| Special to the Detroit Free Press
Detroit Cass Tech’s Donald Tabron II has been the subject of rumors for almost half the season.
High school football fans were aware that Tech had Tabron, a 6-foot-7, 3,172-pound freshman phenom at quarterback, but few had seen him.
The youngster was dealing with a calf strain that forced him to miss half of the season, but anyone who witnessed Cass’s 30-14 victory over Detroit King on Friday at Ford Field saw that Tabron was able to live up to the hype.
Tabron completed eight of 11 passes for 139 yards and helped the Technicians avenge an 18-12 overtime loss to King in Week 4, which Tabron missed.
But he didn’t miss it and was ready for the Crusaders (6-2).
“I expected to be great,” Tabron said, speaking more about the team than himself. “All the work in the offseason, all the work with my team made me expect this performance.”
With Team Tabron around you, it’s easy to look good, even if you’re a modest freshman.
“It was great; I trusted my guys,” Tabron said. “Before the game, they told me to trust them, give them the ball, take it in my hands and they will do the rest.” I trusted our O-line, my receivers, AG, I just trusted them.”
The “AG” Tabron was referring to is receiver/defensive end Alex Graham, who returned to Cass Tech after playing last year at IMG Academy in Florida.
WEEK 8: Michigan high school football scores
Graham, a four-star linebacker working with coach Deion Sanders and Colorado, started the play by catching a pass over the middle and running to the sideline. But King surrounded him, so Graham turned the field and ran toward the far sideline before crossing the field.
He ran into the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 3:41 left in the first quarter. He agreed he probably went a total of 75 yards during the game.
“Once I got it,” Graham said, “I just found the lane, hit it and trusted my teammates to block and trusted my speed to get to the end zone and score.”
Trusting teammates to block was the theme of Graham’s evening. After the Crusaders cut the lead to 23-6 on the first play of the fourth quarter, Graham returned the game with an 81-yard run for the score and sealing the victory.
“It was late in the game and I trusted my teammates,” he said. “I found a hole and hit it. I broke the tackle, trusted my speed and scored.
King struggled to pass the ball against Cass’ front seven, and passing was almost impossible. In fact, King’s main receiver was safety Derrick Jackson, who threw three passes, his first interception of the year.
Jackson’s first interception came when he jumped in the air and flipped the ball towards himself, able to keep it from hitting the ground.
“My attitude is catch the ball, get down and make the tackle when it’s on you – really do what you have to do,” he said. “A lot of my teammates have been telling me all week to do my job, do my job and we’re going to play. This is what happens when I do my job. I make a lot of plays.”
Tabron also had some plays. Corey Sadler, the state’s top junior who lined up at receiver, running back and linebacker, was impressed with his quarterback.
“It’s too sweet,” Sadler said. “This guy is nice. He made great shots, read great and stayed calm. Since it was his first city championship, he looked like a vet. He looked like a senior making throws. This is certainly something that cannot be taught.
The King-Cass fight was once again fierce and a referee’s nightmare. After combining for a ridiculous 31 penalties in the first leg, they were Just 28 penalties on Friday.
Midway through the fourth quarter, King’s sophomore quarterback Darryl Flemister and Cass’ Logan Howell started attacking each other after an interception.
Flemister was ejected, upsetting King head coach Terel Patrick, who received a 15-yard penalty.
“After the interception, the linesman, which is fine, grabbed him by the facemask and pulled him down and the quarterback was trying to defend himself,” Patrick said. “They kick out the 160-pound quarterback and the 350-pound player stays.”
Howell is listed as 313, but the note was taken.
Patrick was more upset with the way his team played from the start, and the Crusaders will struggle next week against Novi Detroit Catholic Central in the Prep Bowl without Flemister, who will have to sit out the game.
“We couldn’t match their energy early in the game,” Patrick said. “We weren’t consistent offensively and the young guy (Tabron) did a good job.”
This is the third consecutive PSL title for the Techniks, who expected nothing less when they took the field.
“It’s pretty normal,” Cass offensive guard Khalief Canty said. – We were supposed to do it the first time. We let them slide the first time, so we had to come here with something to prove to them and show them what we’re really about.
King vs. Cass is one of the top rivalries in the state. However, there is bitterness in it, which often reduces the quality of play of both teams.
That’s one of the reasons this victory was so important to Jackson.
“For most of us, this is the last Cass and King game, so it’s the last time we’ll play them,” he said. “I’m just happy that I went out with a bang, happy that I went out with a victory, that’s the most important thing.”
Cass coach Marvin Rushing ridiculed the idea that the Technicians’ victory was some kind of wordplay. He has a different take on Cass’s 6-2 record.
“This is what we should do,” he said. “We are just gaining momentum. Cass Tech is 0-2 against Cass Tech. Cass Tech is now 6-0 and we’re doing what we’re supposed to do. No offense to the teams we lost to, we lost those games.
The technicians were in command of this match, which was completely different from last month.
“The first game, I’ll be honest with you, we fell for the rat poison,” Rushing said. “We had great energy, but it was negative energy. We couldn’t come back from this. That’s why they won the game.”
For Rushing, the game ended as it should have, with Cass Tech retaining the championship.
“Last time we played out of hate, this time we played out of love – love for each other, love for the game,” he said. “We submitted to their conversation. We weren’t going to fall for it this time.
“We rule the city.”
Mick McCabe is a former longtime columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him @mickmccabe1. Save 10% on his new book, “Mick McCabe’s Golden Yearbook: 50 Great Years of Michigan’s Greatest High School Players, Bands and Memories” by ordering now at McCabe.PictorialBook.com.
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