By james art After losing twice to Birmingham Seaholm in 2023, the Falcons bounced back with a 35-0 victory that gave them a 9-0 regular season.
The night before Friday’s 35-0 victory over rival Birmingham Seaholm in football, Birmingham Groves star running back Mario Campoy-Lovasco dreamed his Falcons would finally get past the Maples.
“My dream? We won and everybody was so happy,” said the senior, who rushed 13 times for 86 yards and two TDs, including the game’s first score on a 12-yard carry in the opening quarter. “We wanted this all year. We just wanted to beat these guys and now I just want to win more.
“I feel great and I’ve never been happier. But that feeling? I want it to last the whole season. I want to win it all and we’re not done.”
Those are strong words from a recruit with five Division I offers. His playing days are far from over.
But that’s exactly what the win over the Maples meant to Groves.
Never mind that the win gave the Falcons, the No. 1 team in the latest Associated Press Division 2 poll, to just their third undefeated regular season in school history.
This was for revenge.
Well, sort of.
“I don’t want to say it was revenge, but to get back at them is a really good feeling, especially when they beat us twice last year,” said Toledo running back Noah Sanders, son of NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders , who carried 11 times for 106 yards and two scores. “(The loss to Seaholm last year), the fire was lit. We came into this season tired of being the underdog. We’re tired of losing to teams like Seaholm and (defending D-1 state champion Southfield) A&T. We’re ready to be the top dog in Michigan.”
Simply put, last season just didn’t work out for them.
Sure, there were highlights, like Groves coming within one drive of upsetting A&T, led by the star QB-receiver tandem of Kansas’ Isaiah Marshall and Toledo’s Tashi Braceful.
The Falcons had no trouble beating Rochester, North Farmington, Farmington and Bloomfield Hills. Heck, they even topped Harper Woods, who won the D-4 state title.
But the last two games have kept them motivated this past year.
Seaholm, which entered Week 9 as the repeat Oakland Activities Association-Blue champion, upset Groves 21-15. And one week later in the first playoff? The Maples did it again, 56-49.
“We really, really wanted this win tonight,” Groves coach Brendan Flaherty, 25, said. “We’ve been thinking about it all winter. ALL WINTER. We gave these guys 56 points last time. We end each workout with 56 push-ups or 56 sit-ups. We have this one set aside.”
The old coaching cliché is take the season game by game.
Beating Seaholm has been at the forefront of everyone’s mind since winter training began.
“It’s hot in us,” Flaherty added. “I have the utmost respect for them. They caught us and kicked our ass. We tour this throughout the year. We talk about how we lost to them four times in seven days. Two varsity games and the freshman and JV games (in week 9). It was a collective effort across the program tonight and I’m super happy with getting the W against our rivals, we’re really proud of our freshmen and JV guys coming through as well.”
But that’s where this underdog story ends.
Groves is undoubtedly the favorite to win a state title, especially with how talented its roster is.
Just look around and you’ll see a future college football star at almost any position.
Four-star Michigan commit Avery Gach anchors both the offensive and defensive lines.
Campoy-LoVasco and Sanders are arguably the best two-headed backfield in the state — so good that it’s not a start-and-book situation; it’s more like 1A and 1B on the depth chart.
Grand Valley State University’s Chris Little and four-year varsity player Nick Hardy are talented receivers.
Captains Aidan Lune and Jalen Brooks, as well as Teddy Abbott, were admirable stars on defense, among many, many more star contributors.
And despite being a first-year starter, Ryan Counts was reliable as a defensive end. Against Seaholm, the senior was 11 of 14 passing for 149 yards, including a 35-yard TD toss to Noah Woods on a flea market.
For the most part, this is pretty much the same roster that stumbled across the finish line and went 6-4 a year ago. But now this group wants to make it a perfect 14-0.
At the very least, Groves should be back in the state semifinals for the second time in three seasons, especially since seven of his senior players were involved when he lost to eventual 2022 state champion Warren DeLaSalle.
“What I’m really looking forward to is the senior leadership,” Flaherty said. “It’s just maturity telling them we’ve been there, done that. We know how to do these things, whether it’s a movie or on our walk.”
And whether these are dreams the night before an important match.
Groves has officially bounced back from a disappointing season in 2023, which should never happen with a star-studded team making the semifinals.
But now he wants to win it all.
“We know what it is,” Campoy-Lovasco said. “After my sophomore year and after my junior year, I had a chip on my shoulder. We will go all the way, I can guarantee it.”
Brandon Folsom covers metro Detroit high school sports for Hometown Life. Follow him on Twitter at @folsobrandonj.