HOUGHTON, Mich. (WJMN) – Senior forward Camden Markham has enjoyed his fair share of success during his career with the Houghton Hockey team. His talent on the ice is undeniable. Markham is widely considered one of the best hockey players in the state, but his focus has never been on individual goals rather his chase for an elusive state championship.

“That’s been my goal ever since I threw on the Houghton jersey is to win a state championship and get my dad one really,” said Markham. “This year, I think that’s everybody’s goal. Right from the beginning that’s been everybody’s goal.”

“That’s our biggest goal,” said Corey Markham, the head coach for the Gremlins. “The past two years have been absolutely bitter defeats for us where we’ve played extremely strong in the regional final, both times against Calumet. Those are bitter defeats that tear at you but the kids have been really dedicated this year and in the summer of getting past that point. So, that’s our goal and we need to get past that game and get into the quarterfinal round.”

Camden’s dad is Corey Markham who is also the longtime head coach of the Houghton Gremlins. Just this season Coach Markham became the winningest coach in program history after defeating Hartland, surpassing legendary coach, Don Miller, on the all-time wins list. Camden says his dad has been instrumental in his development as a player.

“He’s been very, very important,” said Camden Markham. “Pushing me in the weight room, not just on ice, pushing me in the weight room, trying to make me eat right, not drink a bunch of sugary stuff and just pushing me everyday in the summers. Pushing me hard and he’s really made me into the player that I am today.”

“I’m just super proud of him and happy that he gets some accolades,” said Corey Markham. “I played here at Houghton in my high school career and he surpassed my career points total and he’s moving way up the list where I think he’s third right now. He has a strong chance to get to second and even a chance to get to first. So, those things are awesome. The story in the Detroit Free Press, you know, that was such a surreal moment. You don’t expect to see your son’s picture on the front page of the Free Press with a big long article about him. So, it’s really neat and I’m just super proud of what he’s done.”

With Camden leading the way, the Gremlins have once again put themselves in the state championship discussion. Houghton is 21-1 this season with their only loss coming against top ranked Detroit Catholic Central.

“We’re very offensively skilled,” said Camden Markham. “We’re a big team. We got some big kids on our team. We can play physical when we want to play physical. I mean everybody has kind of came together now and it really feels like we’re a family.”

“I knew we were talented coming in and we had high expectations,” said Corey Markham. “Obviously you have no idea how wins and losses are going to turn out. They’ve put everything into this and we’ve gotten a few breaks. We’ve play a lot of home games which helps us. You never know, but I knew we had the talent to do something like this.”

If the Gremlins can put it all together this season and bring home a state title, it would be the first championship for the program since 1982.

“1982, that team lives in infamy in Houghton,” said Corey Markham. “You know that’s what everybody brings up. I’ve been the coach of three teams that made it to the state finals. You know, that was always brought up. We want to be part of that group and we’ve lost in the state finals myself three times. That’s been our rallying cry. It’s so hard to even picture it happening, the elation would be out of this world I’m sure.”

But what would make it even better, a father-son duo going out on top. A perfect ending to their story together at Houghton High School.

“That would be a dream come true,” said Camden Markham. “He’s been so close. I think everybody in the state wants him to win one. So, to kind of send him off with one and send me off with one that would be storybook material really.”

“Over the moon, like, there couldn’t be a better feeling in the world,” said Corey Markham. “Again I’ve been at this for a long time and if I got to that and got to enjoy that I would be a bubbling mess.”