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DIVISION 2 BONUS COVERAGE: Brother Rice goes to ‘Church’ to win seventh state title

Dan Stickradt | November 25, 2011 | Comments (3)

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

DETROIT — Records can be deceiving. Birmingham Brother Rice proved that on the football field once again this season.

The seventh-ranked Warriors, who entered the postseason at just 5-4 after playing a brutally tough schedule — those four losses were by a combined 12 points — captured their seventh state crown since the MHSAA began sponsoring the state tournament in 1975. The latest came Friday with a 24-14 victory over No. 2 Lowell in the Division 2 state finals at Ford Field.

Brother Rice was making its 11^th state finals appearance, but the path was not clear. The Warriors had to become one of 22 at-large teams that did not have at least six wins just to make the postseason.

“It wasn’t that long ago when we were wondering if we were even going to make the playoffs. We had a bunch of close losses, three by (four points),” offered Al Fracassa, Rice’s veteran coach. “But we got in and were able to make a run. You have to be a little lucky just to get here.”

Call it luck, but Brother Rice was talented on both sides of the football. The Warriors’ defense had six sacks and stalled out one of the state’s top offenses. Rice’s offense was bolstered by a physical front line and one of the state’s top players leading a potent ground assault.

Rice’s Devin Church was the Warriors’ main weapon and a lethal arrow into Lowell’s side, as he more than showcased his talents in his final high school game — turning Ford Field into a celebratory cathedral. The senior running back chalked up 244 yards on 33 carries and scored three times. His yardage total gave him 1,919 yards on the season, breaking the single-season school record of 1,917 yards set by John Gobles in 2005.

“This is what we all dreamed about doing,” said Church. “Being state champs. It’s what we talked about for a long time.”

Church compiled his numbers despite a schedule that featured multiple state-ranked teams, including wins over top-ranked Farmington Harrison in the district finals and second-ranked Lowell in the finals.

“He’s done that all year for the last three years,” smiled Fracassa, who now has 405 wins in his historic career, including all seven of the school’s MHSAA state titles. “This isn’t the only good game he’s played. Every game he’s played has been good. He’s very consistent and we wish him the best. We’ll miss him.”

Lowell coach Noel Dean thought that Brother Rice is one of the best defensive teams he coached against and was impressed by the shifty Church on the offensive end.

“I thought that the best defense we played against was (Grand Rapids) Forest Hills Central. They held us to just one touchdown,” said Dean. “But (Brother Rice) is definitely 1A. They are a very good defensive team. They have a really good defense. We knew coming in that they were athletic at the right positions and were strong up front. That was hard for us.”

“As for Church, he’s a fantastic back,” continued Dean.

The Warriors (10-4) never trailed, taking leads of 7-0 and 14-7 in the first half. Rice extended the lead with a field goal and another touchdown for a 24-7 advantage before yielding a late-game touchdown drive to the Red Arrows, who were making their third straight state finals appearance.

Defensively, Brother Rice forced three turnovers and frustrated the Red Arrows’ high-powered offense for long stretches of the game.

Lowell’s Gabe Dean, who came into the finals with 1,897 rushing yards and 2,055 passing yards and 48 total touchdowns on the season, was essentially shut down, as he compiled only 34 rushing yards on 23 carries. Dean finished the night 14-for-23 passing for 193 yards and two touchdowns but was picked off three times.

“That is a very good football team. There were some mismatches with them,” added Coach Dean. “We couldn’t do the things we wanted to do.”

Church put Rice on the board first with 5:36 left in the opening quarter when he scampered into the end zone from seven yards out.

Lowell, which generated only 102 yards in the first half, countered with 7:32 left in the second quarter when Luke Bigham collected an 18-yard strike from Dean.

Church put Rice ahead for good with 50 seconds left in the half when he dashed home from 54 yards away.

The Warriors scored twice in the second half, courtesy of a 26-yard field goal by Jason Alessi with 7:24 left in the third and Church put the finishing touches on the win with 5:55 left when he scored on a 15-yard run.

Lowell was making its fourth all-time appearance in the state title game and dropped to 2-2 on the season’s final weekend. The Red Arrows won titles in 2002 and 2009 but lost to Farmington Harrison in the title bout last season. They could not return to the winning circle this season.

Bigham capped the scoring when he hauled in a 9-yard strike from Dean with 3:41 to play, but the damage had already been done to the Red Arrows’ title hopes.

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