For the first time in school history, the Pioneers of Riverview Gabriel Richard have reached the football state finals, and they have done it under first-year head coach Mark Shea.
The first-year coach of the Pioneers stepped into a great situation as he was inheriting a team coming off of their first-ever regional title, but he didn’t know that when he took over. As Shea said, “Coming into the year, I didn’t know what I had,” Shea continued, “I took the job because I love the small school atmosphere.” So, heading into the off-season was a learning curve for Shea, but that was until they got into seven-on-seven workouts. At that point in July, Shea said they could make a real run.
Coming from schools that had made deep runs, Shea said you have to plan for that, but playing in division eight, you don’t have a big roster. If they lost a guy to injury, it would hurt their chances, but they put a lot into recovery, strength, and nutrition.
The Pioneers have a lot of great players, from Derek Lesko to the Sobush twins and Joey Calhoun. Calhoun has been great in the backfield for the Pioneers, scoring 16 touchdowns this year. All 16 of Calhoun’s touchdowns came on the ground, so he was at the mercy of his offensive line opening up holes for him, and they did just that as Calhoun said, “They give it all their heart out there, and that’s all I can ask for,” Calhoun also said that he couldn’t do it without his offensive line as they open holes for him when he needs them.
The leader of the team has been senior quarterback Nick Sobush. Sobush has gained a lot of experience over the last year, leading the football team to the two best finishes in school history, semifinals, and a finals appearance, and helping guide the basketball team to a semifinals appearance in March. On Sobush’s leadership, Shea said it’s massive for the team. Shea noted that Sobush has a high level of football IQ, and with his IQ and detail to the game, it allowed Shea to give his quarterback more freedom to audible plays at the line of scrimmage. As Coach Shea said, “There’s nothing like being at the center of the field to see certain things,” and that is why he has that ability, and part of that is how much film he watches. Shea said his quarterback watches the third-most film only behind me (Shea) and the defensive coordinator. “Nick doesn’t come in on Mondays to listen; he comes in with his own feelings and thoughts, and we discuss what we think will work best,” according to Shea. He would say that Sobush holds himself to an unbelievably high standard.
This is a big moment for Gabriel Richard, and Sobush said as much: “Since my freshman year, we’ve grown every year, and to get to a state championship game senior year is a great feeling,” he would go on to say that he hoped he could cap off the season with a win. While winning the first football state championship in school history would be great, how often can you say you did that with your twin brother? That isn’t that often, but for Sobush, it could happen. “We’ve worked for this our whole lives,” according to Sobush. He would say, “We’ve always dreamt about this in the backyard, being in a state title game and doing it together.”
Gabriel Richard is the first team up on Friday morning. They will take on Beal City at 9:30 a.m. from Ford Field.