Detroit Cass Tech’s Willie Reid tackles Detroit East English’s Desjuan Johnson on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, in Detroit.

The biggest surprise in this week’s rankings is that Division 2’s No. 1 team, Walled Lake Western, suddenly has a loss, even after beating Waterford Kettering, 40-21.

The loss comes in the from of a just-revealed Week 1 forfeiture to Farmington when Western learned it played an ineligible player.

Division 6 has the biggest shakeup after No. 1 Millington lost to Frankenmuth and Charlevoix fell to Maple City Glen Lake. That leaves former No. 3 Negaunee as the new No. 1 team and it has a legitimate resume to be ranked that high.

• McCabe: How Frankenmuth dominated Millington

Moving up to No. 2 in Division 6 is Laingsburg, which will have its hands full this week when it plays Pewamo-Westphalia.

Clarkston and Rochester Adams moved into the Division 1 rankings following losses by Grand Blanc and Romeo. Grandville moved up a spot to No. 5 after it trounced East Kentwood, 46-3. It will be tested this week at Rockford.

Despite Losing to Novi Detroit Catholic Central in overtime, Birmingham Brother Rice moves into the Division 2 rankings despite two losses. Farmington Hills Harrison, which lost to Adams, remains in the rankings with two losses.

• Friday’s scores from around the state

Byron Center takes over the Zeeland West’s No. 10 spot in Division 3 by beating West, the only ranked D-3 team to lose last week.

Every ranked team in Division 4 and Division 5 won last week, keeping those Top 10s the same.

Clinton was the only Division 7 team to lose last week, making room for Concord to make its first appearance in the rankings in years.

Defending Division 7 state champ Ishpeming, which dropped to Division 8 this season, was knocked out of the rankings for the first time in years when it lost to Norway.

Saginaw Nouvel remained in the D-8 ratings despite losing, 26-0, to South Holland (Ill.) Thornwood, a school with 1,880 students. Nouvel has 248 students.

Contact Mick McCabe: 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1.

Mick McCabe’s rankings

Super 10

Rank, School, Record, Division

1. Detroit Cass Tech, 5-0, 1

Will finally be tested Saturday against King

2. Walled Lake Western, 4-1, 2

The loss is the recent forfeiture of Week 1

3. Novi Detroit Catholic Central, 5-0, 1

A second straight overtime win, this one against Brother Rice

4. Muskegon, 4-1, 3

The Big Reds overwhelmed Reeths-Puffer, 66-0

5. Detroit King, 5-0, 2

It’s biggest challenge will be Saturday at Cass Tech

6. Lowell, 5-0, 2

An impressive 35-10 win over a good Greenville team

7. Utica Eisenhower, 5-0, 1

A last-second win over Romeo will help in the playoffs

8. Dearborn Fordson, 5-0, 1

The Tractors roll over Thurston, 45-6

9. Grandville, 5-0, 1

A thoroughly dominating 46-3 win over Kentwood

10. River Rouge, 4-1, 4

Should have its biggest test against Notre Dame Prep

Division 1

Rank, School, Record, Last week

 1. Detroit Cass Tech, 5-0, 1

 2. Novi Detroit Catholic Central, 5-0, 2

 3. Utica Eisenhower, 5-0, 3

 4. Dearborn Fordson, 5-0, 4

 5. Grandville, 5-0, 6

 6. Davison, 5-0, 5

 7. Warren Mott, 5-0, 8

 8. Saline, 5-0, 9

 9. Clarkston, 4-1, _

10. Rochester Adams, 4-1, _

Division 2

 1. Walled Lake Western, 4-1, 1

 2. Detroit King, 5-0, 2

 3. Lowell, 5-0, 3

 4. Midland Dow, 5-0, 4

 5. Birmingham Groves, 5-0, 6

6. Temperance Bedford, 4-1, 10

 7. Traverse City Central, 5-0, 5

 8. Farmington Hills Harrison, 3-2, 9

 9. Birmingham Brother Rice, 3-2, _

10. Portage Central, 4-1, _

Division 3

 1. Muskegon, 4-1, 1

 2. Grand Rapids Christian, 5-0, 2

 3. Allen Park, 5-0, 3

 4. Chelsea, 5-0, 4

 5. Edwardsburg, 5-0, 5

 6. Battle Creek Harper Creek, 5-0, 6

 7. Orchard Lake St. Mary, 3-2, 7

 8. DeWitt, 4-1, 8

 9. Trenton, 5-0, 9

10. Byron Center, 4-1, _

Division 4

 1. River Rouge, 4-1, 1

 2. Birmingham Det. Country Day, 5-0, 2

 3. Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 5-0, 3

 4. Corunna, 5-0, 4

 5. Marysville, 5-0, 5

 6. Benton Harbor, 5-0, 6

 7. Escanaba, 5-0, 7

 8. Hamilton, 5-0, 8

 9. Hudsonville Unity Christian, 5-0, 9

10. Grosse Ile, 5-0, 10

Division 5

 1. Grand Rapids West Catholic, 4-1, 1

 2. Menominee, 5-0, 2

 3. Ithaca, 5-0, 3

 4. Frankenmuth, 5-0, 4

 5. Montague, 5-0, 5

 6. Portland, 5-0, 6

 7. Ida, 5-0, 7

 8. Lansing Catholic, 4-1, 8

 9. Freeland, 5-0, 9

10. Algonac, 5-0, 10

Division 6

 1. Negaunee, 5-0, 3

 2. Laingsburg, 5-0, 4

 3. Grass Lake, 5-0, 5

 4. Schoolcraft, 5-0, 6

 5. Millington, 4-1, 1

6. Roscommon, 5-0, 7

 7. Quincy, 5-0, 8

 8. Maple City Glen Lake, 4-1, 9

 9. LeRoy Pine River, 4-1, 10

10. Calumet, 4-1, _

Division 7

 1. Detroit Loyola, 4-1, 1

 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 5-0, 2

 3. Pewamo-Westphalia, 5-0, 3

 4. New Lothrop, 5-0, 4

 5. Saugatuck, 5-0, 5

 6. Hudson, 5-0, 7

 7. Sand Creek, 5-0, 8

 8. Iron Mountain, 4-1, 9

 9. Ubly, 5-0, 10

10. Concord, 5-0, _

Division 8

 1. Muskegon Catholic Central, 5-0, 1

 2. Climax-Scotts, 5-0, 2

 3. Frankfort, 5-0, 3

 4. St. Ignace, 4-1, 5

 5. Gaylord St Mary, 5-0, 6

 6. Ottawa Lake Whiteford, 5-0, 7

 7. Lake Linden-Hubbell, 5-0, 9

 8. Saginaw Nouvel, 3-2, 8

 9. Norway, 5-0, 10

10. Clarkston Everett, 5-0, _

A football lays on the field in view of the end zone at a high school.

Rochester Adams’ season was at a crossroads when the Highlanders rolled into Farmington Hills Harrison on Friday.

Adams, impressive in winning its first three games, was trying to rebound from a 44-42 overtime loss to Oak Park the week before.

“A couple of things could have happened after you lose in overtime on a two-point conversion to a good Oak Park team,” said Adams coach Tony Patritto. “You either get better and have some resolve and go to Harrison or you start doubting yourself and get rolled, which could have happened.”

Oh, a rolling did occur, but it was Adams that did the rolling, beating Harrison, 20-9.

• McCabe’s Week 5 high school football rankings
• McCabe: Hannawi, MSU recruit help Dearborn run all over Romulus

The difference from the Oak Park loss to the Harrison win was a defense that played with purpose and discipline.

“They have some really good running backs and obviously they’re pretty good at what they do — they’ve been doing the same thing for as long as I can remember, 50 years or so,” Patritto said of Harrison. “We had good defensive fits. Our defensive coaches did a great job of putting kids in a good place.”

The Adams players defensive coordinator Mark MacFarland had most in place were linebackers Ben Petersmark and Steven Roncelli, who neutralized Harrison’s backs.

“We have some pretty good linebackers that matched their kids pretty well and we avoided the big play,” Patritto said. “Their screen game is one of the better weapons game around. We did a good job of matching their guys out of the backfield and keeping them in front of us.”

Making things easier for the Adams defense was the Adams offense, which possessed the ball for all but four plays in the third quarter.

The Highlanders used the first 61/2 minutes of the third quarter on their first drive and after a quick three-and-out by Harrison, they used the rest of the quarter before scoring on the second play of the fourth quarter.

“Both teams are similar in that they have a lot of guys going both ways,” Patritto said. “One of the best ways to slow down really good offensive players is to make them (play) a lot of downs of D.”

Adams senior quarterback Kyle Wood, who was forced into the lineup as a freshman and led the Highlanders to the regional final, played like a seasoned veteran, completing 6 of 10 passes for 87 yards and carried the ball 18 times for 80 yards without any turnovers.

The win improved Adams to 4-1, but please don’t try telling Patritto his team is only two wins from qualifying for the state playoffs, which it missed last season.

Unlike some coaches, simply making the playoffs doesn’t mean much to Patritto. He’d like to be able to win playoff games, not just play in them.

“I’m not really interested in the conversation about trying to get six (wins),” he said. “Once we start doing that I’m done. A lot of people’s thought process is just try to get six and you get in the playoffs. That’s what I don’t want to be — ever. We’re going to try to win our end of the OAA White if we can.”

A win over Farmington Friday would set up a Week 7 showdown with currently-unbeaten Birmingham Groves.

Walled Lake Western adds a loss

Walled Lake Western, the No. 1 team in Division 2, defeated Waterford Kettering, 40-21, last week, but suddenly has a loss on its record. The loss is a result of a recently-discovered ineligible player Western used in the Week 1 victory over Farmington.

Saturday’s big showdown

The game of the week this week will be the showdown between Detroit Cass Tech, No. 1 in Division 1, and defending Public School League and Division 2 state champ Detroit King, ranked No. 2 in D-2. The game is Saturday at Cass Tech at noon. King beat Cass Tech twice last season, 31-28 in the regular season, and 27-25 in the PSL championship game. Although King has yet to play East English Village, this is likely the first of two times these teams will play this season.

Shamrocks’ luck extends to OTs

For the second week in a row, Novi Detroit Catholic Central had to hang on for dear life and pull out a victory in overtime when it defeated archrival Birmingham Brother Rice, 28-21, in two overtimes. On paper, CC appears to be the better team, but this is what you get in a rivalry game like this. While it was Rice’s second loss of the season, the Warriors earned the No. 9 spot in the Division 2 rankings.

Division 6’s top teams fall

The biggest shakeup in the rankings occurred in Division 6 after No. 1 Millington lost to Frankenmuth, 24-7, and No. 2 Charlevoix was clobbered by Maple City Glen Lake, 49-7. That moved Negaunee up to the No. 1 spot, the only Upper Peninsula team to occupy a No. 1 slot.

Contact Mick McCabe: 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1.

Sep 2, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; General view of footballs on the field before a game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Furman Paladins at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit:

These five Michigan high school football players turned in spectacular performances to help their teams to victories in Week 5:

KEIFER RASNER

Menominee: The 5-foot-10, 165-pound senior running back led the Maroons to their 36th consecutive regular season victory by running for 236 yards on 20 carries and scoring on runs of 7, 3, and 66 yards, as well as making a 35-yard interception return for a TD in a 42-7 win over Kingsford.

BO BELL

Jackson Lumen Christi: The 5-9, 170 senior running back carried the ball 39 times and gained 309 yards while scoring touchdowns on runs of 27, 47 and 65 yards to lead Lumen Christi to a 28-20 victory over Marshall.

ERIC WENZEL

Kalamazoo United: Despite not taking over at quarterback until the second quarter, the 6-2, 200 sophomore completed 31 of 44 passes for 413 yards and four touchdowns in addition to three running TDs in a 62-57 win over Constantine.

COLTON KLOOTE

Allendale: The 5-11, 190 senior quarterback completed 14 of 23 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown and carried the ball 21 times for 201 yards and two TDs in a 49-28 victory over Sparta.

ETHAN MAHN

St. Clair: The 5-9, 165 sophomore running back gained 226 yards on 25 carries and scored touchdowns on runs of 11, 11, 96 and 8 yards. He also returned kicks of 80 and 71 yards for touchdowns in St. Clair’s 71-48 victory over St. Clair Shores South Lake.

Friday, Sept. 23 Michigan high school football scores
Mick McCabe’s Week 5 high school football rankings

Michigan’s top-10 matchup against Wisconsin (3:30 p.m., ABC) is setting up for national attention on the field.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh encourages his players coming off the field after another Michigan score making it 21-0 towards the end of the half at Michigan Stadium Saturday.

It’s also becoming increasingly important off it.

On Monday night, Kennedale, Texas, outside linebacker Baron Browning, the nation’s No. 9 overall player, announced he will be taking an official visit to Ann Arbor this weekend.

Using the edit with three mocked up photos of him in a Michigan uniform and a photo of Schembechler Hall’s wall of All-Americans, the 6-foot-3, 230-pounder tweeted his plan (and was quickly retweeted by U-M coach Jim Harbaugh.)

Official Visit to Michigan this week #GoBlue #BluePrint17 ‼️🔵〽️ https://t.co/Kwy5XZzzrS

—
Baron Browning (@baronbrwnng) September 27, 2016

Many experts expect Texas to have an edge with Browning for multiple reasons, including proximity, but taking an official to U-M — 247Sports reported he came on an unofficial in June — is a sign of interest. He may get to the see the Wolverines again, as 247Sports reports that he will visit Ohio State for the Nov. 26 game against U-M.

He’ll be joined by one of the few national players who is higher ranked: Pensacola, Fla., offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood, at 6-6, 327 pounds, ranked as the nation’s No. 2 tackle and No. 5 overall player.

Official Visit to Michigan Next Week #GoBlue #BluePrint17 ‼️⚪️🔵〽️ https://t.co/XVoE677ZIV

—
Alex Leatherwood (@Alskee_) September 26, 2016

Browning and Leatherwood will be joined by another elite player, Lexington, Ky., offensive tackle Jedrick Wills, who is ranked as the No. 10 tackle in the country and the No. 43 overall player in the 247Sports Composite rankings.

taking my 1st official visit this weekend to Michigan😍 #GoBlue 🔵〽️ https://t.co/GXdAbZw3xy

—
jedrick wills jr. (@JWills73) September 26, 2016

Four-star offensive tackle Chuck Filiaga from Aledo, Texas, ranked as the No. 16 offensive tackle, is also on the list.

Official visit to Michigan this week!! #Goblue #Blueprint17 🔵⚪️〽️ https://t.co/i9K8C4GRmf

—
Chuck Filiaga (@CFiliaga) September 27, 2016

Contact Mark Snyder at msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @mark__snyder. Download our Wolverines Xtra app on iTunes and Android!

Maize-N-Brew: Coming off best performance, Michigan gets biggest test

Fan reach out to get high fives from Michigan football players as they make their way up the tunnel after their 49-10 win over Penn State at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, September 24, 2016.

St. Louis Parkway North 2018 four-star defensive tackle Michael Thompson got his first taste of Ann Arbor over the weekend as he visited for Michigan’s game against Penn State.

Thompson, who holds scholarship offers from Florida, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Nebraska and a host of others, left excitedly to head north at 3:30 a.m. on Saturday after his team’s game and arrived at Michigan Stadium shortly before the 3:30 p.m. kickoff.

“The atmosphere at the game was awesome,” Thompson told 247Sports after his visit. “I was expecting it to be pretty big and it delivered. It was really loud and I thought the team performed really well against Penn State.”

A two-way lineman, Thompson says he’s not in any hurry with his recruitment, but says U-M has made a really great early impression with both he and his family.

“I really like their coaching staff,” he said. “They haven’t been recruiting me like a regular recruit. They are talking to me like a regular person and working to develop a real relationship with me. I like them for that.”

Thompson says he’s currently not in any hurry to make a college decision, but says his first impression of what Michigan offers stands out to him.

“I really want to take my time in making a decision,” he said. “I am looking for a program that has a lot of history and tradition and one that is winning. Michigan checks all of those boxes. Still, I am going to take as much time as I can and see other schools.”

Nation’s top linebacker sets U-M visit

Kennedale (Texas) five-star linebacker Baron Browning will officially visit Michigan on Saturday, he announced on Monday night.

This will be Browning’s first official visit of the recruiting process. He also visited Michigan in June during their camps in Ann Arbor. Ohio State, Texas, UCLA and Texas A&M are among the programs he’s believed to be considering most.

Browning’s older brother Barry played for and was recruited by Jim Harbaugh and will accompany him on his trip.

Steve Lorenz is the editor and publisher of Wolverine247 of the 247Sports Network. You can follow him on Twitter @TremendousUM and sign up for our FREE newsletter today! 

A soccer ball lies on the pitch.

Boys soccer

Detroit Henry Ford 3, Romulus Summit 1: Rodrigo Garcia scored on a header for Summit (1-11).

Harrison Twp. L’Anse Creuse 2, Sterling Heights 2: Gareth Martin and Matt Gealer each scored for L’Anse Creuse.

Boys cross-country

Birmingham Brother Rice 25, U-D Jesuit 35: Mike Tremonti finished with a time of 18:02 while Alec Miracle and Grant Davey finished with times of 18:03 and 18:14, respectively, for Brother Rice (2-0 Catholic).

College football: Western Michigan’s Darius Phillips is the MAC West special teams player of the week for his performance against Georgia Southern on Saturday in the Broncos’ 49-31 win over the Eagles. WMU improved to 4-0. Phillips recorded his second special teams score of the season with a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown. … Eastern Michigan redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Jeremiah Harris of Lambertville was named the MAC West Division defensive player of the week. It is the first weekly award of his career. Harris led the Eagles’ defensive effort in a 27-24 win over Wyoming. Harris finished with five tackles, including a sack. … The Ball State at Central Michigan game will begin at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 8 and be shown on ESPN3, officials at ESPN announced Monday.

Wolverines Trooper Jon Leopold of Goodrich was a popular Stormtrooper during tailgating in the Michigan Stadium parking lot. He is photographed with Erin Evans and Rylee Kim, both from Dexter.

It was going to be Michigan’s biggest recruiting weekend of the football season regardless, but Wisconsin’s emergence has put a national spotlight on the Big House with a bunch of elite prospects slated to be in Ann Arbor for the duration of the weekend.

Official visits are a school’s best opportunity to sell themselves to prospects. It’s a 48-hour, all-inclusive trip that almost always includes family members and sometimes high school coaches. In Michigan’s case, most of this weekend’s visitors will be on campus for the first time, giving the coaching staff their first real opportunity to tangibly sell Michigan’s campus, stadium atmosphere and program camaraderie among other things. The main players who will be on campus (all rankings are 247Sports Composite rankings):

Five-star linebacker Baron Browning: Michigan has worked hard to put themselves in striking distance with the Kennedale, Texas, superstar. Browning would project to either one of Don Brown’s outside linebacker spots and is a rare talent that would play immediately. UCLA, Texas, Ohio State and Alabama are among the others in contention.

Michigan football to host pair of 5-star recruits for Wisconsin game

Five-star offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood: Leatherwood is a longtime verbal commitment to Alabama, and is another prospect Michigan has worked hard to chip away with. USC, Florida and a couple of others are trying, but the Wolverines could put themselves in the best position for a possible “flip” with a good visit.

Four-star offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz: Ruiz is and has been one of U-M’s top overall targets. He’s being recruited as a pure center, which is one of Michigan’s biggest needs in the 2017 cycle, and he’s the best. Most believe he’s been leaning towards the Wolverines for a long time. Oklahoma and Florida are among the others he’s strongly considering.

Four-star linebacker Jordan Anthony: Anthony is another one of U-M’s top targets at the linebacker position, and one that they may be in good shape with heading into the visit. He will be accompanied by his family, and it will be his third visit to Ann Arbor since his recruitment began. Penn State, Maryland and Oklahoma are among the other schools he’s strongly believed to be considering.

The Wolverines will also be hosting another top target in Iowa City (IA) West four-star wide receiver Oliver Martin, who was originally slated to visit last weekend. Martin’s visit will be an unofficial visit, and he’s expected to take an official visit later.

Steve Lorenz is the editor and publisher of Wolverine247 of the 247Sports Network. You can follow him on Twitter @TremendousUM and sign up for our FREE newsletter today! For a full list of who Michigan is currently expecting to visit officially, go to our Wolverine247 official visit page.

The Son of Swami can’t avoid controversy.

Last week, SOS asserted that Mrs. SOS was behind the breakup of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, which Mrs. SOS vehemently denied when she reluctantly arrived home after a week in Hilton Head.

Now there is this: Early this week, SOS received an urgent text message from Son of SOS, MBA, which included a link to a Free Press story that said police in London are investigating the iCloud account of Pippa Middleton, the attractive younger sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, and the alleged theft of 3,000 photographs.

It was reported that an alleged hacker contacted the Sun newspaper asking for a minimum of 50,000 pounds ($65,000) for the pictures.

First of all, SOS is pleased that, even living in Seattle, Son of SOS, MBA, is still reading the Free Press on a daily basis.

Son of Swami

But the reason for the text message was clear: SOS is a suspect in the hacking.

Obviously, Son of SOS, MBA, remembers how the London tabloids had a field day in 2012 when SOS was in London covering the Olympics and Pippa was reportedly quite taken with SOS. Neither SOS nor Pippa confirmed any relationship, but that didn’t stop the London tabloids from speculating on the dalliance.

Son of SOS, MBA, assured SOS that he would not say a word about SOS’s involvement in the hacking of Pippa’s iCloud account, which SOS appreciated. But SOS assured him he could not be involved in any such hacking. (After all, SOS is probably in at least 1,000 of those pictures, and he’s got copies of his own.)

If Scotland Yard is looking for suspects, SOS might suggest asking Free Press Red Wings writer and famed world traveler Helene St. James, who seemed exceedingly interested in the SOS-Pippa rumors four years ago.

So while SOS is preparing for a big weekend of high school games, Ms. St. James may have some explaining to do.

Pewamo-Westphalia(5-0) at Laingsburg (5-0), 7 Friday. Job One for the Laingsburg defense is trying to slow down running back Jared Smith, who needs only 11 yards to top the 1,000-yard mark this season, despite playing into the second half of only one game, after he ran for a state record 3,250 yards in 14 games last season. Good luck with that. But the P-W defensive backs better be ready for a long night, because QB Nick Putnam slings the ball around the field with the best of them and Nate Mentus is one of many quality receivers. Pewamo Will Fail You 42, Lamesburg 34.

Maple City Glen Lake (4-1) at Frankfort (5-0), 7, Friday. Glen Lake, ranked No. 8 in Division 6, will have to deal with the running of Griffin Kelly behind the blocking of Michael Stefanski, a standout two-way tackle. Frankfort is No. 3 in Division 8, but could be in over its head in this one. Not only must it be able to handle the running of Nick Apsey, it has to be concerned with the passing of junior Cade Peterson, the top passer in the north. Maple Syrup Glen Luck 31, Frankfurters 22.

Grandville (5-0) at Rockford (3-2), 7, Friday. Grandville’s 43-6 win over East Kentwood last week raised more than a few eyebrows across the state. The Bulldogs have perfected the full-house, tight T-formation offense, and all of its running backs are capable of taking it to the house. While it is apparent what Grandville will be running, Rockford has so many different offensive sets the Rams are a defensive coordinator’s nightmare. All we know for sure is whatever Rockford runs, QB Jason Whittaker will be very good executing it. Grand Villa 28, Rockford Files 27.

Canton (3-2) at Livonia Churchill (4-1), 7, Friday. Forget about Canton’s two losses, both incredibly close non-league games against Top 10 opponents. This game will decide the KLAA South champ and both teams are now playing well. Churchill has a balanced running attack, but the wildcard is the effecting passing of QB Evan Cummins. Few teams in the state run the ball as well as Canton and with Markus Sanders back in form, the Chiefs are once again a dangerous team. Can’t Win 28, Winston 26.

Detroit King (5-0) at Detroit Cass Tech (5-0), noon, Saturday. Forget about the two high-powered offenses, these teams also have terrific defenses. Cass has outscored its five opponents, 268-45, giving up 27 points to Oak Park in a 45-27 win and 18 points to East English Village in a 58-18 victory. King’s defense has permitted only six points in outscoring its five opponents, 243-6. So you can forget about a running clock in this game, but there will be some points scored. Momma Cass 32, King of Wishful Thinking 26.

In this Sept. 27, 2014, photo, Michigan quarterback Shane Morris lays on the field after taking a hit. He was put back in the game and later determined to have a concussion.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association’s study of head-injury reports from the state’s member schools during the 2015-16 year unveiled some surprising statistics.

Executive director Jack Roberts released results of the MHSAA’s first head-injury survey of more than 750 high schools. It received data from nearly every school. Schools were required to designate if potential concussions occurred during competition or practice and at which level — varsity, junior varsity or freshman, and the survey includes baseline testing of athletes in football and other sports to help with concussion diagnosis.

Michigan schools reported 4,452 head injuries in boys and girls sports, or 5.9 per school. Contact sports had the most head injuries. Ranking first was 11-player football with 49 head injuries per 1,000 participants, followed by ice hockey with 38 and 8-player football with 34. Girls soccer had 30 injuries per 1,000 participants, and girls basketball ranked fifth with 29 injuries per 1,000.

Son of Swami’s week 6 high school football picks

“Soccer doesn’t surprise me at all,” said Betty Wroubel, Pontiac Notre Dame athletic director, girls volleyball and softball coach. “Basketball did. A lot of those kids … we have a lot more kids hitting the ground than we ever had in basketball for some reason.

“We’re just not as strong in our neck, and our head isn’t as strong to withstand jarring which is sometimes causing some of those concussions. … It’s not amazing to me, but it’s an educational tool we can use now to help us improve our programs even better.”

A startling disparity in the number of reported head injuries suffered by girls and boys playing the same sports was the most significant finding revealed by the report.

Boys soccer players reported only 18 head injuries per 1,000 participants. Boys basketball players reported 11. Softball players reported 11 head injuries per 1,000 participants, while baseball players reported four.

Dr. Jeffery Kutcher, one of the country’s leading experts in sports neurology and a board-certified neurologist, said there is some validity to boys’ necks being stronger than girls at that age.

“That trend of seeing a higher concussion rate in girls or young women playing sports as compared to boys in the same sports, we see that actually in data across the country,” Kutcher said. “We do think there are multiple reasons for that. One of them is likely to be neck strength. There may be others that have to do with style of play and nature of the game and those types of issues.”

Health and safety advocates fear concussions often go undetected because of inconsistent protocols at districts unable to spend money for detection. It’s often on players to self-report concussions, or on coaches, who have many responsibilities and sometimes little training, to recognize symptoms.

Brian Gordon, athletic director at Novi, was concerned that some of the numbers might be inaccurate because boys might hide injuries to stay on the field.

“I think it’s the first year where the MHSAA has required all those head-injury reports, where they started to collect the data,” Gordon said. “I think some schools did a really nice job of reporting that data, whereas other schools did not. It does require that we have to do that.

“I think where you see reports of a head injury doesn’t mean that guy was concussed. For instance, we had a head-injury report for soccer last week. The kid got stitches. There was no concussion.”

Total participation in MHSAA sports for 2015-16 was 284,227 — with students counted once for each sport he or she played — and only 1.6% of participants experienced a head injury. Boys experienced 3,003, or 67% of those injuries, although boys participation in sports, especially contact sports, was higher than girls.

More than half of head injuries (54%) were experienced by varsity athletes. A total of 2,973, or 67%, came in competition as opposed to practice. More than half took place during either the middle of practice or middle of competition as opposed to the start or end.

Nearly 56% of injuries were a result of person-to-person contact. The largest percentage of athletes — 28% — returned to activity after six to 10 days, while 20% of those who suffered head injuries returned after 11-15 days of rest, according to the report.

“As far as the physical contact of football, I still think we have to continue to teach kids and make sure that they’re aware of all the rules and regulations and how we’re supposed to tackle and not use the face mask or helmet,” said Greg Carter, Oak Park athletic director and football coach.

Reporting for the 2016-17 school year is underway, and Roberts hopes universities, health care systems and the National Federation of State High School Associations will help analyze the data from last year and this year.

The Associated Press contributed.

Contact Perry A. Farrell: 313-222-2555 or pafarrell@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @farrellperry.

Be sure that you follow Freep Sports on Twitter (@freepsports) and Instagram and like us on on Facebook.

Boys run in the Division One MSSAA high school cross country championships Saturday, November 7, 2015 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Scores, stats from around the state of Michigan.

Boys soccer

Ann Arbor Huron 5, Milan 1: Ryan Toth scored the go-ahead goal for Huron with an assist from Chad Sturgill.

Belleville 2, Livonia Clarenceville 0: Goalie Jon Murphy had 10 saves for Clarenceville.

Dearborn Edsel Ford 9, Romulus 1: Kaleb Zemke and Albaara Alsoufi each scored two goals for Edsel Ford.

MHSAA releases study of head injuries in Michigan schools

Garden City 4, Redford Union 1: Juan Rios scored a goal for Redford Union.

Macomb L’Anse Creuse 1, Madison Heights Lamphere 1: Matt Gealer scored a goal for L’Anse Creuse with an assist from Abdulah Alubadi.

Warren Woods Tower 4, St. Clair 0: Jared Johns, Christian Sipley, Eric Yang and Trevor Ajini each scored for Woods Tower (6-5-3, 3-3-2 MAC Gold), while goalie Justin King recorded the shutout.

Boys cross country

Southwestern Athletic Conference meet: Watervliet finished second out of nine teams at the second SAC divisional meet of the season. Jobe Kerr was the top Watervliet runner, finishing second overall in 17:23.

Girls cross country

Charter School Conference meet: Summit Academy finished second place at its third conference meet of the season. Haille Grajek finished second overall, Selena Ingram was third, Lauren Druyor fourth and Adrianna Torres seventh.

Southwestern Athletic Conference meet: Watervliet finished third out of nine teams at the second SAC divisional meet this season. Allie Pazera posted a season-best time of 21:16 to finish sixth overall.

Girls golf

Saginaw Valley League championship: Midland Dow, ranked No. 1 in Division 2, won the championship with a 319, narrowly beating Lapeer’s school-record score of 322. Flint Powers finished third with 361 and Davison was fourth with 363. Lapeer’s Brooke Gibbons was medalist with a 72.

Girls volleyball

Mackinaw City 3, Wolverine 0: Alaina Martin finished with nine assists and four aces for Mackinaw City, while Savannah Grimmer had seven aces and six kills, and Sarah Morse added five aces and five kills.

Son of Swami’s week 6 high school football picks

Jason Whittaker

One of the top 2018 football prospects in the state of Michigan is Rockford quarterback Jason Whittaker. The 6-foot-5, 205-pounder already has scholarship offers on the table and is poised to add more. He was in East Lansing for the Wisconsin game this past weekend, and I was able to get some details on his recruitment.

“As far as State goes, I always love visiting, not only as a fan, but as a school I am interested in,” he said. “There were a lot of recruits there, which made it pretty hectic, but I still got a chance to talk with coach (Brad) Salem, the QB coach. Even though the game didn’t go as planned, it’s always great being around the Green and White.”

Whittaker was one of the top underclassman performers on the camp scene this summer. He showed very well at the Spartan Elite Camp in June.

He was offered a scholarship by Western Michigan on Saturday evening, as he was leaving MSU. Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan previously offered. I expect his offer list to expand this fall, and he easily could get some high-level national offers.

Rivals.com ranks Whittaker the No. 5 in-state prospect and the No. 11 pro-style quarterback in the class of 2018. He certainly will be invited to the regional Elite 11 tryout camp next spring

Salem is Whittaker’s primary contact at Michigan State. Whittaker likely will be back in East Lansing for the Michigan or Ohio State games this fall. The Wolverines also have been in contact with him, and Northwestern and Indiana are showing significant interest.

Couch: Dantonio among coaches getting it right on anthem protests

Matt Dorsey is a recruiting analyst for spartanmag.com and rivals.com.

Detroit Cass Tech’s Jaron Mangham runs the ball against Detroit East English on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, in Detroit.

Today

OAKLAND ACTIVITIES

Troy at Rochester, 7

OTHER GAMES

Detroit Cesar Chavez at Birmingam Detroit Country Day, 4

Son of Swami’s week 6 high school football picks

Friday

CATHOLIC LEAGUE

Macomb Lutheran North at Royal Oak Shrine, 7

Riverview Richard at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook, 7

Warren De La Salle at Dearborn Divine Child, 7

Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes at Clarkston Everest, 7

CHARTER SCHOOL

Harper Woods Chandler Park at Romulus Summit, 7

Warren Michigan Collegiate at Detroit Old Redford, 4

DETROIT PSL

CMA at Douglass, 4

Denby at Collegiate Prep, 4

Henry Ford at Southeastern, 4

Mumford at Renaissance, 4

Osborn at East English, 4

Pershing at Central, 4

Western at Cody, 4

DOWNRIVER

Gibraltar Carlson at Taylor Kennedy, 7

Lincoln Park at Southgate, 7

Taylor Truman at Woodhaven, 7

Trenton at Allen Park, 7

Wyandotte at Melvindale, 7

HURON

Flat Rock at Monroe Jefferson, 7

Grosse Ile at Milan, 7

Monroe St. Mary CC at Carleton Airport, 7

New Boston Huron at Riverview, 7

KENSINGTON LAKES

Canton at Livonia Churchill, 7

Grand Blanc at Howell, 7

Livonia Stevenson at Novi, 7

Milford at Brighton, 7

Pinckney at Hartland, 7

South Lyon at Northville, 7

South Lyon East at Salem, 7

Walled Lake Central at Waterford Kettering, 7

Walled Lake Northern at White Lake Lakeland, 7

Walled Lake Western at Waterford Mott, 7

Wayne Memorial at Plymouth, 6:30

Westland Glenn at Livonia Franklin, 7

MACOMB AREA

Blue

L’Anse Creuse at Roseville, 7

Sterling Heights at Port Huron, 7

Warren Cousino at Grosse Pointe North, 7

Gold

Marine City at St. Clair, 7

Port Huron Northern at St. Clair Shores Lake Shore, 7

Warren Woods Tower at Marysville, 7

Crossovers

Clinton Twp. Chippewa Valley at Utica, 7

Clinton Twp. Clintondale at St. Clair Shores South Lake, 7

Eastpointe East Detroit at Madison Heights Lamphere, 7

Fraser at Warren Mott, 7

Grosse Pointe South at Romeo, 7

Macomb Dakota at Utica Ford, 7

New Haven at Clawson, 7

Sterling Heights Stevenson at New Baltimore Anchor Bay, 7

Utica Eisenhower at L’Anse Creuse North, 7

Warren Fitzgerald at Warren Lincoln, 7

MICHIGAN INDEPENDENT

Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett at Lutheran Westland, 7

Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest at Sterling Heights Parkway, 7

Southfield Christian at Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, 7

MICHIGAN METRO

Blue

Hamtramck at Detroit Community, 7

Red

Ecorse at Melvindale Business & Tech, 7

OAKLAND ACTIVITIES

Blue

Auburn Hills Avondale at Hazel Park, 7

Pontiac at Berkley, 7

Royal Oak at Bloomfield Hills, 7

Red

Lake Orion at Troy Athens, 7

Oxford at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, 7

Southfield A&T at West Bloomfield, 7

White

Birmingham Groves at Farmington Hills Harrison, 7

Birmingham Seaholm at North Farmington, 7

Farmington at Rochester Adams, 7

Crossover

Clarkston at Oak Park, 6

SOUTHEASTERN

Red

Ann Arbor Skyline at Ann Arbor Huron, 7

Monroe at Temperance Bedford, 7

Saline at Ann Arbor Pioneer, 7

White

Chelsea at Adrian, 7

Dexter at Tecumseh, 7

Ypsilanti at Ypsilanti Lincoln, 7

WESTERN WAYNE

Blue

Garden City at Dearborn Heights Robichaud, 7

Redford Thurston at Belleville, 7

Redford Union at Dearborn Fordson, 7

Red

Dearborn at Dearborn Heights Annapolis, 7

Dearborn Edsel Ford at Romulus, 7

Dearborn Heights Crestwood at Livonia Clarenceville, 7

OTHER GAMES

Dearborn Heights Star at Harper Woods, 7

Detroit Delta at Detroit Science & Math, TBA

Detroit Public Safety at Detroit Edison, 7

Detroit Westside Christian at Detroit Consortium, 7

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep at River Rouge, 7

U-D Jesuit at St. Joseph, 7

MHSAA releases study of head injuries in Michigan schools

Saturday

CATHOLIC LEAGUE

Madison Heights Bishop Foley at Allen Park Cabrini, 7

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s at Birmingham Brother Rice, 7

CHARTER SCHOOL

Southfield Bradford vs. Detroit University Prep (at Hazel Park), 7

DETROIT PSL

King at Cass Tech, noon

MACOMB AREA

St. Clair Shores Lakeview at Center Line, noon

OTHER GAMES

Detroit Loyola at Detroit Leadership Academy, 1

Ferndale at Madison Heights Madison, 1

Mount Clemens at Marine City Cardinal Mooney, 7

Pittsburgh Westinghouse (Pa.) at Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, 1

Mick McCabe’s Week 5 high school football rankings

Detroit Cass Tech’s Charles Highbaugh runs the ball against Detroit East English on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, in Detroit.

Welcome to Week 6 of the high school football season in Michigan! Time to start making your move toward a playoff spot, eh?

We’re live-blogging tonight’s action around the state, pulling in tweets from our reporters out in the field. Chris Allen will be moderating the chat and conversing with fans. You can contribute score updates by tweeting them with the #mipreps hash tag.

Click here to join the live blog

Cass Tech football players walk to practice on Sept. 27, 2016. Due to the field at the high school being grass the football team must was close to a mile to another field to practice.

The school day at Detroit Cass Tech is over and the football players stream out a back entrance, heading to the nearby football field. They enter the locker room, grab their pads and are off.

Many of the upperclassmen head for cars. They stow their pads in the trunk, jump in and drive away.

Most of the underclassmen take their pads and begin “The Walk.”

Where are they all going?

They are going to practice, walking in groups of four or five.

This is Cass Tech’s version of the Green Mile.

Because Cass Tech’s football field is a grass field and not an artificial surface that most schools have, daily practice on that field is not recommended.

If Cass practiced there every day the grass would be long gone by now and the unbeaten and No. 1 ranked in Division 1 Technicians would be hosting unbeaten and No. 2 in Division 2 Detroit King Saturday at noon in the biggest game in the state . . . on a dirt field.

It seems absurd that a program like Cass Tech, which has won two state championships and has advanced to at least the Division 1 semifinals the last six years, plays on such a poor field.

Cass Tech football players walk to practice on Sept. 27, 2016. Due to the field at the high school being grass the football team must was close to a mile to another field to practice.

That is why the Cass players, equipment in hand, leave the school, turn left on Ledyard and turn right on Third.

“I knew we didn’t practice at Cass Tech,” said senior receiver/defensive back Donovan Peoples-Jones, the top player in the state. “I knew the practice field was somewhere. I thought it was on the other side of the school. I was kind of unhappy when I had to walk over here.”

There are a couple of vacant lots the players cut across to reach Temple, where they turn left and walk to the intersection of Grand River and Temple.

This is where things get tricky.

In addition to Grand River, there are entrance and exit ramps to the Lodge Freeway in the vicinity. Sure, there are traffic lights, but since when do teenage boys pay attention to traffic lights?

Players scamper across the street – you might call it their speed work – and suddenly they are on Grand River, in front of the Motor City Casino.

For the record, none of the players try to get in a quick hand of black jack or two before practice.

Sophomore receiver Kyron McKinnie was a sight trying to cross Grand River. In addition to carrying his shoulder pads, he had his backpack and carried a gym bag with more of his equipment.

“I thought it was kind of crazy at first,” he said. “I thought we practiced at Cass. I just got through it. It doesn’t bother me much.”

The coaches don’t walk with the players because the ones who are on staff at Cass use their cars to bring over equipment like blocking shields, cones and water.

Some players head down Temple, others walk a block on Grand River and turn left on Brooklyn, which turns into Elm.

The Temple route is a relatively new way players take to get to practice. Players go that way when they discovered the Temple-Trumbull Market, which has become a pit stop for some of them.

“Every time they go to practice down at the field, some of them stop,” said Sharky Katty, who runs the store. “They get candy, Gatorade. Most of the time they’re buying something cold because they need it. They’re all good kids. I don’t have any problem with them.”

Stopping at the market can have consequences if the players spent too much time there.

“A lot of times guys get in trouble,” said senior defensive end Zach Morton, who has committed to Syracuse. “They’d stop at the store and if they got here too late they’d have to run.”

The players walk down Elm or Temple, cross busy Trumbull, which can take some time as cars whiz by.

Cass Tech football player, Desean Boyd, 16, left and Donovan Parker, 17, right, get dressed before the start of practice on Sept. 27, 2016.

The last busy street is Rosa Parks and once they cross that they have arrived – some 22 minutes later – at their destination: Burton International Academy, an elementary school at Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Drive, which is just over a mile from Cass Tech.

Behind the school is a big field and most of the grass is ridiculously long. But that doesn’t complicate practice.

The field has a pair of old fashioned goalposts right out of the 1960s, and the part of the field Cass uses for practice hasn’t seen grass in some time.

For several years now it has been Cass Tech’s home through summer conditioning, preseason practices in August – which meant a booming business for the Temple-Trumbull Market – and most regular season practices.

When head coach Thomas Wilcher began coaching at Cass as an assistant 28 years ago, the old school had a 50-yard field it used some days, but most of the time the players were bused to Belle Isle for practice.

“That wasn’t a good idea,” Wilcher said. “It was just quicker for us to get over here versus the bus. Sometimes you would have to wait for it to get here. It would come after its routes. It saved on money, too.”

Freshman Anderson Shamily pulled his equipment out of the trunk of the car driven by his mother, Octavia, who was happy to drive the equipment to practice, but not her son.

“I make him walk,” she said proudly. “He wanted to try this out so he’s going to get the full effect. I allow him to put his stuff in here and then I drive it over. Sometimes I’ll drive some of the other kids’ stuff here.”

Cass Tech football player, Donovan Peoples-Jones checks his reflection in his Jeep window before the start of practice on Sept. 27, 2016.

Senior Jordan Lewis is a transfer from Sterling Heights Stevenson and he thought his new teammates were kidding him when they told him they walked to practice.

“It shocked me, honestly, it did shock me,” he said. “But I got through it. They said everyone has to do it so if it was natural to them, I’ve got to adapt at some time.”

To a man, every player said the walk brought the players closer together.

“It’s a little bit of a bonding experience,” Peoples-Jones said. “If you’re walking for a mile you’re going to bond somehow. You’re talking, laughing, joking along the way.”

They also said it is something they use to set themselves apart from the other schools in the state, most of which have only to walk a few feet to get to practice.

“It’s really nothing for real, but it’s preparation,” said McKinnie. “It humbles us more, this walking. It’s more determination to get to practice because we know we’ve got to be here at a certain time.”

While most of the freshmen and the sophomores have walked, there have been exceptions.

“I only walked two or three times my freshman year,” said senior Rodney Hall. “I knew a lot of the seniors and I was the backup quarterback so they gave me a ride. They were real cool. I was a lucky one.”

Some of the upperclassmen with cars go out of their way to give rides to the underclassmen.

“Now that I’m a senior, I try to help out the freshman when I can as far as giving them rides,” said defensive end Desean Boyd, who has committed to Eastern Michigan. “I don’t think it’s cheating. I remember being a freshman. I just wanted somebody to help me out, so I try to help them out.”

Cass Tech football player, Zaire Faulkner, 17, gets taped by Coach Blakely before the start of practice on Sept. 27, 2016.

The Cass players are grateful for the recent cool weather. Don’t forget, if they walked to practice, they have to walk back after practice, which is another mile.

“It was tiring walking back to Cass after you were done with practice,” Boyd said. “But every freshman has to struggle until they get their car or find a ride.”

There is room at Cass for a practice field. The site of the old school is vacant, but the ground would require major work before a team could practice there. The obvious fix would be instillation of an artificial surface, which would be a dream come true for Wilcher.

But Wilcher is a realist.

“We keep talking about it, but it costs so much money,” Wilcher said. “Right now, money goes toward books and other stuff, which is what we need to spend money on.”

Son of Swami’s week 6 high school football picks

Walking to and from practice is a considerable inconvenience on several fronts. Practicing at Burton International also cuts into Wilcher’s study table time for players who don’t have a class in the eighth period.

“It’s difficult, but you can’t look at the obstacles in front of you,” he said. “You have to look at the things you can do with what you have and the resources you do have. You can’t think about things that can set you back.

“You have to learn to adapt. That’s what we’re doing. We’re adapting.”

The practices at Burton become a bigger problem late in the season when Daylight Savings Time is gone, causing it to get dark in the middle of practice. That means Cass has to practice on its game field and by the time playoffs roll around, actual grass on the field is scarce.

“We tear up the field and we just say that’s it and we go for it,” Wilcher said, laughing. “It is what it is. It’s called home field advantage, baby.”

Although no one actually likes to walk to practice, the players take it as a rite of passage. It has become something of an initiation into the Cass program.

“It’s what the greats did here,” said Peoples-Jones, who now drives to practice. “It’s just really a cycle. You come in and you do what everyone does and you set yourself apart by working hard.”

Contact Mick McCabe: 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1

Week 6 Michigan high school football schedule

Preps!

The reason Pontiac Notre Dame Prep is no longer a member of the Detroit Catholic League is that it refused to play a crossover football game against Birmingham Brother Rice.

School officials cited the safety of its players as the reason for not playing Rice, and in this age of concussion awareness, everyone understands safety issues.

Brother Rice, an all-boys school, has 625 students, which translates to 1,250 students for Michigan High School Athletic Association classification purposes.

Notre Dame Prep, a co-ed school, has 749 students, so officials thought it was unfair and unsafe to play a school so much bigger (and better) than itself. They were so adamantly opposed to this, they forced every other sport the school offers to fend for itself when it comes to scheduling as an independent, since the consequences were that no sport could compete for a league championship.

All of this because of one football game.

Week 6 Michigan high school football schedule

In defending its decision in January, ND Prep assistant principal Maureen Radulski told the Free Press:  “It’s not just the playing up, it’s the playing down, too. It’s about not just our kids, it’s about all the kids. We would never go and do this to another program that they wanted us to go and play a crossover the other way.”

That sounds convincing – until you realize that last week ND Prep drilled Detroit Public Safety Academy, 35-0, to improve to 4-1. Public School Academy has only 194 students, 555 fewer than ND Prep.

But didn’t Radulski say ND Prep would never do that to another school?

When asked to explain Monday, Radulski offered to transfer the caller to other school officials, refusing to comment.

Andrew Guest, the school’s interim president, tried to justify the game against Public Safety Academy, which in its first year of competition.

“It’s different in that it’s not a forced crossover game,” he said. “We’re not forcing a smaller program to play a larger program and that was originally our objection. In this particular case, the Safety Academy contacted us and was very desperate for a game. We had an opening and thought it would be better to play someone than have a bye week in the schedule. They dressed 21 athletes for the game, I think we dressed (a little over) 30.”

Seriously? That argument doesn’t hold water. Either you are concerned over safety issues for all students or you aren’t.

Mick McCabe’s Week 5 high school football rankings

ND Prep’s stance not to play Rice becomes even stranger by glancing at the rest of its schedule this fall. It is playing Bloomfield Hills, which has 1,831 students, as well as Rochester (1,632) and Birmingham Seaholm (1,356), all with larger enrollments than Rice.

“I think there’s two things you’ve got to look at,” Guest said. “The size of the school and the quality and size of their football team.”

In other words, since Bloomfield Hills was 1-8, 2-7 and 3-6 the last three seasons and Rochester – which beat ND Prep in overtime – is coming off consecutive 1-8 seasons, they make perfect opponents for ND Prep.

The main point is that the quality and size of ND Prep’s program compared to Public Safety Academy is significantly greater than the quality and size of Rice’s program compared to ND Prep’s.

By the way, Detroit Loyola, with 133 boys, honored the Catholic League’s schedule and played Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, which has 520 boys.

Do ND Prep officials think Loyola isn’t concerned with the safety of its players?

Contact Mick McCabe: 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1

Son of Swami’s week 6 high school football picks

1. New England Patriots (2-0, last week: 1): Okay, now they have to win with Jacoby Brissett. Against the 2-0 Texans. You know they’re going to.

Hazel Park’s affiliation with the Oakland Activities Association could soon come to an end.

“We’re looking at other alternatives,” said Hazel Park athletic director Dave Muylaert.

This is a football decision – and the right decision. With only 852 students, coupled with the recent realignment in the OAA, the Vikings just don’t fit any longer.

“It’s the disparity between school’s sizes,” said Muylaert. “It’s a much better fit for us with some other conferences. In football, we can’t go up against a Troy or a Bloomfield and Rochester and expect to have a level playing field when they have three times the amount of students than us.”

To his credit, Muylaert is not claiming it is a safety issue. It is all about wins and losses, a recent struggle for Hazel Park.

Until winning their last two games, The Vikings had been 1-29 in their previous 30 games.

This year Rochester (1,632 students), Troy (2,092) and Bloomfield Hills (1,831) moved down to the OAA Blue. Only Rochester is on Hazel Park’s schedule this fall, but who knows what next season’s schedule would look like.

“I appreciate everything that our football committee does in the OAA,” Muylaert said. “They’re very professional people and they’ve been around awhile, but the decision to bring those three teams down into the Blue Division merely because their programs ‘haven’t been successful’ is not fair.”

Hazel Park is making a resurgence as a school district. Once faced with an $11-million deficit, it is getting its fiscal act together and has tremendous athletic facilities.

The Vikings will have a talented basketball team this season and have scheduled nonconference games against Clarkston, North Farmington and Toledo Scott.

But football is a different deal — and a successful football team can set a positive tone for the school year.

“We’re trying to rebuild the school district, not discourage our programs from being competitive,” Muylaert said. “There are some other conferences that have contacted us and we’ll look to see what’s the best fit for us. That’s not to say we’re not going to stay in OAA, we’re just exploring other options to see what might be a better fit for us.”

Week 6 Michigan high school football schedule

Ferndale plans to stay 

The only OAA school smaller than Hazel Park is Ferndale, which has only 674 students and has considered switching leagues as well, but is staying put – for now.

“No, we’re not (switching) this year,” said Ferndale athletic director Shawn Butler. “We were investigating it. Most of my coaches were neutral on it. In terms of the competition, wouldn’t have been much different other than the exception of football. The drive time for too many sports would have increased.”

With 10 schools pulling out of the KLAA after this school year, some schools may be growing weary of the mega conferences.

Butler, for one, would like to form a new league with local schools of similar enrollments.

“We’re always open,” Butler said. “I would still love to get something along our area and our size. We have enough schools, but there’s not enough interest from the other school to leave their league.”

MHSAA releases study of head injuries in Michigan schools

This week’s multisport NFL star

Still believe that the best way to get a college football scholarship is to drop every other sport you play and specialize in football, including 7-on-7 all-star teams? Take a look into the background of Jacoby Brissett, the rookie who quarterbacked New England to a victory over Houston last week in the first start of his career.

Brissett led Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) Dwyer to a football state championship as a junior – and a basketball state title as a senior. He finished second to Austin Rivers in Florida’s Mr. Basketball voting.

The more sports you play, the better athlete you become and the more attractive you could be to college coaches.

Mick McCabe’s Week 5 high school football rankings

Coach of the Week

Frankfort’s Matt Stapleton is this week’s Detroit Lions/Farm Bureau Insurance Michigan High School Coach of the Week. Last week Frankfort defeated Johannesburg-Lewiston, 58-12, to improve to 5-0 and No. 3 in Division 8. This is Stapleton’s 23th year in coaching and 19th season at Frankfort, where he is 147-60 with 16 state playoff appearances.

Son of Swami’s week 6 high school football picks

Wisconsin offensive lineman David Moorman.

When David Moorman was in middle school at Northville Christian School, he was too big for the Northville football league, so he had to find something else to do.

Soccer had no weight limit, so he took his 6-foot-4, 210-pound frame and embraced it.

Placed at center-defense, he was a massive obstacle in the back end and mobile enough to force a few problems.

“Every once in awhile I would accidentally go for the ball and knock someone over,” Moorman said this week. “I got a few yellow cards, nothing too bad. I think it actually helped me improve athletically.”

Now that Moorman is a major-college offensive lineman for Wisconsin who faces Michigan on Saturday at Michigan Stadium, things turned out pretty well.

Seidel: Prototypical hard-nosed Wisconsin team on tap for Michigan

But his memory of the soccer days might be a little more sanitized than others recall.

“He got kicked out of many games at that point,” his father, Joe, said. “There’s no doubt about that. David was 6-4 in sixth grade. He was just so big.”

Even though Joe played football at Eastern Michigan in 1986-89, David didn’t jump at football or any sport immediately.

At 4 or 5 years old, Joe saw a beautiful day with the rest of the family gone and asked David to play basketball outside.

The response?

‘No, Dad, I’d rather stay in and play Batman theater.’

In second grade, that all changed when David attended his first Lions game. Something stirred within him and he was hooked.

As he grew physically, so did his interest in the game, given an inside look at big-time football through a family friendship with then-Lions quarterback Jon Kitna. That connection continued through the years, and Moorman grew comfortable on the line, becoming a Free Press Dream Teamer as a senior at Northville in the 2014 season.

But the University of Michigan, 20 minutes from his home, had some interest under coach Brady Hoke until that faded when Hoke was fired in December.

Jabrill Peppers rewrites Michigan play: ‘Darndest thing I’ve seen’

Michigan State, where many family members attended, never offered him a scholarship.

While his parents would have appreciated the proximity, the decision has worked out well.

“At the time, Wisconsin offered me, and I fell in love with the culture and the people and couldn’t be happier with my decision,” said Moorman, now 6-5, 288.

Though he committed to the Badgers under previous coach Gary Andersen, it was a major boost when Paul Chryst got the coaching job, continuing the focus of the dominant offensive lines and running game.

The staff’s deliberate and encouraging coaching style suited Moorman perfectly.

On the field, he has taken a little time, but he’s still enthused.

His freshman year was delayed by a preseason broken foot, and he had a rude awakening during scout-team practices trying to handle outside linebackers Vince Biegel and Joe Schobert.

But that helped him mature, and now that he’s playing on special teams this season, getting into all four games so far, he can feel the difference.

He’s playing on the field goal and extra-point units and in the blowout win over Akron even got on the field as a reserve lineman.

Moorman understands the hierarchy and patience to get snaps. So, as the only state of Michigan player on the Badgers, he’s appreciating the chance to play in East Lansing (in last week’s 30-6 blowout) and Ann Arbor on consecutive weeks.

That meant hitting up his teammates for 14 MSU game tickets, helping his group of nearly 30 people who came to watch.

Joe was among them, appreciating their son back home.

“When he ran through that tunnel at Michigan State onto that field, Pam, his mom, and I, we looked at each other and we had kind of tears,” Joe said. “It’s pretty special. It’ll be the same this week at the Big House.”

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How Harbaughs convinced Cali TE Devin Asiasi to come to Michigan

A football lays on the field in view of the end zone at a high school.

No one was as excited as Tom Creguer for Shepherd High’s 2010 season.

The Bluejays went 5-4 a year earlier and were returning their starting quarterback, the entire offensive line and a standout wide receiver.

Their option offense was high-powered and had scored a combined 382 points during Creguer’s first two seasons as coach. Nothing was going to stop Shepherd from snapping its five-year playoff drought.

That’s why Creguer was surprised when Shepherd finished 1-8. After looking at the film, he noticed the Bluejays had lost seven games because of fumbles, especially those late in games.

“It was like divine intervention,” Creguer said. “You couldn’t have set us up any better for that season. We were just going to roll.

“For us to go 1-8, I would have bet my house against that, and I’m not a betting man. All of a sudden, I’m a bad coach, and everyone wondered what was wrong. I started watching film and looked at ball security.”

That season led Creguer to examine everything about the art of carrying the ball. He looked at its physics, the way the ball’s leather conforms to a ballcarrier’s arms, and the different pressure points and techniques coaches were incorrectly teaching players.

What resulted was the High and Tight football, a multisensory training ball that makes a beeping sound when the carrier is holding it correctly.

When a carrier holds the ball in their hands and against their forearm and chest correctly, the ball beeps to let them know it is high and tight — one of the best ways to prevent fumbling.

“I used to do the same stuff all the other coaches did,” said Creguer, who is a sales consultant for SportsAddix, a uniform company in Lowell.

Several youth, high school, college and professional programs across the nation have started training its players with High and Tight footballs.

#SNFonNBC #ball #security #HIGHandTIGHT #training #football @micheletafoyanbc has skills! HIGHandTIGHT.info https://t.co/TQ4pSyfAX1

—
HighandTight (@HighandTight1) September 27, 2016

Last Sunday, NBC Sunday Night Football sideline reporter Michele Tafoya demonstrated using a High and Tight football and talked about the benefits of using it. She explained how Dallas Cowboys rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott has used it to lessen his fumbling.

Creguer, now the running backs coach at Northwood, said the Timberwolves started using High and Tight footballs last year. They cut their fumbles in half, going from 14 in 2014 to seven in 2015.

He said the team has only two fumbles through four games this season.

High and Tight footballs are available for $170 each at highandtight.com.

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Grand Rapids Christian power forward/center Xavier Tillman wears an MSU hat after committing to the Spartans on Sept. 30, 2016.

GRAND RAPIDS – Xavier Tillman told his mother, his girlfriend and his trainer.

Even Tom Izzo had to wait and wonder where the Grand Rapids Christian senior would be heading for college.

Tillman, perhaps the best in-state senior in the class of 2017, chose Michigan State over Purdue and Marquette on Friday afternoon at a ceremony at his school with classmates and family watching.

“It’s just the easiest choice,” Tillman said of picking the Spartans. “They play the best competition, as well as they’re such great guys. And it’s close to home.”

Izzo continues to assemble a second straight high-profile recruiting class. The 6-foot-9, 270-pound Tillman, a four-star power forward/center, joins his AAU teammate Jaren Jackson Jr. as Izzo’s second recruit for 2017. Tillman is ranked the No. 75 player in the nation, according to ESPN.com. He’s ranked No. 85 by 247Sports.com, No. 86 by Rivals.com and unranked by Scout.com.

• Michigan State’s football and basketball recruits

Coaches can’t comment on specific high school targets until they sign a letter of intent. The early signing period is Nov. 9-16. Tillman planned to call Izzo after his announcement ceremony and media interviews.

It took Tillman until Sunday, he said, to pick MSU after being courted by Purdue’s Matt Painter and Marquette’s Steve Wojciechowski. The 17-year-old said it came down to Izzo’s family approach and the bond he saw between the Spartans when he made his visits to East Lansing.

• Tillman said last week he connected with Spartans

“I’m finally excited that he can rest easy and not have to worry about next year,” said Tanya Powell-May, Tillman’s mother. “We definitely looked at the family atmosphere, the kids and how they enjoy the program. I haven’t talked to any of the players’ moms, but you get to know the kids and you know they have a great support system, and they talk about their parents. The coaches, the alumni that comes back to practice and open gyms, you can see it’s really a great family atmosphere.”

Tillman played his first two years of high school basketball at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, where he averaged 15.5 points and 9.7 rebounds as a sophomore before transferring to Grand Rapids Christian before last season. He earned first-team Class A all-state honors last winter as a junior, averaging 16.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Eagles.

Grand Rapids Christian coach Mark Warners called Tillman “one of the most unselfish really good players I’ve seen.”

“In all the college coaches I talked to, the thing that sets him apart is his vision and his passing,” Warners said. “And he’s a great decision-maker on the floor. I don’t know what his ceiling is. I don’t even know if he’s done growing – I mean, the guy’s got size 18 shoes. … He’s such a big, strong (power forward) that if he can knock down a 15-footer consistently, he’s a big problem.”

Tillman said he appreciates how Izzo pushes his players, like he has had in both high school and on the AAU circuit.

“That’s what I do. On the court, off the court, I work hard,” Tillman said. “That’s my values. I base that around everything, working hard. When I noticed that’s all (the Spartans) do and they have fun working hard, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is the spot I want to be at.’”

MSU already landed 6-10, 255-pound power forward/wing Jackson earlier. He is ranked No. 15 in the nation by Rivals, 26th by ESPN and 27th by both 247Sports and Scout. He’s more of stretch-4 perimeter threat than Tillman.

Michigan State commit Jaren Jackson Jr. a stretch-4 in mold of Bosh

Tillman averaged 11.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game this summer for the Spiece Indy Heat AAU team, for which he and Jackson teammates.

Tillman said Jackson’s commitment “shocked” him, saying the La Lumiere School senior had talked often about Maryland over the summer. Like Jackson, Tillman also pointed to MSU junior point guard Tum Tum Nairn as a central figure in

“It helps that I know those guys,” Tillman said. “So I already know coming in that I’m not competing for a spot, I’m competing for a championship.”

Izzo has three scholarship remaining for 2017 after Jackson’s commitment. The Spartans will graduate Eron Harris, Gavin Schilling, Alvin Ellis III, Ben Carter and Matt Van Dyk after this season, which began today.

Izzo held his first official practice with his highest-ranked freshman class: swingman Miles Bridges, shooting guard Joshua Langford, point guard Cassius Winston and forward/center Nick Ward.

Tillman, who took his official visit to MSU in mid-September, said he wanted to learn what a typical day was like for one of Izzo’s players before he made his choice.

“It wasn’t like a regular visit. I didn’t eat fancy food or anything like that,” Tillman said. “I went to classes with Miles and Nick and watched them practice and kind of lived the life they live.”

In less than a year, it will become Tillman’s normal routine as well.

Here are some Xavier Tillman highlights.

TrueScout – Xavier Tillman

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.

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Celebrating Senior Night at Farmington Hills Harrison

Because of a scheduling quirk, Farmington Hills Harrison was playing its last home game Friday night against visiting Birmingham Groves, undefeated and atop the Oakland Activities Association White Division. Thus, Week 6 was the last time for Harrison to honor its seniors on a windy, rainy night.

And Groves made it a night to forget for the Hawks, using a one-yard TD pass from quarterback Beau Kewley to tight end Drew Sheckell in overtime to earn a 14-7 victory.

“That was just making a play,” said Kewley. “We hadn’t had a great game. Just finally making it work. Coach has faith in the players we have and we were due for a big play. I knew it was good when I let it go.”

• More scores from Friday’s action
• McCabe: Canton uses effective offense, tenacious defense to dominate

Defensive back Ryan Flaherty sealed the victory when he intercepted Noah Hendricks’ pass on the first play of Harrison’s possession in overtime.

“We had to take a chance,” said Groves coach Brendan Flaherty. “I have so much respect for Coach (John) Herrington. Every clinic I go to with him I’m taking notes. To clinch a playoff berth against a great program like Harrison is great for these kids.”

Groves improved to 6-0 and 4-0 in the OAA White while Harrison fell to 3-3, 2-2 and must hit the road to claim a playoff berth.

Birmingham Groves prays after big win over Farmington Hills Harrison

After scoring in overtime, Groves knew where Harrison wanted to go.

With Hendricks rolling right, Ryan Flaherty kept his eyes on Ovie Oghoufo, the team’s star receiver.

“I saw No. 17, one of the best players I ever played against, I saw him rolling to the right and I knew all game they wanted to get him the ball in the back of the end zone,” said Ryan Flaherty. “Once I saw that back pylon I read it and went there.

“We come here every summer and play seven-on-seven. … It feels great to beat them. It feels great to make the playoffs four years in a row, which has never been done at the school.”

Groves had the first scoring opportunity after a 65-yard run by Kewley, but Christian Sosa’s 36-yard field goal was blocked with 7:20 left in the first quarter.

Harrison returned the favor when Carl Hanpeter missed a 20-yard field goal with 2:29 left in the first.

An interception by Hendricks gave Harrison the ball at the Groves 44, and his 19-yard pass to Jeremy Cooper set up Guam Lee Jr.’s one-yard TD run to give the home team a 7-0 lead.

Specials teams and the weather came into play when Harrison got off a three-yard punt, setting up Groves at the Hawks’ 20.

After some tough inside running, Groves finally scored on a fourth down one-yard TD run by Ernest Allen with 14.6 seconds left in the first half to tie the game at 7-7.

Contact Perry A. Farrell: 313-222-2555 or pafarrell@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @farrellperry.