Ryan P Portenga

Flipping Football Ryan P Portenga

For over fifty years, Mona Shores High School's football program struggled to succeed on the gridiron. When alumnus Matt Koziak took over the program during the summer of 2011, the Sailors were one of the few schools left in Michigan that had yet to qualify for the state playoffs. Considering the school's location along the southern edge of Muskegon County - a locale thought by many to be the heart of high school football within the Great Lakes State - such a status was more than embarrassing. If fortunes were to be flipped, Koziak first needed to curb the pessimism - attitude, attrition, and apathy alike - that had long plagued the program. However, doing so meant changing the structure of the organization and making unpopular decisions - calls that included starting a thirteen year old freshman as quarterback and canceling one of the oldest gridiron rivalries known throughout the state. After all, as the coach often explained, "high school football games are not won or lost on Friday nights." To the smallest detail, Flipping Football: A True Story of Resilience and Transformation takes readers through the twists and turns of Shores' amazing four-year gridiron transformation - noting the lessons learned, the losses endured, and the locker room conversations that took place. From one regular season win to only one regular season loss - and one hell of an epic state tournament run... no stone is left unturned. Written from the vantage point of Mona Shores High School Athletic Director Ryan Portenga, the story not only sheds light on the administrative drama hovering around the flip, but it includes first-hand commentary from nearly one hundred individuals close to the story (current and former players, coaches, community members, members of the media, etc.) - including former National Football League player Mark Konecny, legendary Farmington Hills Harrison Head Football Coach John Herrington, and Michigan High School Athletic Association Historian Ron Pesch.