Contacts & Publisher

Subscription Form

Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2008 /  Prep Bowl 2008

by Rick Schulte special to the Michigan Catholic
Published October 31, 2008

Gregg McIntosh | The Michigan Catholic AnnMarie Michol, a 10-year teacher at De La Salle Collegiate, with Sr. Mary Gehringer, OSM, and Alex Gajewski, from the archdiocesan Department of Education.

Detroit — Some of the messages Paul Verska had ingrained in him while growing up came cascading back at Ford Field. And with good reason.

"When I was young, I played football for Walt Bazylewicz at Notre Dame High School in Harper Woods," said Verska, now the head coach at De La Salle Collegiate, Warren. "He always preached the importance of winning the Catholic League championship. First it was the Soup Bowl, then the Prep Bowl. That was a big deal then, and that means everything now."

In his first time in the title game as a coach, Verska led DeLaSalle to a 28-14 victory over Detroit Catholic Central, Novi.

Gregg McIntosh | The Michigan Catholic De La Salle Collegiate's John Martinez raises the trophy after besting Catholic Central, 28-14.

The Prep Bowl festivities honor educators for longevity, and honors top student athletes for their work on the field and in the classroom. The centerpiece of the day, however, is football. It's a fact that isn't lost on the players. In fact, even with state playoffs still remaining, the Prep Bowl means everything.

"We tell the kids a Catholic League championship is our state championship," Verska said. "It means that much." Catholic Central jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but the Pilots kept them off the rest of the way. Josh Sinagoga's 8-yard TD pass to John Martinez gave De La Salle a fourth-quarter lead. The Pilots added a 41-yard interception return from Mark Karam for insurance.

"It's the heart and soul of our players," Verska said. "We have an attitude on this team that, no matter the score, they feel they can win. It's a very determined group of young men. We preach the most important play is the next play, and they believe it. And winning in the Prep Bowl, it means so much."

An appreciation for success at Cabrini

Gregg McIntosh | The Michigan Catholic Shrine's Spencer Ray keeps a grip on the ball despite the work of Cabrini's Jake Femminineo. Shrine took the win, 37-0.

When Brian Obrycki would go to work – running a highly-visible lawn service in Allen Park – he would always make sure to wear a Cabrini hat or shirt. Something to let people know he was proud of Cabrini High School.

"Even in the tough years, I did it to show my pride in Cabrini. I wanted to set the example," said Obrycki, himself a Cabrini graduate. Now, he's the head football coach for the Monarchs.

Keep in mind, Obrycki was part of some great years at Cabrini in the late 1970s. And after years of coaching at Cabrini in one form or another – CYO basketball or football, tee-ball, basically any sport where the elementary or high school needed a hard-working coach to help – he became a part of the varsity football program in the early 1990s when the school hired Terry Andrysiak (a prep standout who went out to play quarterback in college for Notre Dame) as its head coach.

Eventually, work commitments took Andrysiak out of town, but Obrycki was firmly a part of the program when he became head coach in 1995. "We wanted to bring back the tradition and the Cabrini pride we grew up with," Obrycki said. "We had some great success back then."

There were a few lean years – not enough to keep Obrycki from wearing his Cabrini blue and gold gear wherever he could, though. In fact, there was a time when the school's enrollment hovered around 180.

That was several years and more than 200 students ago. Since then, a commitment to lower tuition from the parish pastor, Fr. Joseph Mallia, played a big role in the school's growth. Enrollment is now over 400.

Gregg McIntosh | The Michigan Catholic The University of Detroit Jesuit band was one of many performing.

"He had the charisma, as another Cabrini alumni," Obrycki said. "He worked his butt off and sold people on Cabrini." The school is nestled in an Allen Park neighborhood, something Obrycki agreed was a throwback to the old days of a Catholic school in every neighborhood. It's that community, in fact, that keeps Cabrini together.

"Things like the Prep Bowl, that's the biggest thing we play for," Obrycki said. "The Catholic League championships, that is it for a school like us. Win or lose, it means everything."

Even after Shrine High School, Royal Oak, rolled to a 37-0 win in the C-D final, you can bet Obrycki will still be sporting Cabrini colors when he goes to work.

"I even have a Cabrini sticker on my mowers," he said.

Success means more than football at St. Anne

Gregg McIntosh | The Michigan Catholic St. Anne's Tom Novak and St. Regis' Will Hogan reach for a hurling football. St. Anne beat St. Regis, 22-4.

It was easy to see the talent level with this year's CYO team at St. Anne, Warren. But that's not the whole story. "Our talent level was off the charts," said Nick Sherevan, in his 34th year as the Eagles' coach. "But we concentrated on character and attitude."

Many coaches talk about intangibles like that, but it's easy to understand how Sherevan feels so strong about his message.

"They're changing from young boys to young men," Sherevan said. "It's a very important thing, what we do."

All the coaches on his staff, at one time, played for Sherevan. He feels there's something deeper than football success going on at St. Anne.

Considering Saturday's 22-4 win over St. Regis, Bloomfield Hills, was St. Anne's fifth CYO championship in 11 tries, that really says something.

Sherevan told the story of a former player he ran into recently. This player, now an adult, works as a lawyer and has plenty of other good things going on in his life.

"He told me everything I have in my life, everything I accomplished, I owe to St. Anne's football," Sherevan said. "As a coach, you can't ask for anything more than that."