CHSL boasts 14 state playoff qualifiers, along with two other Catholic non-league teams
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — Football season continues for 16 area Catholic and affiliated high schools that qualified for the state playoffs. But a young Birmingham Brother Rice squad has been in playoff mode for several weeks now.
“It’s exciting to still be playing,” head coach Aaron Marshall said. “We’ve had a great three weeks to finish the season. The boys are excited, and I’m proud for them.”
Based on where the team stood at midseason, Brother Rice was an unlikely postseason qualifier. Roughly a month ago, the Warriors were 2-4 overall, had suffered their worst defeat of the year (41-8 to Novi Detroit Catholic Central) and faced a challenging slate of opponents down the homestretch.
But Marshall’s squad won its way in against long odds. Brother Rice defeated Warren De La Salle, 22-17, on Oct. 11; upset top-ranked Orchard Lake St. Mary’s on the road, 43-31; on Oct. 18, and closed out the regular season with a 24-15 win against Sterling Heights Stevenson.
“That’s how we’ve been treating it — starting with that De La Salle game, we said, ‘Hey, this is the playoffs for us’ because literally, if we lose, we don’t make it,” Marshall said. “The seniors stepped up to the plate, and we had a lot of success these last three weeks.”
Marshall figured it would just take time for his team — which starts six freshmen and six sophomores — to jell.
“We knew it was a process,” he said. “We knew it takes time for them to develop and to get them where you want them. There’s zero substitute for experience. We knew we’d get better, and we hoped we’d get better at the right time, and that’s what panned out for us.”
Marshall was hired to guide Rice two years ago, after leading Southfield A&T to the 2023 MHSAA Division 1 state championship. That also corresponded with the lowest point in Brother Rice football history, as the Warriors were winless that season. Since then, the team has made steady progress, snapping a 13-game losing streak in 2024 to finish 2-7, and finishing this fall’s regular season at 5-4.
“It’s just literally the process, and just driving home that point,” Marshall said. “It’s hard to do for young kids. It’s even hard for the older kids who might say, ‘Coach, we’re 2-4, this isn’t working,’ or whatever it may be. What they have to understand is it does work — we just didn’t have the experience and we’re not finishing games, we’re not executing, not putting things together, not being consistent.”
Even after the loss to Catholic Central, the staff and players had a glimmer of hope that they would be able to correct their shortcomings.
“The coaches have done a phenomenal job of getting them to buy in, trusting that process,” Marshall said. “Beating De La Salle gave us some confidence; having that Orchard Lake game gave us a lot of confidence. That allowed us to finish Week 9 and beat Stevenson.”
And since this is Brother Rice, Marshall knows the ceiling is higher yet, given the school’s gridiron reputation includes a streak of 29 consecutive winning seasons and nine state championships.
“It’s a collective effort from the top down — from our president to our principal to our athletic director to the coaching staff,” he said. “It’s literally been a team effort in the support and getting these guys coached up. The kids are hungry for success. They know Brother Rice’s football success, even though they may have been a part of (the winless season). They want to build it back up.”
Marshall was somewhat surprised to draw Walled Lake Western, given there are other playoff qualifying schools closer to the Warriors’ campus.
“I’ve been to the playoffs a few times now," he said. "Over the years what I’ve learned is to take whatever you think and throw it out the window. If it happens to be whatever you think, then it’s cool. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to go through whoever you have to go through. Whether it’s Walled Lake Western, whether it’s Groves, Seaholm, North Farmington, Orchard Lake; we’ll take Walled Lake Western because that’s who we drew.
“You can’t choose who you play, but you can choose how you play.”
Catholic teams primed for playoff success
In all, 14 area teams from the Catholic League, plus non-league schools Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and Monroe St. Mary’s Catholic Central have qualified for postseason play (one short of the all-time best, set last year). They will open play this Friday, Oct. 31 or Saturday, Nov. 1.
Michigan’s playoff field was calculated using a formula taking into account a team’s wins and strength of schedule, with the top 32 teams in each of eight divisions reaching the postseason. All divisions have at least one Catholic school in the field.
By contrast, Ohio operates with pre-determined regions and the top 12 schools in each group earn playoff berths (reduced from 16 schools in prior years).
Last season was a banner year for local Catholic football teams. St. Mary’s, Jackson Lumen Christi and Notre Dame Prep each earned state titles, while Toledo Central Catholic, St. Mary’s Catholic Central and Riverview Gabriel Richard were finalists.
The MHSAA state finals will be held Nov. 28 and 30 at Ford Field in Detroit, and the OHSAA state finals will be held Dec. 4-6 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.
