Facts and Stats from Last Friday's Thrilling Victory over the #1 seed Whitehall Vikings:
- In D4 Rankings, BR is ranked #22 while Whitehall was ranked #4
- 8 teams remain playing in D4 after last Friday:
- Reg1: BR @ GR S Christian
- Reg2: Portland @ Niles
- Reg3: Haslett @ Goodrich
- Reg4: Carleton Airport @ Harper Woods
- Of the top 8 ranked teams in D4, 4 remain
- #1 Harper plays Carleton Airport in the Reg4 Final @Harper Woods
- #2 Chelsea lost to #15 Haslett: 30-22
- #3 Goodrich hosts Haslett in the Reg3 Final
- #4 Whitehall lost to Big Rapids: 28-27
- #5 Carleton Airport plays @Harper Woods in the Reg4 Final
- #6 Niles beat Paw Paw to move to the Reg2 Final vs Portland
- #7 Paw Paw lost to Niles: 42-13
- #8 Hastings lost to #10 Portland 38-24
- BR is the lowest ranked team remaining with GR South Christian the 2nd lowest:
- #22 Big Rapids @ #20 GR South Chrisitian
- #10 Portland @ #6 Niles
- #15 Haslett @ #3 Goodrich
- #1 Harper Woods vs #5 Carleton Airport
- BR is in a Regional Final for the 2nd time in program history
- 2003: BR beat Whitehall at Top Taggert Field 22-19
- BR Head Coach Mike Selzer is now 4-5 in the playoffs: he has 6 playoff appearances in 9yrs
- He’s advanced past Rd1 3x in his 9yr tenure
- The last BR Playoff upset was Coach Selzer’s 1st season coaching (2015)
- #3 seed BR won at #2 Escanaba: 21-17
- In 2023, 5 upsets have happened in D4 (# is regional seed):
- Rd1:
- #3 Big Rapids @ #2 Spring Lake: 27-20
- #3 Dearborn Divine Child @ #2 Redford Union: 39-22
- Rd 2:
- #3 Big Rapids @ #1 Whitehall: 28-28
- #2 Portland @ #1 Hastings: 38-24
- #2 Haslett @ #1 Chelsea: 30-22
- Only 2 #3 seeds remain in all of the 11-man MHSAA Playoffs:
- D2: Roseville (@ #1 Warren De La Salle Collegiate)
- D4: Big Rapids (@ #2 GR S Christian)
- Only 1 #4 seed remains & they play at Reed City next Friday (Midland Bullock Creek)
- BR was 1-1 vs Whitehall all time prior to last Friday
- 2003: BR win 22-19 in Regional Finals
- 2022: WH win 42-12 in Districts
- BR has now won 9 consecutive games for the 1st time ever in a single season
- BR won 9 straight games over 2 seasons (10/21/1983-10/12/1984)
- WH was 10-0 entering last Friday
- They are now 29-5 since the start of the 2021 season
- WH had not given up more than 7pts since wk 3
- The last team to scored more than 7pts on WH was Tecumseh in Wk2 (WH won 56-28)
- BR scored 14pts in the 1st half
- BR has scored 1st in both Playoff games
- WH ran only 42 plays compared to BR’s 68
- BR’s time of possession was 33:11 compared to WH’s 14:49
- BR fumbled 2x but recovered both
- WH fumbled on their 1st play & BR recovered. This led to BR’s 1st TD.
- WH out gained BR 410yds to 248yds
- WH rushed for 142yds to BR’s 26yds
- BR was out gained by 60yds in the 1st half & 102yds in the 2nd half
- BR was 8/17 on 3rd downs
- 5 of them were 3rd & more than 5
- BR was 5/5 on 4th down conversions
- WH was 0/3
- In WH’s game vs Allendale, Allendale was 0/6 on 4th down
- BR QB Vennix completed 24/36 for 222yds & 3TD
- Riley had not throw more than 14 times in a game since Wk1 @Paw Paw (31att)
- Riley rushed 10x for 30yds & a TD
- Vennix also led the team in tackles (4), influenced the missed XPT, & blocked the final kick
- BR Garret Foster caught 9 passes for 107yds & 2 TDs
- BR Jack Bollman, who had 5 receptions for 31yds entering last Friday, caught 4 passes for 39yds
- Jack had an 18yd catch & a 21yd catch
- Whitehall WR Camden Thompson (offers from WMU & CMU) was not targeted until the 3rd QTR & was only targeted 3x total in the game
- He finished with 3 catches for 70yds including a 41yd reception
Big Rapids heads to Byron Center HS next Friday at 7:00pm to take on the defending state champion Grand Rapids South Christian Sailors.
South Christian knocked off Forest Hills Eastern last week 22-14. They are the 4 seed in the Region (BR is the 5).
- South Christian finished w/ 50.889 playoff pts compared to BR’s 49.444
- In D4, GR S Christian is ranked #20 overall. BR is ranked #22.
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