It’s the inaugural Ohio-Michigan Border Classic, and it will feature Michigan’s best vs. Ohio’s best on Saturday, June 14, at Donnell Stadium at the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio.
The Michigan High School Football Coaches Association announced its first Border Classic team that will be playing an Ohio all-star squad. All players will be members of the Class of 2014.
Local players who have been selected to the team team include quarterback Travis Smith of Ithaca, wide receiver Amari Cleman of New Lothrop, offensive guard Curtis Doyle of Alma, and wide receiver Malik Taylor of Montrose.
“We’re pretty excited,” said Larry Merx, executive director of the MHSFCA. “We’ll have a chance to build a lot of bridges between the two states.”
Head coach is Mike Zdebski and offensive line coach is Mike Weiskoph, both from Walled Lake Western. Zdebski is also coaching quarterbacks, tailbacks, and kickers. Other coaches are Ed Greeman of Harper Creek with the wide receivers, Tim Szegda and Brian Lemons of Father Gabriel Richard with the defensive line and linebackers, and Scott Merchant of Chippewa Valley with the defensive backs.
The game will replace the annual Michigan East-West all-star game, a summer fixture since 1981.
“This will take the place of our East-West game, because there are only two weekends in June you can have an all-star game and get players to come,” Merx said. “More and more of them report to their college [teams] in late June or early July. The only two weekends this year would be June 14, which we’re doing, and June 21. We can’t man two back-to-back all-star games. There’s not enough people and enough time to do two games back-to-back.
“Ohio has the ability because of their [governing] body, the Ohio High School Athletic Association. They can do their North and South game in the spring. But we can’t do that, because we can’t have an all-star game during the school year or kids would lose their eligibility for other sports. That’s an MHSAA rule.”
Merx said the MHSFCA was approached by the Ohio association in October 2012 to see if there was an interest in having an all-star game.
“We’re committed one year at a time,” Merx said. “We anticipate that we’ll host it in Michigan next year and it will be continuing.”
At one time, MHSFCA all-star games were staged at Division I sites such as Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and Central Michigan University. Recent years have seen the game at Division II Grand Valley State University and Division III Alma College.
“The NCAA has a rule that prohibits Division I schools from hosting any high school-related event that’s not associated with a specific high school, non-scholastic,” Merx said. “So we have to go to DII. We’re trying to get that rule changed.”
Profits from the game will go to the scholarship funds of the respective organizations.
The Michigan East-West all-star game format involved twice as many players and coaches, and Merx said there was plenty of discussion about the change.
“We hope to be able to get back to that,” he explained. “But there’s also a lot more regional games. There’s a Muskegon area all-star game. There’s an Upper Peninsula all-star game. There’s one in Monroe County. Kids still get that all-star experience. We’d like to have that statewide experience. At this time, we can’t do both.”
This will mark the first time Michigan football all-stars have played all-stars from another state. “Ohio is the first to approach us,” Merx said.
The MHSFCA selected the six all-star coaches, who then recruited the players, he noted. “There was a lot of research done to do it,” Merx said.
Smith, who led Ithaca to its fourth straight 14-0 season and state title, will have one last high school game prior to going to Wake Forest University. The thought of playing in the game excites him.
“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “It’s top competition in the Midwest. It’ a good feeling to know they picked me to compete in one of the most competitive football games you could compete in in the Midwest. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”