QUICK HITS

JACK MUMFORD

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Noah Rioux described his first season with the North Farmington High School football team in five words. “It was quite a ride,” said the sophomore fullback/midNOAH RIOUX dle linebacker who played in the Raiders’ three state playoff games, mostly on special teams.

Noah Rioux The ride Rioux referenced was highlighted by North Farmington’s furthest advance in the state playoffs since 1978.

Also, there was the Raiders’ forfeit win over South Lyon on Nov. 13 in the Division 2 district finals, followed by a two-month wait before North Farmington lost 50-22 on the road to Traverse City Central on Jan. 9 in the regional finals. The forfeit and layoff were because of COVID-19, of course.

The state football playoffs resumed in January after games and practices were halted Nov. 15 — one day after district championship games — because the Michigan High School Athletic Association and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services came up with a pilot program of rapid antigen coronavirus tests for players, coaches and others.

“Testing actually was easy. Everyone went to a station, and the results came back in about 20 minutes,” Rioux said.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder said he tested negative three or four times.

Rioux is by far in the majority in the pilot testing program. The MDHHS reported last week that 99.6% of tests among high school football, volleyball and girls swimming and diving athletes since Dec. 30 came back negative.

Restarting the season wasn’t easy for North Farmington and the 71 other football teams that

were still alive in the playoffs.

Practice resumed Dec. 21, then was halted after one day for a week so teams could get up to speed with antigen testing.

“We were given workouts to do by our coaches and told to do our best to stay in shape while the season was stopped so we’d be fit when the state playoff games resumed,” Rioux said.

After outscoring Waterford Kettering and Fenton 88-35 in its first two state playoff games and advancing thanks to its forfeit win over South Lyon, North Farmington ran into a Traverse City Central team that was averaging 48.4 points per game coming into the regional finals.

North Farmington finished 7-3 under second-year coach Jon Herstein. Traverse City Central moved on to the state semifinals with a 9-1 record.

Rioux was brought up to the North Farmington varsity football team midway through the late-starting regular season. He saw action on the Raiders’ kickoff, kickoff return, punt, punt return and placekick block special teams.

Doug Lemberg, North Farmington’s running backs and outside linebackers coach, said Rioux’s energy, attitude, work ethic and physicality are the reasons why he got the call to the varsity.

“A player is brought up to the varsity only when he’s ready physically and mentally and can contribute to the team,” Lemberg said. “Noah fit the bill. He was ready.”

Rioux hopes to play varsity basketball and lacrosse this winter and spring for North Farmington after being on subvarsity teams as a freshman.

After doing online learning during the first semester of this school year, Rioux will be on a hybrid in-person and online schedule in the second semester.

There won’t be any B’nai B’rith basketball league games this season.

League spokesman Gary Klinger said the closure of the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit in West Bloomfield because of the COVID- GARY KLINGER ing a new place to play, but the safety of our players was the more important reason for the 19 pandemic left the cancellation of the seaweekly league, which son,” Klinger said. normally starts in Gary Klinger Last year, the league’s January, without a 45th season had one home. week of regular-season play

“We didn’t want to go and one week of playoffs through the process of find- remaining when it had to shut down because of the pandemic. The four league teams’ last day of competition was March 8.

The league had never had a season end early before the stoppage. The cancellation of the season now also is a league first .