Week 8 and 9 highlights, plus Michiganders in NFL

What a final two weeks of the Michigan high school football regular season, huh? So many incredible match-ups, I don't know where to begin. Let's take a look at the Week 8 and Week 9 top games. Plus, I'll have an update on former Michigan high school football standouts in the NFL.

Week 8 highlights-
DeWitt (8-0) 13, Portland (7-1) 7-Lansing area's marquee game, defending D-5 state champs fall
Lowell (8-0) 35, Grand Rapids Christian (6-2) 34 (2OTs)-Red Arrows one of Michigan's best
Macomb Dakota (8-0) 52, Chippewa Valley (7-1) 7-Dakota might have state's top defense
Detroit Catholic Central (7-1) 20, Warren DeLaSalle (5-3) 14-Crazy finish saw Shamrocks score on game's last play. The Pilots have to be the best 5-3 team in the country, losing on last-second plays to Birmingham Brother Rice (8-0) and Catholic Central and falling 21-14 in their season-opener to Toledo Central Catholic (8-0), the defending Ohio D-2 state champions led by quarterback and Notre Dame recruit DeShone Kizer (6-5, 215).

Week 9 highlights-
Clarkston (8-1) 20, Southfield (7-2) 10-Great match-up featuring two of suburban Detroit's best
Detroit Cass Tech (9-0) 20, Detroit King (8-1) 14-PSL title clash overflowing with D-I talent
Northville (8-1) 38, Walled Lake Western (8-1) 31-Two best KLAA teams battle for supremacy
Birmingham Brother Rice (9-0) 20, Detroit Catholic Central (7-2) 7-Rice hands Catholic Central its only two losses of season. Legendary Rice head coach Al Fracassa, retiring after this season, goes out a winner against his most heated rival.
-- On a side note, the talent involved in the above four games is off-the-charts. If a college coach from one of Michigan's five D-I playing football schools only recruited and signed players from these eight schools, he'd have one heck of a class -- and it's only EIGHT SCHOOLS from Detroit and its suburbs. That alone should prove to anyone the level of D-I talent in Michigan. Look at the SENIOR players (all D-I level recruits) a smart, hard-working coach, who knew the state of Michigan and recruited it hard, could build/augment his program with from just the above eight schools:
Clarkston-Tim Cason-6-0, 185-DB-Purdue verbal, Nick Matich-6-3, 295-OL-DL-WMU, David Beedle-6-5, 285-DT-Michigan State, Ian Erickson-5-10, 180-RB-EMU
Southfield-Lion King Conaway-6-5, 225-DE, Malik McDowell-6-7, 290-DT (MSU, U-M, Alabama, LSU among many current offers), Lawrence Marshall-6-3, 230-DE-Michigan, Jalen Brady-6-0, 180-QB-Bowling Green State, Chukwuma Okorafor-6-5, 285-OT-WMU (currently also has offers from Arkansas and Florida), Jordan Billingslea-5-9, 165-WR-WMU, Carteris Carter-5-11, 185-DB
Detroit Cass Tech-Gary Hosey-6-0, 230-RB-LB-Buffalo, William White-6-2, 220-LB-Buffalo, Deon Drake-6-1, 215-LB-Michigan State, Nashon Burns-6-5, 285-OT, Sean Perry-5-7, 160-WR-KR, Phillip Parham-5-9, 170-DB, Delshawn Phillips-6-2, 225-LB-WMU, Brian Sanders-6-4, 225-DE-Bowling Green State, Chris McDaniel-6-4, 225-TE-WMU, Damon Webb-5-11, 185-CB-Ohio State
Detroit King-Carl Fuller-6-3, 215-LB, Avonte Maddox-5-9, 175-CB-RB-WR-KR-Pittsburgh, DeMarco Kaigler-6-1, 280-DT, Jalen Embry-5-11, 190-DB-Iowa
Northville-Dimitri Angelas-6-5, 285-OL-U-Mass, Joey Hewlett-5-11, 190-QB-DB
Walled Lake Western-Kyle Bambard-5-9, 180-QB-K-P-North Carolina State, Alex Joss-6-4, 285-OT-Ball State, Leon Richardson-6-4, 290-OT
Birmingham Brother Rice-Alberto Sandoval-6-3, 260-DT, Brian Walker-5-9, 225-RB, Chris Carter-5-11, 185-DB, Jason Alessi-6-1, 185-DB-WR-K-KR, Dominic Perkovic-6-5, 235-DE-TE, Sage Baultrusaitis-6-1, 250-C-Army
Detroit Catholic Central-Zach Bock-6-0, 190-WR-DB-KR, Christopher Okoye-6-6, 320-DT-OT, Alex Galiyas-6-2, 265-OG-C, Dylan Roney-6-3, 235-DE-Navy
-- That's 40 legit D-I level players on only EIGHT Detroit area teams. Imagine looking at/recruiting the entire Metro Detroit area, let alone the Grand Rapids area, Flint, Muskegon, Lansing, Ann Arbor, southwest Michigan, northern Michigan/U.P., etc. Michigan easily has over 100 D-I level college football players within its borders. Looking at just the above eight teams should prove that point.

Michigan players in NFL-
There were Michigan natives all over the NFL games I watched last week. In the Detroit-Dallas contest, it was enjoyable watching Lake Orion's Jeff Heath (6-1, 210), an undrafted free agent from D-II Saginaw Valley State, start at safety for the Cowboys, while Flint Carman-Ainsworth's Brandon Carr (6-0, 205), a six-year pro from D-II Grand Valley State, start at cornerback for Dallas. It was interesting to note that of the four secondary starters for the Cowboys, two were from the state of Michigan and also both from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference -- not the SEC, not the PAC 12, not the Big Ten, but the GLIAC. Too cool. Just goes to show, once again, the talent being overlooked in the state of Michigan by D-I college coaches throughout our state.

In the Vikings-Packers game, it was fun watching wide receiver Myles White (6-0, 185), who led Livonia Stevenson to the 2007 Division 1 state championship game his senior season, start for Green Bay and catch five passes for 35 yards from All-Pro QB Aaron Rodgers. White, an undrafted free agent from Louisiana Tech, is another player who got out of the state of Michigan and made his way onto an NFL roster and a starting spot.

In fact, both the Vikings and Packers have a large contingent of players from Michigan on their respective rosters. For Minnesota, Joe Berger (6-5, 315)-OL-Michigan Tech, Newaygo; Audie Cole-6-5, 240-LB-North Carolina State, Monroe; Greg Jennings-5-11, 200-WR-WMU, Kalamazoo Central; and Zach Line-6-1, 230-RB-SMU, Oxford are Michigan natives on the Vikings' current roster. For Green Bay, Brad Jones-6-3, 245-LB-Colorado, East Lansing; T.J. Lang-6-4, 318-OL-EMU, Birmingham Brother Rice; and Nick Perry-6-3, 265-LB-USC, Detroit King are players from Michigan on the Packers' roster.

Once again, I find it interesting, or if I'm honest with myself, quite disgusting/disappointing that out of the 10 current NFL players on the three teams I just mentioned above, only TWO were eventually signed by one of Michigan's five D-I football playing schools. How do EIGHT future NFL players not sign with one of our five D-I schools? Only Perry was a big-time, All-American-type national recruit. The other seven guys somehow were never noticed as high school seniors or were not recruited hard enough to be convinced to sign with an instate D-I school. And these are only three NFL teams. There are many more current NFL players from Michigan who went elsewhere out of state to play their college ball or went the D-II or D-III level route. Why is that? It shouldn't happen as often as it does. College coaches need to look inward, inside Michigan's borders for the majority of their recruits at the five D-I programs in our state. I think it should be obvious by now that Michigan is overflowing with high school football talent (D-I level talent) and those kids should be representing their home state and suiting up for their home state D-I colleges, not for far-away outstate schools or D-II or D-III colleges.

Okay, off my soapbox.