HOWELL -- Bobby Kanka has spent the last couple weeks reflecting on his final high school football season at Howell, but his focus is about to shift quickly.

At 3:20 p.m. next Friday, Kanka will no longer be a high school student. The following day, he will move to the University of Michigan campus to begin his college football journey.

It's a transition Kanka knew would eventually happen, ever since he landed on the radar of college recruiters as an eighth-grader, but the reality is hitting home as he goes through his final days of high school.

Kanka is graduating early so he can enroll at Michigan in January and begin practicing with the Wolverines during their preparation for the ReliaQuest Bowl Dec. 31 in Tampa, Fla. He will have the opportunity to train over the winter and participate in spring ball to get a jump start on his career.

"It's pretty surreal, but it will become real very soon," he said. "It's an awesome feeling. It's a dream come true to be on the team. I'm literally going to be on the team I've grown up watching. It will be really cool. I think that feeling will wear off pretty soon and I think it'll be pretty natural to have my brain turn into work mode and work my way up the ladder like I've always done."

SIGNING DAY: Bobby Kanka signs with Michigan, ending long recruiting process

Kanka's work ethic resulted in a scholarship to Michigan, making him one of the few Livingston County players to get a full ride to play football at a major program.

It also enabled him to help Howell have a historic 2024 season and earned him the county's Defensive Player of the Year honor as selected by the Livingston Daily.

The Highlanders became the first team from the county to start a season 11-0 and reached the third round of the playoffs for only the second time. They had their first unbeaten regular season since 1963.

As the team ticked off milestones along the way -- first 6-0 start since 1978, first 7-0 start since 1963 -- the Highlanders started to understand the historical significance of their season. Members of the 1963 team were honored at a game late in the season and one of its captains, Ron Arnold, presented the Little Brown Jug to co-captain Justin Jones following a Week 8 victory over Brighton.

Once the sting of the loss to Hudsonville subsided, the players gained a greater appreciation for what their season meant to their school and community.

"It's pretty cool to have the opportunity to sit back a little bit now and talk to guys you went through the season with and think about what we actually did," Kanka said. "I guess we've had a lot of time to just sit back and reminisce on it and come to grasp with how special a season it was. It took us a little bit after the last loss, because it was an ugly one. It wasn't really what we thought we were, so we've had a couple weeks now."

One of the most memorable moments from the season was a 30-29 victory over a Belleville team that had played in the previous three state Division 1 championship games.

For Kanka, it was an opportunity to showcase his talent against players who will also progress to play major college football.

"Just being a competitor, you want to go out and compete against some of the best," Kanka said. "They were some of the best, obviously. I thought I played one of my best games against them. Taking on those double teams from 300-pounders and going against guys playing Division I football was a big test for me. It showed me something I already knew, but showed the town and state I can play at that level. Not only play against them, but win against them. I thought it was a big game."

Kanka finished the season with 79 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 15 tackles for losses, one interception and two fumble recoveries.

For him, the biggest number was 12 -- the number of games in which he played. Kanka played in only six games as a sophomore and seven as a junior.

"I was really just glad to get in a whole 12-game season," said Kanka, a first-team all-state selection of the coaches' association and Michigan sports writers. "I played more games than I did both my sophomore and junior years. It was big for me to have that longevity piece. Everybody is banged up going through the season. I was able to get through a 12-game season and not have anything major go wrong. It was a big blessing and a gift from God."

Contact Bill Khan at [email protected]. Follow him on X @BillKhan