MHSAA Football - State Semifinal Results/8-Player State Champion

The finals are set. Blood, sweat, and tears have been shed. The season all comes down to one last game. Let’s take a look at some of the teams who won last week and will be playing at Ford Field this weekend.

8-Player State Championship Game

Peck 67 Rapid River 32

Peck has a heck of an offense. They raced out to a 14 point lead in the first and led 28-8 at halftime. The third quarter is when the offense exploded and put up 31 points to take a 59-24 lead. Even though Rapid River was able to contain the Peck rushing offense for the most part, the receivers lit it up. State championship winning quarterback Tristen Haener completed 12 of his 16 passes for 379 yards and an incredible seven touchdowns and also rushed five times for 19 yards and another score. Kyler Abrego caught six passes for 236 yards and four touchdowns.  Tyler Beurmann had five receptions for 133 yards and two scores. Caleb Dudley only caught one ten yard pass, but it was for a touchdown. The rushing attack was led by Cody Abrego who ran nine times for 82 yards and a score. Joey Pries also found the end zone on one of his three runs for 27 yards. For Rapid River, the offense went through Jake Pearson. He completed five of his nine passes for 61 yards, a score, and an interception. He rushed the ball 31 times for 214 yards and three scores. Pat Pryal ran seven times for 19 yards while David Hough chipped in six runs for 16 yards. Hayden Hardwick was the leading receiver with one catch for 26 yards and a touchdown. Congratulations to the Peck Pirates for winning their first state title in football.

Division 5

Menominee 59 Muskegon Oakridge 28

The Maroons are back in the state title game. They played very well and led 49-0 at halftime. In the third quarter, Oakridge came out swinging and took advantage of a few Menominee miscues and stopped the Maroons. The comeback effort fell short and now Oakridge is headed back to the weight room to prepare for next season. Menominee quarterback/halfback Justin Brilinski completed 13 of his 14 passes for 131 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Devon Harris caught most of them, catching nine of them for 114 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 46 more yards and another score. Brilinski rushed for 127 yards and a score. James Brown ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns while also recovering a fumble in the end zone for another score. On the Oakridge side, Austin Wright completed nine of his 15 passes for 150 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions. He also ran for 36 yards. Dom Greenawalt caught five passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns. Jerick Wambaugh ran for 16 yards and also had a 32 yard scoring catch. James Abriatis led his team in rushing with 50 yards and a score. Menominee will play Grand Rapids West Catholic for the Division 5 state championship.

Division 2

Muskegon 41 Portage Central 35

This one was close. It came down to the final minute of the game. Muskegon quarterback Deshaun Thrower had a short touchdown run in that final minute to take the lead. The defense got a pair of sacks from John Hall and finished off a tough Portage Central team.  Thrower didn’t complete any of his five passes, but rushed 23 times for 131 yards and three touchdowns. Javauntae Thomas also ran 23 times for 142 yards and a score. Tavon Jackson rushed four times for 80 yards and a pair of touchdowns. On the Portage Central side, quarterback Mickey Losey completed three of his 12 passes for 95 yards, a score, and an interception. He also ran 22 times for 30 yards and two scores. Max Ryan caught the lone touchdown pass on his only catch, which covered 65 yards. Jerrod David rushed 18 times for 143 yards and two scores. Hunter Lassitter caught two passes for 30 yards and made 10 tackles on defense. Muskegon gets a rematch of last year’s state title game with Brother Rice.

Division 7

Detroit Loyola 52 Homer 7

The mantra around Detroit Loyola’s football team, since December of last year, has been simple; finish it. They have moved one step closer with a dismantling of Homer. They scored on each of their first half possessions and had a 38 point halftime lead. Marvin Campbell scored a 63 yard rushing touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. He finished with 10 runs for 191 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Garrett Schaller completed three of his five passes for 35 yards and a score. Patrick Harbin caught that 21 yard touchdown pass. Schaller also ran twice for five yards and two touchdowns. Pal Engram ran 12 times for 68 yards and a score. Keith Graves found the end zone once on his five carries for 31 yards. Eight different Bull Dogs ran the ball in the game. For Homer, sophomore quarterback Caleb Drumm completed five of his 14 passes for 103 yards and a score, coming in as the reliever during the second quarter. Chaz Hopkins ran 12 times for 15 yards to lead his team in rushing and caught a 35 yard pass. Kyle Winchell was the lone Trojan to find the end zone, coming on a 54 yard reception. Detroit Loyola gets a rematch of last year’s state title game as well. They will be playing Ishpeming.