By Gary Fisher
PHOTOS COURTESY OF GENESEE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Friday night lights. High school football season. Few things are more American, and few places have produced a football tradition as rich as Flint and Genesee County.
The football talent produced in the Flint area includes Hall of Famer and NFL career interceptions leader Paul Krause of Bendle; Flint Northwestern’s Andre Rison; Beecher’s Carl Banks, both Hall of Fame contenders; Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram Jr., who starred at both Grand Blanc and Flint Southwestern; 1982 NFL Man of the Year Reggie Williams; legendary Flint Southwestern and University of Michigan quarterback Ricky Leach; Flint Central’s Jimmy Abbott; and 1952 NFL Player of the Year Lynn Chandnois. And that’s only the beginning.
Of course, every one of those great players was part of a team. Football is the ultimate team sport, and that leads to one of the area’s favorite debates: Which Flint-area high school football teams were the greatest of all time?
We’ll do our best to settle that argument—or at least add fuel to it—with our ranking of the greatest high school football teams in Flint-area history.
The first thing readers will probably notice is that many of the greatest teams came from Flint itself, particularly Flint Central and Flint Northern. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
For much of the 20th century, Flint was one of America’s most important industrial cities. It was the birthplace of General Motors, home to Buick, Chevrolet and AC Spark Plug, employing nearly 80,000 GM workers at its peak while the city’s population approached 200,000. It was a world-class manufacturing center with one of the nation’s highest per-capita incomes.
That prosperity created one of the greatest athletic environments anywhere. Flint became ground zero for community education, the birthplace of the CANUSA and Olympian Games, home to outstanding city recreation leagues, and a youth sports system supported by both the city and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The result was an assembly line of athletic talent rivaling the production lines that built Buicks and Chevrolets. Growing up in Flint, the question wasn’t whether you would play sports—it was which sports you would choose.
Nowhere was that culture more evident than at Flint’s two largest schools for much of the century: Flint Central and Flint Northern.
Originally, Flint had only one high school—Flint High, later known as Flint Central. By the early 1920s, enrollment had exploded, and a second school became necessary. In 1928, Flint Northern opened on the city’s north side, relieving overcrowding at Central on Crapo Street. Although the school officially became Flint Central, its varsity uniforms continued to feature a simple “F,” honoring its heritage as the city’s original high school.
As former longtime Flint Central Athletic Director Tim Bograkos once told this author, “Because we were THE Flint High School!”
That attitude perfectly captured the rivalry that developed between Central and Northern. Rather than diluting the city’s talent, the opening of Northern raised the competitive bar. The annual Thanksgiving Day showdown quickly became one of America’s premier high school football games, regularly drawing crowds exceeding 20,000 spectators. The rivalry produced legendary teams, unforgettable players, and some of Michigan’s greatest football moments.
Between 1922 and 1960, either Flint Central or Flint Northern won or shared Michigan’s mythical Class A state championship nearly 40 percent of the time. They fielded the state’s biggest and deepest rosters, enjoyed tremendous fan support, and consistently featured the area’s finest talent.
That brings us to our list of the GOATs—the Greatest of All Time in Flint-area high school football.
To earn consideration for our top 5, a team had to finish undefeated and win or share Michigan’s big-school state championship. To earn the top spot, you had to play—and beat—the best. These teams did exactly that.
1
1976 Flint Southwestern Colts
Our No. 1 GOAT team steamrolled every opponent it faced.
One national ranking service listed the Colts as the No. 4 high school team in America, while another ranked them No. 1 in the nation by season’s end. Yet because of a flaw in Michigan’s new playoff computer rankings—which penalized Southwestern for scheduling Class B Flint Powers Catholic—the Colts never qualified for the state playoffs.
So, the nation’s No. 1 team didn’t even get a chance to compete for a state championship. No one who followed Michigan high school football seriously questioned whether the Colts were the state’s best team. Anyone who watched them play knew the answer.
1976 Flint Southwestern
Head coach Dar Christensen led a remarkable group that included Jimmy Buterakos, Booker Moore, Reggie Mitchell, Rodney Feaster, and Don Leach.
Offensively, the 1976 Colts stand alone in Flint-area history and have a legitimate claim as one of the greatest offenses Michigan has ever seen.
Quarterback Jimmy Buterakos directed a balanced attack that could beat opponents through the air or on the ground. Southwestern averaged an astonishing 44 points per game while setting a city record with 400 points scored during the season.
MVP Booker Moore
Buterakos completed an eye-popping 62 percent of his passes, setting a city record that stood for years. Booker Moore rushed for 1,263 yards while establishing city records with 21 touchdowns and 138 points. Reggie Mitchell averaged an incredible 13.7 yards per carry, while Rodney Feaster caught 44 passes for 906 yards and 14 touchdowns. At times, Feaster seemed impossible to cover and looked capable of scoring every time he touched the football.
Flint Southwestern QB Jimmy Buterakos with head coach Dar Christiansen
That was the story of the 1976 Colts. They imposed their will on every opponent they faced. In the end, the only thing capable of beating them was a flawed computer formula. They remain the greatest Flint-area high school football team of all time.
2
1924 Flint Central Red Blacks
The 1924 Flint Central Red Blacks were a cornerstone of one of Michigan’s greatest high school football dynasties, capturing unbeaten state championships in 1922, 1924, and 1925.
In an era when games were commonly decided by scores of 6-0 or 6-3, the 1924 squad was an offensive powerhouse well ahead of its time. Known as the “Red Blacks” before the school’s “Indians” nickname was adopted, Central fielded a team loaded with speed, talent, and playmakers.
1924 Flint Central
Leading the way was three-sport star Lloyd Brazil, widely regarded as one of the greatest all-around athletes in Flint and Genesee County history. Brazil went on to star at the University of Detroit, where many still consider him the greatest football player in school history. During his collegiate career, the only player he was routinely compared to was the legendary Red Grange. Brazil, however, was far from the only star on this remarkable team.
Five Central players earned First Team All-State honors, including the entire starting backfield: halfback Lloyd Brazil, fullback Herman Young, halfback Ralph Wills—better known as “Bones, the Human Cyclone”—along with end Corkey Stanard and guard Coye Edgerton.
The roster was equally impressive beyond its All-State selections. Other standouts included quarterback Dallas Dort, lineman Claire James—known as “The Pride of the North End”—and guard Napoleon La Voie.
La Voie would become one of the most influential figures in Flint Central athletic history, serving for decades as both coach and athletic director. His legacy was recognized with the naming of the Napoleon La Voie Athletic Center, which stood for more than 50 years before its demolition in July 2026.
Lloyd Brazil
The 1924 Red Blacks not only dominated their era but also helped establish Flint Central as one of the premier high school football programs in Michigan history.
3
1940 Flint Northern Vikings
They were known as “The Wonder Boys,” and they never lost a football game during their careers at Flint Northern.
From 1938 through 1940, the Vikings compiled a perfect record while winning three consecutive Michigan state championships—an extraordinary achievement that remains unmatched in Flint-area high school football history. Leading the dynasty was legendary coach Guy Houston, widely regarded as the greatest head football coach in Flint-area history.
1940 Flint Northern
The legendary quartet consisted of team captain Eddie Krupa—named Michigan High School Football’s Most Valuable Player in 1940—along with Len Sweet and cousins Bob and Dick Holloway. Together, the “Wonder Boys” became one of the greatest groups of athletes ever produced by a single Flint-area school.
Their dominance wasn’t limited to the football field. The foursome also led Northern to back-to-back state basketball championships, establishing a Class A winning streak that stood as the longest in Michigan history for 42 years. Krupa added another remarkable accomplishment in 1939, starring on Northern’s state championship baseball team as the Vikings captured state titles in football, basketball, and baseball during the same school year—a feat that, 86 years later, still has never been matched.
The Vikings’ 28-game football winning streak also remains unsurpassed among Flint-area big-school programs. As remarkable as the Wonder Boys were, they were hardly alone.
The 1940 Vikings featured one of the deepest rosters in Flint history. In addition to the famed quartet, First Team All-State honors went to offensive tackle Louis Bare, Fred Salim, Leo Suszek, and Clayton Ash.
The receiving corps was equally exceptional, featuring Earl Kelly, Ralph Gilbert, and Bud Fromholz—a trio widely regarded among the finest ends and pass catchers ever to play high school football in the Flint area.
Combining elite star power with extraordinary depth, the 1940 Vikings cemented their place as one of the greatest teams ever to represent Flint Northern and one of the finest high school football teams in Michigan history.
4
1950 Flint Northern Vikings
Legendary head coach Guy Houston called the 1950 squad “the greatest Northern team ever,” boasting “the two best running backs in Northern history in the same backfield.” Considering what this team accomplished, it’s difficult to argue with his assessment.
1950 Flint Northern
Those two standout running backs were Leroy Bolden and Ellis Duckett, a dynamic duo that powered one of the most explosive offenses in school history. At quarterback was Duncan McDonald, whom Houston also described as “the best passer ever at Northern.” McDonald expertly directed the Viking offense as Northern rolled to an undefeated season and a Michigan state championship.
The Vikings’ dominance was reflected in every statistic. They extended their winning streak to 15 consecutive games while outscoring opponents by an astonishing 327-51. Northern controlled games on both sides of the ball, outgaining its opponents by a commanding 2,517 yards to 965 over the course of the season. The roster was loaded with talent. An incredible six Vikings earned First Team All-State honors: running backs Bolden and Duckett, quarterback McDonald, guard Jim Wagner, tackle Joe Shomsky, and end John Veselemak.
5
1947 Flint Central Indians
Head coach Howard Auer built one of the finest teams in Flint Central history, and defense was the calling card of the 1947 Flint Central Indians. The Tribe overwhelmed every opponent it faced, surrendering just 26 points all season—an astonishing average of only 2.8 points per game—while scoring 216 points of its own.
1947 Flint Central
That dominance was no product of a weak schedule. To capture the Michigan state championship, Central defeated No. 1-ranked Pontiac Central, 34-6; shut out another No. 1-ranked team, Lansing Sexton, 14-0; and capped its championship run by defeating No. 2-ranked Flint Northern, 20-6.
The annual Thanksgiving Day showdown against Northern, played before a crowd of 19,000 at Atwood Stadium, once again served as the de facto state championship game, as so many Central-Northern classics did during that era.
The Indians consistently rose to the occasion against elite competition. In addition to defeating two teams ranked No. 1 in the state, they outscored the teams ranked No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, No. 8, No. 10, and No. 11 by a combined margin of 135-19 and outgained its opponents 2,168 yards to just 632.
The Indians featured First Team All-State selections Don Coleman and Bart Jennriches, while Ken Averill and Les Farkas earned Second Team All-State honors.
Against one of the toughest schedules any Flint-area team has ever faced, the 1947 Indians combined a suffocating defense with championship-caliber performances against the state’s best competition, securing their place among the greatest teams in Flint-area football history.
Next month, we’ll reveal the remaining teams in our Top 10 Greatest Flint-Area High School Football Teams of All Time.
Gary L. “Fish” Fisher is President of the Genesee County Historical Society. Born and raised in Flint, he has lived in the area most of his life and his family has been a part of the Flint area for over 115 years. His fascination with the history of the city has existed as long as he can remember. In addition to writing, he is the President of G.L. Fisher Capital Management, LLC , an investment and financial planning firm he founded in 1992. He asserts that Flint has produced the best cars, athletes and coney islands the world has ever known – and the toughest people! Fisher can be reached at
ply2win2006@aol.com.
