DETROIT – The Detroit Sports Commission (DSC) announced attendance of 9,676 for the 2012 Prep Kickoff Classic held Aug. 24-25 at Tom Adams Field on the campus of Wayne State University.

The attendance surpassed the previous event record for a six-game event of 8,252 when the event was the Big Day Prep Showdown and held annually at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti since 2005.

Ticket sales began in the spring of 2012 at the participating schools for at a discounted rate.  A portion of the event revenues benefitted all of the participating schools.
Featuring six games, the event showcased schools from Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties to include top ranked teams and high-level college recruits.
The roster of games played at Tom Adams field included a last-second victory by Chippewa Valley over Dearborn, a victory by Southfield over Detroit Martin Luther King in double-overtime and a win by defending MHSAA Division 1 champion Detroit Cass Tech over defending Division 2 champion Birmingham Brother Rice.
The DSC also announced today that the 2013 Prep Kickoff Classic will return to Wayne State University.
“The high quality of the games and the new setting at Wayne State made for a very successful Detroit Prep Sports Commission Prep Kickoff Classic,” said Dave Beachnau, Detroit Sports Commission executive director. “The initial response from the participating schools this year has been very positive and we look forward to the 2013 Detroit Sports Commission Prep Kickoff Classic at Wayne State.
From the beginning of this event, the goal of the Detroit Sports Commission Prep Kickoff Classic was to provide a unique, once in a lifetime experience for not only the student athletes, band and cheer teams, but also for the fans and supporters of the school.”
Chippewa Valley coach Scott Merchant concurred:
“It was a great experience for not only our team, band and cheerleaders, but our whole community,” said Merchant. “This was a first-class event that was well-organized and well run.  I have nothing but positive things to say about the event.”
Also during the event, Eisenhower defeated Port Huron 35-14.
The two-day event was marred when fights broke out during the final game of the Prep Kickoff Classic, matching Brother Rice against Cass Tech Saturday night.

 

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Bill Meldrum is doing his homework.

Starting his first season as football coach at New Haven, Meldrum built most of his resume at Catholic League schools like Notre Dame Prep and U-D Jesuit.

He also was an assistant at Berkley under head coach Jim MacDougall.

Meldrum, a Macomb Township resident, is catching up on the history of athletics in general and football in particular at New Haven.

He knows of the Rockets’ success in boys track, in which New Haven won state Class C team championships in 1994, 1995 and 1996.

He knows about the Rockets’ boys basketball team that last season advanced to the state quarterfinals with a relatively young roster.

And he knows how significant a winning football program would be to the village.

“This is small-town Macomb County; Friday night football is what they want to do,” Meldrum said.

“The community is hungry as heck to get this thing back. The neat thing is that this is not a program that has never had success. They were in the playoffs with coach (Jason) Byers. A lot of these (current players) can remember that.”

New Haven made two playoff appearances under Byers, who is in his first season as head coach at Anchor Bay, in 2004 and 2005. The Rockets went to the playoffs in 2006 under coach Todd Koehn.

New Haven won Southern Thumb Association championships in 1989, 1984 and 1973.

One of the especially proud eras of Rockets football was the 1960s when Ward Young, for whom New Haven’s field is named, was the coach.

The Rockets were STA champions four times in the decade, an accomplishment that’s important today, Meldrum said.

“That’s still a tradition that people can talk about,” he said. “It’s important to have that type of tradition.

“Maybe it doesn’t mean a lot to these guys that we’re coaching now, but their dads and their uncles and grandparents remember that stuff.”

Before he began the process of applying and interviewing for the New Haven job, Meldrum’s last visit to New Haven came when he was on the Berkley staff. He scouted a potential opponent that was playing the Rockets.

At the time, New Haven played on a field behind its old high school.

Since then, the Rockets have moved to a new athletic complex, one that includes baseball and softball diamonds, behind their current high school building.

“Seeing what they’ve done with the facilities here is really impressive,” Meldrum said.

Troy High School is once again the site of one of the more interesting four-way scrimmages; one that involoves a pair of Macomb County schools.
On Thursday, August 16, Eisenhower and Cousino are on the Colts' home field which is located on Northfield Parkway just south of Long Lake (18 Mile Road) along with host Troy and Dearborn Fordson.
It is always one of the more rugged scrimmages in the area. Action should get underway about 4 p.m.
Also on that Thursday, coach Paul Verska's De La Salle Pilots will travel to South Lyon where they will also face Southgate Anderson and Plymouth. The starting time is scheduled for 4 p.m.