Front Row: left to right: Jamari Thompson, Demetrius Purnell, Owen Gregory, Keonnte Walker, Darece Langston, Akeem Morris, Voviere Langston, Lunden Fletcher. Back Row: left to right: Zachariah Purnell, Kaevouhn Sims, Kentreal Sims, Jason Emmett, Cartieyah Harris, Nehemiah Ezikwu, Delvin Day.
(Photos courtesy of Scott DeCamp)
By Scott DeCamp
LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON HEIGHTS – The move to eight-player football prior to the 2024 season seemed to be just what the Muskegon Heights Academy program needed.
LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON HEIGHTS – The move to eight-player football prior to the 2024 season seemed to be just what the Muskegon Heights Academy program needed.
After going winless in 11-man football in 2022 and 2023, the Tigers tasted victory in their opening two eight-player contests last fall en route to a 4-5 overall record.
The goal now for Muskegon Heights is to take another step forward. Jimmy Purnell, in the second season of his second stint as Tigers head coach, is encouraged by the direction of the program.
“The previous years, we didn’t really win. Winning four games (last year), it was pretty good,” Purnell said. “I feel like this season, we’re going to make the playoffs.”
Last season, Muskegon Heights opened with a 48-16 victory over Brethren. This season, the Tigers kicked off the campaign with a road game against Brethren Aug. 28, losing 34-14.
Other schedule highlights include games against former 11-man, small-school powerhouses Martin and Gobles, as well as a trip to Holton on its upgraded synthetic turf surface in the regular-season finale. Holton is in its first season of eight-player football.
“I had to get the kids to buy into the eight-man concept,” Purnell said. “I knew of the eight-man game playing flag football in Detroit when I lived in Detroit.”
Said running back Cartieyah Harris: “It’s fast – way faster. It feels just like 11-man.”
Muskegon Heights’ roster was freshman-heavy last season and more than a dozen of them had never played football before. This fall, the Tigers will be relying on a large and more experienced sophomore class.
Purnell, a 1985 Muskegon Heights alumnus, expects his roster number to be in the 20 range this season.
“We’re going to be more experienced this year. We’ll be stronger,” Purnell said.
“You need something to build on, you know, a feeder system. Eight-man was kind of different for everybody.”
Voviere Langston said that Purnell stresses teamwork and pride in the Muskegon Heights orange and black. Last season gave everybody perspective and now the Tigers know what to expect, according to Langston.
Purnell said that the coaching staff had to do more teaching last year, more hands-on work. This year, they pair that with classroom sessions on the whiteboard.
“We can show you the play, draw the play on the whiteboard, tell you what they’ve got to do, then go out and that’s three ways that you learn how to do that play,” Purnell said.
Lunden Fletcher said that eight-man football was something new to learn.
Fletcher said Muskegon Heights players did not expect to receive the support they did, but winning also can create a double-edged sword.
“When we (started) winning games, we were getting a big head. We thought we were just too good and everything,” Fletcher said.
Taking over at the quarterback spot will be Zachariah Purnell, who transferred to Muskegon Heights from South Haven, where he played 11-man football last year.
He’s excited to get going with the Tigers.
“I wasn’t here, but playing eight-man was a change for me, coming from 11-man,” Zachariah Purnell said. “I don’t know how it was last year, but I heard it was pretty good. I think we can do even better than we did last year. We’ve got a lot of talent.”
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