As the orchestrator of a dynamic Flint Elite offense that has scored 30 or more points in six of eight games this season, senior quarterback Dei’on Wright is used to making plays with his arm. In the team’s win over Bendle on October 18, he also made one with his foot.
On a fourth down and long near the Bendle 35-yard line, Wright dropped a pooch punt that pinned Bendle back inside its own 10-yard line. Bendle was down 28-8 at the time, and forced to look for big passing plays to have any chance at a comeback. Against heavy pressure deep in their own end of the field, their quarterback threw the ball up for grabs, and it was intercepted by Razach Spillers and returned for a touchdown to put the game further out of reach. Wright hasn’t punted often, but in his two years as starting quarterback for Flint Elite, he’s consistently provided whatever the team has needed.
“I was just doing what my coach asked me to,” Wright said. “He asked me not to kick it too far. I put it in the right spot and our defense just made a play.”
In a season of firsts for Flint Elite, which is a combined team with students from both New Standard Academy and Madison Academy charter schools, the win over Bendle gave them their most impressive one yet: the first Genesee Area Conference championship for the football team in school history.
‘Get My Ball Back’
A common phrase that can be heard throughout stadiums whenever the Flint Elite defense takes the field is someone bellowing ‘Get my ball back!’ on their sideline.
“That’s coach (Keyon) Menifield, our defensive backs coach,” said Flint Elite coach Paul Carmona.
In the first half against Bendle, that intensity to go get the ball was definitely modeled by the defense. Bendle’s first two drives of the game ended in turnovers. A fumble recovered by Flint Elite at the Bendle 10 was quickly converted into a touchdown pass from Wright to C.J. McDaniel for a 6-0 lead.
Less than three minutes later, Jeffrey Turner intercepted a pass and returned it to the Bendle 19. A few plays later, Wright pushed his way in from one yard out to make it 12-0. DiGion Perkins capped off the first quarter scoring with a touchdown catch from Wright, and a two-point conversion made it 20-0 with Bendle’s offense barely having a chance to be on the field.
Bendle put together a lengthy drive that ate up most of the second quarter and had the ball near the goal line, on the verge of scoring, just before the half. But the Flint Elite defense stripped the ball from Bendle’s running back just as he was about to break the plane of the goal line and recovered the fumble to eliminate Bendle’s first good scoring chance before halftime.
“That was a huge, huge point in the game,” Carmona said. “It kind of put stuff in our pocket, allowed us to take control of the game. In the third quarter, we were kind of in a fist fight back and forth between both teams, but our defense has been making plays all year. Our defense did a good job getting some turnovers and it made the job easier for the offense.”
Playing Composed
Bendle entered the game against Flint Elite with five wins, including three in which the team came from behind to win at halftime.
Bendle unsurprisingly made some adjustments and came out strong on the first drive of the third quarter. They put together a strong 3-minute drive, with a mix of run and short pass plays that minimized risks they took in the first half that led to turnovers, and scored a touchdown and 2-point conversion to cut the lead to 20-8.
“That (reminding everyone that Bendle was a second half team) was the whole speech at halftime,” Wright said. “We watched a few of the games and they were down at halftime and came back and won. So our key, our mentality at halftime was to keep punching the ball down the field.”
The first time Wright touched the ball in the second half, he did exactly that. Just as Bendle had established some momentum, Spillers took a short pass and turned it into a huge play, running nearly 65 yards for the touchdown. Perkins caught a pass on the two-point conversion to make it 28-8.
During his time in the Flint Elite program, Wright – who received his first college offer in September – has always displayed physical talents as both a passer and runner. But this season, he’s also emerged as a calm and efficient leader on the field as his understanding of the position has deepened.
Before the season, Wright said he’d worked on his patience and his pocket presence so he didn’t abandon plays too early as they were developing. Carmona said as the season has gone on, that work has shown.
“It was a lot for him last year, coming in, learning the system, learning the fundamentals (of the position),” Carmona said. “He’s committed to the position, he committed to the team. He’s our leader and as he goes, we go. He led summer workouts all year. He’s just done a great job.”
More Firsts to Come
Flint Elite had never won a season-opener before this season. They’d never won more than two games in a row. In fact, at 7-1, they’ve won more games this season alone than they’d previously won combined in the entire history of their program. And they’d never won a conference championship.
Prior to the season, Carmona was hopeful the program was on the right track after closing last season with wins in three of their last five and returning several players who gained varsity experience. But even he wasn’t sure what “on the right track” would translate to in a Genesee Area Conference that is always competitive at the top of the standings.
“You know, we were young (last year), started seven freshmen, but we worked,” Carmona said. “We knew we had good things coming. We didn’t know it was gonna come this soon, but we’ll take it. We’re excited.”
Carmona credits the players mostly, who he says really bought into offseason conditioning programs and have focused on academics off the field. “They’re just good people and hard workers,” he said. But he also credits a supportive administration at the school that continuously works to provide opportunities for kids in the program to succeed.
And now that they’ve accomplished the conference championship goal, there’s another “first” within reach: a first-ever playoff appearance for the school. Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) playoff spots are selected based on a points system, with the top 32 teams in each division qualifying. Points are awarded based on formulas that consider wins, strength of schedule, opponents’ performance and size of school.
With a 7-1 record and just one game remaining against winless Bridgeport next week, the team is in good position for a spot. The only real disadvantage Flint Elite, which is in Division 6, has is the fact that several of their conference opponents struggled this season, so their overall strength of schedule suffers compared to other teams that played in more competitive conferences. But re-focusing and controlling what they can control by winning their final game should position them to be a part of the playoffs.
“Don’t be content,” Wright said. “We haven’t done anything yet.”
“Our mentality is we’re trying to build high character young men, simple as that,” Carmona said. “If we win a couple football games along the way, we’ll take it.”
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