Best Season Ever: Morley-Stanwood Living The Dream MORLEY, Mich. (WZZM)- The Morley-Stanwood Mohawks are the best high school football team much of West Michigan knows nothing about. And that's changing by the week.
The Mohawks are having the greatest football season in school history, with a perfect 10-0 record and a division final matchup with Muskegon Heights this Friday night. "Phenomenal," second-year head coach Clark Huntey calls this year's experience. "We knew we had good personnel returning (from a 5-4 squad in 2008). We were really confident with the talent coming back that we could compete for a league championship. But this has been phenomenal."
Morley-Stanwood High School, which sits about 50 miles north of Grand Rapids, has never won more than seven games in a football season. And in a six-year stretch from 2002-2007, the Mohawks won a combined ten games. But Huntey, who coached the current seniors as junior varsity coach two years ago, has turned the team into a legitimate contender for a division five state championship this year.
The top player on the squad is junior linebacker and fullback Tyler Havens. He led the Mohawks in tackles this season and is the team's leading rusher with more than 1,000 yards gained. He rushed for 269 yards in the playoff opener against North Muskegon. Huntey says Havens will need to have another big night against Muskegon Heights in round two Friday. Heights' team speed will test Morley-Stanwood -- Huntey says the Tigers remind him of Big Rapids, whom the Mohawks narrowly beat this year 24-21, the Cardinals' only loss. Big Rapids is also still alive in the playoffs, it faces Kingsford in round two.
Join Tom Clyde, Dan Harland and Dave Solano for "13 On Your Sidelines" Friday night at 11:15 for highlights of Muskegon Heights against Morley-Stanwood and eight other district final matchups.
11/5/2009 9:36:11 PM