Grant hosted a tough North Muskegon team Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers got wins in the singles from their #1, Karlton Zerlaut, #2 Carter Chase, and #3 Dominick Brock. The visiting Norsemen took the 4th singles and 1 & 3 doubles flights to even the dual at 3 points a piece. That left the #2 and #4 doubles teams to decide the outcome of the Coastal Conference match. Grant's 4 sophomore players each lost the first sets, but battled back to win the 2nd sets and even the matches at 2 sets each. Kyle Bay and Ryan Hether won the 4 doubles match going 6-3 in the third set. Then Payton Swinehart and Diego Krepps at 2nd doubles won their match 6-3 in the third as well, which gave the home team a 5-3 dual victory.
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Lions ,Tigers, Vikings search for big 3rd win while Devils go for #4. Pack, Panthers look for two in a row.
By Ken DeLaat Newaygo at Fremont Nice win Packers. Snapping a 30 game losing streak is no easy feat when you start your season 0-3. Football is a game that requires a great deal of emotional investment and try as you may it can be an arduous task to generate that level of passion for the game when you keep getting beat week after week and struggle with believing whether or not you can win. This might sound strange to say but It is an enormously difficult thing to win a football game. I know, I know every game has one winner but unless there’s a total unequivocal imbalance of personnel power, winning is hard. If you have some significant talent you can get out-coached or have a few bad breaks or injuries or calls go against you and when you don’t have a lot of talent you are hoping for your team to play at a near perfect level so you have a shot at winning. And when a lengthy streak takes hold it’s not the easiest thing in the world to draw kids who want to play. Well, now the streak is halted at 30 and I’d like to offer this to current Packer players who might have endured some disparaging talk about your team. If guys around your Dad’s age remind you of how good the team was back in the day? Remind them of the mid to late 80’s teams. Their streak extended to 34. And if they are around the age of your grandpa?. Mid 70’s FHS went 28 games without a win though there was a tie tossed in there along the way. Be proud. You broke the streak and that is certainly worth a little praise. But back to the game this week. Newaygo needs this one to keep their playoff hopes alive. A loss would force them to run the table and it is a very steep table. They are heading into a rugged second half schedule and though there are some big games looming they won’t look past the Packers. After all it’s Fremont/Newaygo, two schools that truly enjoy claiming bragging rights over each other regardless of which sport is being played. The Lion offense while at times inconsistent looks really good when they’re clicking and the Packer defense will likely offer Mr. Swinehart and Co. ample opportunities to show what they can do. Tri County at Grant The Tigers have perhaps one of the most musical press boxes to be found anywhere around these parts with oldies being crooned a capella by long time announcer and consummate pressbox host Dwayne Bonter. During my visits to Tiger Country Dwayne and I generally manage to pull a few classic one hit wonders out of the basements of our collective memory bank for a duet or two but his renditions of the 1969 Mel & Tim hit “Backfield in Motion” during procedure calls are pure artistry what with the accompanying dance moves. And as for the game..... The Tigers have some really gritty players who ran out of clock last week. Given enough time they would have likely won this game because they are capable of taking big punches and bouncing back with a vengeance. The team is fun to watch and capable of big plays. The Vikings have done well this season outplaying the expectations of everyone but themselves. Last week they were beaten badly but it was Reed City and they have rolled over everyone thus far. TC has to shake that one off and be ready to face a tough Tiger team and if the hosts go in front early the Vikes could be in for a long night. Lakeview at Hesperia The Panther offense got stretched out a bit last week as they put up twice the number of points they tallied in the first three games of the season. This week they face a Wildcat team that might have an identical record (1-3) but it is also a team that nearly took down Morley and beat a good Tri County squad. Their other 2 losses? 4th ranked Lake City (D6) and Silver powerhouse Kent City. The Panthers will have to be effective on offense since the Lakeview defense can be tough to penetrate. Line play will be huge. Hesperia is playing at home and the crowd (especially those along the fence) should be a little less restless after the win. White Cloud at Holton The Cloud is struggling with numbers and injuries and teams that just have more weapons than they hold. The Red Devils wanted that game last week to get number 4. They will be looking to get it done Friday. Should they be successful Holton would need 2 wins in their final four to secure their first postseason game since 2007. Other CSAA Games Kent City at Morley For the Mohawks it has been their dynamic defense that has held sway in their first 3 games. Now they host a team that is known to pile up the points behind a lethal running attack. Irresistible force meets immovable object time? Something will have to give here and the Eagles seem to be a bit deeper on both ends while MS can struggle a bit on offense. Nonetheless a Mohawk win should surprise few. Reed City at Chippewa Hills' The Coyotes have beaten the Warriors 9 times in 7 years. Two of those were playoff games. They have a team that is not just winning they are grinding down defenses with a relentless attack and smothering the running game of opponents. Chip Hills and their dual quarterbacks can mix things up and play well on offense and are pretty fair on defense but they make mistakes and they certainly can get flags tossed in their direction at untimely moments. The ‘Yotes will likely make this #10 Central Montcalm at Big Rapids The Cardinals need to win 4 of the next 5 to get into post season action and this should get them down to 3. The Bees don’t score enough to keep up with a BR team that can pile up yards when given the kind of opportunities they’re likely to see Friday. The Lady Indians did it again bringing home a first place trophy from the Oakridge Invitational by defeating the Eagles (Oakridge variety) in the semi finals and fhe Eagles (Kent City variety) in the finals. Leading scorers were Alexis Strait with 51 points and aces, followed by Olivia Bowman with 39 points and 17 aces. Bwman also led the team in kills with 35 followed byStrait with 21. Strait also helped run that offense with 72 assists and led the defense with 52 digs with Bowman adding 41. Jemi Perrin and Isabel Karnes also had a great day with 29 digs apiece. Hailey Clifford excelled on the nets finishing with 11 blocks. “ I am so happy with how well we play together,” said Coach Desirae Strait. “They put everything they have into every point and it really shows on the court.” The Cloud will host Lakeview on Wednesday. Pack, Panthers, Lions Win While Tigers Fall Short and Vikes Get Blitzed By Ken DeLaat There were a few more post game smiles in Fremont and Hesperia after the Packers and Panthers each picked up their first win of the season. For the Packers the victory ended a grueling losing streak that extended back to the final game of the 2014 season and marked their first win as a member of the CSAA Gold conference. The Panthers ensured there would not be a repeat of last season with the win on the road in White Cloud where the Indians are struggling on both ends of the ball. Grant nearly pulled off a win against the enigmatic Warrior team and Reed City continued to pound opponents into submission in their quest for an 8th straight conference crown defeating the Vikings at TC.Newaygo clipped the Cardinals to keep hopes alive for a playoff berth while the stage was set for a clash between Silver leaders when the Mohawks cooled off the Devils and the Eagles flew past the Wildcats. Chippewa Hils 27 Grant 25 The Warriors struck first when Dylan Sharp found his the big target tight end Mitchell Kuzma downfield for a 23 yard TD off the heels of an interception and following the conversion CH took a 7-0 lead. In the second quarter after a few exchanges of possession the Tigers took advantage of a fumble with the ball jumping into the hands of Trevor Lowry who ran it to the 30 with another 15 tacked on for a Chip Hills penalty, one of several personal foul infractions the visitors drew on the night.Chase Lowry then hit Billy Ostyn who took it in for for 6 and after the PAT by Jessie Mattice it was 7 all. The Warriors struck back quickly with a big play to drive deep into Tiger territory before the other member of their quarterback tandem Ty Jose took it in from a yard out to make it 14-7 after the conversion. The Warriors looked to take command of the game as they took advantage of another interception to push the ball deep into Tiger territory but a pass that looked to be heading for paydirt was picked off when Chase Lowery stepped in front of the Warrior receiver for an interception and a touchback. Lowery then put his arm to work hitting Jarod Howell on a key third and long play, finding Ostyn again for 10 yards then going back to Howell who took the ball to the one. From there Chase Lowery followed his line in for the score but the extra point attempt failed and the Warriors held the lead at 14-13. The Warriors again struck back in a hurry with a bomb from Sharp to Koronte Lowery to go up 21-13 at intermission. After the break the teams exchanged possessions including an interception by Howell. The next Tiger scoring drive featured a trio of passes from Lowry to Howell the last being a 20 yard TD strike. The Tigers went for 2 but were stopped leaving the score at 21-19. The Warriors went deep in the red zone again but a pair of huge tackles by Brett Long and Isaiah Powell stopped them. The Tigers were still 90 yards away with 2:48 on the clock but an interception by CH was followed by a quick touchdown but the extra point to put the proved unsuccessful and the Tigers had one more shot trailing 27-19. It took just 15 seconds for Grant to respond. The kickoff and a penalty put the Tigers at midfield and another catch by Howell and yet another key penalty on the Warriors moved them inside the red zone where Lowry found Ostyn again this time for an 18 yard score and a shot at a tie. Unfortunately the pass play for 2 did not succeed and the game ground to an end with the Tigers coming up just short. Despite four first half turnovers the Tiger defense kept the Warriors within reach and down just one score at the half. Powell led the inspired defensive effort with a game high dozen tackles. Chase Lowry added 8 tackles to his 3 touchdown passes on the other end of the ball and added a reception of his own, the touchdown saving interception.Howell finished with 10 receptions from Lowry and 1 from the opposing qb to go with his 6 tackles. Grant, now 2-2 and 1-2 in the Gold will host Tri County on Friday. Fremont 26 Central Montcalm 12 When the Bees scored on a big play early in the game it looked like it might be another long night for the Packers. But they were at home and hungry to break a lengthy losing streak. They responded with a drive ending with an 11 yard run for 6 by Christian Kennedy and when Wyatt Kaastra hi the extra point through the uprights it gave Fremont a lead they would not relinquish. Kane Widing ran one in from 5 out just before the end of the first quarter and Kaastra converted again to make it 14-6. Central Montcalm struck back early in the second with a Teague Stander run from 6 yards out but the attempt for 2 fell short to make it 14-12 Fremont at intermission. The Pack would find the end zone twice more in the second half both by Zane Stroven who was on the receiving end of a Cody Andree pass for one score in the 3rd then followed it up in the 4th with a 15 yard run to cap the scoring on the night. More importantly the Packer defense that has struggled thus far this season rose to the occasion shutting out the Hornets in the second half. Fremont now 1-3 and 1-2 in conference play will host Newaygo on Friday. Newaygo 21 Big Rapids 14 In a game that both teams needed to stay alive in the conference race the Lions prevailed evening their season record to 2-2 and joining a cluster of teams sitting a game behind league leading Reed City at 2-1. The Lions will visit Fremont Friday to take on the Packers Hesperia 54 White Cloud 0 The Panthers took a season and a half of frustration out on the Cloud when they exploded for 4 second quarter touchdowns and followed up after intermission by posting another 24 points. Owen Kowalski and Cameron Follett each scored on the ground while Jacob Klemundt caught a pair of scoring passes from Logan Balkema. Kaiden Robbins put some points up for the defense when he ran a recovered fumble into the end zone. Balkema and Johnny Segura led the Panther tacklers. For The Cloud, Adrian Rodriguez was 5 for 7 passing for 55 total yards with Steven Holt catching 2 for 35 yards. Garret Ebert and Tucker Kooman led the defense with 9 tackles each. Delton Dowling added 8 stops and freshman Levi Graham had 7 tackles. The Panthers now 1-3 and 1-1 in Silver play picked up their first win on the field since midway through the 2016 season when they shut out Lakeview the team they will host next Friday. White Cloud 0-4, and 0-2 in conference play will travel to Holton to face the Red Devils. Reed City 57 Tri County 6 The battle for first place turned into a rout Friday as the point-a-minute Coyotes ran all over the Viking defense piling up the yards and the points early on in the matchup of Gold leaders. The Vikes had no answer for Philip Jones-Price who amassed 247 yards on 12 carries and scored a third of the time he touched the ball finishing with 4 touchdowns. Undefeated Reed City continues to mow through their schedule and will go on the road again Friday, this time to face Chippewa Hills. Tri County now 2-1 on the season and 2-1 in the Gold will head over to Grant to take on the Tigers Morley Stanwood 21 Holton 8 The Mohawk defense proved to be too much for the Red Devils as the visitors held Holton down while scoring three times in the first half.Aaron Herron scored the lone Devil touchdown but by then the Mohawks were in control and picked up their third win of the season. The Mohawk victory sets up a clash between the two top teams in the Silver Friday when Kent City comes calling in Morley Kent City 43 Lakeview 6 The Eagles ran their regular season winning streak to 17 games with a thumping of the Wildcats. Gio Weeks raced for 192 yards and a pair of touchdowns adding a 66 yard punt return for another 6 points. The Eagles now 4-0 and 2-0 in the Silver will fly north to face Morley Stanwood Friday. Hesperia 3 Kent City 1 Hesperia took the first two sets (26-24, 25-16) before dropping the third despite a furious Rachel Romero led rally. The Panthers regrouped to post a 25-20 win in the fourth to deliver another conference win and keep them atop the Silver standings with a 4-0 mark. Allison Homfeld led the team in aces firing 4 past the Eagle squad while Emily Bayle added 3 more. Bayle also paced the Panther attack in kills posting 16, Alyssa Miller knocked down 11 and Isabelle Rumsey and Romero each finished with 8. Kyra Sayer tallied a team high 27 assists and Aria Thomas finished with 13. On the defensive end Bayle collected 16 digs, Miller added 11 and Bayle and Romero each had a solo block. The Panthers are 17-4 overall and will be hosting the Mohawks of Morley Stanwood next Wednesday with hopes of keeping the conference win streak alive. Grant 3 Reed City 0 The Tigers swept past Reed City with three convincing set wins (25-14, 25-13, 25-13) to pick up their second straight conference win and improve their overall record to 20-7-1. Olivia Keelean and Kylie Patton led the team with 8 kills apiece while Catherine Geers and Kendall Wilkerson each added 6 and Megan Wegener and Ashley Longcore finishing with 4. Nicole Whan's 36 assists were coupled with her team-leading 10 digs. Keelean posted 7digs and Jill Arends added 5. Keelean led the team with 5 service aces while Kirstyn Throop added 4. The Tigers continue conference play next Tuesday with a visit to Remus to take on Chippewa Hills. By Ken DeLaat
Last week all the local teams were on the road save Hesperia who hosted their down-the-road rivals from Holton. This week they’re all at home except for the Panthers who travel east a bit to face the Cloud. There are some tough matchups this week and a couple that might help sort out who the frontrunners are in the Gold and Silver. So get to a game. These student athletes put it all out there on the field and deserve a little support from their home towns. Big Rapids at Newaygo A most intriguing game with two teams that are looking to climb into the conference conversation. Each offense put 60+ points on the board last week as the Cards ran rampant over the Packers last week after a loss to the Vikings and the Lions took out the frustration felt from the debacle against Chip Hills on the Hornets. The winner will keep title hopes alive and if Newaygo falls short the road to any playoff possibility gets significantly rougher. The Lion defense needs to show up and show up big. The offense should be able to find their way into the endzone though not without a battle. Chippewa Hills at Grant Are the Vikings that good or did the Warriors simply lay an egg at home last week? Their meet-up with Newaygo did not reveal much of a running game and the air attack while effective had more to do with a secondary seemingly caught off guard that night.TC slammed the door on both in their victory last week. Grant had it handed to them against the ‘Yotes who feast on opportunities and were given far too many last week,. Who regroups here? The Tigers play well at home and who knows which Warrior team will show up? Take away a last second miracle win in Newaygo and they are 0-3. If Grant can grab an early lead and keep CH playing catch-up they should be able to force a few mistakes. The Warriors can do some damage by floating a few of those big gain passes so shutting them down early will be important. The Tigers don’t possess the depth of last years team and they have never beaten the Warriors in 8 tries. Here’s hoping that doesn’t become 9. Central Montcalm at Fremont Two teams searching for a win. In 4 years of high school Fremont seniors have yet to experience their team posting a varsity victory and fans are hungry for a win. The Bees have only one ‘W’in the last 10 games and it was courtesy of the Packers. While CM has been able to stay in games (at least prior to last week’s shellacking by the Lions) Fremont has dug themselves early holes with an inability to contain the offense (and special teams) from the other side. Fremont has the tools and talent to score points but the offense is going to need the defense to give them a little breathing room to be effective against the Hornets. This might be the best opportunity for the hosts to break the streak but if the visitors score a couple of early TD’s it could be another long night in Packerville. Reed City at Tri County Are the Vikings for real? They haven’t made the playoffs since 2004 and after a one win season TC wasn’t expected to make a lot of noise in the Gold but, sheesh, they took out a good Cardinal team and a puzzling Warrior team in successive weeks after dropping the opener to Lakeview and the Wildcats nearly clipped the Mohawks of Morley last week. This week though they face a Coyote team that has thus far had their way on the field outscoring the opposition by over 100 points after three games. The Vikes are at home which will help some but they will likely need to play error free, opportunistic football through four quarters if they are to sit atop the Gold standing alone after Friday. Morley Stanwood at Holton When Holton won last week it was the first time since 1999 the team has begun the season 3-0. That year they actually peeled off 6 wins in a row, the 6th being against the Mohawks and propelling the Devils to the conference (WWAC Central) crown and a playoff berth. The last time they beat MS the Holton seniors were in middle school. Ok , so much for history. This year the Mohawks are relying heavily on a rugged defense that has held opponents in check while their offense has scored enough to win 2 of 3. I like the Red Devils chances here. They have some playmakers and are ready exorcise a few old demons, break the losing streak to the ‘Hawks and nudge themselves closer to punching a playoff ticket for the first time in over a decade. Hesperia at White Cloud Something’s gotta give here. Both teams are looking to get off the schneid and grab that elusive first win. Neither teams are rife with numbers and we’re entering the mid season when another injury or two could take a major toll on teams that are thin to begin with. The game is in the Cloud which will help the Indians but they have only scored 16 points in 3 games. The Panthers have put up just 26 in their trio of matchups but the defense of the Cloud is not the caliber of the Hesperia ‘D’. This one will likely be decided by who can finish with the least turnovers something that has plagued both squads. Other CSAA games Kent City at Lakeview Lakeview is 1-2 but those losses were against a powerhouse Lake City squad and a 2 point loss to Morley on the road. They also have a win against what has been proven to be a very good Tri County team. But they’re playing Kent City a really really good team and a lot would have to go their way at home to have a shot at breaking the Eagles 16 game regular season winning streak. That last loss in September of 2016? Lakeview. At Lakeview. Fremont has tallied a 15-0 advantage in the last two games following a second straight blanking of a conference rival. This time the victim was Tri County as the Packers once again got on the board early and often. Cole Miller opened the scoring off an assist from Preston Osterhart then Miller returned the favor setting up Osterhart to make it 2-0. Wyatt VanBoven kept the onslaught going sending a shot into the nets followed by an Ivan Coppola goal then Cole Miller struck paydirt again with Jaxx Miller assisting to finish the first half scoring. The Packers got two more in the second stanza with Cole Roesler taking a Carter Moon pass and burying it before Cole Miller capped off his hat trick with Fremont’s final goal of the match. Joe Kortge pitched the shutout in goal. The Packers remain undefeated in league play with a 5-0 mark. They will travel to Newaygo for a showdown game with a Lion team that has also been piling up the early season wins. On Saturday, the Lady Indians earned the title of Back to Back Champs for the Zion Christian Invitational. They defeated Maple Valley in the semi-finals and Martin in the finals. Leading servers were Alexis Strait with 43 points and 18 aces followed by Cassie Watson with 39 points and 11 aces. The offense was led by Olivia Bowman with 23 kills awhile Hailey Clifford and Strait finished with 15 apiece. Clifford and Watson also led the team with 5 blocks each. Strait helped run the offense with 73 assists. Defense was led by Bowman with 45 digs.
The Cloud will host Morley Stanwood on Wednesday night. The Packers blitzed the nets firing in 8 goals past the Coyote defense enroute to a shutout win. Cole Miller scored the first two goals of the evening with Preston Osterhart providing the assist on both. Osterhart then set up a goal by Wyatt VanBoven before Cole Miller notched the hat trick with his third tally of the half , this one on a Conner Roesler assist. With a 4-0 score in hand and time left in the first half the Pack picked up a pair of unassisted goals off the feet of Ivan Coppola and Carter Moon before Roesler took a Jaxx Miller pass and buried it to make the score 7-0 at intermission. MHSAA rules dictate that any match that reaches an 8 goal differential after the first half constitutes a win.. Five minutes into the second half Lucas Johnson ended the match with a goal to give Fremont their 4th straight conference win without a loss. Joe Kortge recorded the shutout in goal for Fremont The Packers will travel to Tri County HS on Wednesday to face the Vikings. Panthers take first at Montabella
The Panthers started the day by winning 6 sets in pool play putting them on top of their group for the morning round. Moving to brackets, the Panthers faced off against the #2 seed Meridian, beating them 25-12, 25-23. while Central Montcalm #1 in the opposite pool got past Shepherd to set the stage for the showdown in the finals. The opening game was a seesaw battle extending into overtime play with the Panthers outlasting the Hornets and pulling off a 28-26 win. The second set proved to be another close encounter with Hesperia emerging from the fray with a 25-22 advantage giving them the win and the tournament trophy to take home. “The girls played well both offensively and defensively today,” said Coach Monica Grimard. ”They held strong when the games were close and played well, beating a very tough Central Montcalm team in the finals.” The Panthers were led offensively by Emily Bayle with 31 kills and Alyssa Miller with 23 kills. Isabelle Rumsey and Rachel Romero also added to the Panther attack with 15 and 13 kills respectively on the day. Setters Kyra Sayer had 45 assists and Aria Thomas had 36 assists. Allison Homfeld had the most aces with 5, while Miller, Rumsey, and Cara Frees each added 4 aces. Defensively, Miller led with 37 digs and Emily Bayle with 36 digs. Bayle added 3 blocks, along with Rumsey with 2. The 5-0 record today brings the Panther season total to 16-4. Hesperia will face off against the Kent City Eagles, at home, on Wednesday, September 12th. |
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