In the biggest moments of the final regular-season game of the 2026 Michigan high school football season, Birmingham Brother Rice imposed its will in the trenches against the No. 1 team in Michigan.
No. 19 Brother Rice and No. 1 Novi Detroit Catholic Central found themselves in overtime at Ford Field during the CHSL Prep Bowl on Saturday, Oct. 4, after four back-and-forth quarters . CC got the ball first and took it down to the 1-yard line in two plays.
But Brother Rice's defense stuffed two straight runs up the middle for a goal-line stop. The great defensive effort set up junior Deondre Hill, a three-star recruit with multiple Power Four offers, to score the winning touchdown, his fourth of the night, for the biggest upset of the 2026 season.
"The O-line and D-line, they won the physical battle," Brother Rice coach Aaron Marshall said. "For me, that was everything. We knew we needed to do that today. We had to run the ball and stop the run."
Brother Rice jumped out in front with a touchdown immediately, set up by a big return from sophomore receiver Christian Marshall. CC answered to take a 7-6 lead. But Brother Rice's defense shut down the Shamrocks for the rest of the first half, allowing the Warriors to take a 12-7 lead into halftime.
CC scored quickly out of the break to make it 15-12.
But Brother Rice kept answering. The Warriors moved methodically with runs from Hill and quick passes to Marshall. Hill punched in another touchdown, putting Brother Rice up, 19-15, with less than a minute in the third quarter.
J.J. Chevalier scored a TD for CC with five minutes left in the fourth quarter to regain the lead. Brother Rice answered again, this time using a sluggo route to Marshall for a 49-yard gain down to the CC 1. Hill punched it in once more, making it 25-22 with a minute left. CC drove into field goal range, and Ty Goddard hit a 42-yarder with 20 seconds left to force overtime.
But Brother Rice executed better over the extra six plays to pick up a signature win.
"CC has some dogs, but you know, every dog has their day," Christian Marshall said. "Today was that day."
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Marshall had the best game of his young career, taking advantage of his strong connection with sophomore quarterback Drake Martin. Martin frequently targeted Marshall, his best friend who he has thrown the ball to since they first started playing football in Little League.
Martin had tears in his eyes after the handshake line as the realization of the win set in. Marshall ran over and they hugged for a prolonged time, celebrating their key roles in the win.
"He's been my brother since we were 8 years old," Martin said. "Playing our whole lives together, I know he is going to get it done every time I throw the ball to him."
On top of snapping their rival's 22-game win streak, the longest active in Michigan, Brother Rice now has proof of concept that they can play with anyone in the state heading into the playoffs, which begin on Friday, Oct. 30.
"I am proud that now the boys realize we can do whatever we think we can do," Aaron Marshall said. "They showed it tonight. We are going to celebrate for 24 hours, and tomorrow we are back to a 0-0 record. And the real season begins."
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Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Brother Rice shocks No. 1 Novi Detroit CC in Prep Bowl OT thriller