10-18-2018 Tri-City Area Sports

Watervliet Pressbox by John Oliphant

Panther football woes continue

The Panther football team’s tough season continued on Friday, October 12 when they faced the Schoolcraft Eagles at Panther Stadium on a cool and wet evening. The Panthers came into the game with a 2-5 record, while the 10th-ranked Eagles came in at 6-1. Last year the Panthers ended the Eagles’ season in the playoffs, so the Eagles came with extra motivation and likely some payback in mind as well.

The Eagles took the opening kickoff then scored on just two plays. Likely all-state running back Kobe Clark, who scored a state-record nine touchdowns against Constantine two weeks prior, was everything he was advertised to be: patient, extremely quick, and tough to tackle.

Following the Eagles’ first score, senior Jakob Aldrich caught the big kickoff at the 10 yard line for the Panthers then ran all the way for the score. The try for two extra points failed, making the score 7-6 with just 1:40 gone in the game. Watervliet was hoping for a shootout, but that would be all the scoring and the only Panther highlight, other than a Kris Lenox fumble recovery late in the first half.

The final home game of the season ended at 65-6 as the weather worsened.

Next week the Panthers travel to Coloma and the 100+ year cross-town rivalry game.

Panther boys run to 2nd Place at SAC meet

The boys cross country team continued to improve upon their impressive season by finishing second place at the SAC meet in Delton. Saugatuck ran away with the win, which was no surprise for the favorite to win the Division 4 state championship. If the Panther boys continue improving at this pace they could do very well in the Division 3 regionals on October 27.

Gus Hinch and Ezra Troyer earned First Team All-Conference honors at the meet. Facing strong winds and the sudden arrival of late fall temperatures, Junior Gus finished 5th in 17:47 and sophomore Ezra was 8th in 17:59. Kade Van Niel, Matthew Hanks, and Trever Pelton were packed crossing the finish line in under 19 minutes, earning All-Conference Honorable Mention for all three.

Austin Roberts returned to form running a 20:00 while Camdon Geisler, Mason Pennington, and Jake Kroepel all set new personal records.

Lady Panthers take on Brandywine and Bridgman

On Tuesday, October 9 Watervliet hosted a quad volleyball meet with Brandywine, Kalamazoo Christian, and Bridgman. The Panther gymnasium was filled with noisy and exciting volleyball action for several hours.

The Panthers faced Bridgman in their first match. In game 1 the Lady Panthers had a six-point lead but couldn’t hold on, falling 25-17. Game 2 saw the Panthers stay close at 11-13, but the Bees were able to win 25-16 despite impressive kills by Elaine Koshar.

Game 3 was close throughout. Strong serving from Mikalah Clay and Susanna Van Lente keyed a mid-game comeback and the eventual 25-21 win. In game four neither team ever led by more than three.

Koshar made a dramatic kill to earn her own serve, but the Bees defense proved tough and they won the game 25-23 and the match 3-1.

The Panthers next faced Kalamazoo Christian, who gave a powerful Brandywine team all they could handle in their opening match. The Panthers played well in the first match, losing 25-19. But then the young KC Comets team took charge, winning 25-12 and 25-17. The match featured several highlight volleys and good blocks and kills.

Total stats: Grace Smith 47 digs, one kill; Mikalah Clay 25 assists, two kills, two blocks, five aces; Elaine Koshar 15 kills, four digs, six blocks, three aces; Emma Armstrong 19 digs, five kills, one ace; Susanna Van Lente seven aces, four digs, one block, two aces; Tekoa Marshall three kills, one dig; Emma Yazel two kills.

Lady Panthers beat Hartford in 2nd Dig Pink Match

On Friday, October 12 the Panthers, along with the entire WHS student body, headed to Hartford for the annual Dig Pink match. This is a unique event where the teams play during the school day and students from both schools fill the gym to cheer for their team. The two schools come together to raise awareness and to show support to all students and families that are battling cancer and to honor survivors. Hartford and Watervliet schools raised over $1,200 at the event. Proceeds from this years’ event will be used to support Hartford’s Megan Drane, who is battling breast cancer.

VOLLEYBALL DIGS PINK… The Watervliet (left) and Hartford (right) varsity volleyball squads teamed up Thursday to “Dig Pink” at their annual match. The teams hold the event in an effort to raise awareness of breast cancer, support those affected by the disease, and honor survivors. Watervliet won the match 3-0.

The Hartford gym was extremely loud and full of energy and school spirit on both sides, which kept the teams fired up for the entire match.

The Panthers, wearing pink jerseys, took early leads in the first two games to capture wins, 25-17 and 25-20. The Panthers started slow in game three but battled back to 8-8. They played as well as they have all season to get a win in game three 15-12 to take the match.

Coach Edie Daugherty commented, “Grace Smith continues to lead the team defensively in digs, keeping the Panthers battling against teams with tough offenses.”

Stats: Grace Smith eight digs; Mikalah Clay four digs, 20 assists, two kills, three aces; Emma Armstrong six digs, four kills, three aces; Elaine Koshar two digs, 10 kills, two blocks; Susanna Van Lente three digs, one assist, two kills, six aces; Brionna Myers one dig, one kill, one ace; Payton Priebe two aces; Tekoa Marshall two digs, two kills, Emma Yazel three kills, one block; Emma Kraklau one dig.

Panther Girls Cross Country Team improves

The Panther girls cross country runners finished the conference portion of the season in Delton at the SAC Championship meet. The young team was able to put together their best overall team effort of the season with three runners posting new personal bests. Sophie Tavolacci led, improving her personal record time by 35 seconds at 24:38. Aria Richards was next in 25:15, just a second shy of her PR. Jazmin Moron also set at new PR of 26:35 as did Destiny Kerr with a 28:50.

Hartford Prress Box By Jerrod Birmele

The temperature outside may have taken a drastic turn towards cooler weather, but that didn’t stop the athletes of Hartford from competing in Football, Soccer, Volleyball and Cross Country action during the second week of October. In fact, the schedule featured six different games, matches, meets and even a conference tournament on the docket, keeping the Indian athletes active and busy.

Hartford Football bitten by the ‘Dogs

On the gridiron, the Hartford Varsity Football team returned home for the first of two home games to finish the regular season. This past Friday night, Hartford hosted an unbeaten Centreville Bulldogs team that was looking to keep pace with Cassopolis in the Southwest 10 Conference race. The Indians, who had dropped three straight games after starting the season 4-0, were just looking to get back on the winning track.

Things started great early for the Indians, as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead after scoring on their first drive of the night. But, it went downhill from there, and went downhill quickly. Centreville would go on to score on every single one of their possessions, with the exception being their last one, as they put together eight touchdown drives in total. When the final whistle sounded, the Bulldogs had sent a strong message to their opponents, putting up 58 points and routing the host Indians, 58-8.

Hartford’s lone scoring drive was 16 plays, 65 yards in nature and took nearly nine minutes off the clock. On fourth down and goal from the 1-yard line, Indian quarterback Kyle Manning snuck the ball across the goal line to put the Indians on the board. Hartford would go for the two-point conversion and were successful when running back Aaron Sinclair took the toss and ran to his left, going in untouched to complete the conversion. Centreville would go on to score the final 58 points in this one. The Bulldogs scored just once in the first quarter to knot the game at 8, but after scoring three times in the second quarter, they would go on to take a 30-8 lead at the half. Centreville added four more touchdowns in the second half, with three in the third quarter and one in the fourth quarter, to round out the scoring.

On offense, Hartford gained 131 total yards, with 44 yards coming through the air and 87 yards on the ground. Manning went 4-for-8 passing for 44 yards and an interception, completing passes to Javier Naranjo (1 catch, 21 yards), Ricky Baker (1 catch, 11 yards), Evan DeLaRosa (1 catch, 9 yards) and Sinclair (1 catch, 4 yards). On the ground, Moses Beraza led the Indian rushing attack, gaining 32 yards on 20 carries, while James Gideon added 23 yards on 4 carries and Sinclair added 21 yards on 10 carries.

On defense, Hartford was led by Gideon with three tackles, while four other Indians: Beraza, DeLaRosa, David Fernandez and Corey Arnold, added two tackles a piece.

With the loss, Hartford falls to 4-4 on the season and 3-4 in Southwest 10 Conference play. The Indians finish out the regular season on Friday against Bloomingdale. It will be Hartford’s Senior Night, when they will honor their senior football players, cheerleaders and cross country runners during pre-game ceremonies.

Hartford Soccer scores shutout, postseason looms

On the soccer pitch, the Hartford Men’s Varsity Soccer team played just one match during a much “tamer” week in preparation for the upcoming postseason. The Indians, fresh off two wins during the previous week, including an upset of then #4 ranked Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, came into action ranked #8 in the MIHSSCA Division 4 coaches’ poll.

On Monday of last week, the team traveled to Bridgman to play in a non-conference match against the Bees. The Indians came out firing shots on goal, but only managed to put up two first half tallies to take a 2-0 lead into half. Whatever Coach Blackmer said in that halftime huddle must’ve kept the Indians motivated. Hartford managed to put up three more tallies in the second half, while the strong Indian defense managed to hold Bridgman to just a few shots on goal for the entire match. All in all, it turned into a case of role reversal. In the end, it was the Indians that were stinging the Bees, cruising to a 5-0 victory.

The Indians five goals were scored by five different players: Joel Soto, Fernando Alvarez, Miggy Cardoso, Brandon Galvan and Roy Rodriguez. Assists were credited to Inteus Dixon, Galvan, Soto, Ulises Bacilio and Luis Resendez. Goalkeeper Rudy Martinez recorded three saves in the winning effort.

Hartford finished the regular season with a record of 16-3. The coming week ahead features postseason play. The Indians are part of a district hosted by Saugatuck, which will also include the likes of Bangor, Bloomingdale, Covert, Holland Black River and Holland Calvary. The Indians first round match, however, will take place at home against Holland Black River on Tuesday night. The winner of that match will move on to the district semifinal, where Bloomingdale awaits after receiving a first-round bye.

Hartford Volleyball shows improvement, nets two victories

Last week on the volleyball court, the Hartford Varsity Volleyball team played in two matches and competed in their conference championship tournament.

On Tuesday, they traveled to Bloomingdale for a Southwest 10 Conference matchup against the Cardinals, before hosting Watervliet during a special, Thursday afternoon “Dig Pink” affair with the rival Panthers. They then traveled to Marcellus on Saturday to compete in the second-annual Southwest 10 Conference championship tournament.

In Tuesday’s match, the team suffered a loss in straight sets: 25-19, 25-19 and 25-17. The Indians were led in kills by Mikenzie Chambers with nine, while Megan Nelson added three kills. In terms of aces, three different players each served one ace to lead the team: Nelson, Karla Robles and Chambers. Hartford was led in digs by Nelson with 67, while Jaelyne Galvan added 48 digs and Chambers added 34 digs.

In Thursday’s match, the team once again suffered a straight set loss: 25-17, 25-20 and 15-12. The Indians were led in kills by Mikenzie Chambers with six, while Megan Nelson added two kills. In terms of aces, four different players each served one ace to lead the team: Janell Babcock, Ariah Jordan, Jessica Huaracha and Lainey Goodson. Hartford was led in digs by Nelson with 49, while Jaelyne Galvan added 37 digs and Chambers added 29 digs.

In Saturday’s conference tournament action, Hartford played in four separate matches during pool play and went 2-6 in those eight sets. They started the day with three straight-set losses, Decatur (25-10, 25-15), Mendon (25-5, 25-14) and White Pigeon (25-15, 25-19), before defeating Bangor in straight sets (26-24, 25-23) to round out their tournament play. The Indians were led in kills by Mikenzie Chambers with 17, while Megan Nelson added 10 kills, Jaelyne Galvan added three kills and Lainey Goodson added two kills. Janell Babcock and Nelson led Hartford in aces with four a piece, while three players: Galvan, Ariah Jordan and Goodson, added one ace each. Hartford was led in digs by Nelson with 152, while Galvan added 79 digs, Chambers – 74 digs, Gillian Kuehnle – 17 and Babcock – 13.

Hartford is currently 8-28 on the season and finished 1-8 in Southwest 10 Conference play. This week, the Lady Indians play one match during the week and compete in an invitational during the weekend. They will host Berrien Springs in a non-conference match against the Shamrocks on Tuesday, before traveling to Saint Joseph for the Saint Joseph Invitational on Saturday morning.

Hartford Cross Country runs strong at Bloomingdale Invitational

On the Cross Country trail, the Hartford Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams traveled to Bloomingdale last Saturday morning for the Bloomingdale Invitational.

For the Men’s side, Hartford finished in 6th place as a team. Leading the Indians was Joey Lehmkuhl in 18th place with a time of 18:51, while Francisco Loera finished in 39th place with a time of 20:25. Other runners that contributed to the team result were Aldo Acevedo (40th, 20:30), Keith Sayre (55th, 22:33) and Francisco Medrano (60th, 23:10). Lehmkuhl and Medrano set personal best times for the season during Saturday’s race.

On the Ladies side, Hartford finished in 2nd place as a team. Leading the Indians was MacKenzie Brinsfield in 8th place with a time of 21:24, while Adrianna Morseau finished in 10th place with a time of 21:30. Other runners that contributed to the team result were Jovana Naranjo (16th, 22:52), Marisol Robles (17th, 22:55) and Jamie Smith (18th, 22:56). Six different runners set personal best times for the season during Saturday’s race: Morseau, Robles, Smith, Mayra Naranjo (23:20), Esther Ugalde (25:41) and Regan Sinclair (26:55).

The Hartford Cross Country teams will travel to two meets in the coming week. On Wednesday, they will be in Mendon to compete in the third and final Southwest 10 Conference jamboree of the season, before going to Gobles on Saturday to compete in the Gobles “Little Guys” Invitational.

Coloma Press Box By Dave Vollrath

Coloma slips and slides to a 44-36 win over Delton Kellogg

The chances of Coloma reaching the playoffs in football for the first time since 2008 were assumed finished with a record of 3-4. Coach Stephens reported with wins in their last two games they still had an outside shot at getting in, if the right set of circumstances fell their way. No doubt this had a positive effect on the way the team prepared and practiced for the game Friday at Delton Kellogg.

Delton Kellogg marched with the opening drive toward the Comet goal line, scored on an 8-yard run by Bradley Bunch, and it was 8-0 to start the game.

Kevin Hearn gave the Comets great field position, recovering an onside kick at Coloma’s 43, but the Comets went three and out and were forced to punt, and from the beginning it was obvious that because of the cold and the rain and the mud, it was not going to be a fun night for the kickers or the punters. It rained steadily throughout the game, and the field was quite a muddy mess by the end.

After a short Comet punt gave DK good field position, the Panthers once again drove easily down the field, keeping it all on the ground and capped it off with a 15-yard TD run; at that point the Comets trailed 14-0.

Coloma’s next drive resulted in the offensive line taking over the line of scrimmage, as they would for the rest of the game, and Caleb Ellis ran off a 54 yard touchdown to get the Comets back into the game, 14-6.

DKs next drive ended with a Zach Goodline interception at the Comet’s ten yard line. After a Comet three and out, and a very short punt, DK put another TD on the board from a 4th and inches at the one yard line.

Late in the first half, the game started getting a little chippy and DK had a few huge penalties called against them which resulted in a Zack Lake TD, and Sincere Taylor added the 2-pointer. The first half ended with Coloma trailing 22-14.

The Comets started the second half with great field position at their own 40 yard line and following the blocking of the offensive line, drove down and scored as Ellis punched it in from four yards out, Coloma trailed 22-20. The Panthers starting at their own 40 quickly drove down and capped that drive off with a 9-yard TD, and DK led 28-20. At this point both defenses seemed to be leaking oil, and were having trouble keeping the other team out of the end zone.

Coloma scored next on a 38-yard scamper by Kenyon Boyd to end the third quarter trailing by a score of 28-26.

COLOMA CROSS COUNTRY ALL-CONFERENCE… Six Comet athletes received First Team All-Conference honors in the Southwestern Athletic Conference for their speedy seasons this fall. The recipients included (from the left): Front row – Emma Vandermolen and Ava Genovese; Back row – Blaine Sutherland, Jake Ickes, Adiel Granados, and Ethan Vandermolen.

Coloma started the 4th quarter scoring with a 35-yard hook up from Goodline to Ellis, and Coloma had their first lead of the night, 32-28. But it didn’t last long as Panther Roblyer took the kickoff around the 25 and ran it all the way back to retake the lead 36-32. With under six minutes left in the game and aided by a DK pass interference call which gave the Comets a much needed first down, they eventually went ahead for good on a Lake 3-yard TD carry, and the score was 38-36.

The next drive was stopped when Coloma’s Cody Reese recovered a huge DK fumble and set up the Comets on the DK 35 with 2:40 left in the game. With Coloma trying to run out the clock, DK was using their time outs when on 4th and 10 Coloma pulled off the gutsiest play of the year as Goodline hit a wide open Nick Santarlas with a 35-yard TD pass and surprised everyone in the park. Coloma now leading 44-36, DK had one last chance to tie the game, but that threat was once again ended by a Goodline interception with 28 seconds left and Coloma took a knee and ended this wild scoring affair.

Coloma took the ball away four times on three interceptions and a fumble recovery; Zach Goodline actually caught more of the DK passes than their receivers by 3-1… the turnovers were the big difference in the game.

Goodline finished the night passing 5-11-0 for 150 yards and two TDs. Ellis led the Comet rushing attack with 112 yards and two TDs, and passing by hauling in four passes for 115 yards, adding another TD.

Lake punished the middle of the DK defense gaining 90 yards on 21 carries, and Boyd finished with 59 yards rushing. On defense for Coloma, Reese led the way with nine tackles, Trent Brown added eight, and Goodline made seven tackles to go with his three interceptions.

Pressbox Player of the Week

By John Oliphant

This week’s Tri-City Record Press Box Player of the Week is Mikalah Clay, a senior setter on the Watervliet Panther volleyball team. In last week’s Dig Pink match with Hartford, Mikalah led the Panther offense with 20 assists, many of which led to kills by her teammates. Not satisfied with just assisting, she also had three aces, two kills, and four digs . As the team’s setter Mikalah has effectively driven the team’s offense all season, acting as its point guard. She’s been solid on the net, too.

Asked about playing in front of such a huge and noisy crowd during the Dig Pink game, Mikalah said “It’s so loud but I trust my team and our ability to get the job done. I like that the communities come together and we’re playing for one cause. It doesn’t matter who wins or loses.”

About her team, she said, “I like our chemistry. We all trust each other on the court.”

Mikalah also plays on the basketball and softball teams and plans to play softball at Adrian College next year, either catcher or third base.

Congratulations Mikalah!

No big movers in AQB, Leach only one on panel to correctly pick Comets upset of Delton Kellogg

By Dave Vollrath

The Coloma Comets were the only Tri-City team to win in week 8 of the Tri-City Record Armchair QB competition, and Chris Leach was the only one on the panel to correctly pick them to win. Because there was no one to really stand out, RoxAnn Rodney-Isbrecht remains in first place for another week.

The Tri-City Record AQB competition is held weekly, as six of our local football fans compete against each other to predict the winner of a pre-selected group of games, from the high school, college, and professional ranks. Following the conclusion of the Super Bowl, one winner is crowned champion and will have the honor of wearing a new TCR AQB ball cap.

In the event that two or more ‘backs have the same record for the week, their place in the standings will be determined by a tie-breaker game. In addition to trying to guess the winners for that week’s games, they try and predict the score of a specially selected game. The one, who comes closest to the final total points scored by those two teams, gets the higher spot in the standings.

RoxAnn Rodney-Isbrecht finished week 8 with a 5-3 record, which was tied for best record of the week, and remains in first place with a total score of 46-17.

Rodney Lynch also had a 5-3 record for the week and remains in second place 2 points behind the leader at 44-19.

For the second week in a row the pair in the middle of the pack, flip, flopped in the standings with Tim Hildebrand and Greg Krell each coming in with 4-4 marks, which keeps them tied with season totals of 42-21, but this week Greg Krell jumps back into third place by coming closest to the tie breaker score from the Michigan/Wisconsin game.

Dan Jones stays firmly entrenched in fifth place; he correctly picked four of the week’s winners and now checks in with a 36-27 season score.

Even though Chris Leach was the only one to correctly pick the Comets, and tied for the high score for the week, she remains in last place with a 32-31 record, but having a good week could give her some momentum to build on.

The AQBs will be looking for that perfect score this week by trying to correctly pick from this week’s games:

Bloomingdale at Hartford

Watervliet at Coloma

Michigan at MSU

Miami Dolphins at Detroit Lions

Chicago Bears at New England Patriots

The tie breaker game is Michigan vs. Michigan State.

Check next week’s paper for the results to see how our predictors fare.