BIRMINGHAM – Oftentimes, high school football playoffs games can be decided on a couple of key plays.

Birmingham Groves picked up two major plays Friday night and a lot of little ones in recording a 36-22 Division 2 district finals triumph over visiting Warren Cousino.

Jeremiah Whitley had an 85-yard rushing touchdown and Dominic Taylor added a 62-yard pick-six to go along with a sack and eight tackles in leading the Falcons to their sixth district title in program history.

It was Taylor’s interception returned to the endzone that broke the camel’s back, as Cousino was trying to put together a game-tying drive. 

“So basically we have been going over that all week about there passes. We have a great scout team – the whole team played great defense. And I just baited him (the quarterback) on that interception,” said Taylor, one of just three returning starters this season. “I just stayed there in the middle, caught the ball here, brought the ball to my chest and took it to the house. That was a game-changer.

“We might have lost a lot of guys that graduated. But our seniors have been together since we were sophomores and we had to realize the great guys leave – great classes leave and we knew we had to step up as seniors,” added Taylor. “We’ve been playing football long enough to step up. We want to make a name for ourselves and we wanted to win another district championship and go even further this season.”

After starting 2-3, the Falcons (8-3) have now won six straight games.

Veteran Groves coach Brendan Flaherty saw his young team really start to mature by mid-season and the Falcons have taken flight this year into the regional finals.

“Judah Skobie got that huge block (on the long) touchdown run by Whitley and Dominic had that interception returned for a touchdown. You talk about guys making big plays,” smiled Flaherty. “This was a tight football game and we knew they had some players. They are a great team. It’s the second round of the playoffs and there’s no weak teams at this stage. They’re all good teams now. Cousino tested our mettle a little bit and they are well-coached and I have a ton of respect for what they’ve been able to do.

“But our guys have matured a lot this season. We did start 2-3,” continued Flaherty. “I just think that these guys mostly had new roles this season and it took some time. But we made plays tonight that we might not have early in the season. We had those two long scores, had some nice drives, tipped some passes (in the secondary) and just did a lot of the little things it takes to win a great football game.”

Groves racked up 350 total yards in the slugfest Friday – 310 on the ground and 40 through the air – and had three rushing touchdowns, one passing touchdown and one interception for another score in downing the high-powered Patriots, who came in averaging 33.1 points a game.

The Falcons never trailed and advanced to the regional finals for the second straight year and sixth time since 2016. Groves – which won regional championships in 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2024 – will visit fellow powerhouse Detroit King for the regional title next weekend.

Groves went ahead for good when Whitley scored on a 6-yard run with 6:12 left in the third for a 29-22 advantage in the tight game.

With Cousino (7-4) driving as part of a 12-play series, it was Taylor who leapt in front of a Cousino receiver while quarterback Brick Sandridge was being hit and picked off the pass before racing 62 yards for the score and a commanding 36-22 lead with 1:46 still left in the third quarter.

The Groves defense made that 14-point lead stand down the stretch, as Cousino had its last two drives stall out on downs.

Cousino finished its best season in several years with a 7-4 record and a berth in the district finals. Coach Brandon Genette and his staff have quickly turned the program around with a respectable 24-16 record over four seasons (2022-2025).

Before then, Cousino finished 0-9 during the 2021 season and actually forfeited their last four games and scored just 42 points that season.

“The seniors were freshman when we started the rebuild and they stuck around to help us make the district finals this year,” said Gennette. “The previous four years before I got here, Cousino was just 3-31 in that time span. I can’t thank these seniors enough, really all four senior classes, for relaying our foundation and helping us become a very competitive team again. It’s been a long time.

“We lost to a very good Groves team with a lot of tradition. They were a play away from getting to the state finals last season and they are always making runs it seems,” added Gennette. “We knew this would be a tight game and I think it just boiled down to them making a couple of more plays than we did tonight. Hats off to them.”

On just the second play from scrimmage, Whitley broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and also picked up a huge block from Scobie and raced 85 yards for the score and a 7-0 advantage, as Groves never trailed in the game.

After Cousino countered with a swift four-play drive capped by Daniel Carter’s 38-yard touchdown sprint, Groves went ahead again on its next drive.

The Falcons jolted ahead 15-7 with 6:10 still left in the first quarter when quarterback LeVelle Shannon hit Joshua Hammonds on a 15-yard strike down the middle and Whitley scored on the ensuing two-point conversion run.

The conversion was set up by an offsides call against Cousino.

The Patriots did claw to with 15-14 with 2:15 left in the first stanza when Sandridge scored on a 1-yard plunge.

Groves again took the lead when Whitley scored on a 5-yard touchdown sweep around left with 10:02 remaining in the second quarter and Gage Watters drilled his second extra point for the 22-14 halftime lead.

Cousino finally evened the score in the third quarter after a nine-play drive ended with Sandridge connecting with Julian Hayes with a 15-yard scoring toss where Hayes displayed his best version of shake and bake around a pair of defenders along the left since to tie the game at 22-22 with 9:42 remaining in the third frame.

That would be the last time the Patriots would score this season, as Cousino finished with a 353-212 scoring edge this season – the third time in four seasons the Patriots reached the postseason after years of misery.

Whitley finished with 25 carries for 238 yards and his three rushing touchdowns. Shannon finished 3-of-7 for 40 yards passing with six carries for 25 yards on the ground and his one touchdown run.

Hammonds had two catches for 35 yards and also recorded six tackles and two sacks for the Falcons. Taylor added a pass breakup to aid his strong night. Connor Eldredge and Kam Smith both chipped in with four tackles apiece for Groves.

Cousino still racked up 340 total yards on the night. LJ Hayes had eight catches for 101 yards and Sandridge was 17-for-36 passing for 204 yards, but his receivers dropped five passes and the Groves defense did a great job breaking up several passing plays in the secondary. Carter had 19 carries for 127 yards to lead Cousino’s running game.

MARYSVILLE – Marysville won the Macomb Area Conference Blue Division tournament title to earn a share of the overall crown with Utica.

The Vikings collected a team score of 415 at the play-six, count-four tournament at Marysville Golf Course on Tuesday, topping the seven-school field and winning the tournament by four strokes over Utica (419).

Utica finished 10-1 in dual matches to win that portion of the standings and finished up with 13 total points. Marysville finished second in dual matches but won the tournament to also finish up with 13 total points. 

St. Clair, third in dual at 9-3, finished third at the tournament (444), followed by Clawson (472), Fraser (501), Madison Heights Lamphere (501) and Port Huron (534).

St. Clair recorded 10 points to finish third in the overall standings, while Clawson, Fraser and Lamphere all finished with six points and to tie for fourth and Port Huron was seventh with just two points.

At the tournament, Clawson junior Joslynn Ramirez was medalist with an 83, while St. Clair senior Sofia Russel finished second with an 89. Marysville senior Samantha Allen claimed third with a 90, while Utica senior Dalaney O’Connor (101), Marysville sophomore Kaycie Zaunner (104), Utica senior Miley Reaves (104), Marysville junior Raegan Horan (106), Utica senior Cali Kaczmar (106), Utica senior Riley Burton (108), Lamphere senior Ava Denmark (110) and St. Clair junior Delaney McDonald (114) also finished in the top 10 in the medalist standings.

Marysville freshman Emma Hurley (115), St. Clair junior Ashlynn Stockwell (115), Fraser junior Hailey Beauchamp (119), Utica senior Violet Smith (121) and Clawson freshman Addie Reynolds (121) also finished in the top 15.

CHSL CENTRAL DIVISION >> Toledo (Ohio) St. Ursula Academy dominated the talent-rich CHSL Central Division this season and wrapped it all up with a conference championship.

St. Ursula won the conference tournament Tuesday at the Flint Golf Course, putting together a play-six, count-four team score of 305 to win in convincing fashion over many Michigan programs with storied histories.

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood finished 15 strokes behind at 320, while Birmingham Marian (335), Macomb Lutheran North (354), Toledo Notre Dame Academy (354) and Farmington Hills Mercy (357) followed suit.

St. Ursula had three finishers in the top five, four in the top seven and six golfers in the top 15, with the last two finishers not even contributing to the team score.

St. Ursula senior Sydney Socha won the medalist title with a eve-par round of 72. Mercy junior Megan Guerrera was second (75) and St., Ursula junior Olivia Rodgers (76) and Cranbrook-Kingswood sophomore Sintine Charnelet tied for third (76). St. Ursula senior and Toledo Notre Dame Academy snior Macy Valentine tied for fifth (77), while St. Ursula freshman Mia McIntyre (80), Cranbrook-Kingswood junior Josie Vardenhaute (80), Cranbrook-Kingswood senior Sydney Behnke (81) and Marian senior Pippa Dawson (82) followed in the top 10.

Elsewhere, St. Ursula sophomore Kopelyn Kessler (83), Cranbrook-Kingswood senior Harlet Cortez (83), St. Ursula senior Kennedy Donnelly (84), Cranbrook-Kingswood senior Alina Vuan (84) and Marian junior Gabby Wenzel (84) were also top-15 finishers in the deep field of competitors.

Lutheran North was the sole Macomb County school at the event and were led by freshman Nina Hanley in 18th (86), seniors Gabby Cardenas (88) and Maria Fortuna (88) and senior Victoria Ratajczyk (92) who all finished in a competitive top 25.

WARREN – Sometimes soccer can boil down to finishing and not finishing scoring opportunities.

It’s that simple.

Novi Detroit Catholic Central only had eight shots on frame Thursday, but scored on four of them and ended up earning a 4-1 victory over host Warren De La Salle in Catholic High School League Central Division play.

The Shamrocks (7-2-2, 6-0-0), listed as honorable mention in the Division 1 polls, led 2-1 at the half before tacking on a pair of insurance tallies in the second half.

“We started off a little bit slow. But once we scored we were alright. We took advantage of a little bit of misfortune on them (with the two rebound goals). Their goalkeeper made the initial save but we followed (the shots) up and were able to score on them” noted Catholic Central coach Gene Pulice. “Thaier still has them doing a good job. And yes we did finish our opportunities tonight. I think it’s one of those things that if you can take the wind out of their sails a little. Bit. The first team to score helps you achieve that. They cut it down to 2-1 but we pulled it back a little bit in the second half with two more goals and started to get things done. “

More importantly, CC now had a two-game lead on Detroit U-D Jesuit and a three-game lead on De La Salle in the seven-school Central Division and are now comfortably in the driver’s seat in terms of winning the division and grabbing the No. 1 seed for the CHSL Bishop Tournament in October.

“We’re doing pretty good so far, and in the Catholic League they always pitch that we are one of the best leagues in the state out there. It’s a tough league and it’s a battle every game,” said Pulice. “Sometimes it’s better lucky than good. You have to respect all the teams in this league.”

Catholic Central scored the first two goals off of rebound opportunities. The first came with 24:12 still left in the first half when Luke Perry was near the doorstep to knock it home after Zachary Zahr’s first shot was knocked away by De La Salle backup goalkeeper Giovanni Vitale.

The Shamrocks scored the next goal in similar fashion when Grant Mooradian’s blast from the top of the box was knocked down by Vitale but this time it was Zahr in the right place at the right time to knock in the rebound with 19:51 remaining in the first half.

Andrew Corder finally got the Pilots untracked when he found some open real estate near the upper left corner of the box and uncorked a banger from 18 yards out with 17:27 left in the first half. It was Corder’s 21st goal of the season just one month into the campaign.

But Catholic Central had four opportunities in the second half and two were converted by Mooradian. The first came with 34:58 remaining in the game when Peters found Mooradian unmarked in the middle of the box and ripped a 14-yard banger into the net.

Mooradian later converted a penalty kick with 28:06 left to cap the scoring and open up a three-goal lead.

Defensively, Catholic Central did a great job on limiting Corder’s chances, allowing him only three shots on goal. Goalkeeper Jake Sievers turned aside a laser shot by Corder midway through the second half and finished with four saves for CC.

Catholic Central held a 12-11 overall shots advantage in the somewhat evenly- game and also had a 8-5 shots on goal advantage in the contest. De La Salle held a 4-2 edge off corners.

De La Salle, ranked third in the state in Division 2, slipped to 10-3-0 overall and 3-3-0 in league play. Although the Pilots are essentially out of the Central Division race and only Detroit U-D Jesuit can possible catch the Shamrocks.

“Hats off to CC. The better team won tonight. They outplayed us and scored on their opportunities,” said Thaier Mukhtar, whose team in the defending Division 2 state champion and reached the state semifinals in 2023. “They should win the (Central) and we can’t catch him. But there is still a lot for us to play for. We have to get better and get ready for the state tournament and try to go as far as we can. The ultimate goal is to win the state championship.

“This wasn’t one of our better games,” added Mukhtar. “We just got outplayed by CC tonight. We’ll bounce back.”