10-03-2019 Tri-City Area Sports

Coloma Press Box By Dave Vollrath

Coloma Homecoming festivities were dampened, Comets lose on Saturday to Constantine 39-0

Coloma’s Homecoming game against Constantine, with all the planning and preparation, finally was played on Saturday afternoon following an 18-hour rain delay. Some of the pageantry that comes with Homecoming had to be set aside for this year.  Friday the decision to move the game to Saturday was made early in the afternoon when the radar showing the day long rain which included plenty of fireworks was going to continue into the night.  The dance went on as scheduled, and the king and queen were crowned, as the teams had to cool their heels until 1 p.m. Saturday.

READY TO RUN… Coloma Comet #33 David Caulton takes the handoff from QB Michael Case as James Clay provides the blocking during Coloma’s homecoming game Saturday against Constantine. Saturday proved to be a much nicer day weather wise, but Coloma lost the game 39-0. (TCR photo by Dave Vollrath)

The game with two teams seemingly going in opposite directions, the Falcons at 3-1 and the Comets at 1-3, got underway under cloudy skies, and Constantine wasted little time in showing their strength against Coloma. The Falcons scored two first quarter touchdowns, although they were unsuccessful on both 2-point conversions. They led 12-0 after the first quarter.  The game was played very close to the vest by both offenses. There were only two passes thrown by Constantine to five for the Comets, and both relying on their ground attacks.

The Comets once again were outmanned up front as their d-line and o-line both struggled with their counterparts.  The Falcons went up by a score of 32-0 by halftime, and the only mystery left was when they would go up enough to start a running clock.

Constantine finished with a final score victory of 39-0, and totally dominated all the stats.  Coloma finished their second week in a row on the wrong side of a lopsided score book.  Constantine rushed for 377 yards to Coloma’s 64, and had 18 first downs to just five for the Comets.

To add to the Comet misery, their quarterback, junior Drew Goodline came out from the locker room after halftime with his arm on ice and in a sling, and their offense just couldn’t get untracked.  David Caulton the Comet fullback had a few big first down runs and finished with 39 yards on ten carries, while Kenyon Boyd added 28 yards on five carries. Boyd also caught the only Comet completion of the game for seven yards.

Despite the lopsided losses in consecutive weeks at home, Coach Joe Stephens is optimistic that his team will continue to work hard and strive to turn things around with four games left in the season.

Young Comet Cross Country teams continue to impress

The Coloma Cross Country boys and girls continue to stay busy running around southwest Michigan.

On Wednesday, Sept. 25 they ran in the SAC’s second jamboree of the season at Galesburg-Augusta.  The Comet boys ran well once again and finished in fourth place out of 11 conference teams.  Sophomore Jake Ickes finished in 17th place overall leading his team mates, in a time of 18:42.28.  Junior Blane Sutherland was 19th finishing in 18:52.18. Sophomore Caeleb Ishmael was next in 24th overall, crossing the line in 19:14.82.  Sophomore Ethan Vandermolen was the fourth Comet in at 19:37.58, in 31st overall.

The girls also ran well and finished in 4th place out of nine teams, led by junior Abby Vandermolen who came in at 22:23.78 in 12th place overall.  Sophomore Ava Genovese was 20th in a time of 23:03.35, followed closely by Emma Vandermolen in 21st at 23:08.90.  Sophomore Chloe Williams finished in a time of 23:31.59 which brought her 27th place.

The Comets then traveled to Lake Michigan College on Saturday the 28th for the Berrien County meet and faced some of the toughest competition they have run up against this year.  Berrien Springs boys, the class of the county, placed seven runners in the top 25 as they blew away the competition.  Coloma finished in a very respectable 6th place of the 12 teams entered, as Jake Ickes once again led the Coloma contingent.  Jake finished in 24th overall in a time of 18:42.2 on the soggy course, and running right with him was Ethan Vandermolen in one of his best races of the year, coming in 26th by a fraction, 18:42.5.  Blane Sutherland was 35th for the Comets in a time of 19:13, and Caeleb Ishmael finished in 19:23.2.

The girls finished 6th of nine teams, led by Emma and Abby Vandermolen who came in 14th and 15th respectively in times of 22:51.4 and 23:00.  Ava Genovese finished in 22nd place in a time of 23:17.

Coloma Volleyball team loses a pair

The Coloma Volleyball team lost a pair of games last week to a couple of pretty strong teams.  Coach Kim Swisher’s team fell at home to Saugatuck on Tuesday the 24th, as they took the first set in very exciting fashion by a score of 25 to 22.  They continued to play well but Saugatuck was just a little bit better on this night as they won the last three sets by scores of 25-19, 25-9, and 25-20.

Then on Thursday the 26th Coach Swisher’s team traveled to  Schoolcraft, where they lost in straight sets, 25-11, 25-9, and 25-8.

Against Saugatuck, Madison McQuillan had a fine game with 3 kills, 17 assists, 3 aces and 15 digs.  Megan Neubecker had 11 kills, 10 digs, and 4 blocks, while Marissa Sherburn had 4 kills, Taryn Blazier had 4 kills, 3 aces, 8 digs, and 4 blocks.  Mia Cole chipped in with 11 digs.

The stats for the Schoolcraft game looked like this: Kelsey Ellis 15 digs, Madison McQuillan 11 assists and 4 digs, Gracie Whitaker 2 kills and 4 digs, Taryn Blazier had 5 kills, while Megan Neubecker had 6 kills, 4 digs, and 3 blocks.

Coloma boys soccer has great week, winning 2 games and tying one

The Coloma boys soccer team had a very busy week playing three games.  On Monday, Sept. 23, Coach Gary Gagliardo’s team manhandled Constantine at home by a final score of 6-1.  The young Comet team scored early and often, and spent most of the game on their offensive end of the field, making the Comet goalie a very lonely, albeit happy player.

On Wednesday the 25th, the Comets hosted Saugatuck and continued their excellent play by defeating the Indians, by a score of 5-2.  Coloma was led by Cannon Hodges and Tyler Russell who each scored one goal in both the first and second half.  The other goal for the Comets was put in the net by Luis Olivera Rodriguez, scoring in the second half. On Thursday the team celebrated Senior Night at home against Bridgman and came away with a 1-1 tie.

Press Box player of the week

By John Oliphant

Our Press Box Player of the Week is Jordan Abney. Jordan is a junior on the Watervliet Panther varsity football team. He’s had several great games so far this season, leads the team in catches and receiving yards, has a kickoff return for a touchdown, and also leads the team with four interceptions on defense.

Jordan, who has been playing football since he was six years old, is making a big impact in his first year on the varsity team. In addition to his impressive offensive stats, he’s a solid pass defender and is in on most of the tackles when the plays come his way. Coach Josh Tremblay says Jordan is pound-for-pound the toughest and hardest hitter on the team.

The best advice he’s gotten from his coach so far is “if you mess something up, mess it up 100% and learn from the mistake.” He says the football team this year has its ups and downs but they all work to overcome obstacles and try to come back stronger the next day.

Jordan also plays basketball for the Panthers, and plans to make the varsity team this year.

Congratulations, Jordan!

Hartford Prress Box By Jerrod Birmele

Hartford Football dashes to third straight win after first quarter forfeit

Last Friday night, Sept. 27, the Hartford Indian Football team returned home for the first time in nearly a month, hosting conference-foe Bangor at Indian Stadium. After suffering large defeats in their first two games, the team had rebounded with back-to-back shutout victories to get back to the .500 mark on the season. With the win-less Vikings coming into town, the Indians had a great chance to get their third straight win, and get back in the playoff conversation.

Unfortunately, there is not much to talk about this week. The Indians jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead behind two rushing touchdowns by Aaron Sinclair, before thunderstorms arrived in the area with 7:09 remaining in the opening stanza. After waiting 30 minutes per state protocol, constant thunder and lightning were still in the sky, forcing Hartford officials to make a decision to move the remainder of the game to 9:00 Saturday morning. However, Bangor officials decided to end the game, leading to a 14-0 forfeit victory for the Indians.

Team and individual statistics were not made available as of press time. But, Hartford was dominating the game from the get-go, and likely would have scored several more times if the game was played to completion.

Hartford is currently 3-2 on the season, and also has the same record in Southwest 10 Conference play. The Indians will remain home for the second straight week, as they host the Mendon Hornets this Friday, Oct. 4. Mendon comes in at 4-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming in week two versus Cassopolis. Fans are reminded that along with the early 5:00 p.m. starting time that this week is Homecoming in Hartford and the stadium is usually packed before game time.

Hartford Volleyball serves-up successful week, wins two of three matches

Last week, the Hartford Indian Volleyball team had another busy week on the court, as they played three matches in a four-day stretch. The only saving grace is that all three matches were held in the friendly confines of Indian Gymnasium. The team was coming off of a rough week, losing five of their six matches. However, this was a new week and with a non-conference match and two critical conference matches on the schedule, this was a week to get back on track.

On Monday night, Sept. 23, the Lady Indians played their lone non-conference match of the week against New Buffalo. The Lady Bison had already defeated Hartford twice in a tournament earlier in the season, and our ladies were looking to exact revenge. However, it was not meant to be, as New Buffalo won the match in straight sets: 25-10, 25-17 and 25-13.

In terms of statistics, Hartford was led in aces by Lainey Goodson, Gillian Kuehnle and Karla Robles, with one ace each. Alexis Snodgrass led the team in kills with 4, while Mercedes Requenes added 2 kills. Megan Nelson led the team in digs with 10, while Robles added 8 digs and Goodson posted 6 digs. Other statistical leaders included Kuehnle with 3 assists and Snodgrass with 2 blocks.

On Tuesday night, Sept. 24, the Lady Indians hosted the Bloomingdale Lady Cardinals in conference action. The two teams played recently in a tournament that saw the teams split sets. This match was bound to be a good one, and it was from start-to-finish. The final result, however, saw Hartford score the victory in straight sets: 25-17, 25-23 and 25-20.

In terms of statistics, Hartford was led in aces by Megan Nelson with 3, while Gillian Kuehnle added 2 aces. Alexis Snodgrass led the team in kills with 5, while Mercedes Requenes and Lainey Goodson added 3 kills each. Nelson led the team in digs with 15, while Karla Robles added 8 digs and Goodson posted 7 digs. Other statistical leaders included Nelson with 8 assists and Snodgrass and Emilie Fillmore with one block each.

On Thursday night, Sept. 26, the Lady Indians concluded their week by hosting the Lady Beavers from Eau Claire in conference action. Two weeks prior, Hartford swept Eau Claire easily in straight sets in the New Buffalo tournament, so they hoped to carry that momentum into this match. The final result was a second-consecutive straight set win for the Lady Indians, as they defeated the Lady Beavers 25-10, 25-15 and 26-24.

In terms of statistics, Hartford was led in aces by Karla Robles with 7, while Ariah Jordan and Megan Nelson added 4 aces each. Nelson led the team in kills with 13, while Alexis Snodgrass added 6 kills and Descenya Rodarte posted 4 kills. Robles led the team in digs with 13, while Nelson added 10 digs and Gillian Kuehnle posted 8 digs. Other statistical leaders included Nelson with 8 assists and Snodgrass with 2 blocks.

Hartford is currently 10-19 on the season, and is now 2-2 in Southwest 10 Conference play.

Hartford Soccer moving closer to another conference title after 3-0 week

The Hartford Indian Soccer team had another one of those “usual” busy weeks as they approach the postseason, playing in three matches in the span of five days. The men have been on a roll as of late, winning their last seven matches, and outscoring their opponents by a 39-to-8 margin. However, the matches coming up were huge, as two of them came with conference implications. Should they win, the conference title was almost certainly locked up.

On Monday, Sept. 23, the team hosted Bloomingdale in a critical Southwest 10 Conference match. The Cardinals had beaten the Indians earlier in the year, 1-nil, handing Hartford their lone loss of the conference season to date. With the match shifting to their home pitch, the Indians looked to return the favor. And they would do just that, exacting revenge on Bloomingdale, by scoring a 4-1 victory. Hartford led 2-1 at half, and extended their lead with two more goals in the second half to put the match well out of reach.

GOAL MAKER… Miggy Cardoso (7) dribbles the ball past a Bloomingdale opponent during Hartford’s recent soccer match against the Cardinals on Monday, Sept. 23. Cardoso scored three goals in the Indians 4-1 victory. Hartford went on to beat Marcellus for the Southwest 10 Conference championship Monday night, September 30, 8-0 (TCR photo by Jerrod Birmele)

The Indians got three of their four goals courtesy of one player: Miggy Cardoso. An assist was credited to Joel Soto. Goalkeeper Kaden Johnson made seven saves in the victory.

On Wednesday, Sept. 25, the team hosted Cassopolis in another big Southwest 10 Conference showdown. The Indians and the Rangers have played some great matches over the past couple of years, and the two teams shared the first-ever Southwest 10 Conference title two years ago. The Indians won the first match-up between the two, 5-nil, on September 9. The result of this game was much closer, but the winner was the same, as Hartford defeated Cassopolis, 2-nil. Hartford led 1-nil at half, and scored another goal in a nail-biting second half to secure the victory, and possibly, the conference championship.

The Indians got their two goals courtesy of one player: Miggy Cardoso. Assists were credited to Yael Lopez-Sanchez and Nick Pultz. Goalkeeper Kaden Johnson recorded another shutout, courtesy of his seven saves effort in net.

On Friday, Sept. 27, the team traveled to Hope College in Holland to take on Holland Black River in a non-conference match. The two teams have seen each other before, with their previous current meeting coming last year in the first round of districts, a 3-nil victory for the good guys. However, this is a new season, and both teams are looking for big victories at the same time as the season winds down. This match was tight all night, but in the end Hartford scored a tight, 3-2 victory over the River Rats. Hartford jumped out to a 1-nil lead, before Holland Black River scored two consecutive goals to take a 2-1 lead. The Indians responded with two consecutive goals of their own, taking the lead before weather ended the game short of full time.

Hartford is currently 13-3 on the season, with a record of 7-1 in Southwest 10 Conference play.

As always, GO INDIANS!

Watervliet Press Box by John Oliphant

Panther Football falls to Kalamazoo United

The Panthers and Titans were ready to go Friday night, but Mother Nature’s amazing light show forced the teams to reschedule for Saturday afternoon. The Titans, despite coming in with a 1-3 record were bigger and stronger than any team the Panthers had faced so far this season and that advantage helped them win the game 35-0. The United linemen were a force against the Panthers, giving our guys just a bit more than they could handle. United also dominated the rushing attack with 284 yards on the ground against the Panthers’ net one yard.

Coach Josh Tremblay said that despite the tough loss the young team showed some grit in the second half and continued to battle, causing two fumbles and intercepting a pass with great hustle and effort plays. The 2-3 Panthers travel to Delton-Kellogg on Friday for a 5 p.m. game against the 3-2 Panthers.

Panther Boys Cross notches 5th meet win

Despite racing without one of their top five runners, the Panther boys cross country team still finished third overall in a 13-team field at the 48th annual Berrien County meet. Berrien Springs ran away with the top spot, but the Panthers were just two points behind runner-up St. Joseph. The top times were a little slow on the drenched and muddy Lake Michigan College course, with Gus Hinch (17:44) finishing in 9th place, Ezra Troyer (17:55) at 11th place and rapidly improving Kody Edmonds (17:59) in 12th place. German Casiano (18:29) took 17th place. Matthew Hanks (19:26) had a good race for the team’s fifth and final scoring spot. Jimmy Kolosowsky (20:17) lowered his PR by 49 seconds, and Camden Geisler (20:24) rounded out the varsity finishers.

ON A ROLL! Watervliet High School Boys Varsity Cross Country team has been dominating their division this year. The team has been crowned champions and runners-up in multiple events for the season. Pictured at the Bangor Invitational meet Saturday, Sept. 21 are team members, Gus Hinch, Trever Pelton, and Kody Edmonds. All three are seniors.

Team scores: Berrien Springs 33, St. Joseph 77, Watervliet 79, Lakeshore 116, Bridgman 122, Coloma 162

In the second SAC Jamboree of the season the Panthers were again outpaced by Saugatuck, but both teams outran the rest of the 13-team field at Galesburg-Augusta. The Panthers put together their best team race of the season as Ezra Troyer (17:32), Gus Hinch (17:41), and Kody Edmonds (17:58) all finished in under 18 minutes.

Ezra and Kody set new PRs while Gus ran his season best time. German Casiano (18:11) and Trever Pelton (18:36) also lowered their best times. Others who finished the evening with either new PRs or season bests were Alex Isbrecht, Camdon Geisler, Abel Villareal, Jimmy Kolosowsky, Jake Kroepel, Korben Camp, and Nick Orlando.

Team scores: Saugatuck 30, Watervliet 51, Delton-Kellogg 100, Coloma 131

Panther Girls Cross running well

The girls cross country team finished eighth out of 13 teams at the Berrien County meet at LMC. Brenda Romero (27:02) posted the best Panther time of the day with a PR-tying time. Just four seconds back was Sophie Tavolacci. Kristina Swanson (27:02) was next, while Destiny Kerr (29:09) rounded out the team’s top four with her season best time.

The Panther girls also took on the hilly trails at Galesburg-Augusta last week and came away with an eighth place finish in the 13-team field. Sophia Tavolacci (25:25) led a tightly bunched group followed by Kristina Swanson (25:34) just two spots back. Brenda Romero (26:05) and Megan Trapp (26:07) paced each other to the finish. Their times were all new PRs for Kristina, Brenda, and Megan.

Boys’ Soccer beats Buchanan, loses to Bangor

The boys soccer team played an inspiring and emotional rematch against a talented Bangor squad on Senior Night, Thursday, Sept. 26 eventually falling 2-1.

The game was back and forth the entire first half, ending scoreless. Robert Kraklau made a fantastic save by heading out a shot that would have given Bangor the early lead. Andrew Chisek, Eric Perez-Cruz, and Kraklau were all strong on defense, using speed to negate Bangor for the first 70 minutes of the game.

Alex Isbrecht and Dominick Manujano also played big roles defensively. Zachary Hastings made eight saves in goal, and the defense made it hard for Bangor to make quality shots.

In the 49th minute, Nathan Isbrecht scored the first goal of the game. He took a nice combination feed, starting with a pass from German Casiano to Brennan Bornas and then he beat a defender to walk in on the keeper and kick a shot into the corner of the net. With just eight minutes left, Bangor scored two quick goals to take a 2-1 lead. Despite a valiant effort from all the boys, they could not get the equalizer before time expired.

Mason Pennington played his best game of the season as he and Brady Bornas helped control the midfield. Casiano and Abel Villarreal also played strong games in the midfield. The team now stands at 6-5-1.

Earlier in the week the boys won 10-2 over Buchanan. Nathan Isbrecht led with four goals and Brennan Bornas added three. Brady Bornas and Villarreal each scored once and had an assist. Eric Perez-Cruz also scored a goal. The Panthers had 28 shots on goal, and keeper Zachary Hastings had three saves.

Volleyball competes in River Valley Round Robin tourney after falling in home matches with Gobles & Constantine

On Saturday, Sept. 28 the Lady Panthers played at the River Valley Round Robin Tournament. They split with River Valley the first match of the day, 25-19 and 23-25. In match two Sturgis won, 12-25 and 7-25. In match three the Panthers split with Howardsville, 25-15 and 16-25. In match four Bridgman won, 12-25 and 5-25. In the final match of the day the Panthers played New Buffalo, losing 21-25 and 19-25.

Stats for the tournament include Addison Riley 13 kills, 2 digs, 1 block, 1 ace; Abbigayle Roberts 11 kills, 2 aces; Susanna VanLente 9 kills, 4 digs, 5 aces; Kristen Gardiner 28 assists, 3 digs, 5 aces; Allie Pline 9 digs, 3 aces; Jaylee Querfurth 8 digs, 3 aces; Yanna Winters 3 kills, 2 digs, 2 aces; Myah Hobson 2 blocks, 1 dig; Lilly Lefor 2 digs.

The Panthers hosted Gobles and Constantine on Tuesday, Sept. 24. The Panthers lost 3-0 to Gobles. Next up the Panthers faced Constantine in a 2 out of 3 match. In game one the Panthers played point for point until the score reached 9-9, but then Constantine’s aggressive and strategic serving took over the match. Constantine won the 14-25 and 9-25.

Stats leaders for dual match are Kristen Gardiner 11 assists, 3 digs; Susanna VanLente 3 kills, 1 dig, 4 aces; Myah Hobson 4 kills, 1 dig; Yanna Winters 3 kills, 2 digs; Addison Riley 2 kills, 2 digs; Allison Pline 4 digs

AQBs had perfection, delays, and close calls week; Lynch leads, Krell drops to the bottom

By Dave Vollrath

Our panel of armchair quarterbacks had a great week of picking football winners, topped by RoxAnn Rodney-Isbrecht and Tim Hildebrand who both posted perfect 8-0 records for the week.

Normally picking 7 out of 8 winners would put you at the top of the weekly heap, but not this week, as that is what was posted by Rodney Lynch, Kathy Summers, and Dan Jones. Greg Krell even had an extremely respectable 6-2 record which lands him at the bottom of this week’s standings.

There were some close calls once again, as the Detroit Lions tried mightily to break all of our pickers’ hearts. The Lions, playing one of the top teams in the NFL, fell just short of a huge upset when K.C. scored the winning touchdown in the final 20 seconds of the game. Our panel also had to bite their nails while watching the MSU Spartans kick a last second field goal to defeat the lowly Indiana Hoosiers, who had tied it, with about a minute and a half to go.

Friday night was also a waiting game for much of the high school games in our area, as heavy rains and an abundance of lightning caused headaches for our athletic directors. Coloma and Watervliet, who were each beaten this week, chose to postpone their games until Saturday afternoon. Hartford got their game started and eventually won by a 14-0 score, even though they had delays and called the game complete even though it wasn’t. Our expert pickers only missed on one of the high school games, as Watervliet panelists, Dan and Greg, both picked Watervliet over a heavily favored United team.

The Tri-City Record Armchair Quarterback 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 the 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 predict the score from a specially selected game. The AQB whom comes the closest to the total number of points scored by both teams will get the higher spot in the standings.

We give the nod for the weekly leader to Tim over RoxAnn based on the tiebreaker, which was the 39-0 score of Constantine over Coloma. Kathy gets third place with her 7-1 record and pick of 41 points, while Dan and Rodney also each had 7-1 records and each predicted 49 points in the tiebreaker ties for fourth. Greg is sixth place for the weekly picks.

Rodney remains in first place overall, still with a great record of 32-7, as Tim holds onto second place at 29-10. RoxAnn, who just a couple weeks ago was in last place, moves up to third with her perfect week, at 27-12. Kathy gets fourth place over Dan based on this week’s tiebreaker, they both stand at 26-13. Greg moves into the basement at 25-14, even though he has the undying love of the Watervliet faithful.

Check back next week to see if any of our pigskin prognosticators can be perfect as we give them these games to chew on.

Coloma at Kalamazoo United

Delton-Kellogg at Watervliet

Hartford at Mendon

Iowa at Michigan

MSU at OSU (tiebreaker)

Bowling Green at Notre Dame

Chicago at Oakland

(Playing in London, England)

Green Bay at Dallas