DETROIT – This will be one stage dive Notre Dame Prep and head coach Pat Fox won’t soon forget.

The Fighting Irish dominated Fox’s alma mater, Frankenmuth, winning Saturday afternoon’s Division 5 final 42-7 for the program’s first-ever state championship.

And for the 12th and final time this season, the Irish celebrated by dancing to “Stacy’s Mom” and with a Fox dive from a bench into a sea of his players, but none sweeter than this one.

“Of course, there’s going to be a stage dive,” Irish senior linebacker and tight end Michael Wiebelhaus said.

“There will be some ‘Stacy’s Mom’ being played, and I will be getting airborne tonight,” Fox confirmed.

When the Eagles went for it on fourth-and-3 from their own 25-yard line midway through the first quarter, they may have known already that more than luck was on the Fighting Irish’s side.

After Frankenmuth (13-1) was stuffed for a two-yard loss on that attempt, Irish junior quarterback Sam Stowe hit Wiebelhaus the next play for a 25-yard touchdown to put the Irish up 14-0.

“They’re a quick football team,” Frankenmuth head coach Phil Martin said. “Give them credit, they played well today.”

Prior to that, Frankenmuth looked set for the game’s biggest play after the Irish punted on the game’s opening possession, but Cash Tedford’s fumble after gaining 49 yards was recovered by Drake Roa at Notre Dame Prep’s 13-yard line. Two plays after, Billy Collins follows his blocks upfield for an 87-yard catch-and-run score to give the Irish their initial lead just under three minutes in.

Frankenmuth also had it fourth-and-3 from its own 27-yard line the drive after going for it, but instead elected to punt when faced again with an almost identical situation as it had prior. The result was essentially the same: Stowe struck Joey DeCasas streaking across the middle for a 47-yard TD that made it 21-0 with 1:52 still to go in the first quarter.

Frankenmuth did force a turnover on downs when its defense took the field the next time, but its offense punted for the fourth time when it got the ball back. Stowe completed passes for a combined 46 yards to DeCasas and Mark Galle when the Irish gained possession the next time, then threw his fourth touchdown when Collins motioned left, then back out wide right and was uncovered on a 25-yard pass, making it 28-0 with 2:44 left in the opening half.

“I was surprised at how open (Billy) was, but that’s just from a great scheme and a great play call from Coach (Jason) Whalen.”

The Irish defense dominated before intermission, denying the Eagles on their first seven third or fourth-down conversion attempts until Frankenmuth finally converted on fourth-and-2 about midway into the second quarter.

“We know we’re fast, and we watched a lot of their film against Grand Rapids Catholic Central and saw how they ran,” Wiebelhaus said. “We already played GRCC in the past and knew our speed matched up well with GRCC and saw them get past (Frankenmuth) a lot, so we knew for sure that our speed would be a problem for them.”

The Eagles moved the chains twice when they start with the ball after halftime, but DeCasas and Galle halted Tedford on fourth-and-3 to get it at Frankenmuth’s 49-yard line.

Stowe completed all four of his attempts of the ensuing drive – all to different targets – then Drew Heimbuch followed his blockers that pulled right eight yards into the end zone to make it 35-0 with 4:35 remaining in the third.

The Eagles broke up the shutout on Lleyton Hoard’s 11-yard touchdown run with 8:58 left, but the celebration was short-lived, as after Notre Dame Prep recovered the onside kick, Heimbuch broke several tackles the next play on an inside handoff for a 50-yard TD run with 8:46 remaining.

On what allowed Notre Dame Prep to win the title in its first trip to the finals, Luca Gasperoni, who had a game-high 13 tackles, simply said, “We trusted our coach. He led the way for us. We let him prepare us and we stayed coachable throughout the entire week, and it paid off.”

Galle and Wiebelhaus followed with 11 and 10 tackles, respectively.

Stowe finished 15-of-21 passing for 293 yards. Collins had four catches for a game-high 126 yards, while DeCasas had 70 receiving yards. Wiebelhaus followed with 36 yards on a pair of receptions.

Fox called it a difficult week preparing to play against his former school. “I owe a lot of my success to that program,” he said while fighting back his emotions. “All those guys raised me and al ot of my classmates. We all have great lives because of the work ethic we learned in that program.”

Photo gallery from the Division 5 football state title game between Notre Dame Prep and Frankenmuth

On what the championship victory meant, DeCasas said, "It’s exciting. I’m doing it for all these guys, for Coach. It’s exciting, the first one in Notre Dame history. No one deserves it more than my coach over here."

Added Heimbuch, "It's great. I'm glad I got to do this with all my friends. You know, we've been friends since freshman year. We've been talking about this for forever, and, you know, we put in the work and made that happen."

Hello, old friends.

Waterford Kettering and Mott appear set to re-join the Oakland Activities Association, ending over a decade-and-a-half stint combined competing elsewhere in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association and Lakes Valley Conference.

Rumors of the move had began to circulate in recent weeks, and the district’s membership application to the OAA was confirmed on Tuesday.

“We are grateful for the competition we have been privileged to experience as a member district of the LVC for the past eight years,” Waterford School District director of communications and community relations Sarah Davis said. “Many factors went into our decision to apply for membership to the OAA – such as competitive alignment with like-districts, game proximity, and academic and student leadership advantages. These opportunities will best serve our Waterford School District athletes, coaches and families now and into the future.”

Both Waterford schools were charter members when they, along with Clarkston, Lake Orion and Pontiac Northern joined from the Greater Oakland Activities League to help form the OAA with schools from the Metro Suburban Activities Association and Southeastern Michigan Association back in 1994.

However, in 2008 the pair of WSD schools jumped ship when the merger of the Kensington Valley Conference and Western Lakes Activities Association helped form the KLAA, a 23-school conference that included the newly opened South Lyon East.

In 2017, nine of those KLAA members, among them Mott and Kettering, split to create the Lakes Valley Conference. When it joined the LVC, Mott and Kettering’s enrollment numbers were neither the largest or the smallest in the conference, notable as other KLAA program’s student bodies were larger.

While a variety of factors have led to declining enrollment numbers throughout the state, and LVC schools have been no exception, it has been sharp enough that Mott and Kettering were now both in the bottom-third of the league, and may find themselves again playing more similarly sized programs in the OAA.

That has been reflected from a competitive standpoint. The LVC website charts year-by-year all-sports standings for both female and male sports. In the first six years of the conference, Mott and Kettering averaged finishing in the bottom-3 of the table in female sports, and the same could be said for male sports, with the exception of 2017-18 when Mott had exceptional seasons in baseball, basketball and football to place in the upper-half.

A source said that the LVC, now down to seven schools — Lakeland and Milford, along with the South Lyon and Walled Lake schools — intends to discuss filling the spots the Captains and Corsairs would vacate.

ROCHESTER HILLS — After several giveaways and failing to score for over two-and-a-half quarters, Rochester Adams could have been counted out of Friday night’s game against Grand Blanc.

After all, this is the team that was picked to finish last in the OAA Red. And that was before losing its starting quarterback to a season-ending injury midway through the year. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d be discounted.

The final seven-and-a-half minutes of the Highlanders’ 21-14 win over the Bobcats for a Division 1 regional championship served as the latest proof that they shouldn’t be underestimated.

“This is sweet,” Highlanders quarterback Nolan Farris said. “I always hoped that we’d get to this point,  but I could never see it in my mind. Now that it’s here, it’s amazing.”

With the game tied when Adams got the ball at its own 35-yard line and 7:27 left, Farris and running back Mateo Humbert each moved the chains to get the ball into enemy territory, but the Bobcats stuffed the run to put the Highlanders in a fourth-and-6 situation.

Running out of the slot left, Farris hit fellow junior Cameron Dawood as he was cutting inside for a crucial 16-yard gain and the conversion.

“We ran that play a lot in practice this week expecting a situation like this,” Farris said. “I saw the 1-on-1 coverage and I knew he’d come down with that ball. I had a lot of faith in him.”

When the Highlanders needed to convert again on third-and-4, Farris used his legs to get six yards and advance to the 8-yard line. From there, Humbert, a two-way star on the evening, drove through a gap for the go-ahead touchdown, his second score of the night, with 1:11 remaining.

Following the corresponding kickoff, Grand Blanc, impressive and efficient in the passing game for most of the night despite just two scores, got the ball into Adams’ territory on a catch by leading receiver Caseton Sendry with its back against the wall, but the Highlanders ended the game on a pair of big defensive plays. First, Matt Toeppner sacked Bobcats junior quarterback Jake Morrow, and Lachlan Tillotson sealed it with an interception downfield on the final play of the game.

It was a gritty ending after it appeared Adams (10-2) might gradually pull away judging by the first quarter or so of action.

The Highlanders were methodical on the opening drive and cashed in on Humbert’s first rushing TD from a yard out to take a 6-0 lead after the extra point was blocked with 5:25 left in the first quarter.

When the Highlanders got the ball again, they leaned on the running of Humbert and Dawood, then advanced the ball to the Bobcats’ 14-yard line after a defensive pass interference penalty on third-and-9. The following play, Toeppner veered toward the right sideline and used an extended dive to break the pylon for a 14-yard score, and Humbert’s successful run on the conversion put Adams up 14-0 with 10:15 to go in the half.

That’s when Morrow, who was a mix of elusive, unorthodox and crafty throughout the game, began to find his rhythm despite operating under frequent pressure. Grand Blanc mostly moved the ball through the air on its first scoring drive, finished off on a five-yard TD grab by Sendry with 5:42 to go in the half.

A fumble recovered by the Bobcats gave them a chance at tying the game prior to intermission, but it proved harmless when Adams’ pass defense held strong in a third-and-long situation, then a 40-yard field-goal attempt came just short, hitting the crossbar.

Humbert record his second sack of the night on fourth-and-1 to end the Bobcats’ opening drive of the second half, but the Highlanders didn’t fair much better with the ball, stopped short themselves by about a foot on fourth down. Grand Blanc was more dangerous when it got the ball back again, settling for modest gains through the air before Morrow gained eight yards on a keeper, then a handful more to stride into the end zone untouched, making tying the game with a little over two minutes remaining in the third.

“Their offensive line man, they were pretty good, not gonna lie,” Humbert said. “(Morrow) is pretty fast, he can honestly throw that thing.”

On the difficulty of stopping Grand Blanc’s QB, Adams head coach Tony Patritto added, “He’s made huge plays all season. He’s really good at extending plays and making throws late and he’s got really good receivers. We had to play really sound team defense to keep him contained. To hold them to 14 points is a testament to our defensive staff and our players.”

With the game deadlocked, both team’s defenses forced a punt each — Patritto credited Grand Blanc for bringing an additional defender into the box as the game went along, slowing his team’s offense — then the Bobcats (9-3) recovered their second fumble of the game for what seemed like a backbreaker of a turnover. However, that aforementioned defense, which also saw senior Liam Kania reach Morrow several times, held up on a fourth-and-4 that got the Highlanders the ball back to start their victory drive.

Photo gallery from Rochester Adams vs. Grand Blanc in D1 football regional championship action

After the game, Patritto talked about the way his team has been viewed on this march to the semifinals.

"We're one of the smallest schools in the division, picked last or second-to-last every year, that's just what it's been like," Patritto said. "We play such great teams. I kind of understand it. There's not a bunch of four, five-star kids here. These are all Adams kids from Rochester. So we're used to it and kind of use it as a badge of honor."

The Highlanders defeated Grand Blanc 40-20 in the semifinals three years ago. Now, they'll have a chance to reach the D1 title game again, and will go through either Hudsonville or Howell. Those teams play a regional final in Howell Saturday afternoon.

"When you're at this point in the season, the final eight, the final four, everybody's really, really good," Patritto said. It comes down to execution, health, playing well and preparing. I trust our stuff to get our kids ready to play next week."

Rochester Adams found the end zone with 1:11 remaining for the game-winning touchdown to defeat Grand Blanc 21-14 in a Division 1 regional championship Friday, Nov. 15, 2024 in Rochester Hills.

Farmington Hills Mercy senior Campbell Flynn’s assortment of honors and accomplishments became all that more complete when she was announced Friday as this year’s Miss Volleyball Award winner.

She becomes the third winner from the Marlins in the last six seasons and altogether the program’s fourth recipient of the award.

As a junior, Flynn helped lead Mercy to a Division 1 state title, with the setter logging 553 assists, 137 digs and 124 kills — all after missing double-digit matches from playing with Team USA in the U-19 and U-21 World Championships. For the stellar campaign, she was named Gatorade Michigan Volleyball Player of the Year.

“(Campbell) just puts the ball there where it needs to be,” Mercy coach Loretta Vogel said after the Marlins’ win in last year’s quarterfinals. “You can tell when you watch her play, like on balls that she even pulls up on, it’s gone. Like a great quarterback.”

The 6-foot-3 Flynn committed to powerhouse Nebraska in June 2023. She’s currently ranked the No. 4 player in the country in PrepDig’s Class of 2025 rankings. She entered the year with 1,910 assists and 737 kills over her prep career.

Flynn was one of three nominees from Oakland County up for this year’s honor, alongside Marian’s Isabelle Busignani and Country Day’s Olivia Grenadier.

Defensive specialist Maddy Doyle became the first Miss Volleyball winner from the Marlins back in 2011. Jess Mruzik and Julia Bishop captured the award in back-to-back seasons in 2019-20.

An impact player from her freshman year when she was a third-team MIVCA All-State selection, Flynn was a first-teamer in 2022 and 2023. The Marlins won 124 matches during her time at Mercy, including finishing this year 29-3 with a third consecutive district championship.

The owner of a 3.98 GPA, Flynn, according to her Miss Volleyball resume, also volunteers with the PB&J Ministries, which helps prepare and repackage food to a homeless shelter in Detroit. She also is a member of the Stars and Stripes Club, a group that educates students on the struggles of families affected by war and travels once a month to play Bingo with veterans and volunteers at Salvation Army locations.

Campbell’s capture of the award makes her the ninth Miss Volleyball winner from Oakland County.

Michigan Miss Volleyball Award winners

2023 — Taylor Smith, Pewamo-Westphalia

2022 — Harper Murray, Ann Arbor Skyline

2021 — Ava Brizard, Birmingham Marian

2020 — Julia Bishop, Farmington Hills Mercy

2019 — Jess Mruzik, Farmington Hills Mercy

2018 — Madeline Chinn, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep

2017 — Erin O’Leary, Novi

2016 — Meredith Norris, Corunna

2015 — Gia Milana, Romeo

2014 — Katherine Carlson, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep

2013 — Carli Snyder, Macomb Dakota

2012 — Amanda McKinzie, Battle Creek St. Philip

2011 — Maddy Doyle, Farmington Hills Mercy

2010 — Jordan Fish, North Branch

2009 — Alexandra Cocklin, Birmingham Marian

2008 — Olivia Kohler, North Branch

2007 — Kyndra Abron, Livonia Churchill (fall season)

2007 — Lauren Jones, East Kentwood (winter season)

2006 — Alisha Glass, Leland

2005 — Stephanie Booms, Marysville

2004 — Angie McGinnis, Fraser

2003 — Linsey Taatjes, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern

Some of the state’s volleyball perennials aren’t even eliminated from this year’s playoffs, but you can probably pen them into a district championship spot for next fall.

Pen or pencil, Bloomfield Hills is requesting a place at that table as well, and for good reason.

After defeating West Bloomfield for a district championship in 2023, the Black Hawks were narrowly denied last Thursday, falling to D1 newcomer Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in five sets (23-25, 25-15, 25-17, 23-25, 13-15).

Their roster offers an easy glimpse at why the future is favorable. Bloomfield Hills lists just three seniors and only a pair of 2026 graduates. But this window of opportunity centers around one of those two juniors, Kayla Nwabueze, though the story begins earlier than you might think.

Black Hawks head coach Jacob Paige coached Kayla’s older sister Ashlea, who graduated in 2022 and was a blocking machine, and Paige was the JV coach at the time.

“I asked (Kayla) if she wanted to play on JV this year,” Paige said. “She said, ‘Can you do that as a seventh grader?’ I had no idea she was in seventh grade. She showed up to our Baby Hawks Camp, and she was big and physical. You knew she was going to be a stud.”

She certainly is. When Kayla did suit up at the high school level, Nwabueze totaled 412 kills as a freshman, then drastically improved her hit percentage to rack up 550 as a sophomore before bagging 475 this season.

The 6-foot-2 Nwabueze is a middle hitter who plays a different part at the club level, where she exploded onto the national scene and is one of the top players in the country in the 2026 class. Playing travel, she doesn’t serve-receive, rarely moves to the back row, and there might be a little less pressure on her shoulders, also.

“Here, she plays all six rotations for us, she passes all the time, and on top of it, she’s the gas that makes us go,” Paige said. “She’s serve-receiving at over a 2.0. Nobody in the country can do what she does. She can play all the spots and do everything.”

Back when Paige first spotted her, it may have been less evident that this was one of one of the most versatile threats in the nation. Nwabueze, who also played basketball and ran track, said it was about that time, several years into playing volleyball, when she could really begin to a hit a ball and turned all her focus to the sport, refining the potential with the hard work that’s required.

With the star that she’s become, Bloomfield Hills may not have the lasting prestige or the banners of a Novi or Marian, but the Black Hawks do come into games feeling the target.

“Anytime somebody gets a block on Kayla, or they ace her, it’s like they won the World Series,” Paige said. “Everybody wants to block the best, and when they do, it’s really cool. But our team, as young as they are, they’ve learned the other team’s going to score points, get aces, but (our girls) are really good at getting back together and moving on from that.”

When her prep career is finished, Nwabueze will head to Harvard – another all-state Bloomfield Hills native went there, Marian’s Erin Cooney. Clearly, she had her pick of other top D1 programs. “I really was looking for more the education route than volleyball, but I found a place where both were top priority.”

Even after she’s gone, the players who made Bloomfield Hills successful around Nwabueze will remain, like freshman Allison Stakoe (199 kills this season) and sophomores Alyssa Moir (274 digs) and Brynn Wilcox (707 assists), as well as a talented eighth-grade class – which includes Kayla’s younger sister, Emily – that will compliment the current bunch.

And ultimately, Kayla’s evaluation of herself seems to reflect where the Black Hawks are headed as a whole.

“I’m still growing, I’m still improving,” Nwabueze said. “I’m not done yet. I haven’t reached my peak.”

 

FLINT — Trey McKenney knew he wanted to come back to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and take a run at another title this winter.

And the two-time Associated Press Division 1 Player of the Year now knows where he’s going to be playing after that, announcing his intention to play at the University of Michigan.

McKenney made the decision Saturday at Gloria Coles Flint Public Library in his hometown, as he gets ready for his season at OLSM, which will start Nov. 29, with a home date against Macomb L’Anse Creuse North.

McKenney picked Michigan over finalists Georgetown and USC.

On what separated the Wolverines, McKenney said, “Just my trust in them, trust in my coaches. My family, being very faith-oriented, being able to feel the relationship with them. Also, Michigan just being my dream school growing up, watching them with my dad.”

He said he made his decision that it would be the Wolverines a couple weeks ago.

“It was especially my official visit,” McKenney said. “The relationship with the coaches, the play style, just what the university is about as a whole.”

Through his first three seasons, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound combo guard helped lead the Eaglets to 63 wins in 80 career games, two Catholic League titles and a state title, after trips to the quarterfinals, semifinals before making the finals and lifting the trophy last winter. And the Eaglets were expected to return more than 80 percent of their scoring from last season, including McKenney’s 22.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

In addition to the second straight AP award, McKenney was also named Gatorade Player of the Year for Michigan, as well as the MaxPreps Player of the Year, and won a gold medal with the 2024 USA Men’s U18 National Team at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup.

A composite five-star recruit, McKenney is ranked as the top player in Michigan, the 17th-best recruit nationally in the class of 2025, according to ESPN, and the 24th-best per 247Sports.

St. Mary’s head coach Todd Covert spoke about the great support system McKenney has from his family, and that several months ago he and Trey sat down and watched tape to try and help him from that standpoint.

“I think the stuff (Michigan head coach Dusty May) does, he’s very analytical,” Covert said. “Trey’s style and personality really mesh, and people realize Trey’s a gigantic student of the game. He watches a lot of film and I think that’s going to align. Dusty plays a lot of what you could call ‘new age basketball,’ a lot of space, trying to take high-percentage shots. Most of the time those are 3s and shots in the paint, and Trey’s ability to hit the mid-range shot at a high level with how the NBA is – most of the stuff is pick and roll – and Trey’s ability to hit that at a 55, 60% rate, that’s a high number. I think they just match up.”

Covert has praised McKenney’s drive over time, and did so again Saturday, saying, “There’s the great players, and then there’s the elite – Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan – that win when they’re expected to win. They get better when they have it all. Most people need to fail a bit, to hurt, get in the valley before they take that next step. Trey’s got that intrinsic motivation just to work, and just because of that, he’ll continue to get better. He’s got the right personality.”

When asked what he feels when watching the Wolverines play, McKenney responded, “I get excited. I’ve loved Michigan ever since I grew up.”

On having the peace of mind of this decision behind him ahead of a season when the Eaglets will be looking to hang another title banner before he heads off to Ann Arbor, McKenney said, “It was very key getting this decision done before the season, just to have a free mind heading into the season, aiming to win another state championship.”

LAKE ORION – Clarkston head coach Justin Pintar lamented how his team was forced to opt for field goals after its 20-13 loss to Lake Orion back in October.

The Wolves had no such problem in Friday’s playoff rematch, scoring a handful of touchdowns to defeat Lake Orion 35-16 in the opening round and marking the second year in a row that they eliminated the Dragons from the postseason on their own turf.

“Anytime you lose a rivalry game, it’s got a little extra sting to it, so I think that motivation was there for us to come back in this playoff game, do what we did last year and win one in the playoffs,” Pintar said.

There was enough scoring punch to win just from Clarkston junior running back Griffin Boman, who reached the end zone three times in the first half, with the last of them serving as a jaw-dropper, momentum-swinger and exclamation point to the half all wrapped in one.

The Dragons countered Boman’s first pair of scores with a 77-yard TD pass from Tristan Hill to Kyle England with 10:56 left in the second quarter, and later, a field goal that made it a four-point game with 19 seconds left in the second quarter.

However, Clarkston appeared unwilling to settle for a one-score lead at intermission.

On the final play of the half, Boman found a crease to the left, bounced his run towards the right, and after looking as if he was brought down near the Dragons’ 30-yard line, broke at least three additional tackle attempts as he powered into the end zone with two defenders draped on him, all part of a 58-yard touchdown run that helped give the Wolves a 21-10 lead at the interval.

On the electrifying play that capped the half, Boman said, “I saw that cutback, and what’s crazy is, I actually said to my quarterback (Alex Waszczenko), ‘You think I’m gonna score on this play?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I think you’re gonna score.’ It was just crazy … I had a headful of steam and I just wanted to keep going, get that score and seal the deal.”

In terms of what it meant to extend the lead, Pintar said, “At 14-10, you go into halftime feeling a little bit different, but 21-10, I mean, that totally changes the complexion and feeling of the game. It was one of those ones where it’s like, ‘OK, let’s run a play and see what happens.’ And the Boman twins are pretty special. We know if we can break it open for them, get them the first five or 10 (yards), they might make something happen, and (Griffin) did. That was an impressive run.”

Griffin got the Wolves on the board with a 51-yard score under four minutes into the first quarter, and after Drew Ball recovered a fumble at Orion’s 18-yard line late in the first quarter, he scored his second TD three plays after the turnover from six yards out with 21 seconds remaining in the opening quarter to give Clarkston more points already than it had scored in the previous meeting between the teams.

“We were just locked in and ready to punch them in the mouth from the beginning,” Boman said. “It felt good, especially since the last time we played them we didn’t do very well on our scheme and everything we learned. This week we really tried to focus on just doing our jobs.”

Able to force the Dragons to punt on the first possession of the third quarter, the Wolves tacked on another score with the ball back, this time on a 54-yard touchdown pass from Waszczensko to Lukas Boman that, despite a blocked extra point, made it a 17-point lead with 7:09 left in the third.

Lake Orion countered with a drive that proved it wasn’t ready to pack it in. The Dragons went 80 yards on 12 plays, the last of them a 19-yard touchdown pass from Hill to Jahmari Cooper, and though Cooper was stopped on a run attempt for the two-point conversion, it got Lake Orion back to within 11 points with still 2:30 on the clock in the third quarter.

Griffin Boman kept punishing the Dragons on the corresponding drive. On third-and-18, he sprung for 23 yards, and later converted another third down to keep eating time off the clock. When the Dragons finally managed to slow the run, they committed a roughing the kicker penalty on a missed field-goal attempt that instead kept the drive going for Clarkston, though it didn’t punish Lake Orion on the scoreboard as senior linebacker Payton McIntyre recovered a fumble just inside the red zone with eight minutes left.

Regardless, the Dragons couldn’t manage to capitalize and turned it over on downs less than two minutes later to give Clarkston the ball back, again in the red zone. This time, the Wolves made use of the good field position and after draining more clock, Waszczenko pushed in and over the pylon behind his line from a yard out for Clarkston’s final score with 1:33 left.

Hill hooked up with Jackson Vasquez for several big completions on the Dragons’ final drive but Lake Orion couldn’t get a consolation TD before time expired.

“We didn’t tackle well,” Dragons head coach Chris Bell said. “We had opportunities. Credit to them, their offensive line came off the ball, their backs ran hard. They just won the physical battle, and that’s the story of the ball game. Our turnover down deep really hurt us, that give them the easy touchdown, then the run right before halftime was a little of a backbreaker.

“My kids battled but they deserved to win. They beat us in every phase. We had a hard time blocking on the perimeter and a hard time moving the ball in the run game, and that made it really difficult. But that’s a credit to them.”

Photo gallery from Clarkston vs. Lake Orion in D1 district semifinal football action

The Dragons were unbeaten in their first 10 games last season before falling to Clarkston in last year's district final, 38-37. They finish this season with a 6-4 record.

Clarkston gets a chance to avenge one of its other three losses this season with next week's game at Rochester Adams. The Highlanders (8-2) defeated Stoney Creek 44-14 Friday night.

"We kinda got partnered up with all the OAA Red teams, and Lake Orion got us the first time," Pintar said. "Rochester Adams got us at their place, and that's another very well-coached football team. They play a lot like us, they're very competitive and get after us on defense. Offensively, they give you some different looks you don't see against other teams. It's a tough week of preparation getting ready for those guys, but another chance to go back and hopefully avenge an earlier loss.

"If you can do two of those in the first two weeks of the playoffs, that's going to feel pretty good."

Clarkston’s struggles to find the end zone against Lake Orion during a regular season loss seemed far away as the Wolves scored five touchdowns in a 35-16 playoff win over the Dragons Friday, Nov. 1, 2024 in Lake Orion.

TROY – At last, Rochester Adams put a ball in the back of the net that Saline couldn’t answer.

The Highlanders, who led three times at Troy Athens Wednesday evening between the 100 minutes of regulation and overtime, finally dispatched the feisty Hornets in a shootout, 5-4, to reach Saturday’s D1 state final.

After Alex Rosin, Logan Lilla, Jameson Smith and Anthony Page had all made theirs, senior Salvatore Dinoto stepped up and converted the fifth kick to send the Highlanders in celebration from their own bench across the field and into a sea of fans awaiting on the opposite sideline.

“It was a battle,” Adams head coach Josh Hickey said. “I’m really impressed by them, to be honest. We didn’t know a whole lot about Saline over there, but they’re really good, man. They deserved to be there just as much as just, we just got fortunate at the end there with those penalties.”

On a night when the players between the sticks stayed busy, Adams senior Reid Dennis came up clutch on Saline’s third penalty, diving to his right to palm away the only shot stopped in the shootout.

“It’s all instincts,” Dennis said. “It’s also part luck, too. There was a little bit (of a tell), but sometimes you’ve just got to go (and react).”

On his goalkeeper, Hickey added, “This year, we were just confident if we had to go to penalties. We were ready for it because we’ve got Reid back there, but also because we’ve got some guys that can finish those.”

Adams (17-2-4), who like Saline hadn’t been pressed into PKs this postseason, jumped ahead when Logan Lilla’s layoff near the edge of the box allowed an opportunity for Dinoto to drive in a shot from the left edge of the 18 just under nine minutes into the contest.

Between the trade of openers, Saline senior netminder Eric Friedholm had several key actions, including the denial of a Rosin goal after Adams’ star senior nicked the ball off a Hornets defender. That immediately led to a chance on the opposite end for Saline’s Jaedyn Sifuna, which pressed Dennis into action to snuff out the attack, and Dennis parried away another good chance with two minutes left in the half that led to a corner but nothing else for the Hornets.

Adams’ lead held for over an hour of play before the match traversed into classic territory.

Saline erased the lead when it earned a free kick that resulted in a series of deflections before junior forward Zach Heisler tied it up with 16:16 left in regulation.

On the Highlanders’ second goalscoring sequence, Rosin produced a pass that few others at the same level are capable of. The Notre Dame commit bent a ball across and behind the defense to Dinoto, whose shot reverberated off the right crossbar and back along the face of goal before Lilla pounced on the rebound with 11:09 left.

Just 25 seconds later, the Hornets drew a penalty through Sifuna, and Juan Martin Balda didn’t miss from the spot, making it 2-2.

About a minute later, Adams may have been lucky not to fall behind for the first time when Nadig Bryce’s shot ricocheted off the wrong side of a goal post, and both teams had A-grade chances to prevent extra time in the last 90 seconds of the second half, but couldn’t avert overtime.

In the first 10-minute period of overtime, Heisler and Adams junior Chase Blackmore both had efforts that would have been unsavable had they not blazed just wide of the mark.

With 1:41 left in that first OT, the Highlanders appeared to have their state final ticket punched when Rosin’s corner kick found Smith at the far post for a header in, making it 3-2.

While not as fast as the second leveler, the Hornets dissolved Adams’ lead for the final time when Heisler scored his second goal with a shot from the top of the box off the post to the right of Dennis and over the line 53 seconds into the second overtime period.

“Oh, (they were) daggers, man,” Hickey said. “When you go up a goal and they tie it in like 30 seconds or something … I’m proud. That’s the thing about my team, I’m proud of, they’re mentally tough. They didn’t let that phase them. We had to switch formations a bunch to counter that, and they went right into it. Everything I asked of them, they did.”

To reach the final, Adams beat a Saline team that hadn’t been defeated since Clarkston did so back on Aug. 24.

“I think we were confident, as well as resilient going into it, but yeah, it’s just one save that makes all the difference,” first-year Saline head coach Bartley Lydy said.

Rochester Adams vs. Saline D1 boys soccer semifinal photo gallery

The Highlanders, champions two seasons ago, now head to their fifth state final all-time for a chance at a third title banner.

Ranked fifth in the final D1 poll, the Highlanders, armed with a handful of D1 talents who had previously been plying their trade at the club level, will be favored Saturday in Grand Ledge against unranked Byron Center, who defeated Oxford Wednesday night, also in PKs.

"I'm just happy they get that stage," Hickey said. "Once you get to the game, it is what it is. You have to battle. Both teams are going to be ready to be there, just like they were this game, but to give them that stage that they earned, you know, that's what I'm proud of them for. They deserve it."

BIRMINGHAM – Prepare for the inevitable.

That’s what No. 3 Detroit Country Day did by defeating Birmingham Groves, 25-17, 25-17, 25-12 Tuesday night in the final regular season match for both teams.

“I thought we played decent,” Country Day head coach Kim Lockhart said. “We took care of business, you know? We could have been a bit more energetic, but sometimes it doesn’t happen. I was very pleased with the little things we were working on, services, because that’s what we have control of. The girls passed very well. We were really working on designing up our blocks and things, and I thought they stepped up and did that well.”

It was the final test for the Yellowjackets (24-1) before heading into all-too-familiar territory.

No disrespect to Country Day’s first postseason opponent, Waterford Oakside Prep, or whichever team Pontiac Notre Dame Prep faces in its opener, but the Yellowjackets and Fighting Irish will, barring the unforeseen, face off in a D2 district final in just over a week’s time.

“It’s the same team we play that we always have to get by,” Lockhart said.

For the last five years, getting past Notre Dame Prep (36-11-5) has been what Country Day has been unable to do, whether in districts, or deeper into the playoffs, as was the case in 2021 when the Irish won in quarterfinals.

Regardless, the Yellowjackets are far better suited to topple the road block than when they were bogged down by injuries, including to star senior and Miss Volleyball finalist Olivia Grenadier (Colorado), who led with a dozen kills Tuesday.

Now, a healthy Country Day, even featuring a mix of freshmen and sophomores, may be better off for it.

“Demi McCoy, for sure,” Lockhart said as an example. “When she was a freshman last year, we had Olivia out for injury, so she had to perform, play with Leah (Green), and they both got so many reps, then they went and played club. And both will tell you that was the best experience for them going into their club season last year.

“We had some really good young athletes last year, but it was getting them to be consistent … We’ve brought in a freshman setter (Payton Woodruff), who’s doing a fantastic job of spreading the offense and building confidence, and (the younger players), you can tell they have a bit more experience under their belts, not making as many errors, playing more confident. So it’s been a really good year.”

Photo gallery from No. 3 Detroit Country Day at Birmingham Groves volleyball action

Meanwhile, Groves head coach Madison Close felt good about the test her team got before districts. "I was very impressed with how my girls played despite the loss," she said. "I thought they did a great job being scrappy on the floor, trying to place the ball in the open spots in their half. That's been something we've been working on this season, not worrying about what we're doing but what's happening on the other side, because that's where the points are scored, and I thought my girls did a great job against them.

"Their number nine (Elise Hiemstra) and 10 (Grenadier) just jump out of the gym -- I mean, it doesn't matter how high my girls can reach -- so kudos to them, but it was a good game."

The Falcons (10-18-1) also will see a familiar opponent to start the postseason next Monday in Royal Oak, who they've already faced multiple times this year in split results.

"The district game, we don't really know," Close said. "We've been up against them three times and went 2-1. I feel good going in. I think if this team (that showed up against Country Day) shows up against Royal Oak, I feel like it's going to be a great game. We know their strategy after playing them three times, so we're able to adapt, and we're preparing the best we can on our side."