Elijah Collins of U-D Jesuit.
U-D Jesuit’s 49-35 victory over Warren De La Salle last week was more than just another football win for the Cubs.
And it has nothing to do with U-DJ wrapping up a spot in the state playoffs with its fifth win in an eight-game schedule.
It was the first time since 2005 that the Cubs beat De La Salle. Before last season, the ’05 win over the Pilots was the last time U-DJ beat a traditional member of the Catholic League’s Central Division.
Last fall, the Cubs drilled Birmingham Brother Rice, 34-0, and coupled with last week’s win, the Cubs have now beaten Central Division teams in consecutive seasons.
This is an extremely talented U-DJ team, which is 5-1. Its only loss was to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 33-10.
Recruiting: U-D Jesuit standout Elijah Collins on MSU’s radar
It would be interesting to see how the Cubs fare against Novi Detroit Catholic Central and Brother Rice, but that is impossible because the Cubs are playing only two Central Division opponents this season.
“Our agreement last year is we would have two years with a two-game reprieve,” said U-DJ athletic director Nick Kocsis. “That was the league’s compromise and we agreed to it.”
U-DJ had been seeking scheduling relief for years, and last year the Catholic League finally succumbed. U-DJ’s main argument is that it can’t play a full Central Division schedule because it does not have a junior varsity team.
“You aspire to compete against those teams every week,” Kocsis said. “But from a realistic standpoint, (we are) the only Central team that doesn’t have a JV program right now and trying to build our numbers to the point we should be there. But right now with the numbers we have, it would be a tough sell to do it every single game.”
First of all, it isn’t every single game. It is only four of nine regular-season weeks. Second, the failure to have a JV team rests with the athletic department and coaches.
U-DJ has 741 boys, only 22 fewer than De La Salle, 16 more than Rice and 221 more than St. Mary’s. That’s not enough to have a JV team?
In the bigger picture, that U-DJ only plays two Central Division opponents is a hardship on the Central teams it doesn’t play.
If you know anything about high school football, the hardest thing to do these days is find opponents.
Two weeks ago — when U-DJ was in southwestern Michigan beating up on St. Joseph — CC hosted Gary (Ind.) West Side Leadership. It was the fourth opponent CC had scheduled for Week 6, and it had to buy the school game jerseys as part of the guarantee.
A thriving football program is no pipe dream for U-DJ. Under Scott Merchant, the Cubs reached the state semifinals in 1999 and 2001 and the regional final in 2000. Current U-DJ coach Oscar Olejniczak was on Merchant’s staff and knows it is possible to win big at U-DJ.
Kocsis said there are 35 freshmen in the football program and two were called up to the varsity. With that kind of base, U-DJ should have a junior varsity team next year.
“Is it on the horizon for next year?” Kocsis said, repeating the question. “No.”
Perhaps U-DJ likes having an excuse for not having to play all four Central Division opponents.
By the way, U-DJ’s Week 9 opponent is a first-year program, Detroit Leadership Academy, a co-ed school with 170 students.
Contact Mick McCabe: 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1