MUSKEGON – The last time Mona Shores had won at Hackley Stadium, six years ago, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound MLive player of the year candidate put on a clinic in front of a packed-house crowd.
Tyree Jackson passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more in leading the Sailors to a 48-27 Week 9 victory over the Big Reds. The Sailors went on to the state finals for the first time in school history.
Friday night, in the first game on the new AstroTurf at renovated Hackley, the crowd was light because of COVID-19 restrictions but the play of Mona Shores senior Brady Rose was every bit as impressive as Jackson’s 2014 performance. In the Sailors' 21-14 win over the Big Reds, Rose rushed, passed, tackled, intercepted, punted – you name it. He carried the team on his back and looked the part of an MLive player of the year frontrunner.
PHOTOS: To view Cory Morse’s gallery from the Mona Shores-Muskegon game, CLICK HERE.
“Oh, he’s crazy. He’s undersized and he does what a 6-3, 210 guy does. He’s unbelievable,” fellow Mona Shores senior captain Bryce Sikkenga said.
Rose is not 6-5, 205, and he’s not 6-3, 210 – he only plays like it. The 5-7, 172-pound quarterback/free safety was big man on Muskegon’s campus, but if you ask him, you wouldn’t know it.
“I think what his teammates love most about him is, if you didn’t know who he was in a group of people, he wouldn’t tell you who he is. He’s just that kind of kid. He’s just humble. He’s what high school football is all about and he’s a good, good boy,” said Mona Shores coach Matt Koziak, who on cue during the interview saw Rose nearby and motioned him over for postgame congratulations.
“Come here, Brady,” Koziak said to Rose in a proud papa-type of moment, before he gave him a handshake, hug and chuckle. “Good game, buddy.”
Mona Shores' Brady Rose (22) talks with reporters after the Sailors defeated Muskegon at Hackley Stadium on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020. (Cory Morse | MLive.com) Cory Morse | MLive.com
Koziak’s interview resumed, and he added: “He’s just a special, special individual.”
Anybody who watched Rose Friday night at Hackley, or in last year’s state finals against Detroit Martin Luther King, or in last season’s semifinals vs. Walled Lake Western, can see that. Those who have watched him the longest are not surprised.
Friday against Muskegon, Rose ran. He rushed 20 times for 105 yards, including the game-winning 18-yard touchdown with under five minutes remaining. On an option keeper around left end, he raced for the corner of the end zone, saw the pylon and dove for it.
“(At the) 10-yard line, I looked, saw the safety coming down and I said, ‘I gotta get it,’” said Rose, seconds after he gave full credit to his teammates.
“Receivers, linemen -- everybody blocked, everybody did their job. I got in the end zone. I didn’t get (in the end zone), all my teammates got in the end zone.”
Rose passed. He completed 6 of 11 passes for 118 yards with two TD passes: 43 yards to Demetri Roberson on the Sailors' first play from scrimmage for a 7-0 lead; 19 yards on a swing pass to Elijah Farnum late in the first half to make it 14-0.
Rose defended. He notched a team-high 10 tackles, including eight solos – at least a couple of the TD-saving variety. He made the game-sealing interception in the closing seconds, plus broke up four other passes.
Rose punted. He averaged 35 yards on five attempts.
Rose was the holder on PATs, as placekicker Keegan DeKuiper went 3-for-3.
The only thing he didn’t do – and will never do – is make it about himself.
“He was banged up, he was cramping, but he’s kickoff, he’s the punter, punt return, he’s a free safety. Four times, we’re in the secondary, we’re gone, and he’s diving, getting us at the feet (and) saving it. Normally those are touchdowns …,” said Muskegon coach Shane Fairfield, who has coached his share of MLive player of the year finalists, including award winners the last three seasons -- Cameron Martinez in 2018 and 2019, and La’Darius Jefferson in 2017.
“He’s a tank,” Fairfield continued about Rose. “I told him that last year before the state finals when we practiced at the same place (and their paths crossed). I was like, ‘Hey, go win your team a state title.’ He is as advertised. He gets my vote for Mr. Football.”
Rose, who is in his third season on the varsity team, also plays slot receiver but began last season at QB in place of injured starter Caden Broersma. When Broersma exited the wild 57-56 semifinal victory against Walled Lake Western late in the first quarter because of injury, Rose did not blink. He ran 22 times for 207 yards with five TDs and the gutsy, two-point conversion run for the win with 17 seconds remaining.
Six days later, Rose packed every area of the stat sheet in Mona Shores' 35-26 win over Detroit King on the big stage of the Division 2 state finals. He ran for 90 yards and three TDs, he completed 8 of 11 passes for 122 yards for one TD with no picks and no sacks. He notched a team-best 10 tackles and an interception at a crucial point in the game to swing momentum back in the Sailors' favor.
Mona Shores offensive lineman Mason Klos lifts quarterback Brady Rose as the two celebrate Rose's touchdown in the second quarter during the MHSAA Division 2 state football championship game on Friday, Nov. 29, 2019 at Ford Field in Detroit. (Jake May | MLive.com)Jake May | MLive.com
“He doesn’t leave the field. He’s our starting quarterback, he’s the starting free safety, he returns punts, he holds for PAT. If that’s not a Mr. Football candidate, I don’t know what is,” Koziak said following Friday’s win over Muskegon.
“He’s not going to throw for 4,000 yards, he’s not going to rush for 2,000 yards, but he’s going to be a Swiss Army knife and he’s going to be our best player at every position he’s at and I think that’s what great about high school football. You look at him and you’re like, ‘How is this dude doing it at a high level against Muskegon or King or Walled Lake Western?’”
After that state-finals win at Ford Field, with bright camera lights shining in his face, the soft-spoken Rose took it all in stride. Friday night at Hackley Stadium, it was the same deal.
The returning first-team all-stater had every opportunity to bask in the glory, but instead Rose was thinking about his teammates.
“We were state champions last year, we lost a few key guys. To come back and fill those spots, I think shows a lot about our team -- Team 58,” Rose said.
“Again, I think it just shows a lot about who our team is.”
More high school football coverage:
Surprise football hero Brady Rose grows into starring role at Mona Shores
See how Muskegon-area football teams fared in Week 2
Watch scoring plays and celebration, hear from Mona Shores after big win at Muskegon
Montague outmuscles Oakridge, runs away for 42-6 victory in conference showdown
‘Big, strong’ Montague puts passing attack on back burner, overwhelms Oakridge
Photo gallery from Montague’s win at Oakridge
Michigan high school football highlights, scores, links from a busy Week 2
Top 50 Michigan high school football teams: How they fared in Week 2
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