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illy Slobin is 56. For 46 of
those years, Farmington Hills
Harrison High School football
has been a huge part of his life.
His connection started as a fan. He
played for the Hawks for three years
(1977-1979) and he’s been the pro-
gram’s volunteer strength and condi-
tioning coach for 33 years.
Harrison football is now nothing
more than memories and history. The
clock ran out on the state’s most suc-
cessful high school football program
last month when the Hawks were elim-
inated from the state playoffs.
The end of Harrison football was
slow and agonizing, covering three
seasons.
The school board for Farmington
Public Schools decided in 2016 to
close Harrison at the end of the 2018-
2019 school year because of declining
enrollment and financial pressures.
Farmington and North Farmington
high schools remain open.
Slobin has known this for three
years, but the reality and now the final-
ity of it have been difficult to grasp.
“This is going to take time to sink in.
I need to decompress,” he said. “When
our season ended each year, I looked
forward to going to work in the weight
room to prepare for the next season.
That didn’t happen this year.
“After Chelsea beat us (last month
in the Division 4 state quarterfinals),
I read somewhere that Chelsea ended
our program. No, Chelsea didn’t end
our program. The Farmington school
board did.”
Slobin is reminded every day he
goes to work. His office at Mortgage
1, filled with Harrison football memo-
rabilia, is directly across West 12 Mile
Road from Harrison’s football field.
“I could hear the whistles from
coaches and the marching band prac-
tice,” Slobin said.
Slobin’s sons Stephen, 25, and Jake,
23, played football at Harrison and
were members of the Hawks’ last state
championship team in 2010. Each was
named the Jewish News Male High
School Athlete of the Year after com-
pleting his senior year.
Stephen and Jake went on to play
college football and, like their father,
they work in the mortgage business.
Jake, Billy and
Harrison’s loss to
Stephen Slobin
Chelsea was particu-
in Billy Slobin’s
larly heart-wrenching office
because Chelsea
scored two touchdowns in the final
2:07 to win 21-14.
But getting that far in the state play-
offs, finishing 8-4 for the season and
pulling out a miracle win a week before
the loss to Chelsea were remarkable
accomplishments.
Harrison kept its post-season hopes
alive by stunning Detroit County
Day 13-10 in overtime in a district
title game that saw the Hawks score
the game-winning touchdown on a
botched field goal attempt that turned
into a 5-yard TD pass.
“That was one of the greatest wins in
our history,” Slobin said.
Just 30 players were in the Harrison
program this season because of attri-
tion caused by the high school’s immi-
nent closure.
“We had no depth,” Slobin said.
“It was difficult to practice. You can’t
have juniors and seniors beating on
the younger kids in practice. I think
this was arguably Coach (John)
Herrington’s best coaching job.”
That’s saying something.
Herrington, 77, was Harrison’s only
football coach. He started when the
team started in 1970.
The Hawks’ 13 state championships
— the first was in 1981 — are the most
for a football team in Michigan High
School Athletic Association history
and their 18 appearances in the state
championship game are the most of
any team.
Herrington’s 443 wins (443-112-1)
are the most of any prep football coach
in state history. ■
Send news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.