Coloma Press Box By Dave Vollrath

Coloma Varsity football team wins on the road at Buchanan

The Coloma Comet varsity football team was faced with a daunting task, when this fall’s schedule first appeared. The Comets would have to battle on the road for 3 weeks, before they had the chance to play their first game in front of a home crowd. The third game for the road weary Comets, who lost in their first 2 contests, seemed to be the charm, as they played Buchanan to 0-0 tie until midway thru the fourth quarter, when they finally scratched out a couple of touchdowns, and came away with a 14-6 Victory.

The first half both teams had opportunities to score, but with each attempt they were thwarted by the opposing defense. The Comets had two great chances with several sets of downs inside the Bucks 10 yard line, but twice were stopped short of the goal line on downs. The second time, with just 2 minutes in the half, the Bucks took over on their own 2 yard line. When the Bucks QB threw a pass that the Comets picked off, setting up Coloma inside the 10 yard line. The Comets couldn’t get the ball over the goal line, and once again turned the ball over at the one yard line, and the half ended at 0-0

COMET STRONG… Coloma Comet defenders Kenyon Boyd #2 and Alex DeLaTorre #34, double up to stop the Buchanan quarterback at the 2 yard line, in keeping Buchanan out of the end zone. The Comets played tough defense all night long in picking up their first win of the year, 14-6, at Buchanan. (TCR Photo By Dave Vollrath)

In the fourth quarter Coloma finally put together a 65 yard drive in 13 plays, led mostly by hard runs up the middle by Ian Ishmael the Comet fullback, following the blocking of Cole Alsup, and the big guys up front. With the ball on the Buck’s five yard line, Noah Schwanke was able to get around the left corner and sprint into the end zone. Drew Goodline, sneaked over with the 2 point conversion, for an 8-0 lead.

On the next Bucks possession, the Comets got their third interception of the game, when Michael Dancer went up over the receiver and picked off the pass at the Buck’s 38 yard line. Coloma moved the ball somewhat, but when they stalled out, had a fourth down and 13 yards to go at the Bucks 17. Cody Palgen entered the game at wide out for Coloma, and Goodline lofted a fade route toward the front corner of the goal line, where Palgen went up and wrestled the ball away from the defender, and came down with it at the Bucks 2 yard line. With a fresh set of downs, Coloma wasted no time, with Goodline taking it in for the score. The PAT was no good, and with a 14-0 lead, there was only 2:15 left in the game. The Bucks did score in the final seconds, helped by a couple of Comet penalties, one was a highly questionable late hit, deep in Coloma territory, but 6 points was all the home team could muster, and Coloma came away with a 14-6 badly needed win.

Ian Ishmael was the leading rusher for the Comets with 46 yards in 12 carries, all were runs into the middle of the Buchanan defense, Goodline rushed for 38 yards in 13 carries with 1 TD, and one PAT. Noah Schwanke had 18 yards in 6 carries with the 1 touchdown. Goodline finished with 3-11 passing and 68 yards. Kenyon Boyd hauled in two of those passes for 53 yards.

Coloma finally comes home Friday September 20th, to face Berrien Springs.

Comets volleyball team comes home with championship trophy from

Climax-Scotts

The Coloma girls volleyball team, played in the Climax-Scotts invitational tournament on Saturday September 14, and went undefeated 5-0, in winning their first tournament of the year. The Comets coached by Kim Swisher, went 3-0 in pool play, defeating Tekonsha 25-24 and 25-8. Then beat Marshall 25-7 and 25-3, and went on to beat Heritage Christian 25-24 and 25-8.

Playing in the semi finals the Comets defeated Marcellus 27-26, 21-25, 15-11, then went on to beat Kalamazoo Home School in the finals, 25-18, 25-27, and 16-14. Coloma has a very young team and they have been playing well as of late.

Marissa Sherburn had 14 kills, 9 digs, and 10 blocks. Kelsey Ellis had 46 digs. Maddie McQuillan had 11 kills, 72 assists, 11 aces, 17 digs. Gracie Whitaker had, 10 kills and 19 digs. Maurissa Lagrow had 14 aces and 16 digs. Rozalyn Emrich had 6 kills, and 4 blocks. Marisa Pullins had 1 kill. Taryn Blazier had 26 kills and 33 digs. Chloe Mathis, had 6 aces and 8 digs. Megan Neubecker had, 49 kills, 24 aces, 22 digs, and 13 blocks. Mia Cole had 10 digs, and Kiely Moore had 1 kill and 1 block.

Megan Neubecker made the all tournament team for the Comets.

On Tuesday September 10, the volleyball team hosted Martin, and played a tough back and forth match, but came out on the losing end, with the score of the final set being 16-14. Martin won sets 1 and 3 and Coloma 2 and 4, and the Comets were on the verge of winning the match, when they led 12-7 in the final set, but Martin won 9 of the last 11 points to win the match.

Coloma hosts SAC Conference Cross Country Jamboree

Coloma hosted their biggest cross country meet in many years, on Wednesday September 11, and we salute the efforts of Coloma AD, Wendy Goodline and head coach Courtney Churchill and junior high coach Jenn Ickes, along with all of the volunteers on hand to make this a great event, that went off without a hitch. It was a very smooth running operation, which saw the Comet girls and boys varsity teams finish in 4th place. The junior high event was won by the Comets with 8th grader Boden Genovese coming in first overall, in the 1.5 mile race, in a time of 8:54.27.

I was told that Boden has yet to lose a cross country race. It was a very hot day at 91 degrees at the time they ran, and the Comet girls were hurt greatly, when their top runner, Emma Vandermolen went down because of the heat, around the halfway point. Emma was in 4th place when the girls made their first trip around the circuit, but only made it a couple hundred yards farther. The top runners for the girls were Ava Genovese who was 10th overall in a time of 23:28.77. Abby Vandermolen finished 23rd in a time of 24:52.20, and Chloe Williams was 27th in, 25:09.15. Camryn Brown finished 33rd and Briana Tillotson 42nd.

FYI, by Wednesday evening Emma was doing very well, after cooling off and taking in plenty of fluids, we were very pleased to hear that.

For the boys, Jake Ickes has been leading them most of the year and this race was no exception, Jake finished in a great time, considering the heat, in 15th overall place in a time of 19:12.58. Caeleb Ishmael, had a personal best time finishing under 20 minutes for the first time, he was 19th overall in 19:26.31. Ethan Vandermolen was right with him in 20th place, in 19:32.46. Blane Sutherland finished 24th in 19:44.77. Skylar Wolfe finished in 59th place.

Coloma boys soccer has comeback win

The Comet soccer team scored 3 second half goals, to win at home against Lawton, in a game played on Wednesday September 11th.

Watervliet Press Box by John Oliphant

Panther Football Loses

in Overtime

The Panthers traveled to Parchment on a gorgeous Friday night and lost a hard-fought overtime battle 22-14. After a quiet first quarter Parchment opened the scoring on a five yard pass on the first play of the second quarter. The Panthers then took over at their own 48 yard line after recovering an onside kick attempt. Don Smith ran for 10 then 27 yards, and the Panthers scored on a 25-yard pass from Tyson Williams to Jordan Abney.

Next, the Panthers had Parchment on a 4th and 6 at their own 48, but a receiver got behind the defense and caught a 52-yard pass for a touchdown. They couldn’t convert the extra point, and Parchment led 14-6.

On the next series the Panthers drove to the 1-yard line before Williams found Evan Hutchins in the back of the end zone. Logan Duscha caught a pass for the extra points to tie the score at 14-14. That would be the end of the scoring until overtime.

PANTHER POWER…was not enough last Friday night when the Watervliet Panthers traveled to Parchment and lost in overtime. Freshman Quarterback Tyson Williams once again connects with #12 Don Smith. Smith had another big game running the ball 27 times for 106 yards. (TCR photo by Amy Loshbough)

Parchment went first in overtime and scored eight points, taking a 22-14 lead. The Panthers needed to match that to force a second overtime. They moved the ball to the 5 but the 4th down pass was on target but well-defended and fell to the ground giving Parchment their first win of the season.

Junior Jordan Abney had a big game, catching 10 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown plus an interception on defense. He also had 8 yards rushing on a nice end-around. Evan Hutchins caught three passes for 34 yards and a touchdown. Tyson Williams had another solid game, completing 13 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns. On defense, Duscha had two interceptions.

Don Smith was the offensive workhorse, running the ball 27 times for 106 yards with most of that yardage coming after contact with the defense. The young and short-handed Panther defense played hard and made plenty of big plays. The Panthers led in all the offensive stats but a big goal-line stand by Parchment in the 3rd quarter turned out to be the difference in the game.

The 1-2 Panthers look to bounce back against Fennville in the homecoming game at Panther Stadium on Friday.

Panther Boys Cross 2nd at SAC Jamboree

The boys cross country team continued their early season success by finishing second in the first conference race of the season. The team battled both the competition and heat index temperatures in the 90s at race time. Even with five runners in the top 16 overall, they couldn’t keep pace with Saugatuck, the 2018 state champions, winners of the 13-team meet. All five Saugatuck runners finished in the top nine.

Ezra Troyer (17:48) posted a new PR to finish 4th in a field of 98 runners. He was also the first finisher not from Saugatuck. Gus Hinch (18:04) finished 7th place. Trever Pelton (19:02.64) and Kody Edmonds (19:02.66) raced each other to the line for 12th and 13th places. German Casiano (19:14) brought the Panthers’ scoring to a quick end with a new PR at 16th place. Jimmy Kolosowsky (22:03) also ended the evening with a new PR, knocking 10 seconds off his previous best.

Team Scores:

1. Saugatuck 23

2. Watervliet 52

3. Kalamazoo Christian 124

4. Coloma 130

5. Delton-Kellogg 144

Boys’ Soccer Splits a Pair of Conference Matches

The boys traveled to Saugatuck on September 10. Although they started slow and missed opportunities in the first half, they eventually settled down to win 7-1 during a chippy second half.

Brennan Bornas opened the scoring in the first half, taking a nice feed and driving down the right side. He attempted to cross the ball to another Panther but it hit the defender’s knee and went into the net in the 6th minute.

Just before the half in the 39th minute, Brady Bornas led Brennan down the right side with a nice pass. Brennan’s shot was stopped by the Indian keeper but Nathan Isbrecht was in the right place to put in the rebound for a 2-1 halftime lead. This goal gave them momentum going into the second half. In the 48th minute, Brennan raced pass the defense then faked out the keeper to score for a 3-1 lead. Brady then scored in the 53rd minute on a feed from Ryan Knapp to make it 4-1.

In the 60th minute, Brennan scored off an assist from Brady, Nathan Isbrecht scored off an assist from Brennan in the 66th minute, and Brennan scored his 4th goal of the game in the 71st minute off a feed from Robert Kraklau.

The defense of Kraklau, Andrew Chisek, Alex Isbrecht, Eric Perez, Dominic Mandujano and Ryan Knapp continually frustrated the Saugatuck boys with their speed and relentless play. Zeke Alvarado played the 2nd half as keeper and was solid.

On Thursday, September 12, the soccer team visited Delton Kellogg for a tough conference game. Although the Panthers had opportunities they lost 6-0. Coach Doug Bornas said the final score was not indicative of how well the boys played that night.

Robert Kraklau, Andrew Chisek, German Casiano, Mason Pennington, Erick Perez, Abel Villarreal all played strong games. The team as a whole played well and had the ball in the opponents end at least half the match. The D-K keeper was solid and made many beautiful saves. Nathan Isbrecht and Brennan Bornas each had good chances to score but couldn’t put one in.

The Panthers are now an impressive 4-3-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

Volleyball Falls to

Paw Paw 3-0

The Panther volleyball team visited Paw Paw on Tuesday, September 11 in what would turn out to be a tough match. The young and shorthanded Panthers started out strong, but fell to Paw Paw 3-0 with game scores of 25-20, 25-14, 25-16

COVER… Paw Paw Varsity player Anna Vavra prepares to block a spike from sophomore Addison Riley in last Tuesday’s contest at Paw Paw High School. For more information about the contest between the Panthers and Paw Paw see John’s Press Box! (TCR photo by Amy Loshbough)

Susanna VanLente 2 kills, 1 ace, 1 assist, 1 dig

Addison Riley 4 kills, 4 blocks, 3 digs

Lilly Lafor 3 digs, 1 kill

Yanna Winters 2 kils, 1 ace

Myah Hobson 2 kills, 1 block

Kristen Gardiner 11 assists, 1 kill, 3 aces

Allison Pline 3 aces

Press Box

Player of the Week

By Dave Vollrath

This week’s TCR Press Box Player of the Week is Coloma sophomore Dylan Nelson. Dylan is a starter on the junior varsity football team, and has done a fantastic job in switching to fullback from his previous quarterback position. Dylan has been an integral part of the Coloma JV football team which has started the season with a 3-0 record, for the first time in quite a few years.

In the Comet’s first win against Brandywine, Dylan ran for 148 yards and one touchdown. In week 2, in a victory over Lawton, Dylan was a workhorse in gaining 108 yards in 28 carries. While rushing for 256 yards in 39 carries is impressive enough, Dylan also anchors a strong Comet defense from his inside linebacker position. The Comets have been impressive on defense, in only giving up 6 points and 200 total yards in their first 2 games. Dylan has led the defense with 17 tackles, in roaming from sideline to sideline, in pursuit of the ball carrier.

Dylan’s parents are Paul and Katrina Nelson. Head JV coach Curt Mead enjoys coaching Dylan, who’s a hard worker and a hard hitter, and just a tough football player.

In the classroom Dylan carries a 3.0 GPA, as he also participates for the Comets in basketball and baseball. Dylan also stays very active, as he loves the outdoors, and enjoys his time away from athletics by hunting and fishing in his free time, as well as riding in ATV’s.

Congratulations Dylan and best of luck for the remainder of your sophomore year.

Hartford Prress Box By Jerrod Birmele

Hartford Football Earns First Win in Dominant 39-0 Game at Bloomingdale

Last Friday night, September 13th, the Hartford Indian Football team continued their three-game road trip by traveling to Bloomingdale to take on the Cardinals. The Indians were coming off of a 52-12 loss at Centreville the week prior, and the team was anxious to break into the win column. With the likely two toughest opponents in conference play out of the way, the Indians schedule relaxes a bit in the coming weeks, and there are certainly winnable games coming up. This game would be the evening that the Hartford players and coaching staff has been looking forward to for weeks; and that was a winning night, as Hartford defeated Bloomingdale, 39-0. The Indians got out of the gate strong, scoring 13 points in both the first and second quarters to take a 26-0 lead into halftime. Things continued going well for Hartford in the third quarter, as they scored 13 more points to take a 39-0 lead. Neither team was able to score in the fourth quarter, hence the final score. In the first quarter, Hartford got a pair of touchdowns courtesy of Aaron Sinclair. His first score of the night came on a 3-yard run. And after Nick Pultz’s extra point kick was successful, the Indians led 7-0. His second touchdown of the quarter came on a 65-yard pass from Kyle Manning. This time, the extra point kick was unsuccessful, and Hartford led 13-0 after one.

In the second quarter, the Indians scored two more touchdowns to extend their lead. The first touchdown came from, whom else, Aaron Sinclair, who dashed 65-yards to pay dirt for his third touchdown of the game. Nick Pultz converted on the extra point kick to extend the lead to 20-0 for the green and white. The final touchdown of the first half was on a 9-yard pass from Kyle Manning to Elijah Ledesma. Hartford attempted to go for the two-point conversion, but the attempt was unsuccessful, and the score was 26-0 as the teams went to the locker room. In the third quarter, it was the Aaron Sinclair show once again, as the Indian junior added to his scoring total with two more touchdowns. His first score of the second half came on an 18-yard run. And, after another extra point kick was converted by Nick Pultz, Hartford extended their lead to 33-0. Sinclair’s fifth, and final, touchdown of the game was through the air, as Kyle Manning connected with him on a 39-yard pass play for the score. The two-point conversion attempt failed, but the Indians had the game in the bag at that point.

Hartford outgained Bloomingdale in total yards, 419-63. The defense was strong for the Indians all night, with all of the Cardinals yards coming on the ground. Of the 419 total yards of offense, 218 of them were rushing yards, and 201 of them were passing yards. The Indians were led offensively by Aaron Sinclair, who carried the ball 17 times for 125 yards and three touchdowns. Kyle Manning was 9-of-14 passing for 201 yards, throwing three touchdowns and tossing an interception. Sinclair was his leading receiver, as he caught 3 passes for 104 yards and two scores, while Elijah Ledesma added 2 receptions, 56 yards and a touchdown to the receiving effort. On defense, Hartford was led by Alex Cook, who recorded a game-high 12 tackles, which included 3 tackles for a loss. David Fernandez added 7 tackles (1 for a loss) and a sack, while Manning and Ricky Baker added 5 tackles each. Dylan Voss recorded an interception. Hartford is currently 1-2 on the season, and has the same record in Southwest 10 Conference play. The Indians finish their current three-game road trip this Friday, September 20th, traveling to Eau Claire to take on the Fighting Beavers. Eau Claire comes in 0-3 on the season, having lost 69-0 to Decatur last week. Game results and statistics will be available in next week’s Press Box.

Hartford Volleyball Suffers Setback, Goes 2-6 at New Buffalo Invitational

On Saturday, September 14th, the Hartford Indian Volleyball team made their lone appearance of the week, traveling to New Buffalo to take part in the New Buffalo Varsity Volleyball Invitational. The team came in fresh off of two consecutive victories, but had not seen action on the court in 11 days. With quite a bit of momentum on their side, the ladies wanted to show everyone that they are the way up, and that their recent success has the ability to be sustained. The tournament started with three matches of pool play. In their first match, the Lady Indians went up against the host team, New Buffalo, and unfortunately, the ladies fell short, falling 25-13 and 25-10 to the Lady Bison. In their second match, they went up against the team from White Pigeon, and for the second straight match were swept, falling to the Lady Chiefs by scores of 25-18 and 25-14. The final match of pool play saw the Lady Indians square off with the ladies from Eau Claire, and Hartford took the victory in this one, winning 25-11 and 25-10.

The tournament ended with bracket play, with teams being paired up by their records in pool play. For the second time on the day, Hartford would have to take on the ladies from New Buffalo. Unfortunately, for the Lady Indians, the results were unchanged from earlier action, as the Lady Bison swept them, 25-12 and 26-24, ending the day with a sour taste for the green and white.

In terms of statistics, Hartford was led in aces by Lainey Goodson with 8, while Megan Nelson added 6 aces and Karla Robles and Gillian Kuehnle served 3 aces each. Alexis Snodgrass led the team in kills with 12, while Nelson added 8 kills and Descenya Rodarte posted 5 kills. Robles led the team in digs with 24, while Nelson added 17 digs and Goodson pitched in 12 digs. Other statistical leaders included Nelson with 13 assists and Snodgrass with 2 blocks. Hartford is currently 7-13 on the season. It is a busy week for the ladies, as they will play two conference matches and a tournament in the span of five days. They began the week on Tuesday, September 17th by traveling to Cassopolis to take on the Lady Rangers, before returning home on Thursday, September 19th to take on one of the conference favorites, Centreville. They will finish the week with the Decatur Raider Varsity Invitational on Saturday, September 21st. Expect results and statistics to be available in next week’s Press Box.

Hartford Soccer Goes 4-0 in Busy Week, Wins Weekend Tournament

Last week, the Hartford Indian Soccer team had their busiest stretch to date, playing two conference matches and having a weekend tournament in the span of just six days. Having lost a tough, 1-nil decision last week to Bloomingdale, the Indians could not have asked for a better time to get down to work, and be as busy as they can be. With their youthful team still trying to get up to speed, all the experience they can get will make them better as the season goes on.

ATTACK… Even while being defended by Marcellus’ Zach Shelton and Caylee Bishop, Hartford’s Danny Gutierrez attacks up field in their recent soccer match on Wednesday, September 11th. Gutierrez did not make the stat sheet, but his solid play, along with the outstanding play of many others, helped the Indians defeat the Wildcats, 9-3. Read more about this match, and much more about Indian Athletics, in the Hartford Press Box! (TCR Photo by Jerrod Birmele)

On Monday, September 9th, the team traveled to Cassopolis for a Southwest 10 Conference match against the Rangers. Two years ago, the Indians and Rangers were co-conference champions in the first year of the new Southwest 10 Conference. This match, however, saw the Indians win this one going away, scoring a 5-nil victory. Hartford scored three goals in the first half to take a 3-nil lead into halftime, and, after scoring two goals in the second half, Hartford padded its lead, and earned the victory. The Indians got their five goals from three different players: Alan Gonzalez (2), Danny Gutierrez and Joel Soto (2). Assists were credited to Miggy Cardoso (2) and Soto. Goalkeeper Kaden Johnson recorded 6 saves in his second career shutout.

On Wednesday, September 11th, Hartford hosted Marcellus for their second Southwest 10 Conference match of the week and their first home match in nearly two weeks. The Indians and the Wildcats have had many fierce contests in the past, but in recent years, it has been all Hartford. That did not change on this night, as the Indians cruised to a 9-3 victory. Hartford led 6-1 after one half of play, scoring all of their goals in the course of the first 25 minutes. The visiting team put up a fight in the second half, scoring two goals, but the home team scored three of their own to solidify the win.

The Indians got their five goals from five different players: Brian Cardoso (2), Miggy Cardoso (2), Alan Gonzalez (2), Victor Hurtado and Ernesto Rodarte (2). Assists were credited to Cardoso, Kevin Parra (2) and Soto (2).

On Saturday, September 14th, Hartford traveled to South Haven to compete in the South Haven Shoreline Shootout. The Indians have been very successful at this tournament in years past, and have several trophies in the trophy case to show for it. To win the tournament, you have to defeat both opponents you face; in some cases, the matches come back-to-back. In their first match against South Haven, it was a tight one from start-to-finish, with both teams feeling the jitters of a close match. In the end, Hartford scored the 1-nil victory against the host team. The lone goal for the Indians came in the first half, and wasn’t off the foot of one of their players. The goal came thanks to one of the players on the Rams putting the ball into their own net for an “own goal”.

In their second match against Berrien Springs, Hartford was much more in control, as they easily took care of the Shamrocks, 7-1, clinching the tournament championship. The Indians led 5-nil at halftime, and added two more goals in the second half to pull even further away. The defense did give up one goal in the final 40 minutes, but the offensive fire power was more than enough to fend off any rally Berrien Springs could’ve thrown at them. The Indians got their seven goals from four different players: Jakob Baham, Miggy Cardoso, Elijah Cowgill and Joel Soto (3). Assists were credited to Baham, Cardoso, Danny Gutierrez, Nick Pultz, Kevin Rios and Soto. Hartford is currently 7-3 on the season, with a record of 2-1 in Southwest 10 Conference play. For the second straight week, the Indians will play three matches, but this time, it comes in the span of just four days. On Monday, September 16th, the team will have played a conference match at Eau Claire against the Fighting Beavers, before returning home on Wednesday, September 21st for a second conference match of the week against visiting Bangor. They conclude the week one night later, on Thursday, September 22nd, by traveling to Kalamazoo Christian to take on the always strong Comets. Match results and statistics can be found in next week’s Press Box.

Hartford Cross Country Runs Strong at Mendon Invitational

On Saturday morning, September 14th, the Hartford Indian Cross Country teams hit the road, traveling to Mendon to compete in the Mendon Invitational. The event in the “Hornets Nest” always brings in solid competition, both from within the conference and around the area. So, this meet would be yet another quality test for the runners in the green and white, with the goal of using these early meets to peak during the conference season and later, during the postseason. At the Mendon Invitational, the Hartford men placed 7th out of 10 teams, while the Hartford ladies placed 3rd out of 8 teams.

On the men’s side, the team was led by Joey Lehmkuhl, who placed 16th overall with a time of 18:52, while Jacob Morales clocked in with a time of 18:54, good enough for 19th place. The top five runners also included Aldo Acevedo in 52nd place (20:49), Hunter Bloom in 74th place (22:38) and Arulio Delgado in 79th place (22:50).

On the ladies side, the team was led by Yovana Naranjo, who placed 12th overall with a time of 22:33, while Katherine Sanchez finished with a time of 22:58, good enough for 15th place. The top five runners also included Jasmin Janicki in 20th place (23:29), Mayra Naranjo in 24th place (23:35) and Jamie Smith in 33rd place (24:02). Freshman Brianna Bailey finished in 46th place, but her time of 25:27 was her personal best of the year thus far.

The Hartford Cross Country teams return to action twice in the coming week. They will run in the first Southwest 10 Conference jamboree of the season in Cassopolis on Wednesday, September 18th, before traveling to Decatur to compete at the Decatur Raider Invitational, hosted at the Lake of the Woods, on Saturday, September 21stt. Look for results and times from these teams in next week’s Press Box.

As always, GO INDIANS!

Watervliet Athletic Hall of Fame accepting nominations for Class of 2020, deadline Oct. 1

Nominations are open for Class of 2020 inductees into the Watervliet Athletics Hall of Fame. Anyone who would like to nominate a former student athlete or coach can simply go to www.watervlietps.org, hover over the “Athletics” tab, and click on “Watervliet Hall of Fame Nominations”.

They will accept nominations online until October 1, 2019. Please gather as much information as possible on your nominee so that they can receive full consideration.

For questions, contact Athletic Director Ken Dietz at kdietz@watervlietps.org or Athletics Assistant Nancy Scowcroft at nscowcroft@watervlietps.org.

Watervliet Rec Council officer selection meeting Sept. 29

The Watervliet Recreation Council officer selection meeting for the 2020 baseball/ softball season will be held on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. This meeting will take place at VFW Post 1137, 8777 Red Arrow Highway in Watervliet. Anyone interested in joining and/or becoming an officer please attend.

For more information, please call Arica Angelo at 269-449-5868.

Rough week for our Armchair Quarterbacks, as Rodney Lynch extends first place lead

By Dave Vollrath It was another tough week for our TCR AQB’s, if not also another absolutely strange one. Rodney Lynch was our only panelist of pickers who finished the week over 500, as he went 5-3 on the week, and he was the only one who picked Coloma to win, which they did, over Buchanan. Kathy was the only panelist to pick the Lions to win, which they also did against the Chargers, and all of our panelists bit the dust when the Arizona State Sun Devils went into Spartan stadium and upset MSU, (and a lot of local fans), when the Spartans had a tying field goal wiped out because they had too many men on the field, at the end of the game. The TCR, AQB competition is held weekly from the beginning of the high school football season in late summer, until it finishes with the playing of the Super Bowl in February. We have six Tri-City area football fans competing against each other, to predict the winners of a group of pre-selected games, from high school, collegiate, and professional ranks. Following the conclusion of the Super Bowl, one winner is crowned champion, and will have the honor of wearing the Tri-City Record Armchair Quarterback Championship hat. In the event that two or more ‘backs have the same record for the week, or the yearly total, their place in the standings will be determined by a weekly tiebreaker game. In addition to trying to correctly pick the winners of each week’s games, they try and predict the score from a specially selected game. The AQB that comes the closest to the total number of points scored by both teams, will get the higher spot in the standings. Rodney of course finishes first for the week, and also extends his lead to 4 games, as he easily hangs onto first place. Kathy moves up to second overall with a 14-9 record, and she also finishes 2nd for the week, both positions were won based on the tiebreaker game, which she only missed by 2 points. Tim moves up to 3rd place overall and for the week, also with 14-9 and 4-4. Dan Jones moves down from second place to 4th place, he had a very agonizing weekend, going 2-6, but won the tiebreaker with Greg who also went 2-6, and also each is now 13-10 on the season. RoxAnn went 4-4 for the week, good for 4th place, but she couldn’t get out of the cellar, because of the tie breaker game, as she also sports a 13-10 record. In the last of our NFL games Sunday, in another strange finish, four of our panelists escaped further damage when Chicago came back with 31 seconds remaining and moved the ball down far enough into Denver territory, to grab victory from the jaws of defeat with a winning 52-yard field goal, when it looked like the Broncos had made a great comeback just seconds earlier. Greg and Kathy were not quite as amused with that result. Be sure and check with us next week, as our panel of pigskin prognosticators try and dig deep and come up with a better performance in picking from the following games:

Berrien Springs at Coloma Fennville at Watervliet Eau Claire at Hartford (tiebreaker) Michigan at Wisconsin MSU at Northwestern Notre Dame at Georgia Detroit at Philadelphia LA Raiders at Minnesota

WATERVLIET VARSITY FOOTBALL TEAM… From the left: Front row – Isaac Wilmoth, Aaron Nave, Nick Polaskey, Jordan Abney, Dylan Tucker, Evan Hutchins, (Capt.) Don Smith; Middle row – Conner Underwood, Austin Wilmoth, Collen Doneruse, Logan Duscha, Garett Hotovy, Zack Stainbrook, (Capt.) Isaiah Yazel; Back row – (Capt.) Logan Geisler, Cole Pline, Jimmy Collis, Royce Daugherty, Jerry Unger, Dylan Lawson; Standing – Managers Cody Nearpass and Alyssa Melcher, Head Coach Josh Tremblay. (Photo by A&A Photography)