PORT HURON – Madison Heights Lamphere, Port Huron senior safety Aiden Davidson started hunting for a school record after his first interception.
Early in Port Huron's 42-21 win over Lamphere last week, Davidson was in the right spot to pick off a pass on the sidelines and returned it for a touchdown.
Heading into Week 8 of Michigan high school football, Davidson knew he was three interceptions shy of the school's single-season record, and got aggressive looking for takeaways.
"After that first one, I was like I'm going to go out and get two more," Davidson said Monday, Oct. 19.
Davidson, also a standout wrestler who finished seventh in Division 2 at 132 pounds as a junior, made a diving catch on a tipped pass and hauled in another long throw, bringing
his interception tally to three in the game and seven on the year. That tied Port Huron's single-season record. He is also closing in on the Red Hawks' career record of nine.
"He is pretty much good for one interception a game," Port Huron coach Dan Perkins said.
The takeaways have been a staple for a Red Hawks defense that has played well all season, pushing Port Huron to a perfect 8-0 start through the season's first two months. Port Huron has held teams to 12.63 points per game on average, and has only given up more than 20 points twice. The Red Hawks are one of three undefeated teams left in Division 3, alongside Chelsea and Coopersville, entering the regular-season finale.
Port Huron returned eight defensive starters from the 2025 team that finished 7-4. That continuity has allowed it to expand the looks it shows teams pre-snap, confounding opposing offenses.
"Shoutout to defensive coordinator, coach [Brandon] Wardlow," Davidson said. "His defense, not many quarterbacks can read it because we move around a lot after the snap. We change coverages and it always puts us in the right spot. That's the key to our defense, being in the right spot."
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Up front, Port Huron has been disruptive with their four primary rushers, led by junior defensive tackle Dylan Volpe, who is being recruited by Big Ten schools, including Michigan, Illinois and Penn State. Junior edge Parrison Rome, junior defensive tackle Jamichael Thomas and senior edge Jayvon Bolar round out the starting defensive line. All have stepped up in different ways, but Volpe powers the engine on both sides of the ball.
"Without [Volpe], we'd be in trouble," Perkins said. "He is something else on both sides. He's been a guy we've leaned on and leaned on in big moments during the year on both sides. He's just a mammoth kid and it really presents a problem for other teams."
Offensively, Volpe provided stability for a reshaped offensive line early in the season. As the group has gelled, it has allowed the Red Hawks' spread offense to find more success.
"When everybody is contributing, playing their role and doing what we are told, we play great as a team," Volpe said.
Port Huron quarterback Jax Johnston, who previously attended Crosswell-Lexington, has helped take the offense to a new level. The dual-threat quarterback with Division 1 offers from Toledo and Connecticut can attack defenses with his leg or distribute passes to their fast group of receivers: Dirvante Reid, Davidson, Carter Bankston and Trey Mullins.
"[Johnston] is a pretty great athlete," Perkins said. "He has the ability to run, but his arm talent is just crazy great. He has gained command of things throughout the season. We are doing things differently than he had done before, but he's meshing with our skill guys. His ability to escape and avoid trouble has been incredible."
With both sides of the ball clicking, Port Huron is confident heading into its Week 9 rivalry game against Port Huron Northern and whatever lies after that in the D-3 playoffs. As it stands before Week 9 games kick off, the Red Hawks sit at the top of the D-3 playoff point standings.
"We want to be winning playoff games," Volpe said. "We won one last year and then we lost to [Warren] De La Salle in district finals. We are trying to win states, so we've got to get past those big games."
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Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for theDetroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Port Huron's Dylan Volpe, recruited by Big Ten, keys 8-0 start
