Fenton — Rain? No problem for the Fenton varsity football team.
It’s become a tradition since Jeff Setzke first became the Fenton Tigers varsity head football coach to start the first official practice to a season at 12:01 a.m. during the first Monday practices are allowed. And while there was a steady rain for most of Sunday night/early Monday morning, the Tigers didn’t let that phase them.
It also didn’t bother them that they couldn’t compete on their own home football field due to the fact the field is still being resurfaced with a new turf.
Instead, the Tigers did what they have had to ever since the start of the summer — they made what they did have work. So, if anyone drove by the Fenton High School parking lot near 11:30 p.m., they would’ve noticed family members and friends tailgating as they waited for their players’ entrance on to a different field — the Fenton varsity soccer field. And when they appeared, the Tigers did what they usually do — they walked with locked arms in two lines. Once there, they did their traditional huddle and chant before running on to the field to start the 2022 football season.
Fenton senior Dylan Beverly was one of the Tigers excited to get practice started at its traditional 12:01 a.m. time.
“I love midnight,” Beverly said. “I have a high energy at night and I don’t go to sleep for awhile, usually about 1:30 or 2. It’s just the feeling of football starting that’s exciting. I like it. I enjoy it. Our team is hype for it.”
When it comes to Flint Metro League championships or Flint Metro League Stripe Division championships, the Tigers have had a padlock on the Flint Metro League championship title winning in all but two since 2011. They have enjoyed the Stripes Division championship every season since the creation of two divisions starting in 2019.
Of course, one of the seasons that the Tigers didn’t actually win the league crown was last season when the Tigers lost to Lake Fenton in the league’s title game between the two division champions. The Tigers won the first two league title games.
There were clearly reasons that slowed Fenton’s drive for a third straight league champion-ship victory in 2021 with COVID being the major influence. The Tigers went through a few weeks at the end of the season, dealing with all sorts of player losses due to COVID. That forced the promotion of many underclassmen on a moment’s notice, and probably played at least a reasonable roll in the Tigers’ 42-6 loss to Lake Fenton.
A week later, the Tigers saw their playoff string of 13 straight seasons end when they lost to Walled Lake Northern 31-28 in a game that with a win would’ve qualified them for the playoffs. The Tigers are ready for some redemption.
“(What happened last season) is a lot on our minds,” Beverly said. “Our intentions this year are to go to the championship game and win everything. Having illness hurt us last year, but we don’t have that this year. It was pretty bad (last season), but there was no excuse for not winning games. This year, we are going to pick up the intensity and work hard every game.”
Setzke said in many ways he was most proud of how his team handled the adversity a year ago.
“Let’s just say if you ask my opinion, last year was the greatest season we ever had, and I truly mean that,” Setzke said. “It wasn’t because of wins and losses. Most football programs in the state of Michigan would’ve shut down for two weeks, but our AD (Michael Bakker at the time) and our school board said to test daily and we’ll keep grinding. And these kids and staff, every week, they just kept on playing. We never knew who was going to be out the next day, and they just kept playing.”
Now, what the Tigers have is a squad that got a lot of younger players quality varsity playing time last season that they otherwise may not have earned. And, more importantly, they have a desire for redemption for a season that still saw the Tigers win the Metro League’s Stripes Division crown.
“Every time they got on a game field, it didn’t matter who showed up, they felt they’d win. So I am proud of them and I’m proud of our coaches. Our pride is bruised a little bit. Certainly the Lake Fenton kids have been chirping on our kids a little bit, and that’s okay. ... Hey, they won. And even if we had our whole team, they had a really good team, maybe they were better than us, but we will never know. I promise, you we don’t have a scheduled game for week eight (the week of the league championship game), and we’d gladly like to have them come over. Don’t sleep on us.”
Practices have looked different this summer due to the turf being replaced. For example, the Tigers are used to hosting 7-on-7 sessions on a weekly basis during the summer. This season they had to travel for those events.
“I think some of what you get is old-school football (because of the changed summer schedule),” Setzke said. “You get spoiled being on the turf all of the time. We are eating a lot of dirt and dust while being on the grass. We really don’t feel like we have a home right now, but we are doing our thing and we are getting better.”
Setzke seems to have a chip on his shoulder as well. He’s ready to prove the Tigers are still the Metro League’s top cat.
“I think most people think Fenton stopped playing football because nobody sees us around. Nobody reads about us,” Setzke said. “We are just flying under the radar. Nobody thinks we exist. I wouldn’t sleep on us. I’ll just leave it at that.”