NOVI – Ever since 53,000 fans filled the stands at Briggs Stadium back in 1944 to watch the first football game between Detroit Catholic Central and Fr. Edward J. Flanagan’s Boys Town of Omaha, Neb., the annual Boys Bowl been a big deal around the Shamrock community.
While the casual fan might see it as a pretty important game each year, anyone connected to the school – now located in Novi – and they’ll tell you the festivities aren’t limited to what happens between the sidelines. The 75th Boys Bowl, which took place Sunday, is all about faith and family as well as football.
“It’s one of the more important games on our schedule, if not the most important,” Athletic Director Aaron Babicz said. “But just as important is the chance for alums, friends and families to celebrate faith-based education, and that’s what we’re all about. That’s the goal.”
Catholic Central beat arch-rival Birmingham Brother Rice, 7-3, in a defensive battle played in a steady rain.
But that wasn’t the only thing notable about the Sunday’s festivities. Game day began with a Mass, which was followed by the induction ceremony for CC’s latest hall of fame class. And that was just before breakfast. The football game took place in the afternoon, and the day didn’t wrap up until after students and their dates attended the Boys Bowl dance that night.
There were plenty of other events throughout the preceding week, as well, including more Masses, a road rally, fundraisers, sign-painting, pep rallies, and motivational speeches given by CC graduates.
“It’s very charged, very charged, very high energy; there’s a different contest every day and it’s really a great, great season,” said Catholic Central’s first-year principal, Fr. Patrick Fulton. “By honoring the hall of fame inductees and having the alumni come back, it spans across all generations, whether it’s 1947, the 1960s, or another year. The thing that links all of them together is the Boys Bowl.”
Although the Archdiocese of Detroit issued an edict this spring instructing schools not to schedule sporting events on Sundays, Catholic Central received permission to continue its Boys Bowl tradition in its diamond year.
“The archdiocese asked us to give them rationale for (holding) a Sunday event, and we were very amenable to that,” Fr. Fulton said. “It’s a great family event, it’s a reunion where alumni come in, it’s not just about a game.”
While Fulton said the school “hasn’t even talked about” the specifics of the Boys Bowl schedule going forward in future years, the Shamrocks were able to take care of business on Sunday, winning their fifth Boys Bowl in a row, and 11th out of the past 14 since the contest moved to the Novi campus in 2006.
“It means so much; the tradition of the Boys Bowl is so incredible,” Shamrocks head football coach Dan Anderson said. “This week is always the toughest week to coach, because there’s so many things going on, and so many events. Our theme of this week was ‘Focus,’ and we were able to do that, but it wasn’t easy. Both teams played great defense, and we have a young team, so it was important to get a win in the Central Division, and start our push from there.”
A heavy downpour enveloped Tom Mach Field from the opening kickoff and both teams found it difficult to get into an offensive rhythm. Both teams combined for six punts and four fumbles before Catholic Central crossed midfield for the first time midway through the second quarter.
On the very next play, sophomore quarterback Declan Byle faded back, double-pumped, and threw toward junior Sam Dersa. Dersa jumped high to make the catch, curled outward, and ran up the left sideline into the end zone for a 50-yard touchdown – the only one scored all day.
Defenses ruled the afternoon. CC limited Brother Rice to a 37-yard field goal by Ray Margherio as the first half ended, and yielded only three Warrior first downs all day. That was important since the Shamrocks fumbled five times (losing two) and threw an interception, and the Warriors could not capitalize on any.
Brother Rice had a last-gasp drive in the final minutes, but CC senior captain Easton St. Clair sealed the win by intercepting a pass with 1:23 to play.
“I had to get in the line of sight of the quarterback, and I was there, so I knew I could make the play,” St. Clair said. “They’re a good football team, so for us to come through is big, especially as close a game as it was. It’s awesome to win on Boys Bowl day, with all the tradition, the alumni and the fans in front of you. It’s awesome.”
With Sunday’s win, Catholic Central now has a 39-34-2 record in Boys Bowl games and takes a 19-18-1 lead against Brother Rice in the yearly game. The two schools played each other in the Boys Bowl every autumn from 1966-1997, and six times since.
