Article - High School Sports Scene

Kurt Gross had to battle hard in the preseason to secure the Beal City quarterback position. It was the one position that was basically up for grabs on a team that had a lot of starters returning.

While the 35-12 loss to Muskegon Catholic Central in the state final was disappointing to Gross, it was hard for the Aggies’ senior signal-caller to not reflect favorably on his team’s 13-1 season.

Beal City opened 61-0 over Sacred Heart, beat Clare 48-0, Pine River 64-13, Manton 77-0, Pinconning 74-0, and Marion 70-0 during the regular season and topped Mio 68-15 and St. Ignace 55-0 during their playoff run.

Against MCC, “offensively, we wanted to do what we do, run the ball off tackle, pass once in awhile, and catch them off guard,” Gross said. “They were bigger, faster, and stronger.”

Early in the game, Gross was hurt when he was hit by an MCC lineman and left the game for a few plays. “I was shaken up for a second, but then I felt better and knew that I had to get back in there,” he said.

“It was probably the best pass rush [Beal City faced all season],” said Gross.

Gross was 8 of 16 for 94 yards and one interception. For the season, he led an offense that put up a ton of points.

“Muskegon Catholic sends a lot of guys. They’re on a mission,” Gross said. “They knew what they were doing. Their DBs were covering well. They shifted over well. They were disciplined. That’s the best way to describe them.”

It was definitely not what the Aggies were hoping for when they embarked on a new season, following the disappointment of last year’s state final loss.

“They’re a great team, the best team we’ve faced all year, obviously,” Gross said. “We had some mistakes here and there, but they were the best overall team we’ve faced, I thought.”

Gross’ successful season at quarterback is among the reasons the Aggies made it to the state final.

“Coming into the season, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to play or not,” he said. “When I got the job, I had high expectations. Before that, I was just hoping to get the job…and then try to get to Ford Field.”

The most memorable game for Gross was the victory over Forest Park in the Superior Dome in Marquette when the Aggies secured a 34-18 state semifinal victory.

“When I was little, I went up there and watched them play and we got beat,” Gross said. “I always wanted to go back up to Crystal Falls and beat them.”

Gross is also on the basketball and baseball teams, which he hopes will allow him and his teammates get that elusive state title.

“[In baseball], we want to get back and take care of some unfinished business,’” Gross said.

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It wasn’t easy reflecting on a 35-12 loss to Muskegon Catholic Central in the Division 8 state title game. But running back and defensive back Ty Rollin had to admit it was a pretty good season and career at Beal City.

“It’s tough going down in the state championship two years in a row,” he said. “When we look back at the season, especially this season, we broke a lot of records. Everybody came so far and worked so hard in the off-season both seasons. No one has to hold their heads. Everybody worked their butts off in the off-season, and it showed, until this game I guess,” he continued. “We broke a lot of records at our school for a longstanding football program. Nobody has anything to hang their heads about.

“We gave ourselves a shot to win it all, and that’s what we’re looking to do,” he said. “[MCC’s] just a good team.”

The game plan for victory was simple, Rollin said.

“We knew we’d have to stop [quarterback Nick Holt and running back Alex Lewandoski],” Rollin said. “Offensively, we knew we’d have to stay on our blocks until the whistle and give what we’ve got 200 percent.”

Lewandoski ran for 218 yards and Holt rushed for 123 yards.

Lewandoski took the first play from scrimmage 78 yards for a touchdown. That play set the stage for the rest of the game, foreshadowing the Crusaders’ big plays.

“I thought we could still win, and none of us gave up,” Rollin said.

Rollin also plays for the basketball team that was regional champion last year and for the baseball squad that was runner-up in the state. Therefore, he still has a shot at that elusive state crown.

“It’s hard to lose,” he said. “It’s my third loss in a state championship game. It’s a [bad] feeling, but we still have a couple of shots. We’ll still do everything we can.”

The Aggies powered their way to an impressive 13-0 record to get to the title game, a fact the players won’t soon forget.

“It was an amazing season,” Rollin said. “Right off the get go, we scored 60 points and 70 a couple of times.”

They opened 61-0 over Sacred Heart Academy, beat Clare 48-0, Pine River 64-13, Manton 77-0, Pinconning 74-0, and Marion 70-0 during the regular season and topped Mio 68-15 and St. Ignace 55-0 during their playoff run.

MCC “is a good team. They came at us hard. We went 100 percent but didn’t come out on top,” Rollin said. “We had good initial blocks, but they move so hard to the ball, it’s tough to break one.”

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When you love something so much, it’s very difficult to leave.

Brother Rice ended the final season of the Al Fracassa era with a perfect 14-0 record and the Division 2 state title after a 38-21 victory over Muskegon November 29 at Ford Field.

Quarterback Alex Malzone was 20 of 24 for 263 yards and four touchdowns.

“When you’ve got good athletes, you can win,” Fracassa smiled. “They make you look good.”

“It feels great with this being Coach Fracassa’s last year,” said Malzone. “To give him a third one meant a lot to us and him, especially going undefeated, getting that Catholic [league] championship, and the state championship. It’s just a great feeling to send him out like that, great coach, great man.”

Fracassa is not leaving the cupboard bare for his successor. “We’re in good shape,” he said, noting that Malzone and wide receiver Grant Perry are coming back. “We have a few others coming back for a good nucleus. We had a very good JV team.”

Fracassa has won nine state titles, but this marked his first undefeated team in 30 seasons.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I had hoped for one. We had one in 1974 and 1977. In 1977, we had no players that got a scholarship to a Division I school. I call them my termites, because they’re so little. There’s good things about every team I’ve had. It was a great year, a great three years. Don’t know many coaches that can win a state championship three years in a row. It’s awesome. Learned that word from my kids.

“My wife never comes to games. She used to come, but she’d get so nervous she’d beat everyone up next to her,” Fracassa joked, “Today, she came with my daughter, who flew in from Omaha. It was nice for them to see us play and have a great victory.”

But Fracassa admitted it will be tough to leave. “I wish I was young enough to coach some more,” Fracassa said. “I’ll still love football. It’s done a lot for me. It’s given me a scholarship to Michigan State. I enjoyed being an athlete. I learned so much at Michigan State when we had a 28-game winning streak. Biggie Munn and Duffy Daugherty were my coaches. They taught me so much. They would say the difference between a good team and great team is something like a little extra effort. Biggie Munn used to to say that every day at practice.”

Fracassa said the realization that this was his last year after 57 years of coaching “has hit me during the whole season. When I’d go home every night, I couldn’t believe this was going to be my last year. I tried [not] to think of it. Football kept me busy. But it’s here and time for someone to take over.

“I had a great coaching staff. My defensive and offensive staff, five of those guys played for me. We were all together as a family. They’re great coaches. They did an outstanding job coaching my boys. They coach. They did most of the coaching. I did most of the yelling. That’s my job. Their job was to prepare the team and they did a fantastic job.”

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For the second straight time, a magnificent Beal City season ended in disappointment at the state finals.

The Aggies lost Nov. 29 to Muskegon Catholic Central 35-12 at Detroit’s Ford Field in the Division 8 title game.

“Obviously, it didn’t turn out the way we had hoped and prepared for,” said coach Lou Rau, who now has a 14-year record of 144-39. “We cleared a big hurdle by getting here two years in a row. We couldn’t quite finish it off with a W.”

The Aggies’ season ended at 13-1.

Catholic Central showed that it meant business on the first play from scrimmage when Alex Lewandoski scampered 78 yards for a touchdown. Beal City responded with a 55-yard drive and 2-yard touchdown run by Hayden Huber. The kick failed and MCC led 7-6.

The Crusaders scored on runs of 1 and 66 yards by Lewandoski in the second and third quarters and a 21-yard jaunt by Tommy Scott in the third for a 35-6 lead. Nick Holt scored for the Crusaders early in the fourth. Ryan Tilmann caught an 8-yard pass from Tucker Gross for a late-game Aggies touchdown.

It was 14-6 at halftime, and an interception by Nick Hoogerhyde stopped a Crusader drive. The Aggies seemed to have a little momentum.

“I thought if we made the right adjustments and could establish something on the ground and get things moving in the air, we’d be in great shape,” Rau said. “It was one of those things. It’s a big momentum killer when they have a big play and get a score and you don’t get that drive.”

Rau acknowledged that while his team had to grind it out for everything it got, MCC prospered with the big play.

“When you give up the first play of the game, that hurts, and you try to dig yourself out of the hole right off the bat,” Rau said. “It definitely changes what you do and how we do it.”

Two pass interceptions against Beal City hurt the Aggies, who had 263 total yards compared to 402 for MCC.

“There were some cleanup things we didn’t do,” Rau said. “We had some assignment errors here and there that were crucial. Obviously, they’re a great strong and fast team.”

Beal City’s passing game seemed to improve after the second quarter. “Starting out, we wanted to use as much possession time as we had,” Rau said. “Obviously as we got behind, we needed to complete more passes downfield.”

MCC was also blitzing its linebackers. “We didn’t pick them up,” Rau said. “To be honest, they didn’t start stunting until later. When they send more guys than you can block, it’s tough to pick them up.”

Gross was 8 of 16 for 94 yards and one interception. Ryan Tillman and Ty Rollin caught three passes apiece for 33 and 32 yards. Huber led in rushing with 52 yards, while Rollin had 44.

Even with the loss, it was still quite season for the Aggies. “We knew with [Lewandoski], they were going to be troublesome,” Rau said. “They ran our T offense to a tee. You had to play tight to what they usually do to try to make them go outside. When we couldn’t stop it up the gap, we were in trouble.”

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Mason competed in the swim and dive state finals for girls in Division 3 Nov. 22-23 at Holland and scored 10 points to take 29th place.

All the team’s points came in one event, the 200-yard freestyle, with a 12th-place finish in 1:43.67 with splits of 26.21, 25.94, 25.79 and 25.63. It was the team of Kiana Namvansy, Kaileigh Krupp, Rebecca Rogers and Rachel Johnson in 1:43.67.

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Haslett’s girls swim and dive team tied for 21st in the Division 3 meet Nov. 22-23 at Holland. Haslett scored 10 points in the 200-yard intermediate with Kate Lehman taking 12th in 2:18.78. Claire Beckett was 14th in 2:19.02. Lehman was 11th in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:02.42. Beckett took a sixth place in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:09.98.

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Saginaw Nouvel’s girls swim and dive team tied for 21st in the Nov. 22-23 Division 3 state meet at Holland. Elsa Borrello was 13th in the 200-yard intermediate in 2:18.88 for Nouvel. Makenna McCartney was sixth in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:14.72. McCartney was also 10th in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:58.92.

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Bay City John Glenn High School tied for 19th with 32 points Nov. 22-23 in the Division 3 swim and dive state finals at Holland. John Glenn was 13th in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:55.22 with the foursome of Kali Hartt, Kimble Darbee, Bailey Kellerman and Kelsey Curler. Hartt was 15th in the 50-yard freestyle in 25.65 seconds. Hartt was fifth in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.86. John Glenn was 13th in the 400-yard freestyle relay with Kimble Darbee, Bailey Kellerman, Kelsey Curler and Hartt in 3:47.49.

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DeWitt was 17th with 33 points Nov. 22-23 at Holland in the Division 3 state swim and dive finals at Holland. DeWitt was 16th in the 200-yard medley relay with Rosalie Yockey, Maddie Dingeley, Audra Kimble and Emily Hiefje in 1:56.75. Rosalie Yockey was fourth in 1:56.02. Maggie Pyett was fourth in 24.29 in the 50-yard freestyle. Yockey was third in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:07.75. Vandemark was ninth in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:16.73.

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Kurt Gross enjoys memorable year as Beal City quarterback

Ty Rollin reflects on Beal City football career

Legendary Brother Rice coach ends career with state championship

Beal City falls short in second title bid

Freeland opens season strong with 61-27 win over Valley Lutheran

Mason swim team scores 10 points at state meet

Haslett 21st at state swim meet

Saginaw Nouvel 21st at state swim meet

John Glenn 19th at state swim meet

DeWitt 17th at state swim meet