2023 Big School State Finals Awards

<p>The Big School games in Divisions 1-4 were incredible. All four games were competitive, decided in the 4th quarter, and featured several standout performances. In this article, I'd like to shout out some of the best individual, team, and unit performances I saw from the big schools last weekend. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Offensive Performance - M'Khi Guy</h2>   <p><strong>STATS: 215 Rush Yds, 2TDs, 4-6 passing, 159yds, 2TDs</strong></p>   <p>In his final game as a Muskegon Big Red, Guy delivered an all-time great performance. Behind his elite O-Line, guy was able to explode through his holes and make people miss in the open field. I actually think De La Salle had a solid defensive gameplan going into this game, but Guy (and the coaching staff) were able to execute plays that torched opposition. Namely, I think Guy had his best day passing the football ever- or at least that I've seen. His 94-yard TD pass to [player_tooltip player_id='253303' first='Destin' last='Piggee'] was an incredible turning point in the football game, and later on he had a few pinpoint passes that I've only seen him make a few times before last weekend. </p>   <p>Guy has been getting a ton of D3 attention with one D1 opportunity with Citadel. In my opinion, there's absolutely no way Guy is anything less than a High-Tier Division 2 prospect. I understand he's a bit small and going to play DB in college, but his talent is Division 1 in my book. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Defensive Performance - [player_tooltip player_id='253230' first='JT' last='Hartman']</h2>   <p><strong>STATS: 8 tackles, 2TFLs, 1 Sack, 1 INT</strong></p>   <p>JT was just named as an all-state running back, but his biggest value last weekend was as a defender. At his Linebacker position, JT secured 8 tackles, 2TFLs, 1 Sack and 1 interception. He was a massive reason why Forest Hills Central was able to completely eliminate Mason's run game and extinguish much of the pass game. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Clutch Performance - [player_tooltip player_id='77216' first='Isaiah' last='Marshall']</h2>   <p>Isaiah is one of those guys that seems to perform best with the lights are brightest. This game in particular, he was on another level. Isaiah led both teams in pass and rush yards, passing for 281 and 2TDs while rushing for 134 and 1TD. His ability to quickly evade pressure and improvise was the difference in this game. I thought the Belleville line got pressure more often than Southfield did, but Isaiah is an elite player when it comes to evading pressure. I haven't even talked about the 3rd/4th down conversions and 2-pt conversions that Isaiah made that were critical to the game. Hats off to Isaiah and Kansas football is getting an incredible athlete! </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Best Game - Southfield A&T vs. Belleville</h2>   <p>The Division 1 Championship was easily the best game of the weekend. Not only did you have dozens of future D1 athletes squaring off against one another, but we had a ton of decisive moments, momentum swings, and even a viral moment. Of course, Belleville came into this one as the favorite, as they were the 2x defending champs. Once halftime hit and Southfield was up 20-10, things started to get intense. In the 4th quarter, Belleville began making a comeback. That final drive for Southfield and the ensuing drive from Belleville was some of the most tense football I've watched. </p>   <p>Great game, amazing talent, storylines, etc. This felt like a big college football game. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Best Defensive Play - Adrian Walker Jr's Viral Interception </h2>   <p>This is a no-brainer. The highlight of the entire year, Adrian Walker made an interception that is certified viral across the internet. RedditCFB, Dov Kleiman, and several other big names on Twitter shared it. It's up there with some of the best defensive plays I've ever seen, and 100% the best football defensive play I've seen in person.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/BallySportsDET/status/1728949764736086365 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Best Offensive Play - [player_tooltip player_id='251945' first='Ty' last='Hudkins'] Insane TD Effort</h2>   <p>There were a ton of amazing explosive plays from last weekend. Though, the best offensive play in my opinion is this insane TD effort from Purdue commit [player_tooltip player_id='251945' first='Ty' last='Hudkins']. Just watch the Tweet/X below- Ty catches the ball at the 25, then drags the defender 20 yards before diving onto the pilon. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/BallySportsDET/status/1728873546145820750 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Best Offensive Unit - Southfield A&T </h2>   <p>Considering the talent on Belleville's defense, it was super impressive what A&T was able to do on offense. Southfield was able to put up more points against Belleville than anyone has in over a year, and a huge part of that was the play from [player_tooltip player_id='77216' first='Isaiah' last='Marshall'], O-Line, and receivers. Shoutout to [player_tooltip player_id='247706' first='Tashi' last='Braceful'] for being WR1 and competing at a high level all day, as well as the supporting receiving core for picking up slack on a banged up group. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Best Defensive Unit - Forest Hills Central</h2>   <p>It was extremely difficult not to put Muskegon at this spot, but FHC was easily the best defense through 4 quarters of football. Mason was quietly one of the most efficient offenses in football this season, having averaged 41PPG across 13 games. Their schedule was no cupcake either- as they put up 27 against Detroit King, 44 and 40 against Walled Lake Western, and 42 twice against DeWitt. In the State Championship, FHC held Mason to a 2-year low 10 points. They also forced 3 turnovers and under 300 yards of total offense. One of those turnovers ended up being a pick-6. A truly incredible performance from an experienced defense. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">GRIT Award - Muskegon Offensive Line </h2>   <p>Early on against De La Salle, the Muskegon O-Line looked a tad disorganized as The Pilots set up a ton of blitz and stunt packages. In the second half, they started to settle into things, paving the way for three 3rd-quarter touchdowns. Whenever I watched this unit I saw at least 1 pancake every play, people being driven back, and big holes opening up for the backfield. It wasn't all pretty, but at the end of the day, Muskegon was able to win at the line of scrimmage and win against a team that hasn't tasted a playoff defeat since 2021.</p>

The Big School games in Divisions 1-4 were incredible. All four games were competitive, decided in the 4th quarter, and featured several standout performances. In this article, I'd like to shout out some of the best individual, team, and unit performances I saw from the big schools last weekend.