The Muskegon Catholic and Ravenna football teams have engaged in some memorable playoff matchups over the years.
The current head coaches of those teams – MCC’s Steve Czerwon and Ravenna’s Justin Ego – experienced one of those classic battles in 1994, when they were best friends, co-captains and teammates at Muskegon Catholic, playing for longtime coach Mike Holmes. The photo above shows Czerwon handing the ball off to Ego back in those days.
Czerwon was the starting quarterback and Ego was the featured running back for the Crusaders, who had a regular season record of 6-2-1 that year. Their first-round playoff game was against 9-0 Ravenna, which was led by legendary coach Dusty Fairfield and featured all-everything running back Benny Clark.
Ravenna came out on top 21-13, then buzzed all the way through the playoffs and won the Class C state championship.
That loss turned out to be the end of the road for Czerwon and Ego, who were seniors that year. As juniors in 1993, they had made it all the way to the state semifinals before losing to Iron Mountain, which also went on to win a state title.
[1]Both remember the hollow feeling of that final loss to Ravenna and their final chance at state glory.
Czerwon got a little taste of it as a freshman, when he was called up to varsity and watched from the sidelines as the Crusaders won the state championship, but never experienced that feeling as a player again. Ego was not called up as a freshman, and never experienced that feeling at all.
“Ravenna jumped out to a 21-0 lead and then we tried to come back,” Ego said. “It was crazy. We were both ranked in the top 10 in the state, and it was a big environment at that game.
“At the time you think it’s everything. You put so much time into it, and then it’s your senior year. I still remember that feeling of standing out on the field and watching the clock tick down and we couldn’t do anything about it. I still kind of remember that feeling.”
Ego thinks Ravenna and MCC might have been the best two Class C teams in the state that year, and if the Crusaders would have won, they might have ran the table in the playoffs, just like the Bulldogs did.
“I totally believe so,” Ego said. “Ravenna never had a close game throughout those playoffs. I definitely believe we were the two best teams in Class C back then.”
Czerwon noted that it’s been more than a quarter of a century since he and Ego lost in that game.
“We were best friends on high school, captains of the 1994 team, and we were real close, then I went to Saginaw Valley and he went to Grand Valley,” Czerwon said. “I remember hitting him with the long touchdown pass (in the 1994 game) that got us within a score. It was tough at the time. You never want anything to end.”
[2]Both Czerwon and Ego went on to experience state glory as coaches after they went their separate ways.
Czerwon started coaching at various levels of the MCC program in 2004, and became head coach in 2013. He experienced a magical run, with his team winning four straight Division 8 state titles between 2013-2016.
Ego got his start as an assistant coach at Holton with current Muskegon head coach Shane Fairfield, who had previously been an assistant at MCC. Ego went with Fairfield to Muskegon in 2010 and was the defensive coordinator before he left to become the head coach at Ravenna in 2020.
Ego was with the Big Reds for seven appearances in the state finals. They won one of those games, the Division 3 final against Farmington Hills Harrison, in 2017.
Both coaches are hungry to return to Ford Field after being away for a few years. Czerwon’s Crusaders haven’t been to the finals since their last title in 2016, and Ego has never been there as a head coach.
This year the two old friends will have to get by each other to move on in the playoffs. That’s something they did not foresee before this season, because Muskegon Catholic was Division 8 for many years before moving up to Division 6 last season, then dropping down to Division 7 this season.
Ravenna has been Division 7 for the past two years, and was Division 6 before that.
[3]“We noticed (the schools were in the same division), but we never really talked about it until it started coming into sight,” Ego said. “At the beginning of the year I saw they were Division 7, and I was thinking ‘here we go.’
“We’ve been in contact and we’ve been talking, and we’ll talk more after the game. I think it’s going to be great. Their tradition and background is great, and so is Ravenna’s. It’s going to be a great environment – playoff football. This is what our kids have been working for.”
Czerwon expects MCC’s Kehren Stadium to be pretty full for the game, even though the forecast is for cold weather.
“I think back to 2019 and they brought a lot of people to that one,” Czerwon said about the last time the teams met in the playoffs. “I know our fans always come out.
“I’m really looking forward to it. We know each other philosophy wise, so there aren’t going to be too many surprises on either side. We scrimmaged each other and had 7 on 7’s this summer. We’ve seen each other quite a bit.
“There’s no question this game is good for the area, and it’s certainly better than traveling. This will be a true Muskegon County district title game.”
When asked if he and Ego have a wager on the game, Czerwon said no, but jokingly added “that might not be a bad idea.”
Both teams have had very good seasons and have gained momentum as the year has progressed.
MCC, which lost in the district finals to eventual state champion Montague last year, comes in with an impressive 9-1 record.
[4]The Crusaders opened the season with a 27-13 win over North Muskegon, lost to Grand Rapids West Catholic 28-6, got a win over Orchard View by forfeit, then ripped off six straight victories over Ludington. Benton Harbor, Muskegon Heights, Manistee, Centreville and Oakridge.
MCC scored with six seconds left to beat Centreville and 12 seconds left to beat Oakridge.
The Crusaders had an easy time in last week’s playoff opener, pounding Delton-Kellogg 54-6.
“I think we’ve improved quite a bit,” Czerwon said. “It’s always the goal of every team to be playing their best football at the end of the year. I think our Week 8 and 9 games gave us a lot of confidence that we can come from behind and win.”
Ravenna is 7-3 on the season, and two of its losses were very close.
The Bulldogs opened the campaign with a 21-20 win over Beal City, and rattled off regular season wins against Shelby, Mason County Central, Hart, North Muskegon and Central Montcalm after that.
Their three losses came against West Michigan Conference co-champions Whitehall, Montague and Oakridge. The Bulldogs were spanked by Whitehall 42-0, but only lost to Montague 14-7, and fell to Oakridge by a tight 43-36 score after coming from way behind in the second half.
Ravenna reached the district finals by edging out North Muskegon in a first-round playoff game last week. The Norse had a chance to win all the way to the end, when they failed to convert on a two-point conversion, then a last-second Hail Mary throw was incomplete.
“It’s a good thing I have gray hair already,” Ego said. “North Muskegon is a tough team. We knew they were going to be up for it. We were playing them for the second time, and they have one of the better defenses we’ve seen.”
Ego thinks his team is battle-tested after playing quite a few games against really good opponents.
“We have to have one of the toughest Division 7 schedules,” he said. “We let one or two games get away from us. We didn’t execute at the end and we let them slip from our grasp. But I truly believe our kids have learned from those three losses.”
If history is any indication, it will be a great game, and the winner could go a long way in the playoffs.
The first playoff encounter between the two schools was in 1990, when MCC won 34-33 and ended up winning a state title. In 1994 Ravenna won 21-13 and went on to win the state title. In 1995 MCC won and rolled to a state title.
The more recent matchups have not produced state champions. In 2005 MCC won 35-13 and made it to the state semifinals. In 2019 Ravenna won 14-0, then lost in the district finals.
So what are the chances that the winner of this one could go all the way?
“I do know there are a lot of good teams out there – Division 7 is tough – but I to expect the winner to kind of make a run,” Ego said.
“It’s always a possibility, but whoever gets this one will have a tough road ahead,” Czerwon said. “Division 7 is exceptionally tough this year.”
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