By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
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Not many football teams are undefeated in Michigan after nine weeks of the regular season and three weeks of the playoffs.
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But Suttons Bay, a small Class D school located in the Traverse City area in northwest Michigan, is still alive and ticking.
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Joe Trudeau is in his ninth season as head coach at Suttons Bay. His team went to the Michigan State finals two years ago but has never gone undefeated after its first 12 games.
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"The key has been the way our defense has played," Trudeau said. "Of our 12 wins, eight have been by shutouts. We had a lot of kids coming back from last year. We thought we'd be good but we didn't know how good."
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Sutton Bay's closest game was a 13-12 win in overtime over Benzie Central in the season opener.
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The Suttons Bay offense has also been impressive with two backs - Jordann Pelinsky and Anthony Stewart - gaining more than 1,000 yards.
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Suttons Bay needed a win over 10-0 Saginaw Nouvel in order to qualify for the state finals on Thanksgiving weekend.
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Saginaw Swan Valley is 12-0 and has made it through three rounds of the playoffs for the first time ever and hopes to continue the postseason success.
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"When the season started, we knew we could have a good shot at postseason play," said Swan Valley Coach Richard Bell.
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Brandon Hayes has been the team's leading rusher and Zach Leachman the team's leading tackler.
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"We seem to be able to capitalize on other teams' mistakes," Bell said. "But no one in the playoffs is a slouch anymore."
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Swan Valley, in Division 5, plays Menominee, also 12-0, in Saturday's semifinals.
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Hillsdale, in southcentral Michigan, is led by eighth-year coach Marc Lemerand who has taken the 12-0 team to its farthest extent ever in the playoffs.
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"It's a great group of kids," Lemerand said. "We mix it up on offense. Our quarterback has 1,300 yards rushing and 700 yards passing."
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He was referring to Mike Blanchard, who leads the offense, along with running back Kyle Kalasa.
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"All the teams left in Division 5 are undefeated right now," Lemerand said.
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He was also referring to Madison Heights Madison, Hillsdale's semifinal opponent in Saturday's game.
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Girls Basketball
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It's been an impressive fall season for Saginaw Nouvel, who is 10-0 in football and 19-0 in girls basketball.
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"Going into the season, I knew this team could go far," Nouvel coach Kris Hengesbach said. "It's the most talented team I've had. I knew the potential is there. What has helped us tremendously has been our strong team chemistry."
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Hengesbach is hoping her team goes a long ways in the state tournament. The regionals are next week followed by the quarterfinals on Nov. 28.
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"In the quarterfinals, our opponent would probably be Detroit Country Day. They'll be tough. If we go to the semifinals, we'll play a good team like Pewamo-Westphalia or Flint Hamady," Hengesbach said.
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Kelly Kretz leads Nouvel with 16.1 points and 5.5 rebounds a game. Jenny Ryan is averaging 12.3 points per game, plus four assists and four steals per game.
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Cross Country
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When Dexter won the Division 2 boys cross country state finals earlier this month, it marked five-straight state titles for the team.
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Bobby April was first in the race in 15:15.3 while his Dexter teammate Dan Jackson was second in 15:15.7.
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"They've been our top two for the last couple of years," said Dexter coach Jamie Dudash. "For our team, the tradition has continued since the first year. The kids put in a lot of conditioning and summer training. There's a lot of preparation put in. They have confidence in each other, confidence in the coaches and in the program."