TRAVERSE CITY -- Mike and Andrew Pratley shared in each other's success last weekend.
Andrew, the head football coach at Ogemaw Heights, was at Johannesburg on Friday night to watch Frankfort win a Division 8 regional title.
On Saturday, Mike Pratley, a longtime assistant at Frankfort, was in Mount Pleasant to see Ogemaw Heights take down the previously unbeaten Oilers in a Division 3 regional.
It sets up an unusual situation Saturday -- father and son coaching for their respective schools in the state semifinals, one win away from playing for a state championship at Ford Field.
"It's pretty unique," Mike Pratley said.
Frankfort plays Crystal Falls Forest Park in a semifinal rematch at 1 p.m. in Marquette. Crystal Falls won 8-6 last November. Ogemaw Heights faces defending state champion East Grand Rapids at 7 p.m. in Mount Pleasant.
So now all the pressure will be on ...
"My mom," Andrew Pratley said. "She's stressing over where to go this weekend. I told her, 'I'm still relatively young. I don't know how many more years my dad has left (coaching). She needs to be at Marquette with Frankfort. Hopefully, we'll both get to the state finals."
Mike Pratley has been coaching at Frankfort for 31 years, which just happens to be how old Andrew is. Another son, Anthony, coaches in Maryland.
"It's exciting for me to see them having success," Mike said.
Andrew played at Frankfort in the mid-1990s when Tim Klein was head coach. His coaching philosophies are much like those he was brought up under at Frankfort. A veer offense. A 4-3 defense.
"He's having success with the veer," his father said. "He's running a lot stuff out of it, probably more than we do."
"That's what I grew up on and learned," Andrew Pratley said. "I've tweaked some things and made it my own, but certainly the roots of what we do are the result of my experiences at Frankfort."
Andrew was the offensive coordinator under Joe Stone at Mio for four years before taking the Ogemaw Heights job. He implemented the veer at Mio and again at Ogemaw Heights when he took over six years ago. It's no coincidence that Mio and Ogemaw Heights attend the Frankfort veer camp every July.
Interestingly, Frankfort beat Mio in a pre-district game.
The Panthers (10-2) are back in the semifinals despite losing nine players to graduation on both sides.
"That just doesn't add up on paper -- that these kids would get back there, but they have," Mike Pratley said "They've worked hard and improved every week.
"This is a blue collar team that comes to work every day. They've work hard and good things have happened. And they're really developed as a team. It's just a bunch of guys playing well together -- without anybody being the big star."
Pratley, who coaches the offensive line and defensive backfield, compares this team to the 1991 squad.
"The 1991 team got back to the state finals after we lost a bunch of kids from the previous year," he said. "I remember after winning the 1990 state championship, some parents and fans were saying, 'Hey, we're going to be right back here next year.'
"I thought, 'Yeah, right.
"By golly we were -- and for two more years after that."
Ogemaw Heights (11-1), meanwhile, won its second regional in school history last weekend.
"We have a unique group of kids who don't really care who gets the credit," said Andrew Pratley, who has had the Falcons in the playoffs each of the last five years. "They don't ever talk about stats. We had a great year during the regular season and we got an opportunity to avenge our only loss at Petoskey. We've made a good run. And the great thing about these kids is that they're not satisfied. They've kept working and they've gotten better each week."
The task will be difficult Saturday. East Grand Rapids has won three state titles in a row and five since 2002.
"They are looked at as the program in Michigan," Andrew said. "But we're excited for the opportunity to play them."
Needless to say, father and son have kept in touch frequently throughout the playoffs.
"We talk football, share ideas, go over game plans," Andrew said. "He's been at it a long time and has a lot of experience. It's always good to pick his brain."
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