Week 2 of the Michigan Girls High School Flag Football League is in the books!
Sports reporter Brandon Folsom is here to rank each team from the Hometown Life coverage area and explain why.
Reminder: HTL covers teams in Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Canton, Commerce Twp., Farmington, Farmington Hills, Garden City, Livonia, Milford, Northville, Novi, Plymouth, Redford, South Lyon, Wayne, Walled Lake, Westland, White Lake and Wixom.
Folsom’s top 11 after Week 1
1. Wayne Memorial (2-0; Last week: No. 6; 24-12 win vs. Westland John Glenn)
The Zebras have three of the best players in the Hometown Life region in Laylah Brown, Skyann Penn and Capri Easley, all of whom played key roles in a win over rival Westland John Glenn.
Penn intercepted two passes, taking one 16 yards for a score with 47 seconds left to seal the victory.
Brown flashed her sprinter’s speed all night. She intercepted two passes, the first setting up an 11-yard TD catch by Ma’Kiah Williams, then returned the second 43 yards for a TD that gave Wayne a 12-6 halftime lead. But her 59-yard run later set up Easley, one of the most physical defensive presences, for a 17-yard reverse for the game-winning TD with 1:05 remaining.
2. P-CEP Prowlers (2-0; Last week: No. 2; 24-0 win vs. Saline)
Yeah, the Prowlers are great, but, boy, they’re also a little lucky.
Their Week 2 game against Saline was at the same time as the Salem softball team’s annual golf outing. With many key players also on that team, P-CEP needed special permission to make sure it had a full roster against the Hornets.
Three of their top four performances came from softball players, including Wayne State commit Mikayla Roberts throwing for 162 yards and three TDs while also adding 34 receiving yards, Taylor Bond catching two passes for 97 yards and a score and QB Charlie Lindstrom going 9 of 11 for 111 yards and a TD while also totaling 83 receiving yards and a score.
Great win. All it cost the coaching staff was a hole sponsorship at the golf outing.
3. Redford Thurston (3-0; Last week: No. 3; 29-6 win vs. Redford Union)
While the Eagles are a strong team, thanks in part to their multi-sport athletes, there’s no doubt the upset of the regular season is their Week 2 win over rival Redford Union. The Panthers had never lost a regular-season game since starting the program three years ago.
Thurston played well against Detroit CMA and Detroit Renaissance to open the season, but beating RU is the real deal. That’s not beginner’s luck.
Highlights included the Eagles’ defense intercepting five passes, with Mariya Plata returning one 65 yards for a TD, while Emiya Franklin had two interceptions and returned one the length of the field for a score.
4. Bloomfield Hills (2-0; Last week: No. 4; 26-0 win vs. Utica Eisenhower)
With the games Eva Kontos (195 passing yards, three TDs), Kendyll Parker (124 receiving yards, two TDs) and Julia Finkelstein (66 receiving yards, one TD) had in Week 2, it’d be easy to overlook the Black Hawks’ defense.
Except you can’t.
They pitched their second straight shutout and have outscored opponents 57-0 so far.
5. Redford Union (1-1; Last week: No. 1; 29-6 loss to Redford Thurston)
Coach Jon Ghazal said the Panthers had one of their worst weeks of practice in a while, which came at the wrong time before playing rival Thurston. He didn’t want to make excuses for their performance against the Eagles, but the loss likely knocks them out of the state tournament, as Thurston only needs to beat 0-1-1 Detroit Cody to win the Motor City Muscle League division.
6. Northville (1-1; Last week: No. 7; 20-9 win vs. Ypsilanti Lincoln)
The Mustangs’ starters played so well against Lincoln that many backups saw plenty of playing time in the second half.
Stars from Week 2 included QB Taylor Chrzanowski leading on both sides of the ball, passing for 150 yards and pulling three flags, Elise Tappy, who returned an interception for a TD, caught an extra point, rushed for a TD and had 30 receiving yards, and Brooke Schabel, who totaled a game-high 162 all-purpose yards.
7. Westland John Glenn (2-1; Last week: No. 5; 21-12 win vs. Romulus, 24-12 loss to Wayne Memorial)
It’s tough to drop the Rockets this far down the rankings. They’re having a strong season, even beating Belleville in Week 1. Their only blemish is a close loss to rival Wayne.
The score was tied 12-12 with under five minutes left before the wheels fell off and Wayne’s defense took over, picking off two of its five interceptions in the waning moments.
Against Wayne, Bayley Wiseley, last week’s MVP, scored on a reverse while Paityn Smith caught a TD pass from Amiya Handy. But pretty much everyone contributed during the big win over Romulus.
8. Novi (1-1; Last week: No. 11; 26-6 win at Farmington)
No team in the area showed more improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 than the Wildcats, who put up 26 points against a respectable opponent.
Some of that had to do with Novi not facing Belleville, a favorite to win the state championship. But it also had to do with having another week to get on the same page.
QB Brooklyn Tokarczyk completed four passes, two for TDs, while Aubrey Kirby caught two passes for 50 yards and two scores.
9. Birmingham Groves (0-2; Last week: No. 8; 15-14 loss to Madison Heights Bishop Foley)
The Falcons showed improvement in Week 2, nearly pulling off a win against the Ventures.
Led by QB Kel’ko Buskin, who threw for 108 yards and one TD and also had eight flag pulls and an interception on defense, they got more contributions than in last week’s tough loss to Clawson.
Highlights included Aliyah Wright finishing with 77 all-purpose yards and a TD, Ella Kecskemeti catching five passes for 59 yards, Halley Vincent breaking up two passes, Ja’Layah Buffin-Pitts pulling four flags and several others contributing on both sides of the ball.
10. North Farmington (1-1; Last week: No. 9; 52-0 loss to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s)
North faced arguably the best offense in Michigan, as Orchard Lake St. Mary’s dynamic duo of QB Reese Holton and receiver Olivia Willoughby were once again unstoppable.
Its defense gave up 383 yards and seven TDs to Holton, while Willoughby had 12 catches for 167 yards, four TDs and four extra points.
A bright spot for the Raiders was junior Chu Boaz, who continues to be their most reliable player on both offense and defense, while Layla Bohannan broke off another big run.
11. Farmington (0-3; Last week: 26-6 loss to Novi)
Based on how close the Falcons played rival North Farmington last week, a 26-20 loss in the waning moments, you’d think they’d carry that momentum against Novi, a team that also struggled in Week 1.
That wasn’t the case, as the Wildcats won by three scores.
Drew Whaley was Farmington’s standout, scoring on a 60-yard rushing TD.
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at@folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Michigan girls flag football rankings after Week 2
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
