A Red Hawk tackles a Ranger during last Friday night’s loss to Forest Hills Central. Photo by K. Alvesteffer/R. LaLone.
The Cedar Springs Red Hawks Varsity football team took on the Forest Hills Central Rangers this past Friday, constantly pushing themselves and their teammates, but was defeated 31-20.
The Red Hawks came out into the first quarter ready to go with runs by junior John Todd, sophomore Ryan Ringler and senior Jacob Hooker. The Hawks got the first touchdown within 4 minutes, with a pass from quarterback and junior Nick Campione to Jacob Hooker. The kick from senior Dustin Shaw was good, giving the Hawks a lead of 7-0. The Rangers came back a few minutes later with a touchdown at 3:28 left of the first quarter. Carries by Hooker, Campione, and Todd showed they weren’t giving up, and major tackles by Todd and Shaw shut down the Rangers.
Right into the second quarter, Central ran in a touchdown, taking the lead 14-7. Tackles by Ringler, Shaw and sophomore Lucas Pienton slowed down the Rangers for a little while, but they came back with another touchdown with 6 minutes and 44 seconds left of the first half. The Hawks refused to give up and continued to run the ball. Seniors Dylan Ostrom-Howell, Austin Basso, Jacob Hooker, as well as Todd and Ringler make their way down the field, but couldn’t get the touchdown.
Going into the second half, junior Nate Patin and senior Collin Alvesteffer got in some good tackles before the Rangers scored another touchdown, 3 minutes in, upping the score to 31-7. Carries by Hooker, Ostrom-Howell, and Todd led to a touchdown by Hooker with 3 minutes remaining of the third quarter. The two-point conversion was no good making the score 31-13 Rangers, going into the fourth quarter.
The Hawks found some stamina and completely shut down the Rangers in the last quarter. Runs by Ringler, Campione, and Ostrom-Howell as well as tackles by Alvesteffer, Patin, and senior Jordan Ringler get the energy up. In the last minute of the game, Junior Darius Barnett made a huge run, leading to Campione’s touchdown with 4.2 seconds remaining. With Cedar’s efforts, the game ending up being closer than expected, with a final score of 31-20.
This coming week, Cedar Springs hosts Ottawa Hills in the final game of the season.
