Hastings 30, Coldwater 29
The Hastings Saxons are Interstate-8 Athletic Conference football champions for the first time.
The Saxons capped off a 4-1 season in conference play with a 30-29 come-from-behind, homecoming victory over visiting Coldwater Friday night inside Baum Stadium at Johnson Field, which clinches at least a share of the conference title for the Saxons.
Hastings dug out of a 23-16 hole in the second half and thwarted a Cardinal two-point conversion attempt with 62 seconds to play to seal the victory.
“There was a big celebration,” Hastings head coach Jamie Murphy, happy to have more fans in the stands than had been allowable during the first few weeks of the 2020 varsity football season.
“The energy in the stadium the second half kind of carried us through the second half. It was very exciting. There was a lot of energy in the atmosphere and the team kind of absorbed it form the crowd. It was definitely a home field advantage.”
Robby Slaughter scored the Saxons' first three touchdowns, on runs of three, 66 and ten yards.
It was Evan Eastman who put the Saxons in front for good with a 33-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Mason Denton. That TD pass with 1:19 to go in the game was followed by a two-point conversion run by teammate Lanny Teunessen that had the Saxons in front 30-23.
Coldwater had a trick up its sleeve, and got a 74-yard touchdown pass from Brock Thornton to Deandre Douglas on its first play from scrimmage following the Eastman TD.
Murphy said his Saxons were geared up to stop a counter play by the Cardinals, which had allowed Coldwater to pick up a few big third down conversions in the first half. The Saxons hadn't seen the wrinkle before where the Cardinals flip the ball back and pass out of the look. Douglas came out of the backfield and was alone 15 yards behind the Saxon defense waiting for the pass and then he outran everyone to the end zone.
The Cardinals called a time-out before coming out to go for two and the lead following the long score. The Saxons were more prepared at the snap of the ball on the two-point attempt than the Cardinals. Kyler Madden shot into the backfield untouched to disrupt the play and Eastman arrived too to make sure Coldwater QB Aiden Marsden was on the turf.
Murphy said defensive adjustments made all the different in the second half as the Saxons limited Coldwater to just 16 yards of offense in the second half before the long late TD.
Murphy said defensive coach Brian Donnini got the defensive linemen to make some adjustments, slanting their attack to help keep the Cardinal defensive linemen away from linebackers Corbin Ulrich and Owen Winegar.
Without the defensive linemen to deal with, Winegar and Ulrich were free to get outside and clean up the Cardinals buck sweep while also be prepared to deal with the counter. Ulrich had a team-high six tackles. Eastman had four.
“I am just really impressed with the team as a whole,” Murphy said. “They are down and they don't give up on each other. They don't point fingers at each other when they make mistakes. They just turn around and get ready for the next play and they expect everyone else on the team to do the same.”
Slaughter scored the game's first points on a three-yard run six and a half minutes in. He added a 66-yard TD run that helped get the Saxons in front 16-15 with 4:20 to play in the first half, answering a go-ahead TD by the Cardinals.
Slaughter added a ten-yard touchdown run with 4:11 to play in the third quarter that pulled the Saxons within 23-22 at the time.
Denton tossed a two-point conversion pass to Eastman following Slaughter's first touchdown. Coldwater tied the game at 8-8 with a nine-yard TD run by Cameron Torres and a two-point conversion pass 82 seconds into the second quarter. Coldwater then took the lead, 15-8, six minutes later on a one-yard TD run by Cooper Fredlund and a Brayden Boyd extra-point kick.
Slaughter answered with his long TD run, bursting through the middle on a trap, and TJ Russell tacked on the two-point run to get the lead back for the Saxons at 16-15.
After a big 39-yard kick return by Douglas, the Cardinals moved 47 yards over the final four and a half minutes of the first half to get a one-yard TD run by Spencer Rodesiler and a two-point pass from Marsden to Rodesiler for a 23-16 edge at the half.
A 30-yard field goal attempt by Hastings kicker Kaiden Shumway was no good five minutes into the fourth quarter, with the Saxons down one, but the Saxon defense quickly forced its third straight three-and-out of the second half to get its offense another chance with 5:13 to play.
Hastings went 64 yards on nine plays before Denton's fourth down touchdown pass to Eastman with 1:19 to go. It was Denton's only completed pass of the evening.
Slaughter closed the night with 18 rushes for 138 yards. Russell carried it 19 times for 77 yards and Teunessen had 14 carries for 63 yards.
Torres led the Cardinal offense with 14 rushes for 1 yards. Fredlund had 11 carries for 45 yards and was 3-of-3 passing for 17 yards. Marsden completed 1-of-4 passes for 23 yards, sharing the backfield with Fredlund.
Hastings is done with I-8 play this fall, set to travel to Charlotte for its regular season finale next Friday. Coldwater goes from foe to friend. The Cardinals close the season against Parma Western last weekend. The Panthers are currently 3-1 in the conference - the lone team to best the Saxons this season. If the Panthers win, the Saxons and Panthers share the conference title. If the Cardinals win, the championship belongs to the Saxons outright.
Delton Kellogg 28, NorthPointe Christian 6
NorthPointe Christian's five offensive drives of the first half ended in a fumble, a fumble, a turnover on downs, an interception and another interception.
Delton Kellogg's varsity football team turned those turnovers into a 21-0 halftime lead and went on to a 28-6 win over the visiting Mustangs in a non-conference ballgame at Delton Kellogg High School Friday night.
Bradley Bunch scored the last of those three first-half touchdowns for the Panthers on an 8-yard run with 2:39 to play in the first half, moments before being crowned the 2020 Delton Kellogg homecoming king alongside 2020 queen Lizzy Fichtner.
While the defense made some big plays, the Delton Kellogg offense was about as strong as it has been all season. Having the previous Friday night's ballgame with Saugatuck cancelled gave the Panthers some extra time to focus on fundamentals and make some adjustments to the offensive front.
“We knew that we needed to sure up our offensive line a little bit better, so we made some adjustments, so we moved Cole back from tight end to tackle. That kid is going to play tackle at the next level. He is a phenomenal lineman, so we needed him back a little bit closer to the ball, a little closer to the action. And we had to move one of our running backs [Hunter Belew] from the back field to pulling guard. He has been our best pulling guard for the last three years, without a doubt, so it wasn't a hard decision to make, but yet it was because he was also a good running back.
“He started the first three games at running back and did a great job, but we just needed to get the line reestablished and he is the best pulling guard we have had in a long time.”
Belew has been an all-conference guard in each of the past two seasons.
“He had a couple really nice hits on the end. He just had some really good kick traps and he played the short trap really well. What he brings to the offensive line is just flat leadership. He can make line adjustments and line calls that some of our younger kids can't.”
The Panthers opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run by Ricky Ramsey, which came on the first offensive snap for DK after a 27-yard fumble return by Vincent Quick put the Panthers in possession at the NorthPointe 12 less than three minutes into the game.
The second NorthPointe fumble led eventually to a 2-yard touchdown run by Panther quarterback Payton Smoczynski.
The Delton Kellogg defense stopped a third Mustang drive near midfield, and then the offense marched to the end zone for Bunch's short TD run.
DK kicker Gavin Houtkooper was a perfect 4-of-4 on extra-point kicks for the night.
Interceptions by Ramsey and Smoczynski ended the last two Mustang drives of the first half.
“Our perimeter played well, but it was the pressure from our front that made the kid have to throw off his back foot. He had to rush throws. We knew their quarterback was their dude, and we had to force him to pitch as fast as we could on the option and we knew we had to get in his face when he was throwing the ball. That particular game-plan worked.”
The Delton Kellogg offense opened the second half with a five minute drive that culminated in an 11-yard Ramsey TD run.
NorthPointe Christian got its six points on a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Hayden Koeler on the first play of the fourth quarter. The Mustangs switched to a more wishbone style offense as the game wore on and it took the Panthers a bit to adjust, but adjust they did.
While missing the ballgame with Saugatuck the previous Friday was disappointing, the Panthers got to work out a few defensive issues with the little bit of extra time.
Delton Kellogg is now 3-2 overall this season. The Panthers face a 4-1 Schoolcraft team in Delton Oct. 23. The Eagles knocked off Lawton Friday night 45-14.
Lakewood 26, Leslie 21
The Lakewood varsity football team secured the runner-up spot in the Greater Lansing Activities Conference this fall by scoring a 26-21 victory over Leslie on Unity Field Friday night.
Leslie scored its opening touchdown after falling on a ball in the end zone that the Vikings fumbled near the 25-yard-line and was booted backwards again and again. The Blackhawks eventually pushed their lead to 15-0.
Lakewood head coach Matt Markwart said his guys played a really good game once they stopped shooting themselves in the foot.
Running back Denny Sauers finished the night with 12 carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns. His first touchdown run, a 62-yarder, was one of the best runs his coach could remember seeing and gave the Vikings their first lead of the ballgame at 19-15 with 4:28 to go in the third quarter.
“The kid broke six or seven tackles and basically willed himself to break through everybody to get down the field,” Markwart said of Sauers' go-ahead TD run. “He took control and really went down and did a great job on that run.”
Lakewood got a 12-yard touchdown run from quarterback Jayce Hansen before the end of the first half to pull his team with 15-6. Leslie opened the scoring with the defensive touchdown by Hunter Doyle that was followed by a two-point conversion and a nine-yard TD run by Carter Coltrain which included a Max Fourman extra-point kick.
Eli Minard hit two extra-points for the Vikings. The first came after a 23-yard touchdown run by Sawyer Stoepker a minute and a half into the second half. That TD was set-up by Hansen's lone completion of the night, a 29-yarder to Xavier Jackson.
Minard also drilled an extra-point following Sauers' 23-yard TD run a minute and a half into the fourth quarter that put the Vikings up 26-15.
Leslie tacked on a 2-yard touchdown run by David Whitehead with 9:07 to play to get within 26-21.
Garrett Stank finished the ballgame with 15 rushes for 109 yards for the Vikings and Stoepker had six carries for 41 yards.
Stank and Charles Everitt had six tackles each to lead the Lakewood defense, and the Vikings got interceptions from Stoepker and Nathaniel Graham.
Hansen was intercepted once deep in Leslie territory late in the first quarter. Stoepker and Graham both had their interceptions in the second half for the Viking defense, thwarting drives that were closing in on the Lakewood end zone.
Lakewood also stole a possession after Sauers' long TD run when Brent Sweet recovered an on-side kick.
Coltrain was 10-of-23 passing for 122 yards for the Blackhawks. Whitehead led the Blackhawks on the ground with 14 rushes for 66 yards. Nolan Frohriep was Leslie's top receiver with six catches for 65 yards.
Lakewood will have a bit of a short week prepping for rival Ionia to close out the regular season. The two teams will meet Thursday in Ionia this week.
South Christian 28, Thornapple Kellogg 7
It has happened before, the Trojans will try and work to keep it from happening again.
The Thornapple Kellogg varsity football team's offense put the ball on the ground a few too many times and it cost the Trojans in a 28-7 OK Gold Conference loss to visiting South Christian in the final regular season game inside Bob White Stadium in Middleville this fall. The Sailors improve to 5-0 with the win.
The Trojans lost fumbles on each of their first two possessions, and three total for the night, and the Sailors turned those first two turnovers into points. South Christian quarterback tossed touchdown passes to teammates Eli Smith and Elliot Grashuis in the game's first ten minutes to help his team build a 14-0 lead. He connected with Smith for a five-yard score 5:12 into the opening quarter and then tossed an eight-yard TD pass to Grashuis with 2:09 to go in the first quarter.
The Trojans got an impressive 33-yard touchdown reception from Mitchell Middleton on the final play of the first quarter, but couldn't get much else going offensively the rest of the evening. Middleton caught a short pass in the right flat, leveled one defender at the 30-yard-line and ran through the tackle of another, dodged another defender at the ten-yard-line and then made his way into the end zone before kicking the extra-point himself.
Rynbrandt added a third TD pass five minutes into the second half, a 19-yarder to Grashuis that put their team up 21-7 with the third of four Sam Meengs extra-point kicks.
The Sailors added a one-yard TD run by Daniel Possett with 7:12 remaining in the game.
Rynbrandt finished the night 20-of-28 passing for 209 yards. Grashuis had seven receptions for 83 yards.
Middleton led the TK attack with 14 rushes for 79 yards. Quarterback Reese Garbrecht was 3-of-4 passing for 50 yards for TK. The Trojan defense did hold the Sailors to less than three yards per rush. Jake DeJong had a team-high 9.5 tackles for TK. Ryan Holmes had 6.5 tackles and Alex Bonnema added five tackles and an interception.
The Trojans are now 2-3 overall on the season and will face 3-2 Forest Hills Eastern in Ada Friday.
Grandville 42, Caledonia 7
Grandville amassed over 500 yards of offense as it scored a 42-7 win over the visiting Caledonia varsity football team Friday night.
The Bulldogs built a 35-0 lead in the opening half, and scored the ballgames' first 42 points to improve to 5-0 on the season.
Carson VanderHoff scored on a 12-yard run for Caledonia with 6:3 to go in the game and Paul Voegler added the extra-point kick.
Six different players scored the six Grandville touchdowns, with quarterback Ian Sanders tossing two touchdown passes, a 37 -yarder to Drew Betteridge and an 83-yarder to Tommy Gregwer.
Zac Vanderwest (1 yard), Marcel Love (58 yards), Cam Terry (99 yards) and Carson Smith (53 yards) added TD runs for the Bulldogs.
Love finished the game with 13 rushes for 158 yards. Terry also managed 18 yards on five carries. The two long TD passes were the only completions on seven attempts for Sanders.
VanderHoff finished the night for the Scots with 19 rushes for 180 yards.
Caledonia had three different guys throw passes. Scot quarterback Mason McKenzie was intercepted twice. Overall the Scots were 5-of-15 passing for 31 yards. Caledonia had 233 yards on the ground.
The Fighting Scots are now 1-4 overall this season. They face a 2-3 East Kentwood team next Friday (Oct. 23) in Caledonia. The Falcons were bested 24- against visiting Reeths-Puffer Friday night.