Detroit King football wins border battle against Cleveland Heights: 4 takeaways

Sophomore quarterback Daryl Flemister led the Crusaders to victory

Detroit King's Daryl Flemister runs with the ball in the opening game of the 2023 season. / Mariusz Nowak

DETROIT – Detroit King (1-0) edged out Cleveland Heights 25-21 in the finale of the 2024 MHSAA Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic at Wayne State University Friday night. The Crusaders’ win over Cleveland Heights (1-1) marked their first opening week win against an out-of-state opponent since they beat East St. Louis 52-38 in 2018.

King jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter, but Cleveland Heights made big plays when it needed to in order to stay around. The score was 12-6 at halftime, but Cleveland Heights fought back and led 21-18 going into the fourth. King was able to keep the Tigers off the scoreboard for the rest of the game and retake the lead for the final time early in the fourth quarter. 

Here are four takeaways from Friday night’s game:

New coach, same King 

After Tyrone Spencer left for the head coaching job at East Kentwood High School, King chose to promote from within. Terel Patrick had been with the program for over a decade, so one could have assumed not much would change with him at the helm. 

Sophomore King QB Darryl Flemister said Patrick brings a lot of great qualities as a head coach. 

“He’s one of the best head coaches in high school football,” Flemister said. “He treats us good. We practice hard (for him). He puts us on a leash, and then when it’s game time he lets us go and we come out and win and be a hard nosed physical team.” 

• Michigan high school football: Week 1 takeaways

Young squad 

The Crusaders have some strong seniors, such as Xavier Newsom, but they are mostly led by sophomores and juniors. When Flemister took over as the starting quarterback as a freshman in 2023, he was replacing a back-to-back state champion in Dante Moore, who now plays for Oregon. Flemister already holds offers from SEC and Big 10 programs, and it’s not hard to tell why when he has the ball in his hands. 

Patrick said he only wants Flemister to worry about the fundamentals this season. 

“He has two things he’s responsible for this year,” Patrick said. “It’s leadership and taking care of the football, and I think he did excellent at both tonight.” 

King rushing attack 

Patrick said junior running back Michael Dukes fell just shy of 1,000 yards last season, and it seemed like he wanted to get a head start in week one. Dukes finished with over 100 yards and a touchdown on the ground Friday night. His teammates call him the best running back in the state, and after his performance in week one, the rest of the state is likely on notice. 

Patrick said Dukes is doing everything he thought he would.

“He’s progressing off last year,” Patrick said. “He’s run track, he’s been in the weight room, and you can see the progression in him as an athlete. We expect that out of Mike Dukes.” 

Flemister said he’s also seen Dukes evolve. 

“From him being a guy that didn’t really get playing time, to him being the starting running back, he’s got a lot of stuff on his back he has to do, and he did it today.” 

• MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD

Emergence of Emere

Senior Cleveland Heights WR Emere Atkins kept his team in the game all night with his big-play ability. Atkins finished with over 200 receiving yards and three touchdowns for the Tigers, including 75 and 60 yard touchdowns, respectively. Defensive coordinators across Michigan can take a sigh of relief knowing Atkins resides in Ohio. 

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