In a virtually even matchup between two top teams in the MAC White, St. Clair Shores Lakeview needed a downfield march to find a late answer for Utica.
The Huskies had done it all night, on Friday, Sept. 25, answering each of Utica's touchdowns with one of their own to produce a tie entering the fourth quarter. But the Chieftains retook the lead once more with a touchdown with six minutes left.
Lakeview leaned on the run, marching down the field, and found a response with 1:57 left. Rather than play for overtime, Lakeview coach Patrick Threet trusted his offense to deliver on one more play and his defense to get a stop.
Lakeview called a run-pass option out of their power-T offense for the 2-point conversion, and junior quarterback Luke Szymanski
saw Utica's quality coverage and kept it himself to convert. Lakeview's defense held on for a 29-28 win in Week 5 of the Michigan high school football season.
"It was an even game and we went for two at the end," Threet said Saturday. "It was one of those where no one really deserves to lose. ... It was like playoff football. We ran the ball well. They threw the ball better than us. But it was back-and-forth all night. The key thing for our end was our perseverance."
Lakeview (4-1) has won four straight since dropping its Week 1 game against Armada. That winning streak includes wins over Roseville and Utica, the two teams that beat them during the 2025 regular season.
[ Sign up for our new Michigan Sidelines statewide high school sports newsletter ]
Lakeview has four new starting offensive linemen and a new starting quarterback, junior Luke Szymanski, as part of the replacements for a senior class that was critical to last year's success.
Senior center Xavion Walker has been a "vital" returner on the offensive line, along with senior tight end Nolan Ong. The "big, good-looking fellas on 11 Mile" – the offensive line's nickname inside the Lakeview program – are meshing quickly.
"We've got a lot of newbies and young guys," Threet said. "They are getting better every week and I am excited about how far we've come. But I know there's still a gap to be filled to get to our full potential."
Behind that offensive line, senior running back Dallas Harris has been a dynamic threat. Against a Utica defense that held its first four opponents to 12 points or fewer, Harris had 11 carries for 164 yards and two touchdowns.
"In my opinion, [Harris] might be the most explosive player in Macomb County," Threet said. "He is the real deal."
Lakeview will enjoy the top spot in the MAC White Division for at least a week after knocking off last year's co-champions. The win follows a last-second win over Roseville two weeks ago. Szymanski connected with Harris on the winning touchdown with 8 seconds left for a 23-20 win over the Panthers.
"I think a lot of people would not have expected that with the amount of kids we lost, but it is a foundational thing," Threet said. "There's an expectation. This is what we do."
Orchard Lake St. Mary's asserts themselves in D-2 showdown
In a showdown between the top two teams in Division 2, the defending state champions showcased a high-powered offense.
Senior quarterback Jabin Gonzales tossed five touchdowns for No. 5 Orchard Lake St. Mary's (4-1) – two to Chad Willis, two to Lorenzo Barber and one to Brandon Adams Jr. – in the Eaglets' 48-20 win over No. 14 Birmingham Brother Rice (4-1) at Lawrence Tech.
"We were able to put guys in conflict on every play," Gonzales, a Northwood commit, said Friday night. "That's what we worked on in practice, and we executed."
OLSM's defense stiffened in the second half, led by the defensive line. Gonzales and Barber, who typically only play offense, stepped in as defensive backs for specific series to give the Eaglets bigger bodies to counter Brother Rice. Gonzales said they had practiced it, but weren't sure if they would play on defense until their numbers were called on Friday.
They rotated in alongside corners Caden Blankenburg, who had an interception and a key end-zone breakup, and Mason Hitchcock.
"I'll do whatever we need for the win," Barber said.
St. Mary's has won three straight since losing to Detroit King in a triple-overtime thriller in Week 2. Since then, they have won three straight conference games by an average margin of 37.3 points.
"We learned from that," coach Jermaine Gonzales said. "In this game when we get up, let's put teams away. They did a good job playing in all three phases and finishing the game."
McBain experiences deja vu
The rematch of last year's Division 7 district semifinal between McBain and Charlevoix certainly felt familiar. By the end, in fact, the scoreboard showed the exact same result: McBain 28, Charlevoix 27.
"The minute the game ended, everyone was like, 'Oh my goodness, that is some déjà vu,'" McBain coach Pat Maloney said. "It was the exact same score. It came down to the final possession after being back-and-forth, and we had to score late to take the lead."
With 1:20 left, backup quarterback Al Thomas III hit Max Eling for the game-winning touchdown. The Ramblers tried to bleed the clock as much as possible on their final drive to avoid giving back to Charlevoix's hard-to-slow offense.
Thomas, along with a few others, had to step up as McBain (3-2) dealt with injuries throughout the lineup. Starting quarterback Lakai Campbell played, throwing a touchdown and catching one from Thomas, but injuries forced a two-quarterback system on Friday. Clayton Heuker, a three-sport standout and first-team All-Stater in basketball, was another key contributor dealing with injuries.
"We could have got on the bus for two hours and just packed it in after they took a lead on us at halftime," Maloney said, "But they found the guts to get themselves back out there in the second half and go for the win. Very proud of that and just the fight in terms of playing through different situations and having some players hurt."
With the win, McBain put itself back on the right side of .500. The Ramblers dropped two games to physical opponents in the first month, Edwardsburg (No. 8 in Division 4) and Beal City (No. 1 in Division 8). The schedule features another ranked nonconference battle with Fowler in Week 9. The goal is to hoist a district trophy again, after coming up short last year to eventual state champion Menominee.
"We are trying to host a playoff game," Maloney said. "That's why we try to strengthen our schedule and play a D-4 school at the beginning and play a strong D-8 school at the end."
Nominate a high school athlete for the Detroit Free Press boys and girls athlete of the week.
Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for theDetroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: St. Clair Shores Lakeview football getting big push from 'big, good-looking fellas on 11 Mile'
