By Staff
DETROIT - The Michigan High School Athletic Association crowned eight new football championship this past weekend at Ford Field.
Champions in Division 2, 4, 6 and 8 were crowned on Friday, with Divisions 7, 1, 5 and 3 being crowned on Saturday.
Division 2
Birmingham Brother Rice's Andy Lentz threw a pair of first half touchdown passes to lead the team to a 14-7 win over Hudsonville Friday morning.
Lentz tossed a 16-yard scoring strike to Joey Henry in the opening quarter and then completed the scoring with 25 seconds remaining in the first half with a touchdown toss to Charlie Gantt that covered 9-yards.
In between Lentz's two touchdowns, Hudsonville scored on a 1-yard run by Andrew DeWeerd with 4:17 to go in the second quarter.
Neither team scored in the second half as defense was the name of the game.
Hudsonville actually outgained Brother Rice 224-199 in total yards, but could not put the ball in the end zone.
DeWeerd led Hudsonville (11-2) with 97 yards on 23 carries. Josh Lucas was 8-of-16 for 91 yards and five interceptions.
John Goebel led Brother Rice (11-2) with 84 yards rushing on 18 carries. Lentz was 5-of-8 for 58 yards and the two scores.
Kaunda Hancock picked off three passes, while Henry intercepted a pair of passes.
Division 4
Flint Powers built up a 17-3 lead in the Division 4 title game Friday afternoon and then held on for dear life in defeating Grands Rapids Catholic Central, 17-10.
Both teams scored on first half field goals, but Flint Powers grabbed a 9-3 lead with 11:01 to play in the third quarter on a 73-yard touchdown pass from Spencer Hickoff to Ronnie Lark.
Flint Powers (12-2) upped its advantage to 17-3 when Hickoff hit Lucas Perry with a 28-yard touchdown toss.
After missing the extra point on its first touchdown, Flint Powers went for two and got it as Perry hauled in the Hickoff pass.
Catholic Central (12-2) cut the lead to 17-10 with 8:22 to play in the contest on a 6-yard run by Tyler Sandner.
That would be as close as Catholic Central would get as it was unable to get the equalizer.
Flint Powers finished with 318 yards in total offense, while Catholic Central had 264 yards.
Lark ran for 98 yards on 24 carries for Flint Powers. Hickoff was 8-of-13 for 152 yards and an interception. Lark was 1-for-1 for 19 yards.
Vince Agnew rushed for 89 yards on just four carries for Catholic Central. Sandner was 5-of-16 for 115 yards.
Division 6
A 17-point fourth quarter lifted Kingsley to the Division 6 state championship Friday afternoon in Detroit.
Kingsley, which trailed 14-0 after one period of play, defeated Monroe St. Mary 31-21.
Kingsley (13-1) cut the St. Mary lead to 14-7 with a touchdown in the second quarter and tied the game with a touchdown in the third period to set up the big finish.
Sam Butler's 59-yard run gave Kingsley its first lead (21-14) with 10:59 to play in the contest.
St. Mary (12-2) tied the game at 21 as Thomas Lieto returned a punt 79-yards for a touchdown.
Kingsley then put the game away with a 66-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Nickerson to Drew Wyse with 6:10 to play.
Kyle Steed, who was perfect on extra points for Kingsley, tacked on a 30-yard field goal with 2:40 to play to ice the victory.
Kingsley rolled up 376 yards in total offense, including 266 through the air.
St. Mary finished with 209 yards of offense.
Nickerson was 15-of-24 for 266 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Sam Butler was Kingsley's top rusher with 75 yards on nine carries.
Lieto rushed for 149 yards on 16 carries for St. Mary. John Martin was 1-for-1 for 21 yards.
Division 8
Mendon capped off the first day of championship games on Friday with a 25-13 victory over Crystal Falls Forest Park in Division 8.
Mendon (13-1) jumped out to a 12-0 lead on a pair of second quarter touchdowns.
Matt McClish caught a 55-yard touchdown pass from Travis Doster to open the scoring with 11:24 to play in the first half.
Brock Alexander made it 12-0 with a 1-yard run with 6:18 to play.
Mendon increased its advantage to 18-0 when Ryan Ettinger returned a punt 70-yards for a Hornet touchdown.
Crystal Falls made a game of it with back-to-back touchdowns, one in the third and one in the fourth quarters.
Leading 18-13, Mendon capped the scoring with a McClish 7-yard touchdown pass from Doster.
Mendon finished with 304 yards of total offense to 281 for Crystal Falls (13-1).
Doster was 6-of-12 for 112 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for Mendon. McClish hauled in three passes for 87 yards.
Alexander finished with 84 yards rushing on 12 carries.
Kyle LaVacque led Crystal Falls with 99 yards rushing on 12 carries. Clay Roberts was 9-of-19 for 115 yards and two interceptions.
Division 7
Traverse City St. Francis built up a 28-0 lead on its way to a 28-14 victory over Unionville-Sebewaing in the Division 7 championship game Saturday Morning at Ford Field in Detroit.
Traverse City got a pair of touchdowns from Chad Biggar to pick up the victory.
Biggar returns an interception 29-yards in the first quarter and then scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter.
Unionville-Sebewaing scored a touchdown in the third and one in the fourth to complete the scoring.
St. Francis (13-1) rushed for 269 yards, including 265 on the ground. Unionville-Sebewaing finished with 317 yards, 227 of which came through the air.
Biggar finished with 131 yards on 14 carries for Traverse City.
Unionville-Sebewaing's Jordan Bitzer was 18-of-31 for 227 yards and two interceptions.
Division 1
Rockford outscored Canton 24-7 over the final 27 minutes of the Division 1 championship game Saturday afternoon to take a 31-21 victory.
Trailing 14-7 late in the first half, Rockford scored to tie the game at 14 and the seized control.
Rockford scored a touchdown in the third quarter to take a 21-14 lead and then tallied again with 7:48 remaining in the contest to take a 24-14 lead.
Rockford (12-2) then sealed the victory on an 11-yard run by Zach Breen with 1:14 remaining.
Canton (11-3) actually outgained Rockford 300-289, but ran out of time.
Breen led Rockford with 118 yards on 17 carries. Jon VonEschen was 7-of-14 for 129 yards.
Shawn Little was 4-of-12 for 77 yards and an interception.
Division 5
A big second half lifted Muskegon Oakridge passed two-time defending state champion Jackson Lumen Christi in the Division 5 title game Saturday afternoon, 42-28.
Both teams scored 14 points in the opening half, but in the second half Muskegon Oakridge (13-1) rolled up 28 points compared to just 14 points for Lumen Christi (12-1).
D.J. Ritz scored four touchdowns and rushed for 239 yards on 29 carries to propel Muskegon Oakridge to the upset victory.
Oakridge finished with 362 yards of total offense, including 328 on the ground.
Ritz was also 2-for-2 passing for 34 yards.
Lumen Christi had 271 yards of total offense. Jeff Wojtusik was 13-of-22 for 218 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Wojtusik also ran for a pair of touchdowns.
Division 3
Caledona and Haslett wrapped up two days of competition at Ford Field in downtown Detroit Saturday night with the Division 3 title game.
Caledonia knocked off previously undefeated Haslett, 27-6.
Caledonia (12-2) was able to control standout Haslett quarterback Nathan Turner until the game was out of reach.
Turner scored on an 80-yard run with 4:02 to play in the contest to make complete the scoring.
Caledonia got three touchdowns from Thomas Spitzley as it games 267 of its 368 yards of total offense on the ground.
John Muuse rushed for 99 yards on 22 carries, while Spitzley added 75 yards on 17 carries. Spitzley was also 3-for-3 passing for 95 yards.
Haslett finished with just 139 yards of total offense. Turner finished with 68 yards on seven carries. He was 4-of-8 for 37 yards passing.