Hastings 37, Charlotte 13
Every Saxon drive but one ended with a touchdown or the end of a half Friday night at Charlotte.
The Hastings varsity football team finished off a 5-1 regular season with a 37-18 win over the Orioles.
TJ Russell scored three touchdowns for the Saxons and Robby Slaughter and Dan Harp had one each. Russell finished the night with 12 rushes for 182 yards and Slaughter surpassed the 100-yard mark too with 107 yards on just seven rushes. Lanny Teunessen had 66 yards rushing and Harp added 33 in his return to the T in the Saxons' backfield.
Corbin Ulrich and Owen Winegar led the defensive effort again, with Ulrich recording 12 tackles and Winegar seven. Teammate Victory Ramirez had an interception.
“We got Dan Harp back at halfback. He did a really nice job. He has been out with a high-ankle sprain and it was kind of nice getting him back on the field. He was a little hungry and he was doing some really nice blocking. We kind of stayed on assignment up front with the offensive line, Winegar and Grayson Patton up front did a fantastic job leading up front,” Hastings head coach Jamie Murphy said.
One of the highlights of the night for the Saxons was getting to celebrate a Harp touchdown for the first time this season after he plowed into the end zone from three yards out with 6:04 to go in the game. Kaiden Shumway's extra-point kick following the TD pushed the Saxons to their biggest lead of the evening at 37-12.
Hastings had 24-point leads after a seven-yard touchdown run by Russell two minutes into the second half that was followed by a Russell two-point conversion run. That score pushed the Saxon lead to 24-0 to start the game.
Charlotte got on the scoreboard with five minutes to go in the third quarter on a 54-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Grant to Bo Bandt.
Russell pushed the Saxon lead back to 24 points with a six-yard touchdown run on the second play of the fourth quarter. Russell scored on a two-yard run on the first play of the second quarter to score the game's first points, with quarterback Mason Denton running in the two-point conversion after that Saxon TD.
The Orioles turned the ball over on downs on their own 38-yard-line after that first Russell score, and Hastings put together a quick three and a half minute drive that ended with a nine-yard Slaughter TD run and a two-point conversion run by Teunessen.
Charlotte's offense did put together two big first half drives. The Orioles' opening drive of the ballgame lasted more than nine minutes, but ended in a fourth-down pass from the Saxon 16-yard-line falling incomplete.
The Orioles used up most of the last five and a half minutes of the second quarter, following Slaughter's TD run, with another drive deep into Saxon territory that ended with Hastings' Victor Ramirez intercepting a Grant pass at the goal-line and returning it to the 15.
Denton was picked off once in the end zone on the night as well. A 52-yard run by Slaughter through the middle on a third-and-13 play had the Saxons in good position to answer the Orioles' first touchdown late in the third quarter before the turnover.
The Hastings defense made up for the miscue, forcing the Orioles to turn the ball over on downs near midfield. A 39-yard run by Russell on the final play of the third quarter had the Saxons right back down near the Oriole end zone.
“They never seem to get shaken, whether we're down two scores or we're up two scores they stay focused and they play with intent,” Murphy said of his Saxons.
“They each know that they have a job to do and they don't try to do more than their job. They understand that 11 guys need to fit together on a field.”
Grant was 11-of-24 passing on the night for 166 yards. Brandt had four receptions for 83 yards to lead the Oriole receiving crew. Ashton Laguire had 22 rushes for 133 yards on the ground for the Orioles. Laguire and Luke Buzzard kept hope alive for their team with touchdown runs in the fourth quarter. Laguire scored on a 69 yard run to get his team within 30-12 with 10:39 to play in the game. Buzzard scored on a five-yard run with 1:51 left on the game clock.
Thornapple Kellogg 17, Forest Hills Eastern 8
The Hawks held the football for fewer than ten minutes Friday night.
The combination of the Thornapple Kellogg offense moving the football and the Trojan defense preventing the Hawks from getting moving themselves led to a 17-8 victory for the TK varsity football team in its regular season finale at Forest Hills Eastern High School.
“We had a little more fun tonight,” TK head coach Jeff Dock said.
“We held the ball for 38 or 39 minutes of the game. We had the ball a long time. We did a lot of good things up front. Mitchell [Middleton] ran hard. Sam McKeown, we moved him back to fullback and he spelled Mitchell a few times and then he finished off the game. He was fantastic.
“Collectively, the five guys up front, four out of those five are seniors, they did a fantastic job of trusting their rules and playing hard and finishing blocks. They moved people out of the way. There were some pretty good holes.”
The group of seniors Noah Kriekaard, Blake Monroe, Carter West, Austin Rounds and junior Ben Hanson had a strong night along the offensive line. Dock said it took a bit for the guys up front to adjust to the Hawks' blitzing tendencies, but they started picking them up before too long.
“Our goal this week was to get back to basics and we wanted to get good at our base stuff and I think up front they bought in and did it,” Docks said. “It was good. They have been great all year.”
The Trojans scored the first 17 points of the game. Middleton scored on a 26-yard run with 4:36 to play in the second quarter and then tacked on a 42-yard field goal as time ran out in the first half to get his team up 10-0. TK quarterback Reese Garbrecht ended a quick scoring drive with a one-yard TD plunge after FHE fumbled away the opening kickoff to the second half. Middleton hit extra-points after both Trojan touchdowns.
Middleton also had a nice punt to pin the Hawks back at their own seven-yard-line early in the fourth quarter.
The Trojan offense was mostly in control from the start. The Trojans had a 14-play drive that covered nearly 60 yards over the course of almost eight minutes to open the game before turning the ball over to the Hawks.
“Our defense came on the field and shut them down,” Dock said. “ It was awesome. Our defense responded as they have all year. They came out and played well and flew around and they forced them to punt.”
The Trojan offense had it second drive of the game stall out inside the Hawks' ten-yard-line.
The TK defense forced a quick punt again, and the Trojans' started what would be their first scoring drive of the evening in Hawk territory. An interception by Jonah Summerhays got the Trojans' the ball back with 1:50 to go in the first half near midfield and the TK offense moved in for the field goal that pushed its lead to double digits.
Middleton closed the night with 29 rushes for 164 yards. McKeown finished with 12 carries for 54 yards.
Jake DeJong led the TK defense with 6.5 tackles. Alex Bonnema had 5.5 tackles and an interception. Noah Rosenberg finished the night with 2.5 tackles including a sack. Carsen Burbridge recovered the fumble to set up the Trojans' final TD at the opening of the second half.
The Hawks put together one long third-quarter drive, but it ended in a missed field goal attempt.
The Hawks got their touchdown with 2:41 to go in the game on a 31-yard pass from John Morgan to Jacob Armbrester, and Morgan ran in the two-point try. Armbrester had three receptions on the night, covering 91 yards.
The Trojans now await their Division 3 playoff opponent. Coach Dock said Friday night he is expecting his team to host a ballgame in Middleville next weekend.
Schoolcraft 33, Delton Kellogg 7
Things couldn't have gone a whole lot better for the Panthers early on, and it still wasn't enough to hang with Schoolcraft.
The Eagles finished off a 3-0 season in the Southwest Athletic Conference Valley Division and a 5-1 season overall with a 33-7 win over the Delton Kellogg varsity football team in Delton Friday night.
The Eagles turned the ball over on two of its first three possessions, and the Panthers recovered an on-side kick following their only touchdown of the ballgame. Schoolcraft still managed to take a 15-7 lead into the half and then extended it as Delton Kellogg turned the ball over a couple times in the second half.
Philip Holcomb scored Delton Kellogg's lone touchdown, returning a Schoolcraft fumble 35 yards for a score. Gavin Houtkooper converted the extra-point kick to pull DK within 8-7 at the time.
Schoolcraft opened the scoring on its opening drive, getting a 15-yard touchdown run from quarterback Alex Thole. The Eagles extended their lead with the first of four touchdowns by Jimmy Downs who rushed for a three-yard TD late in the first half, scored on a 19-yard run in the third quarter and a two-yard run, then added a 25-yard touchdown reception from Thole in the fourth.
Delton Kellogg closes the season at 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the SAC Valley.
Maple Valley 22, Bellevue 8
Lion head coach Marty Martin liked having a homecoming crowd and hearing car horns from some of those outside the stadium blaring for big plays beyond the fences.
His players liked getting the Little Brown Jug back.
“You could see after the game how excited and elated they were to win that,” Martin said. “They definitely played with a purpose tonight. That is kind of what has been missing all year is playing with a purpose. Hopefully, we're getting better at the right time.”
The Maple Valley varsity 8-player football team closed out the 2020 regular season with a 22-8 victory over visiting Bellevue Friday night. Now the Lions await a postseason opponent for the first time at the 8-player level, one of six teams not included in the MHSAA's two championship divisions. Coach Martin is expecting that his team has done enough to earn one of the tournament's top three seeds and a home football game next weekend.
The Broncos scored the game's first points Friday, but Maple Valley senior all-stater Hugheston was the only other player to put points on the scoreboard. Heckathorn scored three touchdowns, recorded a safety too and ran in the two-point conversion after his first touchdown to account for all 22 Lion points.
Heckathorn scored on a two-yard run with 2:22 to go int eh first quarter and then ran in the two-point try to tie the game at 8-8. A bad snap on a punt put the Lion defense in bad position around its own 15-yard-line and Bellevue capitalized to take an 8-0 lead on a one-yard touchdown run and a two-point run by Nick Hayward.
Heckathorn recorded the safety with just under two minutes to play in the third quarter, and then scored on a 30-yard run after a successful on-side kick by Lion kicker Owen Bailey and his special teams' unit. Heckathorn tacked on an eight-yard touchdown run with just under five minutes to go in the game.
Martin said a couple nice pass plays from quarterback Blaze Sensiba led to the Lions' first touchdown, and the team's next TD was all Heckathorn's strength and will.
“Hugheston really ran the ball tonight in the second half,” Martin said. “He really laid it out there. His touchdown run in the second half he broke a tackle, broke a tackle, broke a tackle and then broke another tackles as he was running away. He's not the fastest guy, but he pulled away.”
The Lions' senior all-state running back concluded the night with 27 rushes for 100 yards. Dillon Jorgenson added 11 rushes for 37 yards. Sensiba was 4-of-7 passing for 79 yards. Jorgenson had a 36-yard reception and Reese Proctor-Burhans hauled in a 25-yard catch.
The Lion coach was pleased with his team in all three phases of the game. He was very appreciative of his three-year varsity kicker Bailey's ability to boot kick-offs directionally and give his team a good chance at recovering on-side kick attempts. He just missed a 37-yard field goal late in the first half.
Jessey Deppe led the Lion defense with ten tackles. Heckathorn had seven and Cody Taylor six. Deppe, Jorgenson and Hunter Bassett each recovered a fumble for the Lions and Bassett intercepted a Bronco pass as well.
“We had a really, really good defensive effort,” Martin said.
“We didn't have any blown coverages. We didn't have anything to that effect. We did a really good job. I was really proud of them. We weren't playing disciplined all year long. All year long we have struggled with our eye discipline. I know it is like a football cliché, but eye discipline is keeping your eyes where they have to be instead of looking into the backfield to try and find the ball.”
“We were able to keep our eyes on our keys and we were able to react very quickly.”
Martin remembered that the last time a Maple Valley football team played in a postseason tournament it was in 11-player football a couple years ago when the defense came together in the final game of the regular season and nearly carried the Lions to a district championship.
Ionia 42, Lakewood 7
It was a dominant performance by the Bulldogs in the fog on Thursday night.
Ionia's varsity football team defeated rival Lakewood 42-7 in the programs' annual regular season finale, with the Bulldogs earning their first victory of the season. The two teams now await their postseason match-ups which will be announced by the MHSAA this weekend.
The Bulldogs limited Lakewood to just 107 yards of offense, in part because the Bulldog offense put together methodical drive after methodical drive, the way Lakewood head coach Matt Markwart likes his team to do it.
Lakewood scored its lone touchdown with 4:12 to play in the opening quarter on a 47-yard run by senior back Garrett Stank. Viking kicker Elizabeth Minard booted the extra-point to tie the contest at 7-7.
The Bulldogs kept marching to the end zone and stopped the Vikings progress. Lakewood didn't manage another first down until early in the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs had built their to the final margin.
“The whole team did a good job. We had guys that all played hard last night,” Markwart said. “Sawyer (Stoepker) had good runs. Garrett had good runs. Jayce Hansen connected on a couple passes and made some plays. Denny Sauers made plays. Our defense at times, guys made plays. It just wasn't our night as a whole.”
Stank finished the ballgame with eight rushes for 51 yards. Sawyer Stoepker had three receptions for the Lakewood offense, covering 34 yards. Quarterback Jayce Hansen was 4-of-10 passing for 26 yards.
Lakewood turned the ball over only once, losing a fumble on the opening drive of the second half.
Markwart said his team was short-handed Thursday night. A group of four guys unable to play left the Vikings with a roster of 15 for the ballgame. There were Vikings playing two ways who normally don't do that.
The Bulldog offense eventually found a strength and took advantage over and over again.
“They were able to hit us on our defensive right side. They had a pretty good offensive tackle [Aidan Clute] that we saw on film was pretty good, a pretty good lineman,” Markwart said. “He was able to slide down and get everybody to our linebackers. We weren't able to get over and fill the hole and stop the play.”
Ionia quarterback Blake Bookie ended the Bulldogs' ensuing drive with a two-yard touchdown run that put his team up 28-7 at the time. It was one of three Bookie touchdowns on the night. He also scored on a 1-yard run six and a half minutes into the contest and on a ten-yard run in the final minute of the first half.
The Bulldogs also got a six-yard touchdown run by Austin Hillabrandt five and a half minutes into the second half, which was followed by a two-point conversion that put his team up 15-7 at the time. Tanner Gregory closed the touchdown scoring for Ionia on a six-yard scoring run with 2:28 to play in the third quarter.
Bookie was 4-of-6 passing for 36 yards in the ballgame and rushed 18 times for 89 yards. Hillabrandt led the Bulldogs on the ground with 15 carries for 176 yards. Gregory finished the night with nine rushes for 64 yards.
Lakewood ends the regular season with a 3-3 record, Ionia at 1-5.
Caledonia, East Kentwood:
Cancelled.
The Fighting Scots' OK Red Conference finale with the Falcons was cancelled due to COVID-19. The Fighting Scots quickly made plans Friday for a non-conference ballgame with Parma Western that will kick off at 1 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 24).