By Judy Reed

Cedar Springs has never won a varsity football game against South Christian. Last Friday’s homecoming game was no exception. Instead, they suffered a humbling 32-14 loss.

“We did not play well Friday night,” said Cedar Springs Coach Gus Kapolka. “It was an uncharacteristic game for us. We were undisciplined and committed 9 penalties. Hats off to the South Christian players and coaches for playing well and out executing us in every aspect of the game.”

Kapolka expects to see more from his team this week. “We have a lot to work on for this week, but I have no doubt that we will approach Friday’s game with a positive mindset and a desire to improve,” he remarked.

South Christian scored three times before Cedar Springs ever hit the board. They scored two touchdowns in the first quarter (one a 3-yard run and one a 43-yard touchdown pass) and then again on a 32-yard field goal by Jeff Herrema with 7:20 left in the second quarter. That made the score 17-0.

Cedar Springs then scored with 4:52 in the second on a 58-yard touchdown run by Da’Montae Barnett. Antwuan Nicholls then ran it into the endzone to add two more points, to make it 17-8.

South Christian came right back and scored again with 1:30 left in the second, on a Ty Rynbrandt pass to Eli Smith for a 26-yard touchdown. The extra point was good. The score was SC 24, CS 8 at halftime.

South Christian scored again with 6:38 left in the third quarter on another pass to Smith, this one a 7-yard touchdown. Rynbrandt then passed to Daniel Possett for two more points.

Cedar Springs scored once more with 4:29 left in the fourth quarter, on a 15-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jeremy Campione. The extra point run by Nicholls was no good. The final score was South Christian 32, Cedar Springs 14.

Cedar Springs had 207 yards rushing. Barnett led the Red Hawks with 80 yards on the ground. He was followed by Nicholls with 64; Alex Ream with 31; and Campione with 29. Nathan Elliston, Kyle Hoort, and David DiPiazza also contributed net yardage of one each.

Campione completed 2 of 5 passes for 18 yards, and threw one interception to South Christian’s Will Fennema. Josh Kriekaard led in pass receiving with 13, and Dylan Greenland had one yard.

South Christian rushed for 37 yards but had 270 in the air. Rynbrandt completed 24 of 32 passes, three for touchdowns.

Defensively, Alex Ream led in tackles for Cedar Springs with 11; Elliston and Greenland both  had 7; Hoort and Mitchell Metiva had 5 each; Nicholls had 4; the rest of the team had 3 and below, for a total of 50.

South Christian had 54 tackles, with Evan Roedema leading with 9; Connor Dykema with 7; Ike Northouse, Jace Demann and Sam Meengs all had 6.

The Red Hawks are now 2-2 in the OK Gold and South Christian improved to 4-0. This week, Cedar Springs travels to Ottawa Hills, who is 0-4 on the season.

The standings for the OK Gold are: Catholic Central and South Christian (both 4-0) are tied for first place; followed by Forest Hills Eastern (3-1); Cedar Springs and Thornapple Kellogg (both 2-2); Kenowa Hills (1-3); and then Ottawa Hills and Wayland (both 0-4).

By Judy Reed

Two of the toughest teams in the OK Gold went head to head last Friday evening: Catholic Central—the reigning Division 4 state champs, and Cedar Springs—conference champs in the OK White two years in a row. Both teams were 2-0 on the season. 

But another win for Cedar Springs just wasn’t in the cards Friday night. They took it on the chin 42-28, in spite of a rally in the second half that brought them within a touchdown of the Falcons.

“We obviously ran the ball extremely well and controlled time of possession, but we gave up too many big plays on defense and couldn’t get off the field on 3rd down,” explained Cedar Springs Coach Gus Kapolka. “I’m proud of the fight our kids showed in the second half, scoring on three consecutive drives and recovering an onside kick.”  

Catholic Central scored first at the 2:10 mark in the first quarter when Joey Silveri completed a pass to Danny Mikolay for a 21-yard touchdown. The kick by Jack Barlow was good for the extra point. 

At 9:56 in the second quarter, Silveri completed another pass, this time to Jace Williams for a 5-yard touchdown. The extra point kick was good.

With 7:16 left in the second, the Red Hawks scored when Alex Ream ran to the left and into the endzone for a 3-yard touchdown. Quarterback Jeremy Campione then ran the ball in for the two-point conversion. 

Just seconds later, Catholic Central came back and scored again with 6:59 left in the half on another pass from Silveri, this time to Nolan Zeigler, for a 49-yard touchdown. The extra point kick by Barlow was good. At the end of the half, the score was CC 21, CS 8.

Cedar Springs came out in the second half determined to make up for lost opportunities.

Catholic Central scored first, with 10:29 on the clock, on a one-yard run by Nick Hollern. The extra point kick was good.

Cedar Springs then scored with 5:01 left on the clock in the third when Aiden Brunin ran for an 18-yard touchdown. Alex Ream’s two-point conversion was good, making the score 28-16.

CC scored again when Silveri passed to Hollern for a 48-yard touchdown. The extra point kick was good, making the score 35-16.

Cedar Springs rallied and scored twice in the fourth quarter, for 12 more points. The first was on a run by Brunin for a 7-yard touchdown, and the second on a one-yard run by Campione. Extra points were no good. The score was now 35-28.

Catholic Central sealed the victory with 1:28 left in the game on a 28-yard run up the middle by Silveri. The extra point kick was good, making the final score CC 42, CS 28.

Cedar Springs had 383 yards on the ground. Leading the charge was Aiden Brunin with 151; Antwuan Nicholls with 88; Alex Ream with 87; Jeremy Campione with 28; Nathan Elliston with 20; Kyle Hoort with 6; and Da’Montae Barnett with 3.

Catholic Central had 191 yards rushing. Joey Silveri had 110, and Nick Hollern had 81. Silveri also completed 7 out of 8 passes for 191 yards on the air.

Defensively, Cedar Springs had 21 tackles, and Catholic Central had 73.

Cedar Springs (2-1) hosts South Christian (3-0) this Friday for homecoming. What does Coach Kapolka think they need to do win that game?

“We need to repeat our success on the ground against South Christian and limit the big plays on defense,” he said. “Those are our goals this week.”

While fans can buy tickets to the freshman and JV games this week, none are being sold at the gate for the Varsity Friday night, as it would exceed the 1,000 person cap. Three tickets to the game are being made available to participants (football, cheer, band) and extras to students.t

For others to watch, you will need to stream the game at https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/cedar-springs-high-school-cedar-springs-mi/game2f253c198. According to a post by teacher Justin Harnden, their crew will be filming the game, not using the automated camera.

The cost for the streaming subscription to nfhsnetwork.com is $10.99 per month and less for a year’s subscription. A subscription allows you to watch games from all over the state of Michigan.

Cedar Springs Varsity Volleyball competed in two matches this week, suffering a 0-3 (25-27,12-25,20-25) loss to South Christian at home on Tuesday, September 29 and earning an away 3-0 (25-12; 25-7, 25-23) victory at Ottawa Hills on Thursday, October 1. The Lady Red Hawks are 2-10 overall and 1-5 in conference.

Leaders for the week include outside hitters Kennedi Jager (12 kills; 3 aces; 3 digs) and Aaliyah Calkins (13 kills;20 serve receptions). Senior middle Arianna Rau contributed 10 kills and 4 blocks. Setter Makenna Outwin tallied 43 assists and 7 aces with 17 service points.  Libero Elizabeth Fettig was solid at defense registering 18 digs and 40 serve receptions. Alyssa Detweiler logged 4 blocks and 6 aces. Defensive specialists Isis Polczsk (10 digs/17 serve receptions) and Avery Peterson (4 digs/3 serve receptions) held the back line while Chloe Fish rounded it out with a kill, 6 service points and 5 serve receptions. 

“As a team we have set one of our goals to be better today than we were yesterday,” said Coach Ashley Lowing. “The girls are working hard each day, resulting in great success at meeting that goal.” 

The Junior Varsity went 1-1 this week losing to South Christian (17-25;12-25) and beating Ottawa Hills (25-8;25-19). Red Hawk Freshman lost on Tuesday to South Christian (26-28; 25-18;4-15). 

This week, the Volleyball program competes in a home conference match against Kenowa Hills on Tuesday, October 6. This final home match will recognize the five seniors: Cassidy Canfield, Elizabeth Fettig, Avery Peterson, Arianna Rau, Aina Catala. Freshman start at 4pm, followed by JV and Varsity.  Next week has two away matches, the first at Forest Hills Eastern on Tuesday, October 13, then Greenville High School on October 15.  Matches begin at 5pm.

In an effort to give back to the local community, which has supported the Youth Football Program, Cedar Springs Youth Football is hosting their first annual Community Charity Games, on Saturday, October 21, at Red Hawk Stadium. 

The Cedar Springs 7th grade football team will take on South Christian 7th grade at 5:30 p.m., and the Cedar Springs 8th grade will play Caledonia at the conclusion of the 7th Grade game.

Admission is $3 per adult, $2 per child, and 3 and under free.

Proceeds from the games will go to the Ricker and Orr families.

Red Hawk boys bowling team took 2nd place in a baker tournament at Park Center Lanes. Left to right Jared Caniff, Brayden Harper, Dane Conely, Jonah Drake, Dugan Conely, Jared Liggett, Josh Hamilton, Kaleb Fisk, Coach Tim Jackson.

On December 27, Park Center lanes in Wyoming hosted a baker tournament.

The Cedar Springs Boys bowling team took 2nd Place against South Christian with a 2 baker total of 302-348.

The Lady Red Hawks bowling team fell short to Hopkins in the semifinals. Sophomore Sarah Galloway bowled her High school high of 211 and sophomore Rose Baty bowled her high school high of 117.

On January 4, the Red Hawks hosted a conference match at Rockford Lanes against Northview. The Cedar Springs boys team fell short with a score of 4-26, and the girls lost 2-28.

On January 8, the teams competed at the Jenison invitational. The CS boys team placed 5th. Red Hawk Josh Hamilton placed 5th in the individuals for boys with a pin total of 413 in 2 games.

The Girls placed 6th.

Middle school football is back! Gate fee: $3.00 adult and $2.00 per student. Rocket football players with jersey get in free.

Game times: 7^th grade 5:00 p.m., 8^th grade 6:30 p.m.

See schedule for next Wednesday, October 5, below:

Week          Date                Venue                Opponent

5       October 12           Cedar Springs    South Christian

Dugan Conely received a medal for 5th place.

Trevor Ruark received a medal for 3rd place.

Saturday, January 23, the Cedar Springs boys bowling team bowled at the East Kentwood tournament, with over 26 teams at the tournament, cedar springs boys finished 5th. They honored the top four individual high games, Trevor Ruark received a medal for 3rd place with his high game of a 267.

Saturday, January 30, the boys bowled at the Rockford tournament, with 16 boys teams the top 8 qualify to move on, Cedar springs placed 5th and went up against South Christian and lost. At this tournament they honored the top 8 individuals for total of their two games. Dugan Conely received a medal for 5th place. He bowled a 245 and 216 for a total of 461.