Week 8

This is the eighth article in the nine-week series about the history of Frankenmuth Football, celebrating 500 wins in the 69-year history.

2020 – 2024

The Tradition Continues

By Al “Chick” Rodammer

The decade of the 2020’s would open in the most unusual way for Frankenmuth Football.  The Covid-19 epidemic was jeopardizing whether there would be a season.  In August, it was stated that the 2020 season would be moved to the spring of 2021.  On September 3, Gov. Whitmer signed the petition to allow high schools to begin competition with limited fans, concessions, and no bands.  This all meant the Eagles would open the season three weeks later than normal.  The season would consist of six regular season games and all teams would qualify for the playoffs.  The Tri-Valley would be divided up equally so that there would be a champion that would play everyone.  The Eagles league would consist of four teams, Birch Run, Bridgeport, Garber, and Frankenmuth.  The Eagles would open with a non-conference game at Freeland.  On the first drive of the game, Freeland would settle for a field goal.  From that point on, it was all Eagles.  41 unanswered points enroute to a 41 – 3 opening game win.  Frankenmuth would chalk up another impressive road win, 35 – 6 over Swan Valley.  A 21-point third quarter would blow the game open.  Five interceptions and holding Garber to minus yards rushing led Frankenmuth to its third victory in three road games by a 31 – 7 score.  Cole Jankowski grabbed three of those interceptions and the rushing duo of Davin Reif, 170 yards and Cole Lindow, 118 yards would pace the offense.  Finally, a home game was in store for the Eagles.  The game would be the first varsity game on the new turf.  The limited fans in attendance were not disappointed as Muth shutout Alma 36 – 0.  A 41 – 6 win over Birch Run was spearheaded behind quarterback Reif’s 10 of 14 passing for 182 yards.  The shortened season would conclude with a 42 – 6 win over Bridgeport to complete a 6 – 0 regular season and a ninth straight Tri-Valley East Championship.  With all teams making the playoffs, Frankenmuth would play Bridgeport in consecutive weeks to open the playoffs.  Same result, a 55 – 12 win behind Lindow’s 141 yards rushing.  Round two, the Eagles would host Almont.  Muth scored 14 points in the first and fourth quarters to cruise to a 28 – 0 win.  In a district championship contest against Corunna, the Eagles would hold the trophy in a 56 – 14 dominating win.  Coach Martin quoted “This was one of the most focused games the team has played in a long time”.  The Eagles would jump out to a 28 – 0 first quarter lead behind a pair of rushing touchdowns from Reif and Lindow.  Three additional TDs in the 2nd quarter, including two Reif to Ethan Jacobs TD pass plays, gave Muth a commanding 56 – 7 lead at the half.  A running clock finished the game with a 56 - 14 final score.  The week following, a three-week mandated pause was put into effect due to a resurgence in the Covid19 epidemic.  An additional 12 days were added to the mandate and the remainder of the season appeared to be in jeopardy.  On December 18th, the word came down that practice could resume, and Regional Championship games could be played on January 9.  The Eagle gridders would be practicing on their Christmas break in preparation for a game against Marine City at Frankenmuth.  The team endured starts and stops to practice, waiting nearly two months to resume play.  After a sluggish start, the Eagles got to work and mauled Marine City 31 – 7, in front of a sparse crowd of parents let into the game thanks to a ruling allowing 125 parents into the stands.  Marine City would score first but the Eagles would score the next 31 points enroute to a 31 – 7 win.  The rushing combo of Lindow, 150 yards and Reif, 129 yards led the offense, the defense limited Marine City to 86 total yards.  Next up would be a semi-final match against defending Division 5 State Champion Lansing Catholic Central for a home game.   The Eagles jumped out to a 14 – 0 lead but LCC would score on a long pass play to end the first half, narrowing the score to 14 – 7.  In the 2nd half, the relentless pass rush of Dalton DeBeau, Ashton Benkert, Ben Reinert, Konnor Roche, and Michael Carter provided 8 QB sacks.  The rushing attack of Lindow, 176 yards and Reif, 139 yards led the way for a 35 -14 win and a berth in the Division State Championship game at Ford Field.  With limited fans allowed at Ford Field, the community lined the streets of Frankenmuth as the team bus exited for Ford Field.  Crowds were seen all the way to the exit entering I-75 in Birch Run.  The opponent in Grand Rapids Catholic Central is one of the top football programs in the state in any class.  The Eagles fought valiantly but came up short losing by a 48 – 21 score.  The Eagles completed the most unusual season with an 11 – 1 record.  The duo of Lindow and Reif each surpassed the 1000-yard rushing mark with 1183 and 1048 yards respectively.  Kyle Main, Ethan Jacobs, Davin Reif, Cole Lindow, Cole Jankowski, and Ashton Benkert all received some sort of All-State recognition.  

August 30, 2020, Coach Roger Budd Tompkins passed away at the age of 86.  Coach Tompkins was the Head Coach at Frankenmuth from 1966 – 1979.

The 2021 season would begin at the Vehicle City Classic at Atwood Stadium in Flint against Goodrich.  After the season of Covid 19 restrictions, the Eagle fans braved the heat and humidity with temperatures nearing 100 degrees on the field.  Goodrich would score first but Muth would score the next four scores.  A Sam Barger 98-yard kickoff return, a Michael Carter 39-yard interception return and two Cole Jankowski rushing touchdowns gave the Eagles a 28 – 14 win.  A 47 – 20 win over Swan Valley behind Barger’s 143 yards rushing opened TVC 8 action.  Wins over Birch Run 56 – 7 and Bay City John Glenn 54 – 0 set up a match with undefeated Freeland.  The story of this game was Cole Lindow’s 318 yards rushing as Muth blitzed the Falcons 48 – 21.  A 59 – 0 shut out of Bridgeport, where the defense allowed only one yard of total offense was followed by a 22 – 7 win over Alma on muddy, messy field conditions.  Coach Martin said, “Not quite sure how to describe the field.  Not sure calling it muddy does it justice.”  The Eagles would claim their 10th consecutive TVC crown with a 40 – 6 victory over Garber.  Lindow’s 209 yards rushing paced the offense.  Lindow would follow up with a 229-yard rushing game against New Lothrup in a 28 – 14 win to end the regular season 9 – 0.  The MHSAA District would open with a 42 – 6 win over Carrollton led by the defense stalwart play of Ashton Benkert and Dalton DeBeau with double digit tackles.  In a District Championship contest, the Cole’s (Lindow and Jankowski) would rush for 320 of the teams 425-yard rushing for the program’s fifth district championship in six years, defeating Swan Valley 37 – 7.  The Eagles would host the Regional Championship against the Kingsley Stags.  Frankenmuth would jump out to a 14 – 0 lead only to have the Stags battle back to take an 18 – 14 lead early in the 3rd quarter.  A pair of Lindow TD runs and the 15 tackles performance by Dayne Reif would lead Muth to a 33 – 18 victory.  A trip to Mt. Pleasant to face Grand Rapids Catholic Central in a semi-final game ended the season with a 35 – 0 loss.  The final season record was 12 – 1.  Lindow ended the season with 1804 yards rushing and 21 TD’s.  Lindow ended his career with 3099 yards rushing for only the third Eagle rusher to surpass 3000 yards rushing, joining Michael Golden and Gary Weiss.

A home game would open the 2022 season, as the Eagles played the eventual Division 4 State runner-up in the Goodrich Martians.  Two Sam Barger rushing TDs, two Will Soulliere field goals, and a stingy defense 

would be the formula for a 27 – 2 Eagle win.  In the TVC opener, the Eagles would fall behind early 9 – 0 before flying back with thirty-one unanswered first half points to take a 31 – 16 lead into halftime.  An Aidan Hoard to Jonah Sholten 59-yard pass play with eight seconds remaining in the half deflated the Vikings.  Muth would take care of business in the 2nd half and cruise to a 41 -16 win.  A 51 – 12 win over Birch Run was again a big 1st half, with the Eagles leading 41 – 6 at the half.  Kicker Soulliere would set a school record with a 42-yard field goal.  A 49 – 0 win over Bay City John Glenn set up a game that would determine the Tri-Valley 8 Championship against the Freeland Falcons.  The Eagle defense played championship caliber football limiting the Falcons to 85 total yards of offense in a 21 - 0 win.  A third consecutive shutout win, 50 – 0 over Bridgeport would keep Muth undefeated.  In a 42 – 7 win over Alma, QB Hoard would lead the offense passing for 158 yards and two touchdowns.    Muth traveled to Essexviile Garber and came home Tri-Valley 8 Champs with a 40 – 7 victory.  The defense held Garber to minus 15 yards rushing and Soulliere kicked two more field goals.  The local gridders would complete a perfect regular season with a 45 – 7 non-conference win over Flint Powers.  Powers would score first, but it was all Eagles after that with a balanced offensive attack led by Hoard’s 221 yards passing.  The win over Flint Powers was the 100th win for Head Coach Phil Martin as the Head Coach of the program.   Frankenmuth opened District play against neighboring Birch Run.  The Panthers would score midway through the 1st quarter, but that would turn out to be their lone score.  Three Griffin Barker rushing TD’s and a defense that continued to contain opponent’s offenses spearheaded the Eagles to a 53 – 6 win.  The District Championship would bring Swan Valley to town and the Eagles defense would shut out Swan Valley 31 – 0 behind the play of linebacker Dalton DeBeau and Dayne Reif and linemen Jake VanderHaar and Colin Main.  The Regional Championship would be an opponent the Eagles had never played in the Flint Hamady Hawks.  The same formula that got the Eagles to this point was the way in a 49 – 7 win.  Barker led the rushers with 114 yards and Hoard passed for 102 yards.  This would set up a match up against perennial power Detroit Country Day Yellow Jackets at Lapeer High School in a semi-final contest.   A cold and blustery day would greet the two teams on a frosty and icy turf field.  Muth would take a 1st quarter 10 – 0 lead on a Sam Barger 26-yard TD run and a Soulliere 31-yard field goal. Muth would increase that lead to 24 – 0 going into halftime on a Hoard short run and a Hoard to Brenden Marker 3-yard TD pass.  The Eagle offense would add two more second half scores for the 38 – 0 win.  But the story of the day was the Eagle defense. The defense would not allow a Country Day first down the entire game and held them to a minus two yards total offense.  DeBeau was the leading tackler with 10.  The win would set up a second trip to Ford Field in three years with the opportunity to play for the Division 5 State Championship.  The opponent in the championship game would be an upstart undefeated Gladwin Flying G’s team.  As two years ago, the Eagle team was sent off with a large crowd lining the street for the sendoff, but one difference from two years ago, fans would be allowed to witness the game at Ford Field.  A sea of Red and Gray invaded Ford Field in hopes of a championship.  The entire first half was a close to the vest style game, as neither team could crack the scoreboard.  It was not until late in the 3rd quarter when Barker scored from two yards to give the Eagles a 7 – 0 lead.  Less than two minutes later, Gladwin tied the score at 7 – 7 entering the final quarter.  Muth was forced to punt late in the 4th quarter and with 3:26 remaining, Gladwin made some key plays to drive down to the Eagle 4-yard line.  With two seconds remaining, Gladwin would capture the State Championship with a 21-yard field goal and a10 – 7 heartbreaking loss for the Eagles. The 13 – 1 season, the most wins by an Eagle team was by a team that averaged 39 points per game while allowing only fraction over 5 points per game.  Hoard passed for 1483 yards, Barker rushed for 909 yards and leading tacklers were DeBeau and Main.  Soulliere would have a record-breaking season with 13 field goals.  The All-State selections were led by offensive lineman Carter Weiss, defensive end and tight end  Brenden Marker and Drew Titsworth, linebacker Dalton DeBeau and kicker Soulliere.  

The 2023 Eagles would open the season traveling to Michigan Stadium in the Battle at the Big House against the Goodrich Martians.  Penalties and injuries were part of the story as the Eagles drop a 14 – 8 contest to Goodrich.  The defenses from both sides dominated the game with each team gaining under 200 yards of offense.  The lone 1st half score was a safety when Goodrich quarterback was sacked in their end zone.  That 2 – 0 score remained until the early portion of the 4th quarter when Goodrich made the big play with an 88-yard touchdown pass to take a 7 – 2 lead.  At the 5:51 mark of the final quarter, QB Jack Rich finally broke loose to score on a 38-yard TD run as the Eagles regained the lead at 8 – 7.  The Eagles turned the ball over on downs with less than a minute remaining, but the Martians made the plays to score on an 8-yard run with only eight seconds remaining to walk away with the win.  The Eagles would bounce back with a 48 – 13 win over Alma and a 35 – 6 victory over Bay City John Glen to set up the trip to Birch Run to face the unbeaten Panthers.  This would be the last time Frankenmuth and Birch Run would play each other in league competition since 1979 as Birch Run was joining a different league next season.  The Eagles took care of business in a big way.  Two Rich 1st quarter scores, three Kobbi Ke 2nd quarter scores, a pair of Rich TD tosses and the Eagles had a resounding 54 – 0 lead at the half.  The lone 2nd half score was an Aiden Labissoniere to Jonah Sholten 85 yard TD pass play to finalize a 61 – 0 win.  Carson Knoll led the defense and special teams with 11 tackles as they only allowed 51 total yards of offense to Birch Run.  Swan Valley would be the next victim 50 – 14 behind Zak Andrew’s 151 yards rushing.  In a 54 – 7 win over Garber, the pass heavy Garber offense would be pressured all game long led by Colin Main’s three QB sacks.  With the unbeaten Freeland Falcons coming to Frankenmuth for a TVC Red showdown, the winner of this game would likely claim the league crown.  Freeland would take the opening drive and march down the field to take a 7 – 0 lead.  From that point on, Muth owned the 1st half.  Rich, Hunter Bernthal, and Griffin Barker would each score a rushing TD and Labissoniere’s field goal to end the half gave the Eagles a 24 – 7 halftime lead.  Barker and Rich would each score again in the 2nd half to close out a 38 - 13 victory.  Thomas Conzelman would have the highest mark on defense with 15 tackles.  A 58 – 22 win over Bridgeport would sew up a 12th consecutive conference championship for the Eagles. Frankenmuth’s winning streak dating back to 2014 stands 60 consecutive conference wins.  In the final regular season game of the season, the Eagle team would have a rematch of last year’s state championship game against Gladwin.  The determined Eagles controlled the tempo of game.  Andrews 7-yard 1st quarter run gave the Eagles an early lead.  Two 2nd quarter scores included a 58-yard Labissoniere to Jared Watchorn 58-yard TD pass play.  Labissoniere would end the half with a 30-yard field goal and the Eagles led 24 – 0.  Two 2nd half scores including a 94-yard electrifying TD run by Hagan Wascher would cap a 38 – 0 win over Gladwin.  The offense tallied 482 yards offense, but the defense was the story, holding Gladwin to 2 first downs and 33 total yards of offense.  The Eagles would open up the district action with a resounding whipping on Garber by a 65 – 13 score.  554 yards of offense led by Rich’s 131 yards.  rushing.  In the District Championship versus Birch Run, the Eagles put up a second consecutive 60 spot defeating the Panther’s 64 – 10.  There was 634 yards offense with Rich again leading the way with 186 yards rushing and 139 yards passing.  This would setup a home Regional Championship game against the U.P. Kingsford Flivvers.  With the Eagles leading 14 – 0 late in the first half, Rich would connect with Watchorn on a spectacular catch for a 76-yard touchdown and 21 – 0 lead.  The two teams would exchange two 2nd half TD’s enroute to a 35 – 13 Regional Championship, the 4th consecutive for the Eagle program.  A semi-final match against familiar nemesis in Grand Rapids Catholic Central at Ithaca High School would follow.   For the third time in four years, GRCC eliminated the Eagles from playoff action by a 35 – 0 score.  The Eagles would end the season with an 11 – 2 record.  Rich would surpass the 1000-yard rushing mark with 1280 yards.  Defensively, Colin Main recorded a season record breaking 14 QB sacks and career record 23 sacks.   Offensive and defensive junior lineman Derrick Simmons, along with Main, were consensus 1st Team All-Stater’s.  Griffin Barker and defensive back Riley Hubbard received All-State recognition.

Entering the 2024 season, the 69th season in program history, with 497 overall wins, the Eagle squad would look to achieve that milestone win during the season.