38.5°F  Website Login | Grosse Pointe FarmsNovember 2, 2011South football falls to Detroit MLK in playoff opener
By Jon Malavolti
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Grosse Pointe South senior Axel Ivers carries the ball during a game earlier this season. The Blue Devils wrapped up a successful season after falling in an Oct. 28 playoff game.
Grosse Pointe South senior Axel Ivers carries the ball during a game earlier this season. The Blue Devils wrapped up a successful season after falling in an Oct. 28 playoff game.
South senior Kevin Reck (12) prepares to make a catch during a game earlier this season. The Blue Devils’ senior class departs as one of the program’s most successful in decades.
South senior Kevin Reck (12) prepares to make a catch during a game earlier this season. The Blue Devils’ senior class departs as one of the program’s most successful in decades.
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There won’t be any magical run to the state semifinals this season. But Grosse Pointe South football coach Tim Brandon is nonetheless impressed with the effort and production of his squad this year.
“Absolutely I am proud,” the coach said following the season-ending 46-7 loss to Detroit Martin Luther King Oct. 28 in a Division 2 pre-district playoff game.
The Blue Devils wrap up the season 6-4 overall.
“That’s a pretty good team, and a good player,” Brandon said of the 7-3 Knights, who are led by senior running back Dennis Norfleet, a highly ranked prospect who has verbally committed to playing at the University of Cincinnati.
Brandon was especially proud of the fact that, despite facing adversity in the form of injuries to key players and a very tough schedule, the Blue Devils persevered. South finished 4-1 in the Macomb Area Conference Blue Division, defeated rival Grosse Pointe North for a second straight season and made the playoffs for a third consecutive year — the last a feat the program hasn’t accomplished since the late 1980s.
“With that schedule, and losing those kids, that was still a heck of a accomplishment to be in second place of the Blue, beat North and make the playoffs — still a very successful season.
“With all that going on, with losses and injuries, the kids came to practice and practiced hard every day,” Brandon said. “I’m proud of them and impressed by their attitude.”
The coach said he’ll be sorry to see the senior class depart after being a catalyst behind the turnaround and recent success of the program. The seniors went 8-1 as freshmen, 9-0 on JV and 8-5 last year during the run to the state semis, according to Brandon.
“This is an outstanding football class, a special class with talented players,” he said “We’re losing of lot of great, skilled kids.”
Brandon said the group was tightly knit off the field, and that strong chemistry was evident on the field during games and practice, another key to their success.
“They were also great kids,” the coach said. “One of those groups that’s a special group, played for each other, worked hard for each other.”
As they move on, Brandon is hoping the legacy the seniors left will be carried on by the underclassmen who learned and battled alongside them.
“The great thing is, we’ve got kids who have played with them for a couple years, and hopefully, continue the progress that we’ve made,” the coach said. “Hopefully, (the program) keeps going with the momentum they were partially responsible for.”
