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Dexter senior football star Micah Davis faced significant adversity on his way to his collegiate commitment, but the future Wolverine is focused on a bright future after a historic career for the Dreadnaughts
WRITTEN BY WYATT NOVARA AND BRAEDY WINEMAN
After back-to-back broken ankles during his first two seasons of football, Micah Davis said that it felt as though all of his hard work “just wasn’t going to pay off.” He had his “fair share” of days where he wanted to just “shut down” and step away from the game that he loved, but his dream was always to “wear the Dreadnaught uniform with pride.”
Currently, there are over one million high school football players. According to the NCAA, approximately 7.3% of those players will have the opportunity to play at the collegiate level in any division. Of those one million high school players, roughly 0.6% will go on to play at the Power 5 level of Division 1 NCAA football, which includes the Big 10, Big 12, ACC, SEC, and Pac-12 conferences.
The majority of that 0.6% has four years (four seasons) to prove themselves and find a team at the collegiate level. For Davis, his opportunity was split in half by injury; two years to earn his spot, to overcome the slim-to-none odds.
GO BLUE: Micah Davis shared pictures from his official commitment on his social media accounts.
After a promising summer before his freshman season at Dexter, Davis was looking forward to an exciting first year of high school football. Unfortunately, one week before his first game in the Dreads intrasquad scrimmage, Davis fell on a kick return and felt a sharp pain through his ankle. He had to undergo surgery and rehab, which took many long months before he could see the field again. This long recovery saw a lot of struggle physically and mentally. After his grueling comeback, Davis was working harder than ever. He, now a sophomore, was slated to play at the varsity level, an impressive feat for any underclassman.
However, during the first practice of his sophomore year, tragedy struck again. During footwork drills, Davis broke the same ankle again. This time around, surgery was not necessary, but his mental health was challenged more than ever at this defining and devastating point of his life.
“It felt like all of my work was going to waste, like it was for nothing,” Davis recounted.
After seeing the first half of his high school career fade right in front of him, he had an important decision: was he going to dwell on his injuries and let them define him, or was he going to take the struggles and spin them into positives?
Seeing the “consistent support from his friends, family, and coaches” helped push him forward on his journey and toward a brighter future. Regardless of his positive outlook, Davis felt a sense of “deja vu” heading into his junior season.
The feeling, however, was shaken off quickly as Davis put the entire state on watch from the opening kickoff, intercepting two passes against Birmingham Groves at the Wayne State Kickoff Classic – his first-ever high school football game. He would continue to play an important role throughout the season as one of two starting safeties for the Dreadnaughts, alongside then-senior Noah Drummond. After his first healthy season, Davis earned several honors: All-Conference Honorable Mention, All-Region, 2nd Team All-State, and MLive Ann Arbor Dream Team. Even with the impressive honors, he still felt he had “something to prove” for his final year.
BALL HAWK: Micah scans the field, waiting for his next opportunity to make a play. Photographer – Josiah Hayter (@jd_eos)
During his senior season, Davis was “unanimously appointed” team captain by his teammates alongside fellow senior Brennan Parachek, according to Head Coach Phil Jacobs. Davis was now a two-way starter, playing as a Cover-3 safety on defense and as a slot receiver on offense. Defensive back coach Kevin Cislo noted that Davis played “far more physical” during his senior season.
“There was no questioning who was the man in charge on the field,” quarterback/offensive coach Robert Schwartz said. “He showed a will to win and a will to be great. I think he was the one person who was able to pull the best out of his teammates.”
Over his two-year career, he accumulated 200 total tackles, 12 interceptions, and five forced fumbles, as well as a multitude of impacts on the offensive and special teams. However, his influence spread much further than the statistics show; many of the most crucial moments throughout this past season were attributed to the play of Micah Davis.
FAMILY FIRST: Micah and his family pose for a pre-game photo against Saline on Senior Night. Photograph courtesy of Ryan Maki
On the night of the homecoming game against Huron, he had a long reception to set up a Cole Cabana touchdown to win the game in the final minutes. Against Saline, who has one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, Notre Dame commit CJ Carr, Davis came up with a big interception in the first half and a fourth down stop late in the game to seal the win for the Dreads.
Cislo noted Davis as a heavy contributor to the big victory which claimed the SEC Red championship title.
“Saline didn’t trust their offense to throw over the top of Micah,” Cislo said. “That’s the type of impact he had this past season.”
He also played a huge role in breaking the 26-year losing streak to rival Chelsea, pitching a 45-0 shutout against the Bulldogs at their own stadium. “Micah wanted to change the narrative about Dexter football,” said Kaden Davis, Micah’s younger brother.
His grit, determination, and hard work helped Davis lead the team to its first undefeated regular season, first SEC Red conference championship, first district title, and first regional title, with the season ending with a heartbreaking double-overtime loss to Forest Hills Central in the Final Four for the Division 2 playoffs. After the historic season, he received many more accolades to add to his growing collection: 1st team All-Conference, AllRegion, All-State, and MLive Ann Arbor Dream Team.
With reportedly 15 collegiate offers on the table, Davis had a big decision on his hands.
“You could tell that he was going to be a special player for our team and a special person to our program,” said Schwartz, who wasn’t surprised when Davis committed to his childhood dream school, the University of Michigan.
Now poised to be a Wolverine, he looks forward to an outstanding next few years and a bright future at the Big Ten school.
Davis had an astounding number of positive comments made about him as both a player and a person, but when asked about how he would define his fellow senior and teammate in all aspects, Reeves Taylor had just one word to describe him: “perseverance.”
