Football Roundup: Week 1

 Pack Falls Just Short, Eagles Run Past Lions. Tigers Tame Tigers. Rebs Corral Cloud. Devils Sink Pirates, Cats Claw Vikings, and Norsemen Pound Depleted  Panthers

Evart 30 Fremont 26

The Packers jumped off to an early lead when Zach Stroven found paydirt from 15 yards out to give them a 6-0 edge after the blocked PAT. The Wildcats came back and drove deep into Fremont territory before a fumble at the goal line was snared in the endzone by the visitors to knot the game at 6 after the Evart PAT was also blocked.
The Pack struck back immediately with a 69 yard sprint by Stroven and a 12-6 edge after another unsuccessful conversion. Evart answered twice before intermission including a Carter Pritchard pass to Donavin Reagan with time running out in the half to give the ‘Cats a 22-12 edge.
After a scoreless third Fremont mounted a comeback with Kane Widing breaking the goalline from a yard out and with the conversion by Wyatt Kaastra the Pack were down just 3 22-19.
After a stop the hosts mounted another scoring drive  ending with Stroven breaking free for a 9 yard run to the endzone. Kaastra made it a 26-22 Fremont lead.
But Evart had one more drive in them and with just over a minute to play another Pritchard pass to Billy Conklin yielded a 28 yard score and the win to end  an exciting evening of football in Fremont.
“We are proud of the way our boys battled  throughout the entire game, said Coach Rick Tank. “ We had no quit!  We had several opportunities to control the outcome, and that is what you want in any gridiron battle.Ultimately this team has grit, and that is apparent for anyone who has watched us this year. “
“Our boys will earn success.”
Stroven led all rushers with 164 yards and Christian Kennedy finished with 44. Widing led all tacklers with a dozen and picked off one of the 28 passes tossed by Pritchard on the night.
The Packers will host Reed City on Thursday. The Coyotes opened the season with a 34-13 win over Montague.

N Muskegon 41 Hesperia 6

The Panther offense went 3 and out on their first possession of the season.
Then Chandler Edwards took over.
The Norsemen took the punt deep into Hesperia territory then Edwards found the endzone on the first play to stake NM to a 7-0 lead after the conversion. Bu halftime he had found paydirt again and another Norsemen score had the visitors heading for the locker room down 20-0.
Any hopes for a different story in the second half were dashed when Edwards peeled off a touchdown run on the second half kickoff to put the Panthers in a 27-0 hole.
The Hesperia offense managed to get on the board in the 4th with a touchdown run by Logan Balkema but NM had the game well in hand at that point. Balkema led Hesperia rushers with 56 yards and on defense Owen Kowalski (8) and Balkema (6) paced the defense in tackles.
“It was tough going with dressing only 14 kids, but we battled all night and left it all on the field.” said Coach Doug Bolles. “North Muskegon is very talented and can score in a variety of ways with many different athletes.”
“We’ll regroup from this one. They’re one of, if not the best team on our schedule.”
The Panthers head north to face the leroy Pine River Bucks Thursday.

Lee 27 White Cloud 9

Lee scored on their third play from scrimmage when Skiler Turpeau ran for a 92 yard TD to spark a Rebel run to victory Friday night.
White Cloud was led by Adrian Rodriguez with 67 yards on 16 carries, Steve Holt added 48 yards on 16 carries and scored  the lone Indian touchdown, and freshman Seth McGowen contributed 50 yards on 8 carries. Chance Montemayor kicked a 27 yard field goal for the hosts.
Defensive leaders were Tucker Kooman and Alex Doke with 7 tackles, with Steven Deam adding 6.
“The team  continued to play hard throughout all four quarters,” said Coach Dick Hance “I was very pleased with the effort made all the way thru the game and  also happy with the performance of the two freshmen, knowing they will get better every game.”
The Indians will travel to Manton Thursday  to take on the Rangers who opened with a 29-22 win over Johannesburg-Lewiston

Kent City 36 Newaygo 26

The Eagles scored 5 touchdowns Friday night and Gio Weeks scored 5 of them.
The Lions had no answer for the KC speedster who ate up the yardage and helped his team to a 26-6 halftime advantage.
The Lions came back in the fourth with a pair of touchdowns but time ran short and the Eagles extended their regular season winning streak to 14.
Newaygo will host Chippewa Hills Thursday. The Warriors were routed by Oakridge 55-8 Friday night.
Kent City will head to Beal City to take on the Aggies.

Holton 26 Hart 18

The Red Devils broke open a scoreless game with three second quarter touchdowns then held off a second half comeback by the Pirates to secure the win at home.
Devil quarterback Page Trystad completed 5 pases on the night four of them to Austin Hawkins who amassed 140 yards receiving and a touchdown. Aaron Herron ran one in for the hosts and on defense Nathan Slowik picked a pair from the Pirates.
Holton will head to Evart Thursday for a matchup with the Wildcats who edged Fremont 30-26 on Friday.

Grant 23 Shelby 13

Lakeview 28 Tri County 8

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