By: Jonathan Szczepaniak | C&G Newspapers | Published August 26, 2024
METRO DETROIT — We’re back in full swing with gridiron action at the high school level. Here are previews for teams in the C & G Newspapers coverage area in northern Macomb County. Find more previews online at candgnews.com.
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley
Last season’s record: 9-3.
League: Macomb Area Conference Red Division.
First game: at West Bloomfield, 7 p.m. Aug. 29.
It’s a new era of football at Chippewa Valley.
There’s no longer a Schuster brother at quarterback and longtime coach Scott Merchant is now at Lawrence Technological University, so it’s up to first-year head coach Terry Wilson and senior quarterback Jordan Alston (St. Clair Shores Lake Shore transfer) to write the next chapter of Big Reds football.
Alston will have a healthy amount of elite-level skill position players around him with senior running back Caleb Fowlkes, senior wide receiver Eric Thomas Jr., and senior wide receiver Deshaun Lanier, a three-star recruit according to 247Sports, on the offensive side.
The trenches are typically where a lot of MAC Red games are won or lost, and Chippewa Valley is looking to have a unique set of linemen at its disposal, led by senior offensive lineman Chris Jackson and junior defensive lineman Jaelen McLemore.
“We have different types of athletes on our O-line,” Wilson said. “We have a lot of 6-foot guys with long arms, and when I say we have a lot of them I mean 15-20 guys. Our line isn’t going to be huge, but they’re going to move really well. We’ve worked hard trying to get them on the same page. We’re still trying to find out who our best five are because they’re so close in talent level.”
Wilson said he expects the Big Reds’ linebacker corps of senior A’Shaun Adams, senior Don Diegel, and senior Damari Conner to be one of the team’s biggest strengths this year.
Clinton Township Clintondale
Last season’s record: 4-6.
League: Macomb Area Conference Bronze.
First game: vs. Addison, 6 p.m. Aug. 29.
The 2023 season just seemed like a year where Clintondale could never really dig its heels into the ground.
When the wins came around, they were quickly met with losses, all six of which came by 14 points or more last season.
Graduating all-league players in Justin Hardnett and Dontrell Thomas, and an all-state player in the case of Shamar Riser-Pressley, who now plays football for the University at Buffalo, will be tough to battle back from.
Moving down from the MAC Silver to the MAC Bronze could help ease the transition, but only time will tell.
To Clintondale’s credit, it has reached the state playoffs in four of the last five seasons, so this program knows what it takes to get there.
Fraser
Last season’s record: 4-5.
League: Macomb Area Conference Blue Division.
First game: at Rochester, 7 p.m. Aug. 29.
Fraser was looking more like the team that made back-to-back playoff appearances in 2020 and 2021 rather than the team that went 1-8 in 2022 last season.
Consistency will be the thing to watch for Fraser. Returning players include seniors Corshaun Williams (WR/DB), Ryan Carney (LB), Jackson Sines (DB), and Jaiden Kitching (LB).
Fraser rattled off wins against tough opponents such as Troy and Troy Athens, earning the city sweep, but would fall to teams like Warren Woods Tower, which held a 2-7 record last year.
Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse
Last season’s record: 4-6.
League: Macomb Area Conference White Division.
First game: vs. Linden, 7 p.m. Aug. 29.
Extending its playoff streak to five, L’Anse Creuse has built a consistent, winning program in the past few years after missing the playoffs for 15-consecutive seasons from 2004-2018.
With a player at the caliber of senior running back Donovan Rey, the Lancers are a team you always have to prepare for on the defensive side, with junior defensive lineman Jaden Zeigler and senior defensive lineman Nash Abramowicz.
The MAC White continues to be one of the tougher conferences around with Grosse Pointe South, Roseville, and St. Clair Shores Lakeview, but L’Anse Creuse will hopefully continue to hold its own.
Macomb Dakota
Last season’s record: 8-3.
League: Macomb Area Conference Red Division.
First game: at Dearborn Fordson, 7 p.m. Aug. 29.
After putting up yet another impressive season to continue a playoff streak that started in 2001, Dakota fell victim to the MAC Red side of the playoffs, being eliminated by rival Clinton Township Chippewa Valley.
Senior quarterback Jadon Ford returns in hope of a healthy season, which will be a significant boost for the Cougars offense alongside all-state running back Brady Hamby and senior offensive linemen Justin Bell (a Michigan State University commit) and Nick Battaglia, an all-region selection last year.
Defensively, Michigan State University commit Di’Mari Malone anchors the linebacking corps with Hamby while senior Tyler Torey, an all-region selection, headlines the defensive line.
Dakota has all the talent needed to make a run in the gauntlet of the MAC Red.
Macomb L’Anse Creuse North
Last season’s record: 2-7.
League: Macomb Area Conference White Division.
First game: vs. Macomb Lutheran North, 7 p.m. Aug. 29.
For L’Anse Creuse North, the objective is simply trying to steer the program into a level of success that comes at least somewhere close to 2013 and 2014 when the team went 8-3 and 8-2 respectively.
Even 2016, when LCN went 6-4, would be a massive improvement for the Crusaders. First-year coach DeJuan Garland, who just met the team two weeks ago after he was hired, is hoping to be the guy to make it happen.
“The kids have been awesome,” Garland said. “Every kid from freshman to senior has been great. We’ve been out here grinding from 4-9 every day. Right now, we’re at 107 in the program. The kids are working. Obviously, we don’t want to throw too much at them, so we’re working on the base stuff like technique. The kids are buying in and having fun, and that’s all we can ask of them.”
A move up to the MAC White won’t do LCN any favors, where Roseville, St. Clair Shores Lakeview, and Grosse Pointe South are all consistently successful teams, but maybe that type of challenge is exactly what LCN needs.
Senior wideout Antonio Zuckero will lead the offense while junior defensive end Devin Mays will headline the defensive unit.
Macomb Lutheran North
Last season’s record: 9-3.
League: Catholic High School League Intersectional #1.
First game: at Macomb L’Anse Creuse North, 7 p.m. Aug. 29.
It was a history-making season for Lutheran North in 2023 as the program brought home the most wins in school history and its first district title.
That’s the type of momentum a program builds off of, and having players such as senior Hudson Macdonald (QB/WR), senior Chris Gottschalk (OL/DL), senior Nate Nazarko (LB), and senior Bryce Teodecki (DB) will only boost the team’s confidence.
Lutheran North kept a solid core of returning starters on each side of the ball, five to be exact, and will look to successfully defend its league title this season.
Mount Clemens
Last season’s record: 5-5.
League: Charter School Conference Silver Division.
First game: vs. Southfield Bradford Academy, 7 p.m. Aug. 30.
Things began to look bleak for Mount Clemens after an 0-3 start in 2023, but a 5-1 finish to the regular season painted a completely different outlook for 2024.
Mount Clemens returns an all-region talent in senior Bishop Thomas (WR/DB) while senior Marcell Mason (WR/DB) is also poised for a big season.
Sterling Heights
Last season’s record: 0-9.
League: Macomb Area Conference Gold Division.
First game: at Ypsilanti Community, 7 p.m. Aug. 29.
It’s better to just forget that the 2023 season ever existed for Sterling Heights.
Led by senior Jawuan Kimble (WR/DB), Sterling Heights hopes to get back to something resembling the 2019 season when the Stallions went 6-4.
Sterling Heights hasn’t won more than one game in a season since 2019.
Sterling Heights Parkway Christian
Last season’s record: 7-3.
League: Michigan Independent Athletic Conference.
First game: at New Haven, 7 p.m. Aug. 29.
Regardless of graduating six all-region players and returning one player on offense and only two on defense, head coach Joe Beck is still smiling from ear to ear thinking about the upcoming season.
“The culture has been changing here at the school, and we’re trying to continue that with the new guys,” Beck said. “The new players, even though they’re inexperienced, have great attitudes.”
Parkway Christian has the recipe for success that’s kept them consistently winning over the past decade, and the hope is the 2024 campaign is no different.
Senior Julian Montano (QB/DB) headlines the returning group alongside sophomore Zaheem Cannon (RB/LB), but expect senior Nathaniel Harrison (WR/DB), freshman Sammy Lucido (LB), and junior Jack Morrish (OL/DL) to be contributors as well.
Sterling Heights Stevenson
Last season’s record: 4-6.
League: Macomb Area Conference Red Division.
First game: vs. Novi, 7 p.m. Aug. 29.
If Sterling Heights Stevenson played in any other league aside from the MAC Red, we possibly could’ve been talking about a seven or eight-win team.
Instead, one-score losses to Romeo, Macomb Dakota, and Utica Eisenhower in three-straight weeks after starting the season 2-0 completely shifted the Titans’ momentum.
“We bring that up all the time,” head coach Justin Newcomb said. “You talk about three games in a row with that Romeo, Dakota, and Eisenhower game where it was decided on the very last play of the game. You go through a game of 150 snaps and it came down to one play. To finish those games out and to learn how to play 150-something snaps so you’re ready for that last one and understand the importance of that play. That’s how close we were. Our guys know that, and they’ve used it as inspiration and fuel.”
Regardless, Stevenson turned a corner last season, and it’s looking to make a name for itself this year in the MAC Red behind junior quarterback Andrew Knight.
Alongside Knight, Stevenson’s offense consists of junior running back Jaiden Hill-Alston, junior wideout Ronnie Hill Jr., junior wideout Bryce Briscoe, and sophomore wideout Landon Porter.
Defensively, it’s a senior-led group consisting of Jude Osanaiye (DE), DeMario Horton (DL), Lucian Myles (LB), Alex Girardi (LB), Govanni Kelyana (LB), Graham James (DB), and Mark Taylor (DB).
Utica
Last season’s record: 4-6.
League: Macomb Area Conference White Division.
First game: at Grosse Pointe North, 7 p.m. Aug. 29.
The Chieftains have been one of those teams that will make you work for a win, but it’s time for them to be the ones who are celebrating after a game.
Utica is steady and consistent by its record each year, but the hope is it will break through the fold finally and compete for the MAC White title.
Junior Mahti Gwilly (ATH), an all-league selection, headlines the returning group for Utica alongside senior Dominick Gandy (OL/DL), senior Eddie Tate Jr. (TE/DL), senior Logan Simunic (WR), senior Nick Lantzy (LB), and senior Xavier Crosby (RB/DB).
Utica Eisenhower
Last season’s record: 9-2.
League: Macomb Area Conference Red Division.
First game: vs. Oxford, 7 p.m. Aug. 29.
Like most schools, there’s the ebb and flow of graduating classes, and Utica Eisenhower is in the area where it’s going to be a question mark about how it looks in 2024 without some major pieces.
Eisenhower lost its four-year starter at quarterback in Preston Crum while also graduating all-region players Hayden Bills, Devin Steele and Cody Raymond, who anchored a defensive unit that allowed 15.6 points per game against MAC Red opponents.
Macomb Area Conference Red football is better when Eisenhower is better, and with key returners such as seniors Bryce Hurley (WR/DB), Conner Temple (WR/DB), and senior Jimmy McGuire (WR/DB), Eisenhower looks to stay competitive in the league.
Utica Ford II
Last season’s record: 2-7.
League: Macomb Area Conference Blue Division.
First game: vs. Salem, 7 p.m. Aug. 30.
The MAC White was never kind to Utica Ford II, so maybe a change in scenery in the MAC Blue will be perfect for the Falcons.
Utica Ford II is still searching for its first winning season since 2011, and a more favorable 2024 schedule is on the horizon.
Seniors Michael Brown (WR/DB) and Joshua Houston (RB/DB) headline the returning Falcons.