Local 4 Game of the Week: Harper Woods vs Birmingham Groves

This week’s Local 4 high school football Game of the Week is a battle between two heavyweights in the Oakland Activities Association White division.

The Birmingham Groves Falcons will host its homecoming game against the Harper Woods Pioneers Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.

Groves enters this game coming off a 35-7 win against Rochester.

The Falcons opened the season with a 35-14 victory against University of Detroit Jesuit. The team followed with a 28-13 win versus West Bloomfield in week two and a 34-6 win against Stoney Creek in week three. Birmingham Groves Head Coach Brendan Flaherty says his team will have to adjust quickly to Harper Woods’ size and athleticism.

“Our adjustments will come early in the game, just trying to adjust to their size and speed,” said Flaherty.

The team returns 10 starters with several of them being linemen. Flaherty says his team’s experience has been an advantage for them this season.

“We’ve got a number of guys that played a lot of varsity football so that experience helps,” said Flaherty. “There is no substitute for experience so I think that has really propelled us.”

The offense is led by senior quarterback Ryan Counts, returning running backs Mario Campo-Lavisco and Noah Sanders and senior offensive tackle Avery Gach.

At 6′5″and 290lbs, Gach is the number two ranked recruit in Michigan and is committed to University of Michigan.

“He’s a lead by example guy,” said Flaherty on Gach. “He’s a very intense guy between the hashes. He just brings it every single time.”

“His enthusiasm and effort is contagious for our guys not only on the offense but the defense as well,” said Flaherty.

The defense is led by a band of senior defensive backs including cornerbacks Chris Little (Grand Valley State commit) and Jalen Brooks and safety Teddy Abbot.

Little is a skilled ball-hawk who is great at forcing turnovers. Against Detroit Jesuit, Little caught the 18th interception of his career which broke the all-time school interceptions record. Little picked off Stoney Creek’s quarterback for his 19th career interception.

Little also plays receiver on offense and scored a 33-yard touchdown reception against Rochester.

Against Rochester, Abbot became the third player in the history of the MHSAA to have three interceptions in a single quarter. All three of his interceptions happened in the first quarter and one of them was a returned for a touchdown.

“They’re three-year varsity starters so that experience I was talking about earlier, that just really pays off,” said Flaherty on Little and Abbot. “Those guys do a great job communicating and getting us lined up correctly,” said Flaherty. “They truly are like coaches on the field.”

The Falcons are looking to bounce back from a disappointing end to last season after losing 56-49 in the first round against rival, Seaholm.

Flaherty showed a lot of respect for Harper Woods Head Coach Rod Oden and welcomes the challenge of facing the defending Division 4 state champions.

“Harper Woods is a defending state champion team,” said Flaherty. “They’re coming to our place so we’ve got our hands full. They’re a great team. Coach Oden is a fantastic coach, been around forever, he’s a hall of famer so we’ve got our work cutout for us. We just appreciate having the competition come in here. Either way, by the end of the night I think we’ll be a better team for playing them.”

Harper Woods enters this game coming off a 28-21 win versus Stoney Creek.

The Pioneers opened the season with a 42-21 win versus Redford Union. The team followed with a 38-0 loss to Oxford in week two and a 45-12 loss to Catholic in week three. Harper Woods Head Coach Rod Oden says his team will need to limit mistakes in this game.

“They’re a very talented team and do a lot of things well so we’re trying to eliminate our mistakes,” said Oden. “This week has been a lot about fixing what’s wrong with us in preparation for this game and I think we’ve done a lot of that. But to get ready for them we got to eliminate big plays and be opportunistic when we have the ball.”

The offense is led by junior quarterback Nate Rocheleau, senior running backs Donald Adams and Colby Bailey(Ferris State commit) along with sophomore receiver Dakota Guerrant who had a phenomenal freshman campaign.

Rocheleau, Adams and Bailey are not playing in this game due to injury. Guerrant, who is a former youth league quarterback has been taking snaps at the position along with senior quarterback Donavan Phillips. Oden says his team has dealt with the injury bug with a ‘next man up’ mentality.

“They have a championship pedigree,” said Oden. “These guys are the defending state champs. They’ve dealt with that as most professional athletes would. The next man is up and if you stay ready, you ain’t got to get ready.”

“We’ve made it a point of emphasis the last couple seasons to build depth,” said Oden. “That’s what’s evident right now. Our depth is showing up.”

Guerrant is the number two ranked 2027 recruit in Michigan and has several college offers including Michigan, Ohio State and Tennessee.

“I’m expecting him to dominate,” said Oden. “Week in and week out be the best player on the field. I expect him to play his absolute best each and every outing, to get better in his route running and his progressions as a quarterback and to also assist us on third down situations on defense. Dakota’s kind of our swiss army knife. We’re expecting big things from him universally, all around the program.”

The defense is led by senior linebacker Matthew McCraw who was voted one of Michigan’s top linebackers by Sports Illustrated ahead of the season.

McCraw was a 2023 first team OAA-White selection and is committed to Ferris State.

Last season, the Pioneers finished the regular season 6-3 and made a sensational run through the playoffs to win its first Division 4 state championship.

Several key players from that team returned so the Pioneers are in great position for a repeat.

“The goal this year is to run it back,” said Oden. “Ultimately we want to get back to Ford Field and win it again. To do that we’re going to have to take care of home. We’ve got three remaining home games left. We’re going to have to clinch of a playoff ticket and once we get in we need to play our best football in November. We think if we can concentrate, we get some injured guys back, we can make a strong run and we’re hoping to be there in the end.”

Birmingham Groves has won the last two matchups against Harper Woods. Oden acknowledges the losses and is looking to come out victorious this week.

“We’re playing a really good program in Birmingham Groves,” said Oden. “Year in and year out they’re one of the best teams in the O-A-A. In previous seasons we haven’t been the victor in either of those games so we’re trying to tip the hat in our favor this week.”