Mid-Point Mayhem

Gridiron Prep Power Rankings – Part 2

DL

1 Jake Slobin (FH Harrison)

2 Karl Marback (Birmingham Seaholm)

3 Andrew Woodrich (Pontiac NDP)

4 (tie) Sergio Perkovic (Birmingham Brother Rice)

4 (tie) Dylan Roney (Novi Detroit CC)

5 (tie) Andrew Gikas (BH Lahser)

5 (tie) M. Purry-K. White (Farmington)

LB

1 Jonny Reschke (Birmingham Brother Rice)

2 Derric Willams (Lake Orion)

3 (tie) W. Duncan-J. Madison (Southfield)

3 (tie) Eddie Huckleby (FH Harrison)

4 D. Simon - C. Hill (Birmingham Seaholm)

5 (tie) Lucas Cherocci (Birmingham Brother Rice)

5 (tie) Zach Prokes (WL Western)

CB

1 (tie) Darius Danzy (Southfield)

1 (tie) Johnny Kelley (Oak Park)

2 Nick Booker (Lake Orion)

3 Aaron Ware (Birmingham Seaholm)

4 Timmy Cason (Clarkston)

5 Chauncey Bridges (North Farmington)

S

1 (tie) Josh Jones (WL Western)

1 (tie) Isaiah Gourdine (Farmington)

2 Dylan Kanaan (Birmingham Seaholm)

3 Manny Mendoza (Rochester)

4 Chris Carter (Birmingham Brother Rice)

5 (tie) Mark Lincoln (Sothfield)

Underclassmen

1 Johnny Kelley (Oak Park)

2 Nate Emery (BH Lahser)

3 (tie) Josh Holloman (AH Avondale)

3 (tie) James La Londe (BH Lahser)

4 Van Jefferson-Tyson Smith (OL St. Marys)

5 (tie) Nick Krumm-Zac Goor (WL Central

5 (tie) Glacier Wallington (Oxford)

5 (tie) Ryan Brand (FH Harrison)

5 (tie) Nate Grys (MH Bishop Foley)

5 (tie) Sal Mastromatteo (WOLL)

Coach

1 Jim DeWald (Birmingham Seaholm)

2 Brett Moore (WL Northern)

3 (tie) George Porritt (OL St. Mary's)

3 (tie) John Maltese (Lakeland)

4 Greg Carter (Oak Park)

5 (tie) Brad Zube (Stoney Creek)

5 (tie) Scott Guthrie (Hazel Park)

 

 

Best in THE OC at the Midway-Point

Mid-Season GRIDIRON PREP POWER Rankings –PART I

QB                                                                                                               

1 Kyle Bambard (WL Western)

2 Collin O' Donnell (WL Northern)                                                             

3 Tyler Wiegers (Birmingham DCD)                                                                   

4 (tie) Cheyne Lacanaria (Birmingham Brother Rice)

4 (tie) Matt Linehan (OL St. Mary's)

5 Cam Thomas (SL East)                                                                             

RB

1 (tie) Richie Wilson (Birmingham DCD)

1 (tie) Ian Eriksen (Clarkston)                                                                              

2 Matt Kosmalski (WL Northern)                                                                        

3 (tie) Brian Walker (Birmingham Brother Rice)

3 (tie) G. Niemiec-P. McInnis (OL St. Mary's)

3 (tie) Anthony Darkangelo (Novi Detroit CC)

4 Ross Williams (Birmingham Groves)

5 (tie) Jeremiah Johnson (Pontiac NDP)

5 (tie) Malik Washington (Oak Park)

WR

1 Brandon Bean (Southfield)

2 Zach Arnold-Corey Ester (Lake Orion)

3 Garius Coleman (FH Harrison)

4 (tie) Brian Williams (Oak Park)

4 (tie) Jalen Watts-Jackson

5 (tie) Jake Neracher (WL Westerrn)

5 (tie) Maurice Ways (Birmingham DCD)

Flex

1 C. Mohr-J. Degreffenreed (Farmington)

2 Terrence Cherry (Troy)

3 Sean Scullen (Stoney Creek)

4 Tre Walton (Southfield)

5 Dalton Christie (Lakeland)

OL

1 (tie) The C-Town Wolfpack's HUNGRY HOGS

1 (tie) Poet Thomas (Birmingham DCD)

2 Derek Edwards (Novi Detroit CC)

3 Clark Clancy (AH Avondale)

4 H. Shelby-J. Williams (Oak Park)

5 Collin Buchanan (Southfield)

Week 6 picks from the best games on the prep football field in the OC

Rochester v. Lake Orion – Team BELL will be ringing the VICTORY BELL on Friday night!!!

LO 31, Rochester 23

AH Avondale v. Birmingham Seaholm – Everybody raves about Avondale's offense, but Chris Bracewell and the 'Jackets 'D' ain't too shabby themselves!!!

Avondale 26, Seaholm 22

OL St. Mary's v. Birmingham Brother Rice – Warriors JUNIOR JUGGERNAUT Jason Alessi aka 'The A-TRAIN' will be the brightest star on the field Saturday night in the CHSL SUPER CLASH between Rice and OLSM…..Alessi comes away with two picks, two deflections and two field goals, including the game-winner as time expires!!

Rice 27, St. Mary's 24

Oxford v. Southfield – Bluejays senior safety Mark Lincoln is possibly the most underrated defensive playmaker in the OAA White….YEAH, I SAID IT!!!

TEAM CONLEY 25, O-Town 21

Lakeland v. WL Central – TEAM MALTEESE keeps it rolling down VICTORY LANE, marching their way back to the playoffs following a three-year absence!!

LakeTOWN 33, WLC 29

Berkley v. BH Lahser – The GREEK GOD of tackles, aka Lahser's senior defensive lineman and team captain Andrew "THREE-G" Gikas will post 12 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery to help the Knights re-discover their winning ways

Lahser 29, Berkley 17

Novi Detroit CC v. UofD-Jesuit – Garrett Moores and Anthony Darkangelo are about 2 go all GARRETT MOORES and ANTHONY DARKANGELO for SHAMROCKNATION in Week 6, as the BLUE BANDITS go to 2-0 in the Catholic League by clubbing the host Cubbies

CC 37, UofD 13

Northville v. SL East – The Cougars' passing combination of QB Cam Thomas and WR Wade Morris are as dangerous a pitch-catch duo as there is in the KLAA….EAST is a BEAST….AGAIN!!! TEAM LINDEMAN makes it 3 in a row!!

SLE 28, Northville 26

Birmingham DCD v. Hazel Park – Three weeks ago, I would have said this game was a for-sure runaway blowout for DCD, now I'm thinking HP's 3-headed monster of a rushing attack – aka The Campbell-Bynum-Tyner EXPRESS – could wind up giving the 'Jackets some problems and the final score might end up being closer than most people think

TEAM MAC 35, HP 30

Stoney Creek v. Troy Athens – Joe Cox and the TEAM ZUBE Cougars are about to get down MAD NASTY STYLE on the gridiron in Week 6, breaking a 3-game losing streak and keeping their postseason hopes alive

THA CREEK 27, Athens 21

Dearborn Divine Child v. Pontiac NDP – Just start calling NDP defensive end Andrew Woodrich the OC's official SACK MASTER GENERAL!!!! He's got an area-leading 8 qb takedowns so far this year and will pick up at least one more on Friday in the Fighting Irish's 19^th straight regular season triumph

NDP 32, DC 24

BH Cranbrook v. Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes – You can't stop Lakers two-sport SUPERSTUD Jake Doetsch, you can only hope to contain him……the Cranes won't be able to do either…JD scores a pair of touchdowns and TEAM BOYD grabs the 'W'

WOLL 25, Cranbrook 20

 

Orchard Lake St. Mary's is celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year.

In honor of THE LAKE reaching the Century mark, let's take a gander back at some of Burney's all-time favorite Eaglets athletes

Jim Paciorek – Could be the best athlete in OLSM history, played pro baseball and hails from one of the state's most revered sports families

Vaughn Bryant – One of the top football players in the annals of the illustrious Eaglets program….played as a cornerback in the PAC 12 at Stanford and then in the NFL

Scott Kolakowski – Former Notre Dame and NFL linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles and hometown Detroit Lions, who was an emotional leader of the organization's playoff teams in the mid-to-late 1990s

Hiram Harris – Led the Eaglets to a state title on the basketball floor in 1982, before playing in college with the Mailman aka Karl Malone in college at Louisiana Tech….his daughter Jasmine was an all-state hoopstress at North Farmington, currently suiting up at the college level with UMass of the Atlantic 12

Kalin Lucas – All-American point guard at Michigan State on the hardwood

David Bowens – 12-year NFL vet on the D-Line, also starred on the basketball court at OLSM

Maurice Seawright – Might be the most talented athlete to ever step foot on the OLSM campus, named first-team all-state in both football and basketball, leading the Eaglets to state championships in each sport

Jermaine Gonzales – Seawright's running mate on the OLSM athletic scene in the late-1990s and early-2000s, played football in college at Michigan

Diallo Johnson – An all-state hoopster that also quarterbacked the Eaglets to the 1994 state title on the gridiron….played football in college at Michigan as a wide receiver, where he won a National Championship ring in 1997 and started as a senior in 1999

Charles Davis – Another two-sport SUPERSTUD in the early-2000s that played college football in the Big 10 at Purdue and eventually in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers

The Ignasiak Brothers – A pair of Eaglets DYNAMITE DIAMOND CUTTERS that played pro baseball

Dylan Putnam-Nick Di Ponio – Tandem of late-1990s Eaglets DIAMOND STUDS that always impressed their boy Burney

Grant Mason – All-around superior athletic specimen in the early 2000s in TEAM PORRITTLAND….played football at Michigan as a defensive back and in the NFL with the Saints, Steelers and Chargers

Morgan Trent – All-around superior athletic specimen in the early-200os in TEAM PORRITTLAND, played football at Michigan as a defensive back and in the NFL with the Bengals, Redskins, Colts and Jags

Allen Robinson – Al B SURE….'ENOUGH SAID!!!!...one of the best two-sport standouts in school history, earning first-team all-state honors in both football and basketball

Sam Rogers – An instinctive and aggressive linebacker who played football in the Big 12 at Colorado, winning a National Championship, and then in the NFL with the Bills, Chargers and Falcons

Leonard Renfro – Agile and ornery defensive lineman that played in college with Rogers at Colorado and was a first round draft pick in the NFL in 1993, selected 24^th overall by the Philadelphia Eagles

James Ross – 'Doomsday'….'ENOUGH SAID!!!! This kid was the most decimating presence as a high school linebacker I've ever seen taking the Eaglets to a state crown last fall….will KILL IT in the Big 10 at Michigan

The football team at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep has won an impressive 18 straight regular season games dating back to 2010.

NDP is 5-0 this season and looking mighty dominating in the process.

In doing so, Fighting Irish sideline general Kyle Zimmerman has showed why he's one of the best young minds in the state's coaching ranks – epitomizing what it means to be a master motivator and expert tactician with the head phones on.

Most eye-opening about this fall's success on the gridiron for TEAM ZIMM is the fact that the Fighting Irish has had to replace virtually their entire line-up off last year's Prep Bowl championship squad that went 10-1.

Here's a 2012 Fighting Irish personnel breakdown;

Junior tailback Jeremiah Johnson is a genuine SUPERSTAR with the rock in his hands. He's ran for almost 700 yards and 8 touchdowns so far.

NDP's new quarterback Joe Kutil is a smashing success under center. Even though he's a first-year starter, Kutil has the moxie of a seasoned signal-caller and is playing as well as anyone at his position in the area. THIS KID IS NO REGULAR JOE!!

Transfer Brendan Newvine is a multi-purpose dynamo, lining up all over the field, including at running back, receiver and safety. Newvine came over the NDP from Clarkston, where he started a playoff game at quarterback as a freshman for the Wolfpack two years ago. Coming up clutch late on the defensive side of the ball, he's made momentum-shifting interceptions in each of the past two weeks.

Speaking of defense, senior linebacker Vinnie Famularo is headlining a spunky and opportunistic group of ballhawks AND showing his merits as a TRUE CHSL SIR-GRIND-A-LOT SPECIAL. Famularo and Co. stymied a high-powered BH Lahser squad in Week 5.

Let's not forget about special teams either, where Taylor Timko, one of the best female prep athletes in the state, committed to Michigan for soccer, holds things down HARD-CORE. In her first game as the team's starting placekicker in Week 1, she booted the game-winning field goal. CAN U SAY CASH MONEY with the game on the line?

It was a Birmingham Brother Rice reunion on the college football field last Saturday afternoon when the Central Michigan Chippewas went on the road and shocked the Big Ten's Iowa Hawkeyes 32-31.

 

In other words, Iowa starting wide receiver Kevonte Martin-Manley was facing off with some of his former Rice teammates in CMU's standout linebacker trio of Justin Cherocci, Shamari Benton and Timmy "Jumbo" Hamilton. 

TRUE Frosh O-Lineman Dylan Anderson, also former Warriors GRID GLADIATOR ,was on the field for CMU too.

PRETTY COOL, HUH?!!!!

They should have considered painting the end zones ORANGE&BLACK!!

Let's look at a stat breakdown;

Martin-Manley caught the first touchdown of the game, a 10-yard scoring pass to add to his five grabs for 65 yards on the day.

After KMM's opening TD of the nip-and-tuck affair, Cherocci, Benton and Hamilton took control of the Rice Bragging Rights Royale.

Cherocci, who led the state in tackles as a junior and senior at Rice, headlined the Chipps defensive effort on Saturday, registering a team-high seven wrap-ups. Benton had five wrap-ups and a fumble recovery and Hamilton had a pair of tackles as well.

OC Top 10

1 OL St. Mary's – Made Burney look stupid in picking against them in the Cass Tech game last week and as a result, I'm eating crow and naming the Eaglets my No. 1 team in the OC all in one fell swoop….Get busy Matty Ice and the crew on 'O' and the "No Name" Nasty Boys on 'D'

2 Birmingham Brother Rice – Alberto "The Sandman" Sandoval is a rising star of a run-plugger for the Warriors' high-profile 'Electric Company' defensive unit….he puts opposing QBs and RBs to sleep with his skeleton-shaking hits

3 (tie) Clarkston – K-Rich survived a scare in Week 5.........bog-down time for the Wolfpack….The HUNGRY HOGS O-Line will come through!!! Mark that down!!!

3 (tie) Lake Orion – Just so explosive in so many ways!!!

4 Novi Detroit Catholic Central – Getting stronger each week…..senior RB-LB Anthony Darkangelo is one of the best high school football players the Shamrocks have seen this decade…..YEAH, I SAID IT!! I love me some BLUE BANDIT BALL and Darkangelo is the definition of a BLUE BANDIT BALLER & SHOT CALLER

5 Oak Park – Knights senior wide receiver Brian Williams is the consummate team captain for TEAM CARTER!!!

6 Farmington – Line lynchpin Mike Purry will have the Falcons purring in Week 6 in response to their loss in Week 5

7 Southfield – Junior wide receiver Devonte Alfred did a really good MEGATRON impression last week…..more of the same is on the horizon

8 (tie) Oxford – Sophomore MEGASTUD quarterback-defensive back Glacier Wallington is MR ICE on the field….simply freezing opponents at every opportunity!!

8 (tie) Birmingham Detroit Country Day – Richie Wilson is making a strong case for being the best junior running back in the OC!!!

9 FH Harrison – When Lorenzo Collins (RB) is back at full strength, the Hawks will be the force on the football field that they should be

10 (tie) AH Avondale – Burney's new pick for frontrunner in the race for the OAA Blue title

10 (tie) Rochester – TEAM VERNON is on the prowl and looking mighty good heading towards the stretch run

10 (tie) WL Northern – Could run the table!!!

Getting unfairly lost in the shuffle of a dreadful Birmingham Groves campaign on the local prep gridiron is the performance of Falcons junior running back Ross Williams.

Groves is 0-5, but Williams has proven one of the most explosive backfield threats in all of Metro Detroit.

In the Falcons' loss to Ferndale on Friday night, Williams went over the 220-yard marker for the second straight week, toting the rock 25 times for 225 yards.

Last week, he ran for 232 yards and a trio of touchdowns in his team's 38-33 defeat to Hazel Park.

In other words, Williams has been downright scary whenever he's touched the pigskin this fall.

As a super soph last season, he started at cornerback on the Falcons OAA Blue championship squad.

Most likely, Williams will end his career at Groves in 2014 as the school's all-time leading rusher.

To say he's a speedster may be an understatement – back in the spring he made it to the state track and field finals as a sprinter.

It's sad that this talented young man and his dazzling antics running the football this year are being overlooked by the fact that his team is struggling to find its way into the win column.

Hopefully, we'll see Williams racking up the yardage and the touchdowns for a winning Falcons ball club in 2013.

Picks from the top games in the OC in Week 5

Troy v. Lake Orion – LO FREAKISH linebacker Derric Williams is about to go all DERRIC WILLIAMS on the Colts' already banged up offense in the Dragons Den, putting up 12 tackles and a pair of qb sacks!!

LO 42 Troy 22

Farmington v. Oak Park – The OP's Derek Harris and Ricardo Smith make-up one of the nastiest pair of pass rushers in the area and they help the Knights 'D' get the job done in their first-place clash with the gritty Falcons

OP 24, Farmington 20

Southfield v. FH Harrison – TEAM HERRINGTON keeps its hat in the race for the OAA White title and clips the Bluejays in a critical OAA White match-up

Harrison 28, Southfield 23

Detroit Cass Tech v. Orchard Lake St. Mary's – I luv me some TEAM PORRITT, but CT is just too good, IMO one of the best teams in the NATION….we're talking close to double digits in D1 prospects on GANG GREEN…WOW!

CT 32, OLSM 25

Birmingham Brother Rice v. UofD-Jesuit – Warriors junior safety/placekicker Jason Alessi is cooler than the other side of my pillow!!! JA and the Rice 'D' put the Cubbies in an early sleeper hold on Saturday, closing this one out by the third quarter

Rice 40, UofD 15

Berkley v. AH Avondale – Yellow Jackets keep stinging!!

Avondale 38, Berkley 33

BH Lahser v. Pontiac NDP – Lahser junior field general Spencer McCourt reaches SWAGGER LEVEL THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND TRILLION against NDP, throwing for 275 yards, 3 TDS and the game-winner to Collin Feila in the final seconds for the BLACK&YELLOW 'W' on the road

Lahser 28, NDP 26

Walled Lake Northern v. Walled Lake Central – This one's going down to the wire and Burney's picking the upset….Knights make it three in a row with that high-powered 'O' and fast-improving 'D'

WLN 30, WLC 27 (OT)

Pontiac v. Rochester – TEAM VERNON were one of my sleepers this fall and they've proven me prophetic, as Rochester is in good shape to snare a playoff berth for the second time in three years….Great to see my man James Ward finally have that breakout that I knew was coming last week. He'll do it again against 'Yacktown and the Falcons victory train keeps rampaging down the track!

Rochester 27, Pontiac 21

Sterling Heights at MH Madison – Following his game-winning 17-yard scoring grab in the final seconds of Madison's 28-26 downing of SCS South Lake last week, Eagles wide receiver D'amonde Queen looks like a KING again, catching 5 balls for 100 yards and a touchdown from star quarterback "Nicky Guns" Wallace in a commanding win

Madison 35, Sterling Heights 25

Warren De La Salle v. Novi Detroit Catholic Central – Shamrocks feast on a Shane Morris-less De La Salle squad, push their record over the .500 mark

CC 42, DLS 21

Belleville v. Birmingham Detroit Country Day – 'Jackets senior wideout Mo Ways gets his Victor Cruz on and goes for 150 and 2 TDs in a DCD victory, the team's first in front of the home crowd

DCD 34, Belleville 23