 State Qualifiers! Story and photos by Mike Paige The Fremont girls Cross Country team went into the regional finals ranked 5th. The top three teams advance to the state meet. Cadillac and Spring Lake had a pretty strong grip on the top two spots. That third spot, though, seemed like it could go to Clare, Cedar Springs, Fremont or Fruitport. All four teams had runners in their top five with similar “best” times this year, meaning that beating a runner here or a couple runners there would be the difference. It turned out that the Fremont girls had gotten the memo. The girls literally gave all they had. At the end of the race, they were exhausted, dazed, in tears and extremely sweaty despite the 45-degree temp. Rocquel Richards finished 61st overall with a time of 22:13, 20 seconds faster than her time on the same course a year ago; but, more impressively, 2 and a half minutes faster than her best time so far this year. Now, folks, Benzie is a little short of 5k and is considered a fast course, but not 2 and a half minutes fast! That is just an amazing race from an amazing competitor with everything on the line. Kira Manchip finished 53rd overall with a time of 21:42. Kira has been nursing a foot issue this year but pulled off almost a minute season best time. Ava Krohn, finished fifth on the team and 40th overall with a personal best time of 21:01. She could see the clock coming in and likely knew she would set a personal record by close to a minute, impressive in its own right. But times don’t matter as much as spots in cross country and Krohn had her sights set on not one but two Cedar Springs runners in the final 100 meters. She passed them both, beating one by a second and a half and the other by about three seconds, exhibiting grit and determination and an unwillingness to be beaten. Natalie Christoffersen ran a 20:23 personal record time and finished 24th overall in the team’s fourth spot. She finished just a tenth of a second ahead of a Clare runner, not willing to concede that spot and points in the final tally. Joelle Patten finished 19th (third on the team) with a time of 19:57, a season best for her. She came out of the woods in obvious pain but finished strong, holding off runners from both Fruitport and Cedar Springs at the end, beating one by just 3 seconds and the other by 7 seconds. Myah Breuker finished second on the team with a personal record time of 19:34. She was about 20th place with a mile to go. She dug in and moved up over that mile to 15th overall and made the All-Region team, quite an honor for a freshman. She finished just over a second ahead of a runner from Spring Lake. Linnea Paige finished 8th with a personal record time of 18:53, beating her previous best of 18:58 her freshman year. This was her fourth All-Region finish. She finished just ahead of Fruitport’s top runner. When the points were tallied, Cadillac ended up first with 57 points followed by Spring Lake with 91. Fremont took third with 106 and qualified for the state finals! Fruitport finished fourth with 121, Clare fifth with 136 and Cedar Springs sixth with 169. Emma Scott, Jessie Kendziorski and Sawyer Semlow ran the open race. Emma ran a huge personal best of 28:31, 5:40 better than her previous best. Jessie ran the course in 24:24, her season best by 54 seconds. Sawyer will join the varsity team as state meet alternate by finishing with a time of 23:49, her PR by over a minute. For the first time since 2018, the Packer girls will travel to the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn for the state finals. They run at 1:30 on Saturday, November 1st.  And the Coaches join in
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 Lions senior quarterback Trevor Garbrecht horizontally flies through the air to get the first down  
Season finale draws large crowd In a clash between two of our coverage teams the Fremont Packers arrived in Newaygo ready to do battle with the Lions. Newaygo came into this one having struggled through a winless season. Three times the Lions came within a score of getting off the schneid and in the rivalry matchup with Grant they watched as their hosts scored with one second left sending the game into overtime where the Tigers prevailed. The Packer season hasn’t exactly been a bed of roses either. Outside of squeaking out a win mid season over Mason County Central (a win that likely kept the Spartans out of the post season) they hadn’t come close and once again finished in the WMC Lakes cellar. A lot of pride was on the line Friday and it showed both on the field and in the stands. There was a celebratory feeling in the renovated stadium, being senior night where members of the team, the band and the cheer squad were honored for their contributions. There was also a trunk or treat tailgate that brought out a contingency of costumed kids for the candy opportunity. And, of course, there was the game. The Lions took the opening kickoff and went 3 and out. Fremont went on a drive that brought them to the shadow of the goalposts but the Newaygo defense came up with a huge stop on 4th and short inside the ten to take possession. The Lions used a strong running attack led by Damone Moore to drive downfield where Moore took it in from 8 yards out to put 6 on the board for the hosts. The conversion kick failed and it was 6-0. The teams exchanged punts on their next possessions but Newaygo’s punt was fumbled by Fremont and the Lions took over in Packer territory. Once again leaning on the O-line to do their job, the Lions found success running the ball. Ryan Pickerd capped the drive, busting in from the 2-yard line and after the two-point attempt failed the score stood at 12-0. The Packers struck back, and with Aiden Hunt mixing in a few passes with the running game Fremont drove to the 2 yard line where Karter Frens punched it in for 6 with Noah Hansen adding a pair on a conversion run, pulling the Packers close to their hosts at 12-8. But the Lions weren’t done. In their own territory with time running out in the half, Trevor Garbrecht found an open Nate Watson and Watson did the rest evading a pair of would be tacklers and running to paydirt sending the teams to intermission with an 18-8 Newaygo lead. A note about the Newaygo Band. The halftime show was dynamic and featured some skillful solo work in addition to the collective sound of the sections on the field. The flag work was skillfully executed and the group seemed ready for their upcoming trip to the state finals. Then it was back to the game. The teams played a scoreless third quarter and both teams added a 4th quarter score as Moore took it in from 2 yards out for his second TD and Hunt hit Hansen for a 21 yard scoring strike making the final tally 26-16 and delivering the first win of the season for the Lions. Newaygo also took the lead in the all-time wins in the series, 15-14 A total of 27 seniors from the two teams made their final football appearance for their respective schools. 
 Mystery Ref reacting to some of the more creative name calling from the fence By Ken DeLaat It started out with just a comment or two early on but as the season progressed the rumors abounded about the enigmatic personality known as The Packer Prognosticator Where is he? Is he coming back? Did he go on one of his lengthy hunting trips again? Regular readers of our football preview had become accustomed to his bold yet hauntingly accurate calls when it came to forecasting the fortunes of Fremont football. We didn’t hear from him once the season began and wondered if he might have taken his talents to a rival publication, but seeing no evidence of this we surmised he had simply decided to retire. Lately, with the Lion/Packer Season Finale Clash of M-82 approaching we reached out through the usual channels and asked if he might be willing to toss us a prediction. Today we received this: Where has the Packer Prognosticator been this year? Watching the Detroit Tigers self-destruct? Watching his Spartans stumble? Did he turn into a soccer fan? Hunting in a tree? Watching old VHS Tapes of the Dan Rohn era and reminiscing of the good old days of Fremont Football? Nah, he has taken a different view this year, not from a box but from the field view. Wins have been hard to come by for the Packers this year. Walking the halls the football players have seen volleyball, girls golf, and soccer be the “2025 Newaygo County champions”. The players have had enough of other sports having that title and would like to have their shot at winning the only in-county game on the schedule this year (word on the street is that Grant chose not to play Fremont this year). Prediction: Fremont Wins 28-13 Packer nation gets to celebrate not only a football win but a soccer berth into the state semi-finals on the same night! Go Pack! Fremont at Newaygo Who gets to break a historical 14-14 in games won since the series began some 4+ decades ago? And does anyone know why it took so long for two neighboring towns to meet on the gridiron? The Packer Prognosticator says the Pack will double up the Lions, but this could be a close one with a lot of points on the board. The two teams have yielded 682 points collectively this season which averages out to 40 + points a game for their opponents so a defensive battle like the inaugural '81 game that ended 8-0 Fremont is highly unlikely. Kent City at Grant. The Eagles want to maintain their high playoff seeding as well as finish the regular season undefeated. The Tigers' season success was their win over the rival Lions. Last week they were handled by a Mohawk team that Kent City ran all over a few weeks earlier. It's more than likely the Eagles enter the playoffs without a loss. Hesperia at St. Louis Is 3 the magic number? If Hespo scores three times in this one it would be the 6th time in 9 games to do so. Bolles can pass and Edens can run as well as receive, so I think the visitors will get their yards. The Panthers might have a shot at the Sharks if they can make a few big defensive plays, maybe force a few punts and get on a fumble or two. White Cloud at Saranac. The Red Hawks regrouped after a pair of early losses to perennial powerhouses Fowler and Pewamo-Westphalia. Since then they’ve won 5 in a row and punched a playoff ticket. The Cloud has managed just 20 points all season. Looks to be a long bus ride home.  Recognize anyone?  See someone you know? What do you recall?
Photos of 2019 game by Alexis Mercer Former Packer? Lion Alumnus? Ex-Coach? Play football back in the day? Cheerlead? Sit in the student section? In the band? With the teams going at it Friday, we're looking for stories from Newaygo/Fremont football clashes from the past. If you have any history with this game send your thoughts to us at [email protected] between now and Thursday night and we’ll compile them for an article (I know, a quick turnaround but if you played the game you likely do ok under pressure). It can be one sentence or a lengthy essay. What do you recall about that game or the rivalry on the field when it came to football? Just make sure to give us your year and maybe your number. The rest is up to you. Here are a few memory joggers: Did you play in the ‘81 game? The first game on record between the schools. Fremont won that one 8-0 and I bet it was a doozy. In ‘88 the Lions triumphed in a game that would be the last time the schools met until ‘98 when the both joined the WWAC and the Pack prevailed in that one 35-11. The Packers would win 5 of the next 6 before Newaygo slapped 58 on the board to Fremont's 14 in ‘06. From ‘08-’11 it was all Packers and they didn’t get together again until ‘16. There have been 7 games since then and the Lions have finished with more points each time. Here’s hoping we hear from you and here’s hoping we’ll see you at the game Friday.  The team with their well-earned first place trophy- Photo by Sara Krohn By Mike Paige On a cool wet morning last Saturday, the team from Fremont took to the trails with determination—and left with a win. In their final race before the 10-2 Regional meet, the Packer girls again took first in a field of 12 full teams, scoring 54 points and completing a spectacular season of cross county, in which they won each of their conference meets and finished first in each of the invitationals except Portage. Host team, Chippewa Hills, was second with 78. Per Coach Cliff Somers, “The girls moved up well throughout the race and several had strong finishes to drop a few more points in the last hundred meters.” Eliza Schwass and Annabelle Lowman of Ludington took the top two spots. Senior Linnea Paige led the way for the Packers finishing in third place with a time of 19:45, outsprinting Dory Simon of Chip Hills (19:47) at the finish. Freshman Myah Breuker placed sixth with a time of 20:38; Freshman Natalie Christoffersen was 11th with a time of 21:21 and senior Joelle Patten was 13th with a time of 21:41, passing Bath’s Anna Poppema at the finish. Senior Ava Krohn placed 23rd, junior Kira Manchip placed 27th and senior Rocquel Richards placed 61st. The top 30 finishers received medals. Sawyer Semlow and Jessie Kendziorski both ran in the JV race finishing 4th and 5th. The team will now turn its focus to regional and state meets. Fremont runs on Saturday at Benzie Central in Region 10-2 competition. Top three teams advance to the state finals. Top 15 individual finishers also advance. Girls run at 10:10 and the boys at 11:45.  A retro-photo from the 2021 game- Photo by Alexis Mercer As anyone who follows high school sports knows, it hasn’t been a stellar season for our local football teams. They have not only experienced a sparsity of success when it comes to putting up W’s, but many times the results have become clear all too early. And now it is the season finale for our coverage teams. No getting ready for a game 10 and a shot at advancing in the playoffs. So, here is an idea. We have two local teams playing each other Friday. The Fremont Packers will travel down M-82 to renew a long rivalry with the Newaygo Lions. Interestingly, despite the geographic proximity the teams have only faced each other 28 times on the gridiron. And even more interesting, the team have each won 14 of those games. Yep. Even Steven, although the Lions have a 7 game winning streak going back to 2011 when the teams played each other in the Lakes 8 for the last time and Fremont took the win. Let’s make this the Game of the Year. Two teams who have struggled all season will be putting it all on the line to see which school takes the overall lead. Plenty of drama here. Can the Packers break that 7 game, 14 year skid against Newaygo? Can the Lions put it together for one last game to avoid going winless for the first time since 2010? So, what do you say, folks? A little local playoff game with the winner retaining historical bragging rights? Why?
Game time: 7pm. But come early enough to check out the costumes and grab some eats at the concession stand. Tickets: A bargain at 5 bucks See you there.   While none of our coverage teams will be playing beyond next week we added a score from a pair of close-by teams that will be suiting up for the post season. Kent City and Tri County played a real barnburner Friday and will likely be competing in the D5 (TC) and D6 (KC) playoffs. Hart 44 Hesperia 21 For the 5th time in 8 games this season the Panthers scored exactly 3 touchdowns. This time one came from the Tucker Bolles to Eli Edens connection and 2 were tallied on the ground by Edens. Once again the three scores weren’t enough as the Pirates crossed the goal line 6 times to capture the Rivers Division finale for both teams. Offensively, Bolles hit on 9 of 18 tosses for 98 yards with Weston Hasted, Zach Loughridge and Edens catching 3 apiece and Edens finished with 119 yards rushing. On defense Dominic Rivera and Ryan Fuentes led the team in tackles with 6 each and Fuentes also picked off a Pirate pass. Hesperia (0-5, 1-7) will wrap up their season with a trip to St. Louis to take on the Sharks. Morley Stanwood 42 Grant 20 The host Mohawks have struggled most of the season putting up points when not playing White Cloud, but they were able to find pay dirt 6 times against the Tiger defense to capture the cross conference win. The visiting Tigers drew first blood when Jayden Newton finished off a Grant drive with a one yard plunge for a TD and after a failed conversion the Tigers led 6-0. Their hosts responded by scoring three times before a Newton to Paul Bonney pass that the receiver took into the end zone 43 yards later. The Tigers went for 2 but were stopped on the conversion and the half ended with MS up 22-12. The second half saw Morley tack on another pair of scores before another Newton passing strike early in the final frame, this time to Kohen Obenauf for a 43 yard TD. Newton then hit Jesse DeHaan for the 2 point conversion to put the Tigers within a couple of scores at 34-20 but the Hawks scored again to put the game on ice. Newton completed 5 of 12 for 141 yards but also tallied a pair of picks. Obenauf was Grant’s leading ground gainer with 47 yards on 10 carries. Emmerson Obenauf (9.5), Gage Rasch (8), and Darien McKinney (7) led the team in tackles. Grant (1-4, 2-6) will host their final game of the season Friday when they welcome in the undefeated and Silver Division champion Kent City. Whitehall 56 Fremont 0 The Vikings smothered the Packer offense, limiting them to 72 net yards and spending a lot of time in the Fremont backfield. Karter Frens gained 73 yards on the ground and while Aiden Hunt completed 7 of his 15 passes, the biggest gain on receptions was a 7 yarder by Gabe Hulst. Jack VandenBerg led the defense by piling up 15 tackles. Fremont (0-6, 1-7) will play their season finale just down the road on Friday when they visit Newaygo Other Games of interest Kent City 24 Tri County 21 The Eagles countered an early Viking score with 24 straight points then held off a furious 4th quarter comeback by TC to capture the cross conference win. These are two good teams who will be continuing after next week in case you might want to see some playoff football nearby. The undefeated Eagle team is tied for 6th in total playoff points with perennial powerhouse Marine City (see side note). They will likely get a home game and shouldn’t lose ground after facing Grant next week. The Vikes are currently sitting in the 21st position in D5. Unless a lot of things happen behind them TC should be playing game 10, probably on the road. The cushion helps because they wrap up their regular season with a trip to Ludington to face an undefeated Oriole team that has stormed through their schedule. Side Note: Newaygo County Administrator Chris Wren is a graduate of Marine City High School and has on occasion mentioned the superiority of the Mariners program. Coopersville 38 Big Rapids 28 For fans of Grant and Newaygo who saw their teams shut out by Big Rapids, how strong of a conference do you think the River Cities Alliance is? The Broncos,who delivered the first Cardinal loss of the season, have the 4th best overall record in the RCA.  Paige, Breuker and Patten set the pace
Story By Mike Paige Photos by Brooke Wever Manchip At the final WMC meet of the season, hosted by Whitehall, the Lady Packers again placed 1st, scoring 28 points, going undefeated in the conference and winning the conference title for the first time in 5 years. The girls ran a strong race, placing 6 in the top 11. Senior Linnea Paige placed 3rd behind Ludington’s, Eliza Schwass and Annabelle Lowman. 5 of the next 8 runners were Packers with Myah Breuker in 4th running a personal record time of 19:56, her first race under the 20:00 mark, Joelle Patten in 5th with a season best time of 20:28, Natalie Christoffersen in 7th with a time of 21:22, Ava Krohn in 10th with a PR of 21:56, about 45 seconds faster than her previous best, and Kira Manchip in 11th at 22:40. Rocquel Richards also ran a season record time of 24:47 to round out the top 7. Sawyer Semlow (24:53, a 50 second PR), Jessie Kendziorski (25:52, over a minute-and-a-half SR) and Junior Emma Scott (34:09 PR) ran as well. Per Coach Somers, “It was a great end to the conference season for this group.” The Packers run on Saturday at Chippewa Hills in the annual Late Season Warrior Invite. Girls at 11:00, boys at 11:30.
Mystery Ref wondering if he'll be passed over once again for the playoffs By Ken DeLaat Newaygo (0-5, 0-7) at North Muskegon (5-0, 5-2) The Norse are the WMC Rivers champs and need a win to punch a ticket to the playoffs. For the Lions it has been an enigmatic season and believe me, it is difficult enough to prepare a team for a football game without distractions and this team has had more than enough of those. Their best shot at a win likely comes next week and yet these Lion-hearted players will be ready to go. A good showing would provide a little mo going into that finale with the Packers Grant (1-4, 2-5) at Morley Stanwood (2-2, 2-5) The Tigers have a good shot at leaving MS with a win. The ‘Hawks have 2 wins against teams that would both be winless had they not played each other. Likely to be close but gotta believe the team that played the last 2 weeks can match last years win total on Friday Hart (2-2, 3-4) at Hesperia (0-4, 1-6) The Pirates haven’t beaten any team with a winning record, They haven’t lost to any teams with a losing record. This is a fun Panther team and when Bolles is given protection he and Edens find ways to make plays. Trouble being, Hart’s offense has been clicking the last two games and the Hespo defense can’t buy a stop. Fremont (0-5, 1-6) at Whitehall (3-2, 4-3) The Vikings need at least one win to have a shot at the post season. Two would get them in but their season finale is a road game against an undefeated and #6 ranked Portland that has eviscerated their opponents in the rough Capital Area Conference. They’ll be throwing everything they got against the visiting Packers and they got a lot. Hopefully Fremont can avoid the self inflicted wounds that have been their bane this season. White Cloud is idle. They were scheduled to play the Lee Rebels but Lee forfeited the season giving the Cloud, technically, a win.  Hesperia/White Cloud earlier this season- Photo credit: Bobbie Cruzan  Newaygo/Grant earlier this season Photo by Alexis Mercer By Ken DeLaat, N3 Sports What a year for local high school football. This week our coverage teams took it on the chin again, losing all 5 games by a composite score of 227-32, thanks to the Hesperia offense who put up 20 of those 32 (while yielding 49). If you have ever been a part of a team that is struggling through a losing season, you know what it’s like. When a team is having success there is never a problem getting up for a game. Knowing that you have a good chance of winning in itself provides ample motivation. It’s a different season when each week you are more than likely the underdog playing a team with more weapons on both sides of the ball. It is an uphill climb to be sure. Coaches are critiqued even more by the sideline experts, the players hear the groans from the crowd when things go awry and with the exception of family and die hard fans, many who once took a seat on a regular basis begin to find other things to do on Friday nights. And maybe they’re missing the point. Those squads putting their hearts into the game under the lights on Fridays have put in a week of practice. A week where they are expected to work hard on improving their game. They bang pads with teammates and run the same plays over and over until, exhausted from the rigors of practice, they go home to eat, study and go to bed. Then they get ready to do the same thing the next day and the next until it’s game day. These young men showed up and they keep showing up because, despite their record on the field, they honor their commitment. They learn to deal with adversity, achieving a level of resiliency that will carry over into adulthood. And most of all they played for the sheer love of the game. There’s a reason why players, long beyond high school, continue to tell stories about their years playing football. When they reminisce with ex teammates the exploits become larger, the conversation becomes more animated and laughter abounds. Because, like today’s players, they loved the game. There were stats for each loss last Friday, but today we wish to honor all the players from two-way starters to those who spend the week prepping the first team and rooting them on from the bench. As a team there may not have been too many happy endings when the final gun sounded. but man, you guys showed some serious grit this season. If it’s any consolation, when you’re older you’ll be the ones telling tales of your football years. And believe me, it’s amazing how much better the team will be in a decade or two. Friday’s scores: Montague 35 Fremont 0 Next game at Whitehall, Friday Big Rapids 26 Grant 0 Next game at Morley, Friday Reed City 55 Newaygo 6 Next game at North Muskegon, Friday Lakeview 42 White Cloud 6 Next game at Saranac (Oct 24) Mason County Central 49 Hesperia 20 Next game Home vs. Hart, Friday |
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