Deandre Bidden runs Harper Woods past Detroit King in district final

On the first snap, Deandre Bidden showed why he is one of the top junior recruits in Michigan, in one of the biggest games of the 2026 Michigan high school football playoffs.Bidden jumped in front of an underneath route for an interception on the first play of scrimmage in the Division 3 district final against fellow title contender Detroit King. The junior flashed his track-champion sprint speed down the sidelines for a quick 20-yard touchdown, giving the Pioneers an immediate advantage."If he decided to be a Division I DB, he'd probably be the best in the nation," Harper Woods coach Rod Oden said. "But he wants to play offense, which is fine with me. But he is a true cover guy that can play at a high level on the defensive side of the ball. And for the rest of the playoffs, he will be out there."FOLLOW ALONG: Michigan high school football final scores in district finalsBidden followed up his loud start by slamming the door shut late. With Harper Woods up a touchdown early in the fourth quarter and facing a long distance for a first down, the Pioneers dialed up some trickery – a hook-and-lateral play, with a yes/no tag to kill the play if they got the wrong defensive look.Harper Woods' coaches gave the thumbs up after scanning the defense. Sophomore quarterback Austin Nelson signaled star senior receiver Dakota Guerrant (who is an Oregon commit) into motion toward the King sidelines. Nelson quickly fired a pass to Guerrant, who sat down on a short curl near the numbers. Guerrant caught the ball low, but flipped a pitch to Bidden before going down.DIVISION 2: Charlie Michelotti powers Grosse Pointe South to MHSAA football playoff winThe play worked perfectly. Bidden had acres of space and shot down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown. It was the final blow in Harper Woods' (9-2) 20-6 win over King (7-4) to keep the Pioneers' D-3 title hopes alive. Harper Woods advances to host Warren De La Salle next week (time TBA) with a spot in the state semifinals on the line."They played off coverage," Oden said. "We threw a hitch to our best guy. And we lateraled it to the fastest guy in the state.""I knew as long as he caught [the pitch], he would take off with it," said Guerrant, who rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and caught two passes.Bidden provided the fireworks, but a great defensive performance from Harper Woods lit the fuse. Outside of an 89-yard touchdown pass from Amir Forris to Darryl Flemister (Illinois) in the second quarter, King could not generate enough offense.That cut Harper Woods' lead to a touchdown, but King turned it over on downs on its two second-half possessions. Harper Woods had three possessions and held the ball with solid runs in a jumbo wildcat formation with Guerrant as the ball carrier."They are growing up out here," Oden said of his offensive line. "Everyone counted them out because it's three juniors and two sophomores, but they are battle-tested. The OAA prepares you for these moments, and we needed to show that."[Sign up for our new Michigan Sidelines statewide high school sports newsletter ]The Harper Woods defense kept the ball in front of them, tackled well on the perimeter in space and generated enough negatives in the backfield to keep the Crusaders at bay. "It was our preparation," junior defensive end Jeremiah McCall said. "We go hard with each other every day at practice and that showed."McCall had a large hand in that backfield disruption, picking up a sack, multiple tackles for loss and pressures. McCall, Darnell Canady, Jayden Evans, Randy Ellis and Caleb Lane all produced negative plays in King's backfield."Discipline and effort, that's all it took," McCall, playing through knee and hip injuries in the back half of the season, said.The defense and star power from Harper Woods' two five-star recruits put the Pioneers three wins from their ultimate goal, but they still celebrated with their first wooden mitten on Friday."We get to play next week," Guerrant said.Nominate a high school athlete for the Detroit Free Press boys and girls athlete of the week.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: Deandre Bidden runs Harper Woods past Detroit King in district final