Ludington 41 Fremont 22

COVID hit the local high school sports scene Friday as the Packers faced a change of plans with a quickly arranged trip to Ludington on the docket instead of the scheduled cross county jaunt to face the Tigers. Grant was shut down earlier in the week due to COVID concerns and thus all extracurricular activities bit the dust as well. Ludington’s scheduled contest with Michigan Center was cancelled for the same reason so the teams managed to resurrect what was to be the season opener
The trip into Oriole country proved to be a tough one for the visitors as Ludington's 2 quarterback system was hitting on all cylinders and the Oriole defense kept the Packers offense from gaining much traction in the first half.
The result was a 5 touchdown assault that dug the Pack into a deep 34-0 hole at the half.
The second half saw the Fremont offense come alive beginning with the Payton Mansfield to Gabe VanVleet td pass just two plays into the half. Later, thanks to some rugged play by the defense Mansfield would connect with Van Vleet again and add a running TD to the night. A misplayed punt attempt resulted in a safety for the Packer defense.
Fremont (0-2) will play their second home game of the season next week when they face the 1-1 Vikings of Tri County.

Holton 7 Lakeview 6

In a defensive battle the Red Devils and Wildcats put on a trench war with neither defense yielding ground. Finally Austin Fowler found Austin Hawkins with a pass that he took in for paydirt with 8 minutes to go in the game. 
The Aidan Poling conversion kick proved to be the game winner as Lakeview found the end zone with 2 minutes to play opting to go for 2 and the win. The pass attempt failed and the Devs moved to 2-0 on the year.
:"We came away with a hard fought win,” said Coach Mike Jados. “ We struggled to gain momentum in the first 3 quarters on offense but our defense played great keeping Lakeview in check.”
. Austin Fowler finished with 156 yards passing  and 24 yards rushing. Hawkins led the way again with 119 yards receiving. 
Dylan Cartwright collected  9 tackles, Chris Hall notched 7, andCameron Edgerton and Eric German each posted 6. 
“We have to get better quick as we have Kent City next week,” added Coach Jados.

Kent City 10 Hesperia 8

In a defensive battle the visiting Eagles held off the host with an interception by Kyler Larson inside the Eagle 20 yard line with under a minute to play in the game.
A scoreless first half was broken when the Eagles tackled Panther punter Mack Baird in the end zone for a safety for a 2-0 KC lead early in the third quarter...KC went up 10-0 early in the 4th quarter but the Panthers wouldn’t quit, as Junior RB Brandon Quinn busted loose for a 47 yard TD, QB Johnny Majersky hit Quinn with the PAT pass and the Panthers trailed 8-10 with just over six minutes to play.
After KC picked up a first down the Panther defense stiffened and stopped the Eagles on 4th and 5 around mid field when a pass fell incomplete.The Panthers took over and began marching down the field. As the clock was winding under a minute to play the Panthers opted to pass and it was picked off inside the twenty and the Eagles ran out the clock.
“What a game”, lamented Coach Doug Bolles. “A great HS football game that either team could have won, a great defensive battle. 
“Really proud of my guys for leaving it all in the field. When we were down 10-0 in the 4th quarter, we never quit, we kept battling and we had a shot at the end”,.
“My hats off to coach Crane and the Eagles, they’re a tough young team. My kids are hurting, but we will get better from this”,.
Brandon Quinn paced the running attack with 108 yards while finishing with a team high 8 tackles
With the loss the Panthers fall to 1-1 while Kent City moves to 2-0.
Hesperia goes on the road next week to face Morley Stanwood (1-1)...

Morley Stanwood 48 White Cloud 8

The MS defense  collected three pick 6’s and the running game rolled up over 200 yards as the Cloud fell to 0-2 on the season.

Tri County 26 Newaygo 7

Reed City 44 Big Rapids 13
Central Montcalm 19 Chip Hills 7

​

Walker, Mater finish first

By Mike Paige

On September 22 Fremont hosted a CSAA Gold Jamboree at the Branstrom Park course. The weather was warm and calm and apparently just what the Fremont runners like as Fremont won all 4  races – Boys and Girls High School and Boys and Girls Middle School.
 
Senior Nathan Walker did it again, shaving 10 seconds off his record breaking time of a week ago and posting a mind-blowing time of 16:11.6 on the difficult course. The boys varsity race featured 57 runners from 8 schools. Walker led the Fremont team to a 1-5 finish in the varsity race for a 15 point total. He was followed by Fremont runners Conor Somers, Josh Zerfas, Ben Paige, and Adam Ward in that order. Fremont’s Gavin Schuler came in 11th, Nathan Johnson 15th and Jackson Fair 16th. The Fremont JV boys dominated their race with Brennan Schuler placing 1st. Chippewa Hills (82 points) and Big Rapids (102 points) rounded out the top three teams.
 
The Girls race was another nail biter with The Packers coming out on top, again by 1 point, with a total of 51 points. Taylor Mater won the race with a time of 21:10.2. Taava Johnson (6), Leah Converse (11), Erin Norton (16) and Emily Curtis placed (19) completed the scoring for the Packers. Elise Pfeiffer and Sierra Horton ran solid in the JV race placing 5th and 7th. Reed City (52) and Chippewa Hills (66) finished in the number 2 & 3 spots.
 
Both the Middle School Boys and Girls won handily. The boys were led by Cole Lowery with a 2 mile time of 13:49.7, good for 3rd place overall. Gabriel Jones (5), Blake Taylor (6), Carter Sherman (7) and Luke Bradley (8) were not far behind as the boys posted an impressive score of 29 points, followed by Reed City with 60 and Central Montcalm with 79. The Fremont girls were led by Linnea Paige with a time of 15:00.2. The other girls scoring points for Fremont were Madilyn Mater (6), Joelle Patten (7), Emmerson Dunbar (9) and Rachel Maddox (11). Fremont girls finished with 36 points. Central Montcalm finished with 55 and Reed City with 66 to round out the top three teams.
 
The Fremont Middle School teams run at Grant on September 29. The high schoolers run at Otsego on October 3.

The Packers traveled to Newaygo on Tuesday afternoon for a showdown of unbeaten teams.  Both teams struggled to finish but Fremont's David Wachter struck first on an assist from Grant Vissia.  This goal stood at the half making it 1-0.  
The second half saw much of the same.  Conner Roesler finished a shot with less than 10 minutes to play making the score 2-0 in favor of the Packers and the two goal lead held up for the remainder of the match
 Fremont outshot Newaygo 15-2.  Joe Kortge made 2 saves in net for Fremont and Matthew Richardson made 13 saves for the Lions.  Fremont improved to 5-0-1 overall and 5-0 in the conference and Newaygo fell to 4-1 overall and 4-1 in the conference.

​

The Vikings of Tri-County traveled to Fremont to face the Packers Thursday afternoon in a match up of unbeatens.  It was a tight game that reached halftime  knotted at 0-0. The Packers got the scoring started with 24 minutes to play on a goal from Marcus Klimek.  Fremont's Carson Herman added another goal from Lane Converse 13 minutes later.  Converse tacked on his own goal with 8 minutes left to put Fremont up 3-0.  The Vikings answered just 2 minutes later on a goal from Matt Stevens and match ended at 3-1. 
Fremont outshot Tri-County 16-3.  Joe Kortge got the win for the Packers with 2 saves and Liam Prins made 13 saves for the Vikings.  The Packers improved to 4-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference.  Tri-County fell to 1-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

The Shelby Tigers visited the Packers on Friday afternoon in a non conference match.  Shelby scored first off a corner kick that wasn't cleared by Fremont.  Joseph Hayes finished the ball just 11 minutes into the match.  One minute later David Wachter knotted the game at 1-1.  That score ended up being the final and neither team could finish their attempts.  Fremont outshot Shelby 7-3 overall.  Joe Kortge made 2 saves in net for Fremont and Bishop Lee made 6 saves in net for the Tigers.  Fremont moved to 4-0-1 overall and Shelby moved to 2-0-1 overall.

​

Grant 7 Tri County 6

The Grant Tigers faced off tonight against the Tri County Vikings as they battled for the “Hammer”, the traveling trophy between bordering districts.
Both teams played fantastic defense, forcing opposing offenses to fight for every inch. Grant scored the first points of the contest with 6:33 left in the second quarter as Brendan Keelean plowed it in behind a huge line surge from the left side of the offensive line for a 1-yard touchdown. The Tiger extra point, by Gonzalo Magana, split the uprights, giving the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
Tri County answered with a touchdown on their next possession on a three-yard run capping off an 85-yard drive. The extra point attempt ricocheted of the right upright keeping the Tigers in front by a point 
Senior Orion Evans led the Tigers with 82 yards rushing on 19 carries. Brendan Keelean connected on 5 of his 13 pass attempts for 57 yards. Brett Long was the leading receiver with 3 receptions for 36 yards.
Defensively, the Tigers were led by Senior Isaiah Powell who notched 8 tackles, including 3 for loss and 1 pass breakup. Junior Treyton Railling, had 7 tackles and 2 sacks. Ty Korson recorded 5 tackles and added 2 sacks. Brett Long also contributed to the defensive effort, making 5 tackles- 1 for loss- and 2 pass breakups.
Overall, the Tigers were happy to capture the win in the season opener.
 “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but after the emotional rollercoaster these kids have endured, we’ll take It,” said Tiger Head Coach Darren Geraghty
Next week the Tigers take on the Fremont Packers at home. Fremont fell to Newaygo 42-14 in their opener.
https://www.nearnorthnow.com/sports1/lions-pound-pack-42-14
  
Holton 15 White Cloud 7

The last touchdown scored by a WC team occurred at Red Devil Stadium two years ago. After taking a year off from the game the Cloud revisited Holton and scored on their first drive to take a 7-0 lead.
But that was their final trip to the endzone Friday as the Devs settled in on defense while Austin Fowler fired a pair of scoring strikes to Kevin Ericson and Rice Robins to give the hosts the win in the season opener for both teams.
“We came out fired up and energetic against a tough and much improved White Cloud team,” said Devils coach Mike Jados. “We played well and the offense moved the ball well but we stalled with 5 turnovers, 3 of them in the red zone.”
Fowler completed 16 of 20 passes for 212 yards with 2 td passes and 2 interceptions, while adding 88 yards rushing on 10 carries. Austin Hawkins had 8 catches for 117 and added 7 tackles and an int on defense. Kevin Erickson contributed 6 carries for 44 yards and 4 catches for 36 and a td, while adding a pick on defense. Rice robins added the other td reception. Eric German, Cam Edgerton, Dylan Cartwright, and Jarid Coburn all added 5 tackles each.
“ We are looking forward to getting better this week to limit mistakes,” added Coach Jados.
The Red Devils will be staying at home next week when they host Lakeview. The Wildcats opened with a loss to Hesperia.

Hesperia 34 Lakeview 7

Hesperia led 28-7at the half and came out in the 3rd quarter receiving the second half kickoff. The Panthers  proceeded to take 11:14 off the clock on a grinding 20 play drive that ended in a touchdown. and a 34-0 lead.
 "We came out in the second half and wanted to be physical and take some time off the clock and finish it off with a TD and we did that," said Hesperia Head Coach Doug Bolles.  I was very pleased with our week of practice leading up to this game. We were focused and locked in.  We definitely have things to work on, but I'm really proud of my guys for sticking to the game plan.
“Starting out 1-0 is sweet for sure, but we won't celebrate long, because we have more things we want to accomplish.”
Hesperia ended the night with 460 rushing yards on 50 carries, 0 passing yards on 3 attempts, for 460 yards of total offense!
The Panthers held the Wildcats to 107 total yards all on the ground, while picking off 3 Lakeview passes.
Tailback  Mack Baird finished with 10 carries for 179 yards and a pair of TDs while QB Johnny Majerski ran for113 yards on 15 attempts and a TD.
 Brandon Quinn and Kile Pomeroy also found the endzone for the Panthers.
The defense was led by Mason Taylor with 9 tackles and an interception, Quinn tallied 8 tackles and a pair of sacks while Baird and Armondo Escobedo each grabbed a pick.
It was the first season opening win for Hesperia since 2016, also the last time the Panthers made the playoffs  
The team will be tested next week when they host perennial Silver powerhouse Kent City who shut out Morley Stanwood 14-0


Other CSAA scores
Reed City 46 Chippewa Hills 26
Central Montcalm 12  Big Rapids 7
Kent City 14 Morley Stanwood 0

​