Northern Michigan Football League

Last updated
Northern Michigan Football League
Founded2014
Division MHSAA
No. of teams16
Region Northern Michigan
Locations
NMFL 2021.png

The Northern Michigan Football League is an interscholastic athletic conference affiliated with the Michigan High School Athletic Association. It is located in Northern Michigan and contains seveenteen teams that encompasses fourteen counties: Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Crawford, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Iosco, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Mackinac, Ogemaw and Otsego.

Contents

History

The League formed from the merger of the Lake Michigan Conference and the Northwest Conference, for football only. The schools were then split up based on enrollment and competitiveness, with the larger schools forming the Legends Division, and the smaller ones forming the Legacy Division. Mesick, who was a member of the Northwest Conference, declined to join the league, leaving the Legacy Division with one school less than the Legend Division. [1] Before the 2015 season, it was announced that the six members of the Ski Valley Conference not dropping to Eight-man Football as well as Cheboygan, Onekema and Traverse City Christian High Schools would join the league during the 2016 season, causing the league to expand to three divisions; the Leaders, Legends, and Legacy divisions. [2] [3] The league is also considering the applications of several other schools, and the possibility of further divisions to help with travel costs. On October 6, 2015, Traverse City Christian announced that it would not be joining the NMFL and that Mesick would be replacing them in the conference on a two-year trial basis.

For the 2017 season, more changes will be happening, as four schools will be making the move to eight-man football. In the last few months of 2016, Central Lake, [4] [5] Mesick, [4] [5] Onekama, [6] and Suttons Bay [5] all announced moves to the eight-man game. However, for the 2018 season, Newberry, from the former Mid Eastern Football Conference, was brought into the league. [7] This did not last long, however, as for the 2019 season, Newberry, along with Gaylord St. Mary announced their own move to the 8 man game as well. Starting in 2020, the league will welcome Sault Ste. Marie and West Branch-Ogemaw Heights, who both previously were independent. In corresponding moved Kalkaska and Boyne city will move from the Legends Division to the Leaders Division, and Frankfort will move from the Leaders Division to the Legacy Division. This aligns the league, with the exception of Traverse City St. Francis, to divisions based on enrollment sizes, with the Legends being the largest, Leaders being the middle, and Legacy being the smallest schools. [8]

Effective 2021, the NMFL added 2 new schools, Tawas & Oscoda. Tawas was added to the largest division, Legends, while Oscoda was added to the smallest division, Legacy. Former North Star League foes Rogers City & Lincoln-Alcona were both originally set the join the Legacy Division, but opted instead to drop to 8-Man Football. [9]

In September 2021, following the departure of the two Traverse City high schools to the Saginaw Valley League, the four remaining Big North Conference high schools: Alpena, Gaylord, Cadillac, and Petoskey, were denied entry into the league, despite approval of the conferences athletic directors. The eight superintendents of the then Legends Division declined the addition of the four schools, Citing how the league has grown fast and changed so much in the last six years it might be best to slow down before overhauling the league. The addition of the four schools would have seen the creation of a new 4th division, the Liberty Division and would have included the 6 biggest schools, Alpena, Petoskey, Gaylord, Cadillac, Sault Ste. Marie, and Cheboygan. The following 18 teams would have been divided into 3 equal divisions of 6 teams based on size and success. Instead, the conference kept its 3 division format, but saw Tawas moved to the middle Leaders division and Glen Lake moved to the smaller Legacy Division. [10]

In September 2022 it was announced that effective Fall 2023, the Big North Conference would add Marquette, Escanaba and NMFL member, Sault Ste. Marie, as football members only. [11] Also in 2023, St. Ignace left the conference and moved to 8-man football, while Kalkaska left as well to become an 11-man football independent. With these changes, Benzie Central and Oscoda moved to the middle Leaders division from the larger Legends and smaller Legacy divisions respectively, while Mancelona moved from the Leaders division to the Legacy division

Member schools

Current members

TeamSchoolLocationCountyJoinedTypeEnrollmentAll-Sports Conference
Legends Division
Boyne City Ramblers Boyne City Boyne City Charlevoix 2014Public412 Northern Shores Conference
Cheboygan Chiefs Cheboygan Cheboygan Cheboygan 2016Public462 Northern Shores Conference
Grayling Vikings Grayling Frederic Township Crawford 2014Public458 Northern Shores Conference
Kingsley Stags Kingsley Kingsley Grand Traverse 2014Public405 Northern Shores Conference
St. Francis Gladiators Traverse City–St. Francis Traverse City Grand Traverse 2014Private332Independent
Leaders Division
Benzie Central Huskies Benzie Central Benzonia Township Benzie 2014Public319Northwest Conference
Charlevoix Rayders Charlevoix Marion Township Charlevoix 2014Public272 Northern Shores Conference
Elk Rapids Elks Elk Rapids Elk Rapids Antrim 2014Public351 Northern Shores Conference
Oscoda Owls Oscoda Au Sable Township Iosco 2021Public298North Star League
Tawas Braves Tawas Area Tawas Township Iosco 2021Public339Independent
Legacy Division
East Jordan Red Devils East Jordan East Jordan Charlevoix 2014Public228Ski-Valley Conference
Frankfort Panthers Frankfort Frankfort Benzie 2014Public144Northwest Conference
Maple City Glen Lake Lakers Maple City–Glen Lake Kasson Township Leelanau 2014Public200Northwest Conference
Harbor Springs Rams Harbor Springs Harbor Springs Emmet 2014Public333 [lower-alpha 1] Northern Shores Conference
Johannesburg-Lewiston Cardinals Johannesburg-Lewiston Charlton Township Otsego 2016Public212Ski Valley Conference
Mancelona Ironmen Mancelona Mancelona Township Antrim 2016Public246Ski Valley Conference
  1. Co-Op with Harbor Light Christian (50 Students) & St. Michael Academy (31 Students)

Future members

Former members

TeamSchoolLocationCountyJoinedDepartedEnrollmentTypeCurrent Conference
Central Lake Trojans Central Lake Central Lake Antrim 2016201784Public Ski Valley Conference (8-Man)
Gaylord St. Mary Snowbirds Gaylord St. Mary Gaylord Otsego 2016201969Private Ski Valley Conference (8-Man)
Indian River Inland Lakes Bulldogs Inland Lakes Tuscarora Township Cheboygan 20162020177Public Ski Valley Conference (8-Man)
Kalkaska Blazers Kalkaska Kalkaska Kalkaska 20142023441PublicIndependent (11-Man)
Mesick Bulldogs Mesick Mesick Wexford 20162017197Public West Michigan 8-Man Football League
Newberry Indians Newberry Newberry Luce 20182019171Public Great Lakes 8-Man Conference - East
Ogemaw Heights Falcons West Branch–Ogemaw Heights West Branch Township Ogemaw 20202024556Public Jack Pine Conference
Onekama Portagers Onekama Onekama Manistee 2016201799Public West Michigan 8-Man Football League
Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils Sault Area Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa 20202023884Public Big North Conference
St. Ignace Saints Saint Ignace St. Ignace Township Mackinac 20162023201Public Great Lakes 8-Man Conference - East
Suttons Bay Norsemen Suttons Bay Suttons Bay Leelanau 20142017132Public West Michigan 8-Man Football League

Football Champions

YearNMFL INMFL II
2014Boyne City 12-1 (6-0)Suttons Bay 9-2 (5-0)
YearLegendsLeaders
2015St. Francis 12-1 (6-0)Frankfort 9-3 (5-0)
YearLegendsLeadersLegacy
2016St. Francis 11-1 (6-0)Frankfort 11-1 (5-0)St. Ignace 11-2 (6-0)
2017Boyne City 9-1 (7-0)Maple City Glen Lake 7-3 (5-0)Gaylord St. Mary 10-1 (5-0)
2018St. Francis 12-1 (6-0)Maple City Glen Lake 5-5 (4-0)Johannesburg-Lewiston 9-2 (6-0)
2019Kingsley 12-1 (6-0)Maple City Glen Lake 12-2 (4-0)Johannesburg-Lewiston 10-1 (4-0)
2020Kingsley 8-1 (6-0)Charlevoix 8-1 (5-0)Johannesburg-Lewiston 10-1 (4-0)
2021St. Francis 12-1 (7-0)Boyne City 9-2 (5-0)East Jordan 6-3 (5-0)
2022St. Francis 13-1 (6-0)Boyne City 9-1 (5-0)St. Ignace 7-3 (6-0)
2023Ogemaw Heights 9-2 (4-0)Charlevoix 8-2 (5-0)East Jordan 8-2 (5-0)
2024Boyne City 7-2 (3-1), Kingsley 7-2 (3-1), St. Francis 6-3 (3-1)Charlevoix 6-3 (4-0)Glen Lake 8-1 (5-0)

State Championship Appearances

SeasonNMFLNon-NMFLSiteDivision
2016Maple City Glen Lake (12-2)14 Jackson Lumen Christi (11-3)26 Ford FieldDetroit, MI 6 [12]
2019Maple City Glen Lake (12-2)0 Monroe Saint Mary Catholic (12-1)7 Ford FieldDetroit, MI 6 [13]
2020St. Francis (9-3)35 New Lothrop (11-0)42 Ford FieldDetroit, MI 7 [14]
2022St. Francis (13-1)12 Jackson Lumen Christi (11-3)15 Ford FieldDetroit, MI 7 [15]
2023Kingsley (12-2)38 Almont (12-2)24 Ford FieldDetroit, MI 6 [16]

NMFL Records

SchoolSeasonsLegendLeaderLegacyOverall%PlayoffsPlayoff RecordDistrictsRegionalsChampionships
Benzie Central Huskies1010-394-114-40.25941-4000
Boyne City Ramblers1028-916-444-13.77188-8210
Central Lake Trojans11-51-5.16800-0000
Charlevoix Rayders1032-1432-14.69675-7000
Cheboygan Chiefs812-3612-36.25010-1000
East Jordan Red Devils100-1020-2120-31.39241-4000
Elk Rapids Elks109-1610-1819-34.35950-5000
Frankfort Panthers1018-815-533-13.71797-9300
Gaylord St. Mary Snowbirds310-710-7.58821-2000
Grayling Vikings1027-3227-32.45865-6110
Harbor Springs Rams104-621-2025-26.49051-5000
Indian River Inland Lakes Bulldogs42-192-19.09500-0000
Johannesburg-Lewiston Cardinals823-1823-18.56146-4110
Kalkaska Blazers95-207-1712-37.24520-2000
Kingsley Stags1040-2040-20.667614-5521
Mancelona Ironmen88-232-310-26.27831-3000
Maple City Glen Lake Lakers104-821-46-531-17.649810-8220
Mesick Bulldogs10-50-5.00010-0000
Newberry Indians13-33-3.50010-0000
Ogemaw Heights Falcons412-912-9.57131-3000
Onekama Portagers12-32-3.40010-1000
Oscoda Owls31-45-66-10.37500-0000
Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils310-710-7.58812-1000
St. Francis Gladiators1052-752-7.8811027-10960
St. Ignace Saints720-1620-16.55743-4100
Suttons Bay Norsemen36-46-4.60011-1000
Tawas Braves31-90-61-15.06300-0000

Membership Timeline

Northern Michigan Football League

LegendsLeadersLegacy

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