By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Detroit — Mission accomplished.
The Goodrich Martians capped off an impressive 36-5 record over the last three seasons, with an overwhelming display on both sides of the line of scrimmage earning the schools first state championship on Nov. 29 with a 35-6 win over Niles at Ford Field.
“It was an awesome game,” said Head Coach Tom Alward, in his 34th year of coaching (204-114) the winningest coach ever in Martian Football history. “It was a great day. This state championship is the pinnacle, it does not get any better than last Friday. To get that state championship and watching these kids knowing they are going to have this win for the rest of their life. Their dreams came true after all the hard work they put into this championship. That’s why you coach.”
Alward was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame in 2011. In addition, he was named the Detroit Lions High School Football Coach of the Year.
The Martians opened the 2024 season with a 22-0 loss in August to Frankenmuth High School, then rolled up 13 consecutive wins and outscored opponents 570 to 120. “We were thinking we were pretty good going into Frankenmuth, they slapped us around and made us wake up. We took off after that.”
“Niles was a lot like us, they went three yards and a cloud of dust pounded the rock all the time,” he said. “When they got behind they had to open up the game more. We wanted to keep the pressure on with a very dominating performance all day long.”
The Martians won League titles in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2024. District titles in 2022, 2023 and 2024 Regional championships in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Now, 2024 Division 4 State Champions.
The Niles Vikings (12-2) were making their first ever trip to the MHSAA Division 4 state finals.
The Martians rolled up an impressive 410 yards of offense with 242 on the ground and 168 yards in the air. The Martian defense held the Vikings to 95 yards of offense including a mire seven yards in the air and 88 on the ground. The Martians would score five touchdowns on their eight possessions, holding onto the ball for 21:47 to just 15:58 for the Vikings. The Martians also made four-fourth down conversions.
In the first quarter, GHS #16 Tanner Mazich completed a 21 yard pass to GHS #9 Max Macklem for the first TD of the game. GHS #11 Landon Williams would make the point after and the Martians would lead 7-0. In the second quarter, the Martian offense would take over the game as GHS #25 Chase Burnett would take it into the end zone for his first of two scores putting the Martians up 14-0. Just five minutes later Burnett would score again, this time from six yards out and the Martians would lead 21-0 at halftime.
In the third quarter, GHS #22 Colton Burnett would not be outdone by his big brother Chase and scored from one yard out. The Martians were up 28-0. GHS #24 Jakoby Lagat would take the ball in and put the game away 35-0. At the end of the third quarter the MHSAA running clock rule was imposed.
The Vikings had only mustered 60 yards of offense before a final late-game drive, ending with NHS #8 Peyton Gordon’s 35 yard scamper for a TD. The extra point was missed.
The Martian trio in the backfield of Senior Chase Burnett and Central Michigan-bound Max Macklem along with Junior Tanner Mazich got it done.
“Senior Colton Roe at linebacker, Luke Alward, who suffered a broken leg the week prior was one of the top cornerbacks in the state,” said Alward. “Colton Burnett for what he did in blocking was just incredible and Jacoby Lagat was a vital force in our success on both sides of the ball. And Tanner had an outstanding game, he’s a field general and will make a huge difference next year.”
On defense, Macklem had five tackles; Lagat and Roe each had four; Sennabaum three and Valley, Chase Burnett and Bohlen each had two.