OLSM vs. Byron Center Review & Report (D2 Championship)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the primetime matchup of Friday Night, Orchard Lake St. Mary's defeated Byron Center 35-19. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Mary's looked like the better team. They were a little bigger, a little stronger, and played a little faster. Their offensive line wore down BC's defense throughout the game, paving way toward 397 total rushing yards. Byron Center has bottled up star RBs before, but the two-headed monster of [player_tooltip player_id='899556' first='Bryson' last='Williams'] and [player_tooltip player_id='602102' first='Darrin' last='Jones Jr'] proved to be too much to handle. After finishing 3rd in the catholic league and winning 0 one-possession games in the regular season, St. Mary's runs the table in the postseason and becomes the only Catholic-Central League team to win a 2024 State Championship. Congratulations to St. Mary's! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This season was what Byron Center has been working toward for a very long time. They have a ton of excellent role players, lots of young talent, and a senior class that truly pushed them over the top. Nobody expected BC to get to Ford Field this season, let alone win a District Championship. This one will sting for a bit, but I'm confident Byron Center will again be in the state championship conversation every year for the foreseeable future. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now, here are three prospects from each team that stood out to me. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Byron Center</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["899559"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-674b3ce046209"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">What a career for Landon. Seriously, there are few players I respect more than him. I've been following his career for about 3 years; I've been critical, I've given praise, and everything in between. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The harder the job got, the harder Landon worked. Two years ago, I thought he'd be a good NAIA prospect. A year ago, a decent D3 prospect. Now, I think he deserves a shot in the GLIAC. Landon still has a lot to work on, and I think this game did a great job of showcasing his strengths while exposing flaws. But if I know one thing, it's that Landon will continue to improve. In most of my past evaluations, I failed to properly evaluate Landon's passion and drive. The effort and passion Landon showed the past three years will take him very, very far in life. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now, I'll do my job in evaluating his state championship performance. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Landon played decent against the best defense he's played in his career. He was tasked with a lot of quick game, and he was right on point with pretty much all of his passes. His throw velocity was perfect against a super-fast OLSM defense. However, his timing was a tad late on some of those throws. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There were also a few instances where Landon showed off his elusiveness in the pocket. He ran away from a few sacks, but again, OLSM did a great job bottling him up. Landon's playmaking was limited because of the quicker defense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I'm looking forward to seeing where Landon plays his college ball. In the GLIAC, I think Davenport or a rising school like Michigan Tech would be perfect for him. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":1569566,"_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Cam Payne","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2027","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"5'11u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_weight":"202","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_weight":"field_65b288425ecf6","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"2408","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Byron Center","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-674b3ce0462bd"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">This game put Cam Payne on the map. Finishing the game with 8 carries for 122 yards and 1TD, he was by far Byron Center's best statistical player.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Byron Center's O-Line opened holes all night. Cam was the only one who was able to consistently explode through those holes before OLSM swarmed in. Once Cam got to the second level, he displayed really good vision and solid contact balance. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cam is a very, very talented athlete. He's got something about him that not a lot of high school football players do, and that's displayed by his breakout sophomore season. I'm highly anticipating Cam's Junior season! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1529462"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":1569567,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-674b3ce04631a"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">I was hearing Tate's name all night. Defensively, he was one of Byron Center's best tacklers. He finished the game with 6 total tackles in addition to BC's only TFL. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>OLSM only threw the football 8 times, so I'd have to go back into the tape to see how Tate fared in pass coverage. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's a bit of a shorter evaluation, but I really like how Tate performed against an elite High School football program. He didn't do anything mind-blowing, just great fundamentals and excellent effort. Tate has an opportunity to have his best offseason ever and take a MASSIVE step up next season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">St. Mary's</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["899556"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":1569569,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-674b3ce04636b"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Some players look great on tape, but outstanding in person. That was [player_tooltip player_id='899556' first='Bryson' last='Williams'] yesterday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>His explosiveness is unmatched. Bryson goes from 0-40 in about 0.5 seconds, and he's incredibly difficult to stop once he's accelerating. On top of his elite athleticism, his long legs help him slip through arm tackles. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>So, elite measurements, elite athleticism, elite effort = an elite state championship performance. Oh yeah, and an opportunity to play great B1G 10 football. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":1569569,"_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"[player_tooltip player_id='1613615' first='Kyrie' last='Williams']","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2026","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"5'11u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_weight":"250","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_weight":"field_65b288425ecf6","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"2406","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-674b3ce0463f5"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">I see you, Kyrie! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Of course, Kyrie had one of the biggest highlights of the game. After his teammate strip-sacked the Byron Center QB, Kyrie picked up the ball and nearly scored a touchdown. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But Kyrie made more plays than that. Looking at some of my all-22 tape, Kyrie did a pretty good job of anchoring himself and not allowing running lanes to open. I loved his power and his ability to play fast just about all game- a rare trait for DTs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kyrie finished the game with six total tackles. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With an excellent offseason, Kyrie could be one of the best players in the Catholic League next season. I really hope to see growth from Kyrie after his good State Championship performance. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1248610"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-674b3ce04643b"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Ryan is another unsung hero of St. Marys' State Championship Victory. When Byron Center created rushing lanes, Ryan was there to fill the lane and make a stop.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Statistically, Ryan was one of OLSM's best defenders. Ryan totaled six tackles, but five of those were solo tackles. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I'm impressed by how quickly Ryan reacted to every play. I watch a lot of LBs that hesitate, and Ryan is not one of them. Credit to Ryan for putting in that work and the coaching staff for coaching that into him. On top of that, Ryan is a great tackler and very, very physical. Exactly what you need in order to succeed in the Catholic League. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ryan should be ranked in the next update, and he definitely has college upside. Unfortunately, like many others, height will likely limit Ryan's college potential. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->