Second season: Holly, eight other local schools celebrate playoffs invite

Adams, Athens, Avondale, Brandon, Clarkston, Lake Orion, Notre Dame Prep Oxford also prepping for postseason games

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

HOLLY — It has been said in sports that all good things must come to an end. In Holly, the good things are only just beginning.

Now that the Bronchos have broken their 59-year curse by capturing a share of the Flint Metro League championship with Fenton and Lapeer East, the school’s first league title since 1952, Holly can turn their attention to the postseason.

Holly is one of nine schools from the www.northoaklandsports.com coverage area to make the cut of 256 schools in the eight divisions for the Michigan High School Athletic Association 2011 Prep Football Playoffs. All first-round games will take place Oct. 28-29.

A total of 234 schools reached the field state-wide reached the postseason field as automatic qualifiers, a record-low, by winning six games on a nine-game schedule or five wins on an eight-win schedule. An additional 22 teams filled in the other spots as at-large qualifiers.

Holly is joined by Auburn Hills Avondale, Clarkston, Lake Orion, Ortonville Brandon, Oxford, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Rochester Adams and Troy Athens as teams from the www.NorthOaklandSports.com coverage area to reach the field.

Holly, enjoying one of the best seasons in school history, is riding the coat tails of a seven-game win streak. The Bronchos will have a first-round matchup at home against South Lyon.

“I think this is a good opportunity for our (program),” said Holly coach Ryan Culloty, whose team is one of six schools from the FML to advance to the postseason. “The community has really supported us and last year (when we made the playoff) they really rallied behind us. We’re looking forward to a really spirited contest (with South Lyon).”

Holly is 0-2 all-time against the Lions, losing in the regular season in 1988 (30-0) and 1989 (40-26).

Holly is in the postseason for the third time in six seasons but this is the first time since the MHSAA playoffs began in 1975 that Holly has qualified for two straight seasons.

“I think we have a really shot this year,” said Holly senior Ryan Houdsworth. “We have a strong defense, our offense running well. As long as we execute, and go out and play well, I think we can do it.”

Elsewhere in the area, Clarkston and Lake Orion, co-champions of the OAA Red Division, both reached the Division 1 field as 6-3 teams. Clarkston defeated Lake Orion 38-31 in Week 9, the latest chapter in their storied history that goes back decades.

The two teams could meet in the district finals if they both win their first-round games. Clarkston will host Pontiac for the second time this season, while Lake Orion will tangle with Walled Lake Central.

Lake Orion is the defending state champions in D-1, while Walled Lake Central reached the D-2 Final Four last season but was bumped up to D-1 this season.

Troy Athens captured its first winning season since 2004 and qualified in D-1. The Red Hawks went 1-1 in their last playoff year, losing to state powerhouse Sterling Heights Stevenson in the second round. This time the Red Hawks will host Romeo in a district that also includes state powerhouses Macomb Dakota and Utica Eisenhower.

In Division 2, Rochester Adams has made the field for the 15^th straight season, best in the area. The Highlanders never made the postseason from 1975 through 1996 but qualified in 2007 and upset Detroit King in the first round. Adams has made it every year since then, including a state title in 2003.

Oxford saw its long streak of 28-straight winning seasons come to a halt in 2010, finishing 3-6 in the first year that the Wildcats participated in the Oakland Activities Association.  This season Oxford reversed the trend with a fine 7-2 campaign with a runner-up in the OAA White Division behind only defending D-2 state champion and nationally-ranked Farmington Harrison.

Oxford has been bolstered by Mr. Football candidate Prescott Line, who leads the state with nearly 2,200 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns. The Wildcats have enjoyed plenty of postseason success over the years, reaching the state finals in 1990, 1992 and 1993 while advancing to the state semifinals in 1998.

Oxford was the Class BB state champs in 1992.

Adams will visit Oxford on Friday for a first-round game, the only opening-round matchup involving to NorthOaklandSports schools.

“They don’t hide what they are doing and Prescott Line is a very good football player,” said Adams coach Tony Patritto.

Oxford defeated Adams 22-16 in overtime in Week 6. The two both play in the OAA White Division.

“I have mixed feelings (about playing another league team),” offered Patritto. “When you play one another, only one gets to move on and you always like to see the teams in your league do well. But when it comes to scouting teams, you know the teams in your league very well.”

Over in D-4, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, undefeated in the regular season, will host 8-1 Marysville. On the other half of the district is Croswell-Lexington at Marine City, making this foursome one of the state’s top districts regardless of division.

Notre Dame Prep coach Kyle Zimmerman is a former quarterback at Marine City, having played for the Pirates in the mid-1990s.

“We’ve already played Marine City since I been here. But I know those (Port Huron area) teams well. The Marysville coach was the coach when I played at Marine City,” noted Zimmerman, whose team has won 13 straight games. “When you get to the playoffs, everybody is good. We’ll prepare for (Marysville) and hopefully we’ll advance.”

Ortonville Brandon and Auburn Hills Avondale both slipped into the field as part of the 22 schools that made the cut as at-large berths. Both 5-4 teams in the regular season, the Blackhawks and Yellowjackets had to sweat it out over the weekend, hoping for a variety teams across the state to lose.

Brandon is in D-2 and Avondale in D-3.

“When we saw that Cheboygan and (Crystal Falls) Forest Park both won in the lower divisions, I thought we’d be the sixth team to get in Class A (as an at-large team),” said Avondale coach Steve Deutsch, whose school reached the postseason for the fifth time in eight years. “I know we lost a couple of games in the regular season that we probably should have one, so we’re elated to get in. We have a fresh start.”

Brandon lost its final two games of the regular season, falling to Linden and Holly, respectively. Avondale halted a three-game losing streak by beating Berkley 24-21 in Week 9.

Five teams from the OAA Blue Division made the cut, the same number from the OAA-White. There were four teams from the OAA-Red to qualify, giving the OAA 14 of 25 schools in the field of 256.

“I’ve been saying all along the football in the OAA is awesome. This one of the best football league in the state, having (14) schools get in,” said Deutsch. “I know there’s the Catholic League and the (OK Conference) in Grand Rapids. I feel we’re right up there with the best of them.”

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Tags: Auburn Hills Avondale Football, Clarkston Football, high school football, Holly Football, LakeOrion Football, MHSAA Prep Footbal Prep Playoffs, Ortonville Brandon Football, Oxford Football, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep Football, prep football, Rochester Adams Football, Troy Athens Football

Category: Auburn Hills Avondale, Clarkston, High School, High School (M-Z), Holly, Lake Orion, Oxford, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Prep Wraps, Rochester Adams, Rochester Stoney Creek, Troy Athens