Muskegon football's 'Defend It' quest must get past Detroit King - again
Shane Fairfield remembers absolutely everything about the Week 2 showdown between Muskegon and Detroit King.
“A lot of excitement, big-time football, early in the season and a lot of great talent out of the field,” he said. “Just a great high school football game. It tested coaching, it tested kids’ will, it tested preparation and adjustments. It was a lot of fun.”
It was a lot of fun for Fairfield because he is Muskegon’s coach and the Big Reds eked out a 24-21 victory and now he gets to do it all over again.
Muskegon and King will close out the two-day football extravaganza at Ford Field at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for the Division 3 state championship.
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The Big Reds' motto this season has been “Defend It” because this team is attempting to do something no other team in Muskegon’s glorious history has been able to do – repeat as state champs.
Muskegon has won six playoff state titles but none consecutively and this team is riding a 27-game winning streak, longest active streak in the state.
In dismantling Zeeland East, 45-22 in the semifinals, Muskegon proved it is much more than just the Cameron Martinez Traveling Salvation Show.
The junior quarterback who has been dazzling all season, suffered a bruised calf just before halftime after he had gained the vast majority of his 139 yards rushing. Then he became more of a game manager than the focal point of the offense.
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“We ended up saying let’s just hand it off,” Fairfield said. “We have other weapons so let’s spread it around some.”
Jeremiah Lockhart responded with 149 yards on 12 carries and Demario Robinson added 117 yards on six carries.
In the first game against King, Martinez did not complete a single pass. Over the course of the season he has proven to be a dangerous passer.
“It was his second game as a Big Red,” Fairfield said. “Now he’s got 13 under his belt and he’s throwing the ball really nice.”
If Martinez comes close to duplicating his Week 2 performance of 154 yards rushing it will likely be because the Big Reds massive offensive line, with four players weighing at least 300 pounds, is able to dominate King up front.
Now they just have to do it one more time.
“Now it’s on a bigger stage, so there’s more at stake,” Fairfield said. “Man, they’ve got some guys. It’s a football game and we’ve got a better chance than anyone to beat them and they have to beat us.”
Rebuild at Reading
Reading’s first appearance in the Division 8 state finals is not an accident.
Three seasons ago, coach Rick Bailey started 10 freshmen and sophomores and went 3-6 with basically a JV team. A year ago the Rangers were 8-3 and now they are 13-0 after dismantling Holton, 38-0.
“It’s kind of been a process that started three years ago,” Bailey said. “The kids just bought in. They’ve been in that weight room for the last 2½ year with this goal in mind. It’s cool when you can set a goal, work hard for it and get the reward.”
Ethan LoPresto has gained over 2,400 yards and junior twins Ben and Nick Affholter are dynamite blockers and key a defense that has allowed only 94 points this season with over half of them coming in a 65-48 shootout with Pittsford in the first round of the playoffs.
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Quarterback Alex Price provides diversity to the offense if the run game is jammed up, which hasn’t happened much this season.
“Alex probably throws the ball as well as anybody in the state,” Bailey said, “we just don’t throw it as much because we can run it so well. Alex bails us out whether he throws or runs.”
This is Bailey’s 37th year in coaching, 31st as head coach. He also coached baseball for 20 years and won a state title in 2007.
He taught math for 20 years and was the school principal for 11 years before retiring four years ago. Now he serves the district as a part-time mentor teacher.
“It’s been a pretty good gig for me,” said Bailey, 59. “They pay me a little bit of money and I get to keep coaching. There ain’t a whole lot to do in Reading.
“We have a caution light; we don’t have anything else.”
Reading is a small town in south central Michigan, some eight miles north of where Michigan, Indiana and Ohio intersect.
Support for the town is off the charts and Bailey is thrilled he will be coaching this team in Ford Field at 10 a.m. Friday when it plays Breckenridge.
“We have special group of young men I want to be around so what it means is I get another week of football around these guys,” he said. “And we’re giving these kids to remember and things like this that those young men will be able to look back on.
“I’m sure the story will get bigger as the years go on.”
Mick McCabe is a former longtime columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at mick.mccabe11@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1.