Plymouth Football Program Has Lifted its Way to Success

How does a football program go from scratch to the state semifinals in eight years?

With a lot of practice, a lot of patience and countless hours in the weight room.

"I remember looking at (head coach) Jay (Blaylock) the first day of practice (in August of 2002) and saying, 'We've got our hands full,'" said Plymouth head coach Mike Sawchuk, who has been present for every day of the Wildcats' eight-year ascension. "We only had about four or five kids who had ever played football before, and we didn't have a lot of talent.

"But I never forgot something one of the coaches I coached for at Naples (Fla.) High School told me: 'If you keep doing things the right way, good things will happen.'"

The Wildcats' first official varsity contest didn't come until 2004, the first year their roster was stocked with juniors. After four consecutive losses to open the season, Plymouth hit paydirt for the first time on Sept. 24 when it rolled over Wayne Memorial, 43-32.

Two weeks later, the Wildcats doubled their first-season win total with a 35-32 victory over Livonia Franklin and finished the inaugural campaign 2-7.

"The most important reason for our improvement was that the kids really bought into the weight room," said Sawchuk.

A core group of foundation builders soon emerged, led by quarterback Brent Jones, linebacker/tight end Josh Le Duc, Jared Panyan, Anthony Green, Jeff Harrison, Shaun Bailey and Justin Brodehl.

Le Duc, a senior at Eastern Michigan University, is the last of the original Wildcats who is still playing.

Plymouth's sweat in the weight room paid off handsomely in 2005, its first season with seniors. The Wildcats exploded out of the gate with a 38-7 triumph over Livonia Churchill before thumping cross-campus rival Salem, 42-7.

The Wildcats' most impressive win was its narrowest: a 38-35 thriller at always-tough Walled Lake Western.

Plymouth finished 7-2 to earn its first playoff berth.

Playing at the P-CEP junior varsity stadium, the Wildcats led Detroit Cody most of the night before falling to in overtime, 34-28.

"We lost our Will (weakside) and Mike  (middle) linebacker that game," Sawchuk remembered, "and still almost pulled it out. That was a really good group of seniors."

Following a 3-6 campaign in 2006, Sawchuk took over the head-coaching reins from Blaylock and led the Wildcats to a 6-3 record in 2007.

Along with a 22-20 victory over arch-rival Canton, Plymouth's most notable game of the 2007 season may have been its 27-21 first-round playoff setback to Livonia Stevenson, which motored all the way to the Division state championship game that fall.

The Wildcats have qualified for the playoffs every year since, but weren't able to notch their first post-season victory until this year.

Now, the eight-year-old program is just one win away from advancing to the pinnacle game in Michigan high school football.

Ed Wright is the owner/operator of PlymouthCantonSports.com, a website that covers every level of athletics in Plymouth and Canton.