity as the Buckeyes enter Ann Arbor and we hope to get the victory this season because we seem to struggle with them as our last game of the season. Go Blue!

Michigan State Football

I do not usually like to speak of the Michigan State Spartans because I am a Michigan fan, but a close friend of mine, Charlie Gantt, played for the Spartans and graduated from Brother Rice in 2006. He also won a State Championship with my brother that year.

But the Michigan State Spartans are looking real good this season and are trying to get matched in a top bowl game and will do so if they continue on this hot streak. They are now 7-2 and would like to make it 10-2 by the end of the season. 

Le'Veon Bell's 35-yard touchdown run with 10:58 remaining helped No. 15 Michigan State hold off upset-minded Minnesota 31-24 on Saturday.

Bell ran for 96 yards and two touchdowns, and Kirk Cousins threw for 296 yards and a pair of TDs. The Spartans trailed 24-21 after three quarters before rallying.

MarQueis Gray threw three touchdown passes to Da'Jon McKnight for the Golden Gophers (2-7, 1-4), who upset Iowa last weekend but were unable to shake up the conference title race again.

With the score tied at 24, Bell found running room to the right and went all the way to the end zone to put the Spartans ahead. Minnesota had the ball at the Michigan State 45 with 15 seconds left, but Gray threw an interception.

Gray was 19 of 32 for a career-high 295 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, and McKnight caught nine passes for a career-high 173 yards.

Michigan State entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in pass defense, but Gray and McKnight didn't seem to notice as if that stat was wrong. The 6-foot-4 quarterback found his senior receiver with a short pass early in the first quarter, and McKnight slipped past three potential tacklers before eventually dragging defensive back Johnny Adams into the end zone for a 64-yard touchdown to open the scoring.

Cousins answered with a 4-yard scoring pass to Keith Nichol, but a fumble by the Spartans' Edwin Baker later in the quarter gave Minnesota the ball at the Michigan State 26. Gray's 13-yard touchdown pass to McKnight put the Gophers back ahead.

The Spartans tied it at 14 on a 1-yard scoring run by Bell in the second quarter, but Michigan State still looked out of sorts. A short while later, the Spartans had the ball inside the Minnesota 20 when there was movement up front for a false start. A frustrated Cousins took the snap and spiked the ball in exasperation, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and knocking his team out of field goal range.

Down 17-14 in the final minute of the half, Michigan State finally found a rhythm, driving 74 yards and taking the lead on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to Todd Anderson with 5 seconds left in the second quarter for Anderson's first career touchdown.

The advantage was short-lived. Minnesota went 80 yards in 11 plays at the start of the third and took a 24-21 lead when Gray found McKnight in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown on third-and-12.

Michigan State had a touchdown wiped out by a replay review later in the third. A sideways pass from Cousins to Bell hit the ground, and Minnesota defensive back Kyle Henderson stopped, assuming the play was over. Bell picked up the ball and ran 60 yards to the end zone, but after further review, officials ruled the pass went forward and changed their call to an incompletion.

Dan Conroy tied it at 24 with a 40-yard field goal 11 seconds into the fourth quarter, after tight end Brian Linthicum made a nice play in the end zone to prevent a possible interception. That drive started at the Minnesota 41 after Trenton Robinson's acrobatic interception.

Robinson also made the interception in the final seconds that sealed the win.

Detroit Lions Week 9: Bye Week

 


The Detroit Lions, while they'd love to be on top of the NFC North, will enjoy their bye Sunday in prime playoff position. If the postseason started today, Detroit would hold the top wild-card spot and the No. 5 overall seed. No other non-division leader in the NFC has as few losses (2) as Detroit, and just three teams have three losses.

There's still a lot of work to be done, but the Lions have put themselves in position to control their own destiny down the stretch.

For the past decade the Detroit Lions have be labeled as being the worst team in the NFL and now they are one of the top five teams in the league. The two games they have lost up to this point have been because of stupid errors that they have definitely worked on fixing. They are now looking forward to continuing the season and getting back on the path that they started off on. The remainder of their season is not too difficult. The main game of the season is on Thanksgiving Day as the Detroit Lions take on their biggest opponent, the Green Bay Packers. This is the deciding game of their season to determine whether or not they are Super Bowl contenders.

As I have been writing in my recent blogs about Brother Rice, the Green Bay Packers are a team that consistent of an alumni and close friend of mine. TJ Lang graduated from Brother Rice and went on to play at Eastern Michigan before getting drafted by the Green Bay Packers a few years back. After working hard he eventually earned a starting position last season and went on to winning the Super Bowl in his first attempt. Although he is a close friend of mine, I still will have to cheer for the Detroit Lions because they have been a close team to me for many years.

With the Lions playing with the fire that they have had this season, I do not see them being held out of the playoffs. They are definitely viewed as being a threat in the playoffs and a team to look out for. They are currently ranked fifth in the National Football League, as mentioned earlier in this article, and are ranked second in their division. This goes out to show that the NFC-North is the best division in the NFL. Year after year this division always has the top teams in the league, consisted of the Green Bay Packer, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears.

The Lions are 6-2 for the first time since Nov. 4, 2007 when they routed Denver 44-7. They have the same record and are coming off a lopsided win against the same team, beating the Broncos 45-10 last Sunday. This team, though, seems to be built to last as a winner. Detroit kicker Jason Hanson, in his 20th season with the franchise, isn't quite ready to buy into the belief that the team's newfound attitude will automatically lead to a strong second half.

The Detroit Lions have been preparing for two weeks for their next opponent which will be the Chicago Bears and are looking to repeat following their week five 24-13 victory over the Bears.

Brother Rice Upsets Farmington Hills Harrison

Brother Rice avenged its first round playoff loss from a year ago, handing top-ranked Farmington Hills Harrison its first loss since 2009. The Warriors won the District Championship game, 30-7. I was a part of the loss last year and after you read my first blog I'm sure most of you understand my hardships.

One promise that all the juniors from last year left to us seniors that graduated was that they would beat Harrison next year, and now that it has happened I am speechless. The best part about Brother Rice football is the relationships that you develop after years of football together with each other.

To open up the scoreboard, sophomore running back Brian Walker ran 9 yards for the score six minutes into the first quarter. But on the other side the Harrison Hawks had a tough night without captain quarterback, Jake Vento due to an Achilles injury. The Hawks offense stalled without him because he was a leader for them throughout their whole 23-game win streak.

Mario Ojemudia's return for the final 24 minutes proved unceremonious. The standout defensive lineman was suspended for the first half after a picture of him in pads from a July Nike camp in Oregon was turned into the MHSAA. I have never heard of a suspension for only a half of a football game, but I guess it was a necessary punishment. I feel like players should be able to wear pads throughout summer workouts because they are going full speed in those workouts either way so pads would be there for protection.

Rice opened the second half with a kick return of over 80 yards. Devin Church made it 17-0 with a touchdown on the ensuing 10-yard drive. Walker connected on his second touchdown run of the game with 2:06 left in the third quarter to put Al Fracassa's team ahead 24-0.

Harrison found the end zone with 10:14 left in the game, but the Warriors answered on their next drive, with Devin Church scoring his second TD of the game at the 5:08 mark of the fourth quarter. The two coaches were not the best of friends because of recent things that happened in their coaching careers. Coach Harrington of Harrison verbally attacked Al Fracassa of Brother Rice back in 2006 after Rice beat them in the payoffs. I graduated last year as an alum of Brother Rice and a football player under the legendary coach Al Fracassa and I remember this story that he told us of Coach Harrington.

The Brother Rice Warriors still have a long road ahead of them and are three games away from becoming the Michigan High School Athletics Division II State Champions, which has not been done since 2006, which my brother was a part of.

At yesterday’s game I reencountered with many legendary alumni from Brother Rice on the sidelines. I saw Charlie Gantt, who played for the Michigan State Spartans and signed by the

Kansas City Chiefs and I also saw Mike Lodish, who played many years in the NFL and also is in the record book for playing in the most super bowl games ever.

The Warriors (7-4) advance to play Southfield next week. Their season ended in 2010 at the hands of Harrison, when the Hawks beat them on their way to the Division 2 State Title.

Restore The Roar!

The Detroit Lions are on a streak that cannot be tamed, like a loose Lion. Oh wait... they are the Lions. Matthew Stafford is playing as if he were 100% and with him staying healthy they will remain unbeatable. ESPN analysts were ranking the Lions as the top team in the NFL into week 6. The only two remaining undefeated teams in the NFL are the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, which both happen to fall in the same division. After last night's Monday Night Football game, the Detroit Lions look like a 'team-to-beat' which does not seem will be happening anytime soon.

The Detroit Lions fans are getting rowdier than ever, as we saw last night at Ford Field. The first time in nearly ten years that the Detroit Lions have had a game at home on Monday Night Football. The closest we had to a Monday Night Football game was last year when the Minnesota Vikings Dome collapsed and they had to move to Ford Field for the game.

Many Detroit Lions players are setting NFL records and the most notable one is that of Calvin Johnson’s. He is the first player in NFL history to catch 9 touchdowns in their first 5 games of the season (not including the pre-season games)

Along with the Lions playing last night, the Detroit Tigers had a rescheduled game from Sunday night due to weather that took place before Monday Night Football. The tigers had a great game going for them and went into the 11th inning until Nelson Cruz nailed a grand slam for the win. The Detroit Tigers are now down two game to nothing and are still playing their hearts out. This is Detroit's year in sports so my bet is that they will recover and come back to victory like the Lions have tended to do.
The Detroit Lions are on a streak that cannot be tamed, like a loose Lion. Oh wait... they are the Lions.

Matthew Stafford is playing as if he were 100% and with him staying healthy they will remain unbeatable. ESPN analysts were ranking the Lions as the top team in the NFL into week 6. The only two remaining undefeated team's in the NFL are the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, which both happen to fall in the same division. After last night's Monday Night Football game, the Detroit Lions look like a 'team-to-beat' which does not seem will be happening anytime soon.

With outfielders Magglio Ordonez (ankle) out and Delmon Young hurting, the Tigers simply do not have enough firepower to match up with the Rangers. This is the main reason why they allowed Texas to pitch around Miguel Cabrera, Detroit's best hitter, especially with cleanup man Victor Martinez struggling at an 0-for-7 clip in the ALCS.

Look for The Detroit Tigers to get back on track and the Detroit Lions to continue their killing spree that has shocked the world. The Lions are on their way to the super bowl and the Tigers are on their way to the World Series. Here we go Detroit!

Lions Preview Week 4

From this.........
          
To.......This  

Last week, the Lions pulled off an amazing 20-point comeback against the Vikings. This week the Lions take the national stage as FOX's premier game against the Cowboys. The Lions come to Dallas as one-point underdogs despite their 3-0 record. Oddsmakers apparently were convinced by the Cowboys' impressive win over the Redskins on Monday night.

Let's not let that distract us, because we are obviously the best team in the NFL and wouldn't want to get cocky. The Detroit Lions will come out with that fire as they have been doing all season and will show the Dallas Cowboys that they cannot pull those comebacks against the Lions.

Led by a quarterback who grew up in Dallas during those Aikman, Smith and Irvin glory days, a receiver who might be the best in the NFL and a rapidly maturing defense, Detroit is on the rise.
The Lions head to Cowboys Stadium on Sunday seeking another victory that could stamp them as a team to beat in the NFL this season, that is, if they aren't already. Detroit (3-0) has the league's longest winning streak, seven. If we count the preseason games, than they are at 11 consecutive wins.

Tony Romo has won the past two games while playing with a cracked rib, and many of his most talented teammates are sidelined or also playing through pain. Romo is expected to wear a protective vest and to take painkilling medication before kickoff.

Goals for each team
 Detroit:

1. Start off strong 
2. Contain Tony Romo and bring pressure because he is hurt
3. Play as a team

Dallas:

1. Prevent the Lions from starting off the first quarter with fire
2. Guard all short passes to the running backs
3. Put points on the board
4. Touchdowns instead of field goals