Shelby Tigers Hope to Flip 2012 Script This Week in Semis

Here's the preview story I wrote for this weekend's semifinal football game between #9 Shelby and #4 Clinton. The winner will play the winner of #1 Ithaca and #3 Montrose next week for the Division 6 state championship.

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The field hadn’t even been cleared from Shelby’s state semifinal loss to Ithaca last November when Tigers’ coach Lorenzo Rodriguez intoned that his team planned on returning the following season and changing the outcome.

That moment has now arrived for the Shelby Tigers, courtesy of a dominating 33-7 win over Schoolcraft Saturday afternoon in the regional finals. Shelby will go up against its toughest opponent yet, the Clinton Redskins, Saturday afternoon, with a 1 p.m. kickoff lined up at Thornapple-Kellogg High School in Middleville.

Clinton, making its first semifinal appearance since 1990, will enter the game undefeated, out of the Tri-County Conference. The Redskins have won every game by double digits, 10 of them by 20 or more points, and are coming off an impressive 47-28 win last week over Constantine, the state runner-up the last two seasons.

However, apart from studying the teams’ formations on film, Rodriguez and the Tigers aren’t too concerned with what Clinton has done leading up to the game — only what it will do Saturday.

“We try not to look into that too much,” Rodriguez said of Clinton’s season. “We can only control what we can control. We just have to take advantage of every opportunity we get and limit their opportunities.”

Shelby’s biggest advantage might be that semifinal game it played last season. Clinton’s team hasn’t even been out of the pre-district round since 2009, so the edge in playoff experience is clearly in the Tigers’ favor. “You’ve been there before,” Rodriguez said of the experience the Tigers banked a year ago. “You experienced the difference in atmosphere. This week we’ll be on a high school field, and not a college field. That will help both teams to soothe the nerves. We’ve told the kids it’s just another high school facility like ours.” 

Clinton boasts a potent offensive attack that’s scored 39 points or more in each of its last nine games. Like the Tigers, the Redskins have several players that can provide the fireworks at any time. All-purpose threat Matt Sexton scored five touchdowns for Clinton against Constantine, while Collin Poore has amassed 400 yards rushing over his team’s last two games. 

T.J. Baker is the Clinton quarterback, and he is more than capable throwing or running. While the Redskins generally don’t throw much — Baker’s season high in pass attempts is 16 — the senior is efficient when he does, with over 14 yards per attempt. He’s also amassed 641 yards rushing this season on over nine yards per carry. 

“They throw the ball really well,” Rodriguez said of Clinton. “They have some great athletes, the quarterback and (Sexton), and they all have great speed.” 

Sexton is also Clinton’s leading tackler, with 73 total takedowns this year, nine of them for loss. Baker, meanwhile, is the big-play man in the secondary, with four interceptions on the year. 

Shelby will counter that speed with its power. The Tigers have built their identity on their success on the offensive line over the last two seasons, and it was rarely more evident than last week, when Devin Mussell and David Guerra combined for nearly 300 rushing yards behind the front five. 

Should the game come down to a pass, the Tigers will need to be more successful than they have been. Andy Fortier completed three of 12 passes last week, overshooting some open receivers. If the senior can find his targets, like tight end Brody Lee and the all-purpose dynamos Mussell and Guerra, Shelby could put up some big plays. Then again, if the Tigers can rip off long runs as they did so consistently last week, passing might not be necessary. 

The biggest key for the Tigers, Rodriguez said, will be matching their strong start from the regional game. Shelby came out with purpose Saturday and surged into an early 20-0 lead behind defense, special teams and big-time runs. If the Tigers’ energy level leading up to the game is any indication, they should be able to do it again versus Clinton. 

“The town is buzzing,” Rodriguez said. “The kids are energetic. We have a new boost of confidence and energy. That’s a great thing for us at this point.”

Oakridge vs. Shelby: How Big Is It?

The answer: Real freaking big.

Shelby's Devin Mussell (in green) tackles Hart's Brandon
Amstutz during last week's Pink and Green game.
Mussell and his Tigers play at Oakridge tonight.
(Photo by Andrew Skinner)

The two teams battle tonight in what is essentially a West Michigan Conference title game. The only way the winner of this one doesn't end up as WMC champion is if Shelby wins AND loses to North Muskegon next week, which would create a three-way tie.

Oakridge enters as the favorite, of course, having gone unbeaten in the league last year. The Eagles haven't lost more than once in WMC play since 2009. They are also ranked #1 in the state in Division 5 and avenged a 2012 playoff loss to Grand Rapids West Catholic in this year's season opener. I saw them thoroughly dominate a good Montague offense in Week 2, and I can vouch for their legitimacy.

Senior QB Austin Wright and senior RB Dan Shoop are the straws that stir the drink for Oakridge offensively. The pair combined for 553 yards of total offense last week, 440 on the ground and 113 on Wright passes. Shelby will counter with some seniors of their own in QB Andy Fortier, RBs Devin Mussell, David Guerra and Forrest Courtright and TE Brody Lee.

Defensively, the Eagles had looked immortal until last week, when they struggled to dispatch Ravenna, 31-27. The best chance Shelby has is to pick up where the Bulldogs left off and score some points. It shouldn't take too many — Shelby's only given up more than a touchdown once in four conference games so far. I think if the Tigers can score three TDs, they should have a good chance. It won't be easy, though. Shelby's D needs a huge game from Courtright at the Mike LB spot, and the Tigers' secondary, led by Mussell and Dylan Unger, will have to have their best games of the season, because Oakridge is not afraid to go vertical.

I wish I could go cover the game, but as it's not a White Lake Beacon-area contest, I can't. Oceana's Herald-Journal editor Andrew Skinner will be on site, though, taking photos for next week's paper. I will be at the Whitehall/Hart game watching one of those teams pick up their first win. However, my ear will definitely be to the ground for updates from the big one in Muskegon.

Bassmaster Elite All-Star Event next week

Below is the first few paragraphs of our front-page story for this week — the Bassmaster Elite Series is bringing its All-Star event to the Muskegon and White Lake areas next weekend.

This weekend, the nationally-known Bassmaster Elite Series will stage its All-Star event locally, with 14 of the top anglers in the country competing over two days of fishing on Muskegon Lake Sept. 27-28, and culminating with the top four placers after two days gunning for the Evan Williams Bourbon Championship on White Lake Sunday, Sept. 29.

It will be the second time in a month that the Elite Series has brought a competition to Michigan after the Plano Championship Chase was held on Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River in late August. Prior to that, the series had never ventured into the state, said Eric Lopez, director of operations for the B.A.S.S. organization.

“We have lots of members in the Michigan area at the B.A.S.S. Nation level,” Lopez said, referring to the organization that certifies fishermen nationwide. “We have lots of people in Michigan who were asking when we were going to do an event here. It’s not that we’ve been ignoring Michigan, but there are lots of great lakes out there. It was time.”

Ultimately it was worth the wait, as Muskegon Lake and White Lake will play host to one of the most prestigious weeks on the tour, Toyota All-Star Week.

“We’re very excited to bring the best of the best to Muskegon,” Lopez said. “We’re bringing in 14 of the best for this three-day tournament.”

Why did the Bassmaster Elite Series choose the Muskegon and White Lake areas to host the All-Star event? Lopez said it came down to the area’s support of fishing.

“There are lots of awesome fisheries in Michigan, but looking at the communities, we wanted to go to an area that believes in and supports bass fishing and has the infrastructure,” Lopez said. “That area meets those criteria.”

Next week, it appears I'll be joining Mike Iacconelli, one of the anglers competing in the All-Star event, for his practice session on the water. This should be enlightening, to say the very least.

In any case, for anyone interested in fishing, this is a big event, probably the biggest sporting event to be held here in recent history. (The event will air in multiple parts on ESPN2 Oct. 13.)

What to Make of the Football Season So Far?

Montague's Chris Carroll breaks up
a pass last week against Ravenna. Montague
might be back on track after a slow start.
(Photo by Andy Roberts)

We're already a third of the way done with most teams' football seasons, and tonight we'll be 44% finished. That's depressing, folks.

What to make of what we've gotten so far? Here's a team-by-team look at our area's 6 football teams' seasons through 3 games:

Hart — Poor Hart. They're just too small a school to be playing in the West Michigan Conference. There are only about 20 kids on the entire squad this year, so the Pirates don't even have the luxury of a JV team. The results have borne that out — Hart got blitzed in Week 1 by an Onekama team it destroyed last year, and has since taken lopsided defeats against two of the better teams in the WMC in Oakridge and North Muskegon. Hart's never even played in the state football playoffs, which go back to the 1970s. There's been rumblings of late that Hart wants to leave the WMC, but they haven't made that move yet, mostly because of teams like soccer, competitive cheer, and others that might be without a home if they pulled the trigger.

Hesperia — Hesperia's story is probably the most interesting one so far. The Panthers are 3-0 for the first time since 1992. They've been helped by a relatively soft early schedule, but still, Hesperia is halfway to the magical six-win mark that would get them into the playoffs (they haven't been since 2007), and still has six games to collect the three remaining wins. They face winless Holton tonight, a win that Hesperia should be able to get. From there the road map is clear for the Panthers: they would just have to defeat Central Montcalm again in the season finale, as they did last year, and would have to flip the result of one of the four remaining games, all of which were losses last year (Lakeview, Newaygo, Reed City and Chippewa Hills). A couple of those games were close a year ago, and this Panthers team appears, at least early, to be far better than it was in 2012, so there's hope. It should be interesting to see how that progresses.

Montague — Montague might have figured something out at halftime of last week's Ravenna game. The Wildcats went into the locker room that day trailing 20-14 and on the precipice of a loss that would've severely damaged their chances of locking in their 13th straight playoff berth. But Montague exploded for five unanswered touchdowns in the second half, went to 2-1, and if coach Pat Collins' assertion that the team is going to look like that the rest of the year comes true, they'll be right on track. Sophomore quarterback Jacob Buchberger appeared to grow up very quickly in that game, and he has plenty of weapons with which to work. This week's game against Shelby will say a lot about whether the Wildcats really are on the uptick or whether last Friday was just a case of a better team imposing their will on a lesser one when the game was on the line. Last season, the Cats won a classic in OT in that matchup. Another one would, with layups against Hart, Mason County Central and (probably) Whitehall still remaining on the schedule, pretty much lock in the team's playoff bid.

Reeths-Puffer — The Rockets are tough to read so far, mainly because I haven't seen them yet. The vagaries of the schedule have disallowed me from seeing them in action until their homecoming game in two weeks. But what I've gathered from the stats is if R-P is in the lead, you're in trouble. Julian Munday and Dereko Riley have proven to be an extremely potent one-two punch at running back. The trouble for the Rockets will come if they fall behind, because quarterback Garrett Blanshine is not built for comebacks. R-P is 2-1 this year, but has very tough contests left with Muskegon, Mona Shores and Zeeland East in league play, not to mention tonight's game with East Kentwood, a lopsided loss for the Rockets a year ago. The Rockets will need to win at least two of those games to get to the playoffs in all likelihood, a tall task for a still-growing team.

Shelby — The train just keeps rolling for the Tigers. I've been as impressed with the job Lorenzo Rodriguez does as Shelby coach as I am with any sports team in the area, and it's because his team just wins with what it's got. Last year, the Tigers got to the Division 6 state semifinals on line play, defense and guts despite not really having game-breaking talent at any skill position, with the possible exception of linebacker Ben Schroeder. They're doing it again this year, with Forrest Courtright now playing the role of Schroeder. Shelby's 3-0 heading into tonight's big game with Montague. It's especially big for the Tigers because probably no team in the WMC has a tougher remaining schedule than Shelby. Hart and Ravenna should provide W's, but there's no other sure win on the slate, with Oakridge and North Muskegon looking like the class of the league so far. (Those two face off tonight, which should be interesting.)

Whitehall — The only area football team with a new coach, the Vikings were always going to face an uphill climb this year after graduating a talented crop of seniors and installing a new veer-based attack under Tony Sigmon. I don't think anyone thought it would be this rough, though, as the Vikings have just flat-out not been able to move the football. The team still doesn't really know who its QB is — Connor Rake has the job right now by default over fellow sophomore Zarren Aylor because the latter was tossed out of last week's game and by rule will sit this week as well — and by staying on the field so long, its defense is being left out to dry. In the Vikings' defense, they've faced an extremely tough conference slate so far, and tonight's game offers a chance to get healthy against Mason County Central, whose team is just as small as Hart's. But if the Vikes can't get this one, it'll be tough to see a win anywhere on the schedule except for perhaps that Hart game.

Golf and Tennis Results - Week of 9/13

Since a long fishing column and a bunch of soccer action has caused there to be a lack of room this week in the paper, here are the results for this week's girls golf and boys tennis action.

GIRLS GOLF

Whitehall 8th at Chip Hills Invite

REMUS — Whitehall placed eighth in an eight-team field Wednesday at the Chippewa Hills Invitational, shooting a 557 as a team. Seventh-place Alma had a 505. Farwell and Central Montcalm tied for first place at the even, each shooting a 390.

Individual results were not reported for the Vikings.

Vikes drop dual to Manistee

WHITEHALL — The Whitehall Vikings dropped a dual meet at home Tuesday to Manistee, shooting a 276 to the visiting Chippewas’ 244.

Whitehall’s Taylor Mikkelson led her team in scoring Tuesday, shooting a 62, while Taylor Boyd added a 64.

Brooke Borgman shot a 72 for the Vikes, and Randi Mikkelson contributed a 78.

Manistee’s Fallon Gates led all scorers with a 46.

Rockets 2nd at conference jamboree

MUSKEGON — Reeths-Puffer’s girls golf team took advantage of playing on its home turf Monday afternoon, placing second in the O-K Black Conference jamboree at Lincoln Golf Club, up from fourth the previous week.

The Rockets’ team score of 209 was just 21 shots behind Mona Shores, which once again took first place.

R-P got top performances from Hannah Moss and Mikaela VanDuinen. Moss placed second individually at the meet with a 44, while VanDuinen’s 48 placed her in fourth.

BOYS TENNIS

Whitehall 3rd at Mona Shores Quad

MUSKEGON — Whitehall’s Tell Sutton led his team with a championship at first singles to help the Vikings place third at Tuesday’s Mona Shores Quad.

Sutton’s victory in the finals, 3-6, 7-5, 10-7 over Sam Kling of the Sailors, provided most of Whitehall’s scoring in the quad.

Connor Briegel won a match at fourth singles over Muskegon Catholic’s Mike Valachovic, 6-1, 6-0, and Andy Esh and Erik Butzer both won the consolation brackets at second and third singles respectively.

Jack Dillivan and Tim Hiemstra won their first-round match at first doubles over North Muskegon’s Brock Dobb and Levi Hardman, 6-4, 6-4, and Matt McCollom and Jack Zwemer took the consolation bracket at fourth doubles.

Vikes roll by Grant

GRANT — The Whitehall Vikings had to battle for a couple of flight victories, but as a team had little trouble taking out Grant Monday afternoon, 7-1.

The Vikings won five of their six matches in straight sets, with Erik Butzer being pushed to three sets by Grant’s Noah Meuwenburg at third singles before Butzer took the match, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

At first singles, Tell Sutton easily dispatched Roman Aguilar, 6-0, 6-1. Andy Esh took down Simon Carlson at second singles, 6-2, 6-3.

Whitehall swept the doubles matches, all in straight sets. Picking up victories were Jack Dillivan and Tim Hiemstra at first doubles; Drew Bolles and Judd VanBergen at second doubles; Jacob Herbert and Alec Milliron at third doubles; and Matt McCollom and Jack Zwemer at fourth doubles.

Rockets down Muskegon Catholic

MUSKEGON — Reeths-Puffer easily dispatched Muskegon Catholic Monday in a non-conference match, 7-1.

The Rockets won three matches — fourth singles, third doubles and fourth doubles — by default, as the host Crusaders did not field players in those flights.

All the three Rockets’ players to win their matches did so in straight sets. At first singles, Zack Strong defeated Christian Stone, 6-2, 6-1. Second singles saw Luke Sessink dispatch Adam Lewis, 6-3, 6-0. Nate Grinwis defeated Jack Farrell at third singles, 6-0, 6-3.

At second doubles, Chandler Adame and Jesse Miller knocked off Connor Inglat and Mike Valechare, 6-1, 6-4.

Whitehall 4th at Grand Haven Invite

GRAND HAVEN — Whitehall took fourth place in the Buccaneer Fall Classic last Saturday behind first singles player Tell Sutton, who won all three of his matches.

Sutton defeated Grand Haven’s Korey Searle 7-5, 7-5, beat Zeeland East’s Nate Weeldreyer 6-4, 6-3, and received a forfeit victory against Grand Rapids Catholic’s Joey Ellis when Ellis had to retire due to injury. Ellis was ahead 6-0, 6-5 at the time of his forfeit.

The Doug Baird Controversy at Hesperia

And here I was thinking my second summer in West Michigan would be a quiet one.

Hesperia Community Schools has blown that idea out of the water after the controversial removal (or as the coach's camp is putting it, firing - tomato, to-mah-to, I guess) of its most successful team's coach — wrestling's Doug Baird.

Baird, who coached wrestling at Hesperia for 19 seasons, most of them as head coach, had guided the Panthers to the 2008 state title and overall had led the team to five of the previous eight Division 4 state-finals matches, most recently this February, a match the Panthers narrowly lost to five-time champion Hudson. So his removal was an extreme surprise.

As we dug more into the case, including attending a loud June 11 school board meeting at which the removal was addressed and making a Freedom of Information Act request to find out what was going on, it became obvious this was a big issue to many of the folks in Hesperia.

Baird's removal came as the result of two formal reprimands he received in the spring relating to separate incidents. The first incident, in February at the individual wrestling regional tournament in Rogers City, involved a wrestler bringing marijuana to the hotel at which the team stayed, an incident blamed on Baird because the wrestler in question, along with a couple of teammates, were left at the hotel unsupervised while the rest of the team and staff went to McDonald's (one speaker at the June 11 meeting intimated that the boys weren't taken to McD's because they needed to make weight, which seems sensible).

The second one, the more serious one and the one under the most scrutiny in this case, alleged that Baird did not report evidence of child abuse that was supposedly reported to him during a P.E. class in March. The coach had allegedly been informed by a student that he was inappropriately touched off-campus by a former student whose care he may or may not have been in at the time. The people on Baird's side in that case counter the reprimand with questions as to whether he was truly legally obligated to report what he heard, with some suggesting he was trying to get more information before bringing the matter to the school board.

Whatever happened, the board deemed it enough to remove the coach, and it has already begun the process of hiring a new one, with classified ads in our papers the last couple of weeks. However, Baird's supporters haven't gone quietly, petitioning to recall three of the school board members who voted Baird out (the only three that they can legally recall at this time). His supporters, who've formed a group called Concerned Citizens for Total Education, have also said they will petition to recall board president Todd Jacobs once they can do so at the beginning of 2014. The issue has divided the wrestling program and placed just about everyone in the Hesperia district on opposing sides.

The most curious thing to me, and something that hasn't been fully addressed, mostly due to the firestorm surrounding the removal and the recalls, is that Baird hasn't been removed as a teacher, nor has he been removed from his post as the cross-country coach, coincidentally Hesperia's second-most successful sports program, boasting consecutive state championships in 2010 and 2011. It seems unlikely that any answers on that topic are forthcoming, as the board has stated publicly that they will offer no further comment on anything relating to Baird - and true to their word have not responded to phone messages left in the interim. Baird's supporters have pointed out several times that he can't be that deserving of a firing if they only took away 1 of his 2 coaching jobs and left him installed as a teacher. If the accusations leveled against him are true, it seems that they would be fireable offenses all the way around, and not just at the wrestling level.

It's unclear what will happen from here — the board members under recall are appealing the county's acceptance of the petitions, which will almost certainly delay any potential recall election for months. The recall could not proceed in November unless a minimum amount of signatures are collected by Aug. 2, and signatures can't be collected if the petition is under appeal. This makes it pretty much impossible for a recall to take place before next May, so as far as Baird is concerned he is more or less in a holding pattern. He has filed grievances with the teachers' union in regards to both reprimands, grievances that are still in the process of being sorted out. He's maintained he wants to coach wrestling, and he wants to do it at Hesperia - though it seems that if he were offered the ability to coach wrestling elsewhere it would be hard for him to turn it down given the situation in which he finds himself.

There is much to be determined, but one thing's for sure — this is an unfortunate situation for all involved and one that appears ready to drag on for a while.

Spring Sports Roll On

Whitehall's baseball team, shown here mobbing pitcher
Zach Zweigle after winning the district title last Saturday,
will look for a regional championship this weekend.
(Photo by Andy Roberts)

This year, spring sports in West Michigan are going on beyond their usual end. We have three area teams — Whitehall, Montague and Pentwater — competing in this weekend's regional tournaments. Pentwater hasn't been this far since 1998 and Montague hasn't since 2001, while Whitehall is making their third straight trip to the regionals. Will any of them make it to the quarterfinals?

Montague is probably the team with the best shot — they went 14-0 in West Michigan Conference play this year, although they had to battle to extra innings to beat Mason County Central in the district title game last Saturday. But you can't overlook Whitehall's battle-tested group or Pentwater's veteran team.

Each team would play a quarterfinal game on a college campus if it reached that point. Pentwater's would be at Hope College, Whitehall's would be at Central Michigan and Montague's would be at Michigan State. Selfishly, it'd be pretty cool for me to get to cover a game at MSU, obviously a major school and a school from which I had a cousin graduate. But I'd be thrilled to cover any of the three quarterfinals, each of which are on Tuesday, June 11.

Pentwater golf won their first-ever regional title
Thursday afternoon in St. John's. They'll play in the
state finals next weekend at Michigan State.
(Photo courtesy of Michael DeRuiter)

We also had a golf team — Pentwater — reach the state finals and actually win a regional title Thursday. That was the Falcons' first such title ever, fueled by a 78 from Sam Wagner and an 80 from Chance Helms. Helms' score was especially impressive, as he shot in the mid to high 80s most of the year, and since Pentwater won the regional by two shots, it's safe to say Helms pretty much won it himself with his performance.

We're approaching that depressing two-month stretch where there will be no sports, so I am soaking it all in and enjoying every step of these runs. Hopefully, there will be more to come as we approach the summer.