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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