Sports

The Lady Royals of Blissfield defeated Michigan Center 48-38 to advance to Thursday’s regional basketball final at Madison High School. Blissfield’s dynamic senior duo of Brooke Henning and Kelsey Wyman dominated the game with 21 points for Henning and Wyman contributing 18 before a packed gymnasium.

Tickets for the annual Blissfield Athletic Booster’s Nite at the Races fundraiser are now on sale for the Jan. 28 event at the Blissfield American Legion Hall, 451 High St. Doors will open for the event at 6 p.m. and the fun kicks off at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the high school’s athletic office or by contacting any of the following athletic booster members: Mike and Pam Alexander, Steve Babbitt, Dawn Chappuies, Stacey Clark, Matt Crane, Dori Degregorio, Deb Dusseau, Amy Hayford, Kristin Horky, Michelle Jackson, Anne Lycans and Tom Lycans, Shawn Milner, Kori Nieman, Billie Patton, Brian Reed and Dawn Reed, Erin Slusher, Jodi Spiker, Brian Weidmayer, Donna Wood and Kim Zemla.

By Brad Heineman

When it finally became a realization to 2015 Blissfield High School graduate Josh Hall that his four-year high school football career would be coming to a close at the conclusion of the fall 2014 season, it was a rough time for the then-honorable mention academic all-state lineman for the Blissfield Football Royals.
“It was tough,” he said. “Man, the thought of never playing football again really stung.”
Like many high school seniors braving the unexamined waters of post-secondary life, Hall was a bit taken by the options available to him, post-high school. Rather than attempting to play collegiate level football, Hall said he realized that he would realistically make it farther after college if he focused on his education, rather than trying to make a college’s football roster.
But football still remained a part of Hall’s being.
Ultimately, in order to get the best of both worlds, he decided to major in the study of sports administration with a focus in commerce. His next task was to figure out which institution he would attend. That’s when former Blissfield varsity football head Coach Adam Schiermeyer helped out with Hall’s decision-making process.
“A lot of where I am at right now, I owe to him,” Hall said of Schiermeyer. “He ended up talking with me about my future and then he pulled some strings for me.”
One of those pulled strings was having Hall enroll at Louisiana State University (LSU) in its sports administration program.
With his background in high school football and the ability to work college football into his studies, Hall jumped at the opportunity to serve as LSU football’s sideline equipment manager once he was accepted by the university. It is a job that requires nearly a full year of continuous service with its busiest time of the season beginning in the annual spring football scrimmage and running through Dec. 31 of bowl week.

For the rest of the story, including his Citrus Bowl experience with LSU, please see the Jan. 11, 2017, edition of The Advance. All right rights reserved.

Copyright River Raisin Publications, Inc.

From The Advance sports desk:

UPDATE: Final

DETROIT – The Whiteford Bobcats had one last drive, but time ran out before they were able to put another score on the board as Muskegon Catholic Central claimed their fourth-straight state championship out of 12 in their history at Ford Field Friday in the District 8 championship by a final score of 35-6.

Though Whiteford owned the first half and trailed by only one point  going into the half, the Crusaders made half-time adjustments that lifted them over the Bobcats, who have played the best season in the history of their football program. They were never defeated in 2016 until this final game, downed every TCC opponent, blazed through the post season and carried with them most of the community to cheer on their effort against MCC in Detroit.

UPDATE: 1:04 fourth quarter

DETROIT – Crusader senior Walker Christofferson plunged into the end zone, and the pigskin again sailed through the uprights in the PAT bid to increase the Muskegon Catholic Central lead to 35-6 over the Bobcats of Whiteford in the District 8 state championship football game Friday at Ford Field in Detroit.

UPDATE 6:45 fourth quarter:

DETROIT – Bobcat Herbie Bertz gets a leaping catch that appears to shift momentum in Whiteford’s favor for first down. Connnor Hoogendoorn , followed by Logan Murphy kept the ball moving forward with blocking by Jordan Book taking Whiteford into the red zone for the first time in the second half, but at fourth-and-two in the shadow of the goal line, Muskegon halted the Bobcat momentum once again with 6:45 to go in the game.

UPDATE: 9:44 fourth quarter

DETROIT – Muskegon Catholic Central widened its lead over the Whiteford Bobcats to 28-6 in the fourth quarter of the state championship game on another touchdown and PAT kick with 9:44 remaining in the game.

UPDATE: 3:08 third quarter

DETROIT – Freshman quarterback Cameron Martinez drove his Crusaders down the field for his first touchdown of the game, followed by another good kick to widen the Muskegon Catholic Central lead to 21-6 with 3:08 remaining in the third stanza of the District 8 state championship football game at Ford Field in Detroit.

UPDATE: 10:14 third quarter

DETROIT – After a botched onside kick by Whiteford, Logan Helton of  the Muskegon Catholic Central Crusaders went on to score his second touchdown in the opening drive of the second half and followed it with a good kick for a 14-6 lead with 10:41 left in the third quarter.

The crowd looks like all of the Whiteford/Ottawa Lake community has come to Ford Field for the game.

Halftime report:

DETROIT – Although the Whiteford Bobcats owned the line and the clock in the first quarter of the Division 8 State Championship football game at Ford Field, it was Muskegon Catholic Central that struck pay dirt first.

MCC’s Logan Helton scored early in the second quarter and followed with a successful PAT kick to post a 7-0 lead.

The Bobcats, however, were undaunted against the three-consecutive-years state champs, scoring also in the second quarter on an 81-yard Tommy Eitniear run. An attempt for two on an Eitniear throw was unsuccessful and the ‘Cats trailed 7-6 going into the locker room at the half after successfully defending their opponents in the red zone and getting the ball back with four seconds left in the first half.

The Lady Trojans of Madison High School lost the state semifinal volleyball match in a nail-biting five sets to Brown City Thursday in Battle Creek.

In the final set, they saw their outstanding season end by a 15-12 score. They had won the first set 25-21, and fourth set 25-21, and lost the second set 25-20 and third set 25-22.

For the rest of the story, please see the Nov. 23, 2016, edition of The Advance.

 

The Whiteford Bobcats will make their first-ever appearance in the MHSAA state football championships at Ford Field in Detroit Friday after defeating  Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary Saturday in the District 8 semifinal game by a score of 40-21.

For all the game details, please see the Nov. 23, 2016, edition of The Advance.

The Madison Lady Trojans volleyball team moves on to the state semifinals in Battle Creek Thursday via a three-sets-to-one win tonight (Tuesday) in the quarterfinals over Allen Park Cabrini.

From The Advance sports desk, Brad Heineman reporting

The Whiteford Bobcats will move on to the semifinal game next weekend for the second straight year after defeating visiting Climax-Scotts 38-18 and claiming the 2016 Division 8 Region 4 championship.

Both teams started the evening with 11-0 records. And while the Climax-Scotts Panthers’ season ended in Whiteford, the Bobcats now take their 12-0 perfect record to a neutral site next weekend where they will face the winner of the Region 3 game between the 9-2 Royal Oak Shrine Catholic team or the Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary, also a 9-2 team.

Following are the updates from the Whiteford regional win:

8:02 left in the game: Bobcat Logan Murphy just galloped 38 yards for to the end zone, and Thomas Eitniear ran for the two-point conversion to raise the Whiteford lead over Climax-Scotts to 38-18 in the Division 8 Region 4 final football game.

The first score of the fourth quarter came on behalf of the visiting Climax-Scotts Panthers, whose touchdown raised the score to 30-18. Whiteford, however, thwarted the two-point extra-point try.

End of third quarter: The Whiteford Bobcat have stretched their lead to 30-12 over visiting District 8 Region 4 foe Climax-Scotts. The winner will advance to the Division 8 semifinals next weekend.

Beginning of the third quarter: Whiteford senior Jesse Kiefer broke for a 51-yard post-half-time touchdown run and quarterback Thomas Eitniear added a two-point conversion run to up the score to 22-6 in the Division 8 Region 4 football final between the Bobcats and the Climax-Scotts Panthers Friday night in Whiteford.

At halftime of the Division 8 Region 4 football championship in Whiteford, the 11-0 Bobcats led the 11-0 Climax-Scotts 14-6.

The Whiteford Bobcats will be moving on in the 2016 MHSAA football postseason after dismantling the Summerfield Bulldogs 50-28, Friday night during the team’s pre-district contest played at Whiteford Stadium. Whiteford will host next Friday night’s district championship game against the Morenci Bulldogs, who defeated the Pittsford Wildcats in an overtime 27-24 game played in Morenci Friday night.

After a 22-22 tied halftime score, the Bobcats went on to outscore Summerfield, 28-6 in the second half to advance in the state division-eight playoffs.

Bobcat senior running back Jesse Kiefer scored five touchdowns Friday night and converted a two-point conversion, accounting for 32 of the team’s 50 points.

For the full story, please see the Nov. 2, 2016, edition of The Advance.

The Britton Deerfield  Patriots fell to the Morenci Bulldogs 53-8 Friday night.

The game story will appear in the Oct. 5 Advance.