A screenshot from the MiHSEF “Rocket League” Grand Final between Greenville and Charlotte. The Yellow Jackets came back from two games down to dominate the Orioles and claim the state championship. — Submitted photo
GREENVILLE — As Alex Ewing looked around his house, his 8-year-old son was running around like he had just scored a game-winning goal on the soccer field.
However, it wasn’t Ewing’s son who scored the goal — it wasn’t soccer and he wasn’t even playing. The entire Ewing family — much of the Greenville High family, actually — was fixated on the television as the Greenville Rocket League” team was battling Charlotte High School for a Michigan High School Esports Federation (MiHSEF) state championship.
Rocket League is a video game putting players on a field with rocket-powered vehicles to play a futuristic form of soccer. The game offers games of hockey and basketball — soccer, aptly named “SOCCAR,” is the most popular game mode.
The clock hit zero and the Yellow Jackets had just completed a dominant, four-games-to-two victory over the Orioles. Utter and absolutely pandemonium in the Ewing house.
Chayse Brown
But in the group voice chat on Discord — a messaging platform popular with gamers — there was almost a serenity. A calmness washed over the chat. The Yellow Jackets knew they had won the state title, and they were excited — but they didn’t really show it.
“That’s just part of the composure that they showed throughout the whole thing,” Ewing said. “They didn’t let anything rile them up throughout the tournament.”
The duality of what the Jackets were able to accomplish was highlighted in the championship match. In tournament play, a match consists of a five-game series, similar to baseball. In MiHSEF competition, “Rocket League” is played in three-player teams, with substitutes if needed. In the championship series only, the match consists of a best-of-seven.
Charlotte jumped out to a quick two-game lead and were just two wins away from clinching the state title. After falling behind by two games, the Yellow Jackets — composed of Chayse Brown, John Korson, Jeremiah Gachter and Zac Peacock — rallied behind one another and picked up four-straight wins to earn the state championship.
Jeremiah Gachter
The final game, especially, was rather spectacular as the Yellow Jackets dominated the Orioles without allowing a shot on goal. The shoutcaster (A play-by-play announcer for the stream) for the game had to double check — the Orioles had no shots; an absolute dominance from the Yellow Jackets.
One of the more impressive parts of the Jackets’ feat was the fact they had to shuffle the lineup during the championship series. In the beginning of the season, Peacock, a senior, was serving as the captain for the team for the season and was putting together a solid season. He went out and recruited Brown, a freshman, to play and Peacock noticed Brown had a better chance to bring success to the team. As such, Peacock stepped away from the starting lineup to get Brown in the spot. It worked out well, the Yellow Jackets blew through the competition and earned the second seed in the state tournament.
In the state tournament however, Brown had an unstable connection and was unable to play. With little notice, Peacock stepped back in and went to work, helping the team when it mattered most.
“It was just really cool to see the captain step down, letting the freshman play,” Ewing said. “Then, the captain stepped back up when the freshman couldn’t play.”
John Korson
That’s the thing with this team — they pick each other up when they need it. Not just the Rocket League team, it’s throughout the whole program. The upperclassmen, along with Ewing, who just took the job as adviser around a month prior to the school year, struggled through the fall semester with only a few players.
Putting in the ground work throughout the fall paid off in the spring, being able to field teams for all four games offered from the program — “Rocket League,” “Valorant,” “Super Smash Bros.” and “Overwatch” — and find almost immediate success with the Rocket League team.
“The Overwatch and Valorant teams really struggled, but their teamwork was great,” Ewing said. “It was great to see them work through the adversity and plan for the next game, go into maps and figure out the strategies — it was really cool to see.”
As for the Rocket League team, the communication skills, camaraderie and connection the guys shared was special, and it led to a state championship..
“It wasn’t just our skill, it was the communication, the teamwork, the planning,” Ewing said. “It was just cool to see the growth from the fall, we were about 50-50 and got knocked out of the first round of the tournament. Then, in the spring, we came back and won the whole thing.”
Zac Peacock
Ewing said he has enjoyed taking over the reins of the fledgling program and was immensely proud of the team for battling through the adversity it faced throughout the season, with a bit of an extra nod for the Rocket League guys for winning a state title.
That’s part of the reason Ewing and the program is trying to fundraise and help generate some new love for the program. A big aspect of the program Ewing wants to develop is a dedicated space for the teams to practice. Right now, most of the players have to play at home or find other spaces to go practice and play. A great example of it limiting the program was Brown not being able to play because he was in a different location than his normal spot.
Ewing said he can be reached at his email (ewinga@gpsmi.us) to help contribute to the program. A lot of good can come out of continuing to raise funds, Ewing said.
A main benefit of increasing opportunities has a lot to do with the program’s success this year. Colleges and universities across Michigan and the rest of the country are starting up their own esports programs. The University of Michigan just bumped the program up to the varsity level, Michigan State University has lucrative scholarships and almost every other university in the state has esports opportunities. Even some of the Yellow Jackets are getting recruited by some colleges and universities.
“This is a new bubble, and it’s here for these kids,” Ewing said. “It’s really cool that we can support that better in Greenville. I love that we’re playing some of these schools, like a Rockford team. It’s a cool rivalry to see; you can see they turn it on a bit when we play a Rockford team.”
