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LL-H’s Heikkinen named to Division 7-8 All-State team

Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Peter Heikkinen was selected to the Associated Press Division 7-8 All-State team. (Photo submitted to Daily Mining Gazette)

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — There’s no place like home.

After spending the first two years of his high school career at Detroit Catholic Central, junior quarterback Austin Brown decided he wanted to play for his hometown team, the Madison Heights Madison.

The decision proved to be a good one, as Brown led the Eagles to their first regional championship since 2007 and earned himself The Associated Press Division 7-8 high school football Player of the Year honors.

“I have known a bunch of these guys growing up and have had a great relationship with them, so it was easy to come in and be part of this team,” Brown said of joining Madison, where his father Jimmy Brown is the athletic director. “There was no added pressure. I was coming home, so it was pretty relaxing. It just felt right.”

Brown gave Madison a spread passing attack that was difficult to defend. He threw for 3,062 yards and 33 touchdowns while also rushing for over 300 yards and seven touchdowns, leading the Eagles to the Division 7 semifinals.

“We knew with someone like Austin, our program was going to go to the next level,” Madison coach James Rogers said. “We have always had talent and we have always had athletes, but we had lacked in a real quarterback the last few years. Having a player like Austin at quarterback has really allowed us to showcase what kind of talent we have had at Madison.”

Brown helped lead Detroit Catholic Central to the Division 1 state finals in 2016, but suffered a broken leg in the semifinals. The long rehab and the new team helped him find the motivation to come back stronger in 2017.

“That got me hungry to really have a great year and try to lead Madison to a championship,” Brown said of the injury. “There’s not a lot of freshmen or sophomores that get an opportunity to play that deep into the playoffs, especially at the Division 1 level. It gave me a lot of confidence, especially as we got deeper into the playoffs.”

– – –

Locally: Linebacker Peter Heikkinen of Lake Linden-Hubbell was named to the Division 7-8 Associated Press All-State Football team.

After sitting out the first two games because of an injury, Heikkinen led the Lakes on defense with 81 tackles (13.5 per game).

Joining Brown as a first team quarterback is Tate Hausbeck of Saginaw Nouvel. The first team running backs are Drew Stout of Carson City-Crystal, Wyatt Cool of Mendon, Griffin Kelly of Frankfort and Cal Gilling of Gaylord St. Mary’s.

Brown’s top target, Zyaire Croskey of Madison Heights Madison joins Evan Barton of Fulton-Middleton, Joe Roth of Homer and Jeff Rahilly of Newberry as the first team receivers.

Breckenridge’s Kenyon Story, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker’s Cody Brownell, Ottawa Lake Whiteford’s Lucas Tesznar, Pewamo-Westphalia’s Jimmy Lehman, Decatur’s Anthony Hicks, Muskegon Catholic Central’s Jacob Martinez, Madison Heights Madison’s Chauncey Ernest, New Lothrop’s Jayson Tunstall, Frankfort’s Matthew Stefanski and Alcona’s Devon Mills make up the all state linemen on the first team.

Eric Cassiday of Beaverton, Hunter Smith of Breckenridge, Alex Wrobel of Saginaw Nouvel, Harley McCaskey of Morenci, Reece Schreckengust of Saugatuck, Daniel Macks of Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest and Peter Heikkinen of Lake Linden Hubbel were selected as first team linebackers.

First team defensive backs are Xander Smith of Cassopolis, Cameron Martinez of Muskegon Catholic Central and Adam Baker of Adrian Lenawee Christian.

Bradley Dunn of Saugatuck, Nathan Vickery of Climax-Scotts and Tyrese Hunt-Thompson of Cassopolis were all named first team specialists while Mason Ruddy of New Lothrop was the first team kicker and Alex Villegas of Elk Rapids earned first team punting honors.

Michael Pruchnicki of Clarkston Everest Collegiate is the coach of the year.

Voting was by a panel of AP member sportswriters from around the state.

The 2017 Division 7-8 Associated Press All-State football team, selected by a panel of 10 Michigan sports writers:

——

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Austin Brown, Madison Heights Madison, Jr.

——

FIRST-TEAM ALL-STATE

QUARTERBACKS

Austin Brown, Madison Heights Madison, Jr.

Tate Hausbeck, Saginaw Nouvel, Sr.

RUNNING BACKS

Drew Stout, Carson City-Crystal, Jr.

Wyatt Cool, Mendon, Sr.

Griffin Kelly, Frankfort, Sr.

Cal Gilling, Gaylord St. Mary’s, Sr.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Evan Barton, Fulton-Middleton, Sr.

Joe Roth, Homer, Sr.

Zyaire Croskey, Madison Heights Madison, Sr.

Jeff Rahilly, Newberry, Sr.

LINEMEN

Kenyon Story, Breckenridge, Sr.

Cody Brownell, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker, Sr.

Lucas Tesznar, Ottawa Lake Whiteford, Sr.

Jimmy Lehman, Pewamo-Westphalia, Sr.

Anthony Hicks, Decatur, Sr.

Jacob Martinez, Muskegon Catholic Central, Sr.

Chauncey Ernest, Madison Heights Madison, Jr.

Jayson Tunstall, New Lothrop, Jr.

Matthew Stefanski, Frankfort, Sr.

Devon Mills, Lincoln Alcona, Sr.

LINEBACKERS

Eric Cassiday, Beaverton, Sr.

Hunter Smith, Breckenridge, Jr.

Alex Wrobel, Saginaw Nouvel, Sr.

Harley McCaskey, Morenci, Sr.

Reece Schreckengust, Saugatuck, Sr.

Daniel Macks, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest, Sr.

Peter Heikkinen, Lake Linden Hubbell, Sr.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Xander Smith, Cassopolis, Sr.

Cameron Martinez, Muskegon Catholic Central, Soph.

Adam Baker, Adrian Lenawee Christian, Soph.

SPECIALIST

Bradley Dunn, Saugatuck, Jr.

Nathan Vickery, Climax-Scotts, Sr.

Tyrese Hunt-Thompson, Cassopolis, Jr.

KICKER

Mason Ruddy, New Lothrop, Sr.

PUNTER

Alex Villegas, Elk Rapids, Sr.

COACH

Michael Pruchnicki, Clarkston Everest Collegiate

——

SECOND TEAM ALL-STATE (nominees receiving two or more votes)

Running Back

Nick Perry, Cass City; Logan Murphy, Ottawa Lake Whiteford; Taven Haskins, Saranac

Wide Receiver

Noah Johnston, Vestaburg

Linemen

Mike Hall, Bark River Harris; Ben Handley, Gaylord St. Mary’s; Devin Koscielniak, Johannesburg-Lewiston; Logan Thompson, Elk Rapids

Linebacker

Anthony Sweeney, Ubly

Defensive Back

Brendan Zeien, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart Academy; Matt Loney, Frankfort

Kicker

Alec Thelen, Pewamo-Westphalia

Coach

Jason Mensing, Ottawa Lake Whiteford; Aaron Seiser, Beaverton

——

HONORABLE MENTION

Quarterback

Carter Staley, Breckenridge; Brennan Wissner, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker; Seth Stratton, Vestaburg; Caden Zeien, Au Gres; Carter Pritchard, Evart; Thomas Eitniear, Ottawa Lake Whiteford; Jordan Sherman, Homer; Josh Siminski, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian; Grant Burgess, Clarkston Everest Collegiate; Avery Moore, New Lothrop; Zack Alkire, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest; George Sevarns, Newberry.

Running Back

Brendan Hamilton, Cass City; Kollin Sharrar, Beal City; Nate Taylor, Beaverton; Malik Ray, Hudson; Nate Hagan, White Pigeon; Jalen Shafer, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian; Franklin Ulrich, Vermontville Maple Valley; Jordan Willson, Homer; Austin Mosher, Union City; Jayce Brockenhagen, West Iron County; Zach Noren, Lake City; Jayden Perry, Manton; Tim Hutchinson, Lincoln Alcona

Wide Receiver

Bryce Thelen, Pewamo-Westphalia; Jacob Ball, Lake City

Linemen

Kamryn Gordon, Au Gres; Wyatt Sackett, Blanchard Montabella; Cody Finney, Coleman; Camron Peruski, Ubly; Ben Kreger, Sandusky; Brayden Smith, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker; Jarrett Waters, Hudson; Micah Visser, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian; Ty Tjoelker, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian; Isaiah Schafer, Pewawo-Westphalia; Jeremy Hall, Homer; Bowen Clingenpeel, Addison; Tony Solis, White Pigeon; Jared Bengston, Muskegon Catholic Central; David Carlson, Newberry.

Linebacker

Josh Dorn, Evart; Daniel Smith, Carson City-Crystal; Dale Farrell, Beal City; Matt Craft, Fulton-Middleton; Noah Nordlie, Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary; Donovan Underwood, Addison; Jacob Kretzschmer, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker; Mikki Feister, Mendon; Reece McConnell, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian; Ben Bigelow, New Lothrop; Eamon Curren, Gaylord St. Mary’s.

Defensive Back

Justin Moore, Vermontville Maple Valley; Hunter Lovell, Mendon; Sebastian Castro, White Pigeon.

Specialist

Colton Hyble, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart Academy; Mic Munderloh, St. Louis; Rique Hernandez, Merrill.

Punter

Gabe Robinson, Reese

Coach

Chad Zeien, Au Gres; Steve VerBurg, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker; Scott Cuttrell, Cass City; Marty Martin, Vermontville Maple Valley; Kyle Smith, Lake City; Keith Schulte, Elk Rapids; James Rogers, Madison Heights Madison; Aaron Munderloh, St. Louis.

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