By John Raffel
Mount Pleasant’s football program is sending some talented players to the college ranks.
Oiler football coach Jason McIntyre said he has two players that have signed NCAA Division I letters of intent for scholarships. Billy Tithof is also a preferred walk-on at Northern Michigan University.
“We may have one or two other kids that will wind up walking on,” McIntyre said.
Kalebb Perry has signed with Western Michigan University, with the intent of playing as a wide receiver; Hunter Buczkowski has signed as a fullback with Central Michigan University. Both were three-year starters at Mount Pleasant.
“They are a part of three-straight playoff seasons and two district championships,” McIntyre said. “They had a lot of positive experiences this year. I knew they gave lot to our football program. I hope in return that our football program gave back a lot to them.
“Both of them are different – Kalebb is your pro-typical athlete: explosive, long and tremendous jumping ability. He broke our school record in the high jump as a freshman. Hunter is kind of your typical football player: He’s 6-foot, 225 pounds, hard-nosed, aggressive and a lot of things you’d love to have in a football player. They’re both a real joy to coach. They took on leadership roles for us this past season and I thought they did a fine job of that.”
McIntyre has been head coach for 10 seasons at Mount Pleasant.
“These are my first two Division I signings,” he said. “It’s an exciting time here at Mount Pleasant. I think they’re going to represent our community well at the next level. It’s kind of fun for us seeing that they’re going to rival schools. We joke about that and have had fun about that during the season. They’ve both been (verbally) committed to these schools prior to the football season.”
Billy Tithof, a starting 6’2”, 290-pound left tackle, is ready to play Division II football at Northern Michigan as a preferred walk-on.
“We’re excited about Billy’s opportunities as well,” McIntyre said. “He’s had some high expectations for himself. Now he has the opportunity to go out and prove himself as a football player up at Northern Michigan.”
Other Oilers might latch on to Division III programs.
“The Almas and Albions, those kind of schools are still doing some recruiting,” McIntrye said. “We graduated 27 seniors this year and they had a lot of potential the last few years. I don’t know how that will shake out yet.”