FOOTBALL: Reaching new heights: Everest Collegiate reaches postseason all seven seasons, enjoying unbeaten regular season
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
CLARKSTON — In most cases, when a school starts a football program, it takes a few years to lay the ground work in order to enjoy the taste of success down the road.
Someone forgot to tell this to those at Clarkston Everest Collegiate.
The Mountaineers are in their 11th year of having a high school student body and seventh season of varsity football. Everest Collegiate has competed at a high level.
The Mountaineers have qualified for the MHSAA Division 8 playoffs all seven years. That’s 7-for-7 in the books. They have averaged 7.6 wins a year and have had at least five wins each season with nine wins three different years (2016, 2017, 2018).
“To be honest, you always hope to win and set the expectations. But if you would have said to me that we would have made the playoffs every year, I might not have believed it,” said head coach Mike Pruchnicki. “We have been blessed by some great kids that have worked hard, and great support from the parents.
“Being at a small school, there is such a chemistry. All of the kids play at least two sports and a lot of them play three sports. They have to. The coaches in every sport here are great. They work together,” added Pruchnicki.
This is the first season that the Mountaineers finished the regular season unbeaten at 8-0. The program didn’t have a Week 3, as it could not find a suitable opponent close to school size and competitive level.
That didn’t deter Everest one bit.
Everest has set several team school records this season, including defensively. They allowed just 88 points over eight games (11 points a game) and no team has scored more than 14 points on the Mountaineers. They also have held two opponents to single digits.
“We had some pretty small teams those first few years, but now we have 28 kids and a good amount of freshmen in the program,” said Pruchnicki. “We still have to have the (upperclassmen) go both ways. That’s small-school football. But we’re very competitive and we have a group of kids with a great work ethic.”
Offensively, Everest has scored 275 points — a 34.4 points a game average — which is noteworthy because the Mountaineers played just eight games and in a couple of those games the coaching staff called off the dogs.
“We have a very talented quarterback (Giovani Mastermateo) who leads us,” said Pruchnicki. “He’s done a great job. We’re solid along the lines and we have some great balance in terms of our skilled players.
“Defensively, it all starts with our middle linebackers,” added the coach. “John Suran is a great leader. We have two solid defensive ends, the secondary is playing well. It really has been a team effort. We might not have a big time college prospect. But we have a good group of kids that are playing well (together).”
Entering the 2019 postseason, where the Mountaineers will host Flint Beecher in their Division 8 pre-district Friday, Everest has a collective 53-18 record over seven seasons. The program is 4-7 in the postseason, having won a district crown and reaching the regional finals in 2017. The program also won pre-district games in both 2016 and 2018.
Everest began its high school in 2009 after years of preparing for the right opportunity. During the first five years, the school co-oped in several sports, (except boys and girls basketball) with Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes through the 2012-13 school year. Now, it has solo programs fed to by all 121 high school students and offers more than a dozen sports to its student body.
It has been quite a fall at Everest Collegiate, which is less than two miles away from Clarkston High School. The boys soccer team captured its first district and regional titles and advance to the Division 4 Final Four, while the girls cross-country team has numerous top five finishes, captured its first regional title and is ranked ninth in the state in Division 4.
“It’s a great atmosphere around here. Not just in football, but in other sports, too,” said Pruchnicki. “They are all friends. They support each other. Our soccer team has made a run and a lot of our guys go to their games. Our (girls) cross country team won a regional and is ranked in the state. It’s been a great fall here at Everest.”
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