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Groves, Seaholm Learn Opponents in Football Playoffs

'Selection Sunday' reveals matchups for Oakland County's high school teams.

"Selection Sunday" had several local high school football teams pumped up for this weekend's playoffs.

Both of Birmingham's public high schools – and – as well as private schools Detroit Country Day and  made the first round.

Selection Sunday

Selection Sunday is one of the most exciting days of the high school football season – and it doesn't even involve any actually football games.

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On the “Selection Sunday” program that aired on FOX Sports Detroit, football teams across the state found out the full list of qualifiers and pairings.

Teams that played nine games this season and had six wins automatically qualified (five wins for teams that played eight games). On the show, it was revealed that 234 teams automatically qualified this year, the lowest number ever.

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This was good news for teams like Brother Rice and Avondale that finished on the bubble with just five wins. The field for the playoffs is 256 teams, so 22 teams that didn’t automatically qualify were able to get in.

Qualifying teams are divided into eight divisions of 32 schools each based on school size. There are four regions of eight teams in each division and within those regions there are two districts of four teams.

All times and dates for first round games will be announced by the MHSAA on Monday. Games will be played on Friday and Saturday.

Groves vs. Southfield 

The Groves Falcons (6-3) weren’t surprised when it was revealed their Division 2 first round opponent was going to be Southfield (6-3).

“We kind of had a feeling it would be Southfield or Farmington, so it’s kind of what we thought,” Groves head coach Brendan Flaherty said.

The last time the Falcons made the playoffs they actually played the Southfield Bluejays in the first round and won 14-0.

While Flaherty said he didn’t know much about Southfield’s current group of players, he is very familiar with the program.

In addition to the playoff game back in 2004, Groves played Southfield once a year from 2007 to 2009 when both teams were in the Oakland Activities Association White division. He said they are always a “well-coached and talented” football team.

One player Groves will have to watch for is Brandon Watkins. The talented running back rushed for more than 1,000 yards this season and is a huge threat out of the backfield.

Flaherty said his biggest concern is getting his team healthy. Injuries have been a problem the last few weeks. One player he won’t get back for the first round game is wide-receiver Mark Corliss. He tore his ACL two weeks ago and will be out the rest of the season.

The Falcons qualified for the post season on . The 21-3 victory gave Groves a share of the OAA Blue title and the automatic qualifying bid.

Will that momentum carry over to the playoffs? “Absolutely. It’s good to beat Seaholm, our crosstown rival. We feel good,” Flaherty said. “We’ll be ready, we just want to put our best foot forward.”

Seaholm vs. Harrison

If the Seaholm Maples (6-3) players are scared of their first round opponent, they aren’t showing it. 

Seaholm head coach Jim Pobursky was with his team Sunday when they found out they would be heading to Farmington Harrison (9-0) for a game against the Division 2 defending champions in the first round.

What was the players’ reaction? “Bring it on,” Pobursky said.

Pobursky, in his first season as coach of the Maples, admitted to being a little shocked about the draw. He said it will be “the challenge of a lifetime” to dethrone a Harrison Hawks team that has won 23 straight games and is averaging more than 40 points a game.

“You are going against the No. 1 team in the state and No. 10 nationally,” Pobursky said.

It's also a team that will have a lot of talent playing on Saturdays next year. Harrison has a trio of players – wide receiver Aaron Burbridge (MSU), tightend Devin Funchess (Michigan) and lineman Mario Ojemudia (Michigan) – who are headed to the Big Ten.

Facing that kind of talent, the Maples know it will take a perfect effort to keep their season alive. 

“It’s got to be a total team effort,” Pobursky said. “You have to play solid defense, no mistakes, can’t miss tackles or get out of position. Same thing offensively can’t have a lot of three-and-outs. We are going to have to move the ball and do the best we can, maybe dink-and-dunk a little to put some points up.”

The first round district game will be Seaholm’s first playoff appearance since 2005. Regardless of the outcome, Pobursky hopes the Maples football program is back on track after its longest playoff draught in more than 30 years. 

“This was one of our goals,” Pobursky said. “We have a rich tradition here at Seaholm and we wanted to get back to that level. So far, we are going in the right direction and we hope to just continue that.”

More high school football playoffs matchups

For a complete list of pairings, see this MHSAA list.

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