By Judy Reed
Photo by Nancy Scheer
Cedar Springs kicked off the season by playing one of the toughest teams in Division 3—River Rouge. The two teams faced off Saturday, August 27, as the event finale in the Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic at Wayne State University, in Detroit.
It was quite a defensive game between the two teams, and the Red Hawks held the Panthers scoreless until late in the third quarter. Cedar Springs was moving the ball, but could not get on the scoreboard themselves, something that hasn’t happened in 10 years.
“I thought we played well defensively, especially against a team the caliber of Rouge. They have 12 players with college scholarship offers. I couldn’t be prouder of the effort our guys gave,” said Cedar Springs Coach Gus Kapolka.
“Jeff Myers put together a great gameplan defensively, but unfortunately we couldn’t capitalize on it and punch a couple of scores in.”
Photo by Nancy Scheer
The first score on the board happened late in the third quarter. River Rouge quarterback Christian Johnson left the game, and backup quarterback Mckale McDowell came in. He passed to Nick Marsh for 21 yards, and this put River Rouge on the 1-yard line. McDowell then ran it in for the touchdown.
The second touchdown was with 8:21 left in the fourth quarter, on another pass to Nick Marsh, good for a 32-yard touchdown. The last score came with 5:16 left left in the fourth, on a 48-yard touchdown run up the middle by Cameron Broadnax.
“Their size really began to wear us out in the 2nd half and Nick Marsh (MSU Commit #1 WR in the State of Michigan) made two great plays and scored,” explained Kapolka.
Cedar Springs rushed for 203 yards. They were led by quarterback Ryan West, with 77 yards; Carter Falan with 54; Nate Slager with 23; Antwuan Nicholls with 22; Ryan Mitchell with 16; and Kevin Vanderhaag with 12.
River Rouge garnered 173 yards on the ground, and 147 in the air.
This week, Cedar Springs takes on another tough team, Zeeland West, at Red Hawk Stadium on Friday, at 7 p.m. What can fans expect?
“Friday, we play a team very similar to ourselves,” said Kapolka. “They run a similar offense and defense and have a tradition of winning. It will be another challenge for us, that’s for sure.”
