The Red Hawks scored their 8th straight win of the season Friday against Forest Hills Northern. Courtesy photo.

Red Hawks win OK White championship

By Judy Reed

The Cedar Springs Red Hawks Varsity football team accomplished three feats on Friday night—and two of them hadn’t been done in Cedar Springs for 60-plus years.

The biggest and most important feat was that they won their first ever OK White Conference championship, and they won it outright—they were undefeated in conference play, and finished 6-0 in conference, and 8-1 overall in the regular season. It was their first conference championship since they shared the OK Bronze conference championship with Forest Hills Eastern in 2015.

“It is a great accomplishment for our team,” said Coach Gus Kapolka. “Winning the OK White was one of our goals from the very beginning of the season. I’m proud of how dedicated all of our kids were in winning Cedar Springs’ first ever OK White Championship. We need to continue with our dedication and preparation moving forward throughout the playoffs.”

The second feat they accomplished was three straight shut outs in a row, which they hadn’t done since 1956, when they were part of the Newaygo-Cnty league and had five in a row. 

The third accomplishment was that they won eight straight games—something that had not occurred since 1954, as part of the Newaygo-Cnty league. That year they went 9-0, winning every game on their schedule. This year’s only loss was the first game of the season to Saginaw Swan Valley, the 2017 Division 5 state runner up. 

The game last Friday against Forest Hills Northern was cold and wet, but the Red Hawks pulled off another great performance. They scored once in the first quarter on a 33-yard touchdown run by Lucas Pienton, and quarterback Kolby Swank passed to Ethan West for the extra two points. 

They scored three times in the second quarter. With 9:48 on the clock, Kolby Swank ran in a 7-yard touchdown, and Ryan Ringler ran in the extra points. With 1:32 left, Sage Serbenta ran right for a 5-yard touchdown, and Ringler ran in the extra points. Then with 39 seconds left til half, Serbenta returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown, and Swank’s pass to Ringler was good for the extra points.

In the third quarter, Ringler scored on an 8-yard touchdown run, and Serbenta ran in the extra points.

The Huskies got close to scoring in the fourth quarter after a fumbled punt put them within five yards of the goal line. But the Red Hawks gave no quarter, and and the Huskies were stopped on the one-yard line, by Red Hawks Xavier Anderson and Zak Schmid, and Cedar Springs took over the ball.

The Red Hawks rushed for 333 yards, with Serbenta getting 109; Ringler 78; Pienton 44; Ethan West 41; Landon Totten 33; and Swank 24.

Ringler led in tackles with 12; the rest of the team had four or less.

This Friday Cedar Springs will host Gaylord (6-3) in the Division 3 (region 1, district 1) pre-district playoffs. Ticket prices are $6. Come on out and cheer on your Red Hawks!

On Wednesday, February 8, the Cedar Springs JV and Varsity competitive cheer teams traveled to Northview High school for the last conference meet of the competitive season. Both teams left as OK White conference champs, and this is the first time varsity has held this title in school history.
Cedar Springs JV took the mat and after round 1 received a score of 167.80. Round 2 brought them a score of 145.22, and a subtotal score of 303.02. Round 3 earned them a score of 230.20, which gave them a total score of 533.22 and placed them higher then two of the competing Varsity teams.
Four teams competed at the varsity level for the title of OK White conference champion.
Cedar Springs Varsity took the lead after round 1 with the score of 221.90. Round 2 gained them an additional 220.44 points, a subtotal score of 442.34 and a 20-point lead over second place. The completion of round 3 gained them an additional 289.30 points, a total score of 731.64, and secured their first place finish by 30 points to win the OK White conference championship.

“This is the first time Cedar Springs has finished first in their conference for competitive cheer,” said Coach Anne Oszewski. “I am really excited that this group of girls made it happen. And our plan is to make it a tradition! They are a hardworking group that have worked their way up through our rocket cheer program to high school. They have all they need to be awesome. And they are! I love them all fiercely and I want to see them succeed post season!” she remarked.
On Friday, February 10, both teams traveled to Caledonia for the SCOTastic competitive cheer meet.
Four teams competed at the JV level.
Round 1 earned a score of 181.4. After round 2 they gained an additional 170.4 points, bringing their subtotal to 351.8. Round 3 gained an additional 255.5, giving them a final score of 607.34 and ending the night with a second place finish.
Six teams competed at the Division 2 Varsity level. It was a neck and neck fight until the end between Cedar Springs Varsity and Kenowa Hills.
Round 1 earned the girls a score of 224.9 putting them in second place, with less than a 4-point difference. Round 2 gained them an additional 221.88 points bringing their subtotal to 446.78, keeping them in second with less than a 1-point lead. At the end of round 3 they gained an additional 311.5, giving them a final score of 758.28, and ending the night with a second place finish with a difference of just over 2 points.
On Saturday, February 18, the Varsity team will travel to Kenowa Hills for District finals, beginning at 10 a.m. Come show your support for our cheerleaders and their coaches as the continue their fight to the State Finals.