(Have photos to go with this story? Email pics to Web and Content Editor / Director of News Dan Stickradt at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com and dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com and also list the photo credit as well.)
MICHIGAN SOCCER NETWORK: MSN NEWS: www.michigansoccernetwork.com/msnnews
Bobcats continue 26-game unbeaten streak with 18th shutout, advance to regional semifinals
BY DAN STICKRADT
WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR | DIRECTOR OF NEWS
Michigan Soccer Network | Premier Media Group and affiliates
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CELL PHONE: (248) 884-1051
TW/X: @msn_stickradt @LocalSportsFans @MiSoccerNetwork
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. – Brian Scherzer knows a good meal and reasons to celebrate in life.
So when his team asked the bus driver and parents to make a pit stop Wednesday night, the reason was expected. The location? Not so much.
It was not for a steak dinner, either, or something else extravagant.
“McDonalds. They were hungry and wanted to eat, so they chose McDonalds,” laughed Scherzer.
‘They’ are the Bay City John Glenn boys soccer team. Wednesday was a school night. But these Bobcats were hungry. Starving. And they had reasons to celebrate.
Eighth-ranked Bay City John Glenn had just captured a Division 2 district title at Mt. Pleasant High School. The Bobcats blanked unranked Ludington 3-0 to advance to next week’s regional semifinal.
It was some 40 years in the making, as Bay City John Glenn departed Mt. Pleasant with some championship hardware for the first time. Decades of frustrations had finally ended.
Bay City John Glenn first launched a varsity club soccer team way back in 1985. By 1987, the Bobcats boys soccer program was elevated up to full varsity status. But in some 40 years, John Glenn had never won a single district championship until Wednesday night.
“I think they just weren’t hungry, but they wanted to show off their trophy,” said Scherzer, whose team has been ranked both in 2023 and 2024 – the first times they program ever cracked the Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association rankings. “They wanted to stop everywhere. They showed it off to everyone that walked into McDonalds.”
Bay City John Glenn is good, posting a 24-0-2 overall record at this stage and breaking team and individual school records left and right. They aren’t done. There’s still some soccer to be played.
John Glenn will visit Cedar Springs High School on Oct. 22, where the Bobcats will face state powerhouse Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern. Ranked 10th in the state and recent winners of the Ottawa Kent Conference-White Division, the Huskies won a tough district which included wins over Greenville (8-0), Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (4-3, shootout) and East Grand Rapids (2-1).
The Huskies are for real. Northern captured the Division 2 state championship in 2019 and finished as the D-2 state runner-up in both 2015 and 2018. This year they have also put up some gaudy numbers playing a very difficult schedule.
So is John Glenn. The Bobcats have rolled along this season, but not before a three-game week which saw the Bay City John Glenn trip up three teams by a combined 19-1 margin, including Ludington – a program that is not ranked this season but also has a rich history of numerous deep runs in the postseason.
The Orioles (14-4-5) still finished a respectable second out of 11 schools in the West Michigan Conference, and amongst their history includes the 2001 Division 3 state championship along with three state runner-up finishes (2017, Division 3; 1997, Division 3; 1994, Class B).
But Bay City John Glenn? Not so much.
“I talked to one of the old coaches earlier this season, and he said they had got to the district championship game a few times,” added Scherzer. “But overall, we’ve always seemed to run into a really good team in the district opener or district semifinals. For whatever the reason, we’ve never been able to win one until now.”
The Bobcats made believers out of Ludington.
Senior midfielder Landon Kogelman scored the first goal – which proved to be the eventual game-winning and historic goal for the Bobcats.
Asher Clark scored his state-leading 56th goal in the second half when he headed home a Kogelman cornerkick.
Sophomore Landen Beson-Montoya added a insurance tally to seal the deal for Bay City John Glenn, which recently captured their first Tri Valley Conference-Red Division title.
Drew Bailey made one great save to preserve the shutout – the school’s 18th and another school record that keeps being broken and this season moves along deep into the postseason.
The Bobcats have also exploded on the offensive end with a whopping and state-best 123-15 scoring edge. Two other times the opponent was held to a single goal, while no team has put up more than three goals on the Bobcats this season.
But now it will get really serious.
“I don’t know much about (Northern) except they are always good and ranked in the state. We’ll have to do our homework,” added Scherzer. “From here on out, everybody is really good and there will be no more easy games for anybody. We’ll prepare for Forest Hills Northern the best we can and hope for the best. The boys don’t want to stop playing just yet.”
They don’t want to stop eating, either, or stop showing off that trophy.
— All Rights Reserved, Premier Media Group / Michigan Soccer Network / National Soccer Network
(Have a story suggestion for the Premier Media Group and the Michigan Soccer Network regarding club soccer, high school varsity, amateur soccer, collegiate soccer or professional soccer involving teams, players or coaches with Michigan ties, contact Communications Specialist/Web and Content Editor/Director of News Dan Stickradt via email at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com or dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com, or call 248-884-1051 or 248-525-2349. Dan Stickradt is a 31-year veteran of the Michigan Media circles and recently joined the staff full time in March of 2024. Want to schedule a broadcast game or live show, contact PMG/MSN Director of Broadcasting Jonathan Turner for availability and pricing at jonathan@michigansoccernetwork.com and jonathan@thepremiermediagrp.com.)
(MSN will compile a random sampling of game results from around the state each day. To send in results from high school varsity, club, amateur, pre-pro, semi-pro or professional soccer, email all pertinent details to Communications Specialist / Web and Content Editor / Director of News Dan Stickradt at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com and dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com or submit information right on the correct link on the MSN website at https://www.michigansoccernetwork.com/reportascore. Please submit the competing teams, location and date of game, final score, overall and league records, goals, assists, goalkeepers and saves, standout defenders, players of the match, and any other pertinent details of the game. If there are courtesy action photos available, feel free to submit them at the above-listed emails.)
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BOYS SOCCER: MSN SUPER 50 TEAMS POSITIONS 41-50: www.michigansoccernetwork.com/post/boys-soccer-super-50-teams-positions-41-50
BOYS SOCCER: MSN SUPER 50 TEAMS POSITIONS 31-40: https://www.michigansoccernetwork.com/post/boys-soccer-msn-super-50-teams-positions-31-40
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