Photo Credit: Eric Walstra
The South Christian Sailors entered Friday night with a shot at the district championship. As the #2 seed, that was expected by many. Their opponent, the Hamilton Hawkeyes, were the #5 seed in the district, so they were a surprise to some in reaching the finals. With a district title on the line, South Christian brought their best performance in a 56-14 victory.
Jake DeHaan started the scoring for South Christian with a touchdown pass to Elliot Grashuis. Before the quarter ended, DeHaan and Sam Meengs paired up for a fifty-five yard touchdown. These two scores, plus a pair of extra points by Nate Brinks led to a 14-0 advantage.
South Christian continued to extend their lead in the opening seconds of the second quarter. DeHaan and Grashuis paired up for a twenty-eight yard touchdown. DeHaan tossed his fourth touchdown with just under five minutes to play in the quarter, finding Eli Smith to extend the lead to twenty-eight.
The Sailors’ defense got into the scoring column in the second quarter when Sam Meengs scooped up a fumble and ran into the end zone for a touchdown. South Christian finally extended their lead to 42-0 at halftime when DeHaan found Evan Roedema on a twenty-five yard touchdown pass, his fifth of the first half.
Coming out of the locker room, Hamilton struck first. Ben Boehm found his way into the end zone from eight yards out to put the Hawkeyes on the scoreboard. Jake DeHaan and South Christian responded, as the quarterback found Evan Roedema once again. This time, it was a ten-yard touchdown strike to extend the lead to 49-7. DeHaan would end the third quarter scoring by tossing his seventh touchdown of the night. This seven-yard pass to Elliot Grashuis made it 56-7 Sailors.
Hamilton got a late touchdown by Tyler Stezowski, but it would not be enough. The Sailors win the school’s first district title since their Division 4 State Championship season back in 2014.
South Christian outgained Hamilton 374-198 in this contest. Jake DeHaan was the star of the show, as he was 17/20 for 322 yards and seven touchdowns through the air.
Elliot Grashuis was the leading receiver for South Christian, as he caught eight passes for 124 yards and three scores. Eli Smith added five catches for ninety-two yards and a touchdown. Evan Roedema had three catches, two for touchdowns, and he finished with fifty-one yards. Sam Meengs had just one catch, but it went for that fifty-five yard touchdown.
Next week, South Christian will hit the road for the first time this postseason. The Sailors have an extremely tall task, as they take on the undefeated Eddies of Edwardsburg. In their district final, Edwardsburg shut out Paw Paw 43-0. The Eddies have outscored their opponents 393-50 so far this year.
It will be the first meeting between these schools since their 2014 playoff epic in the State Semifinals, a game South Christian won 50-48.
Next week’s game will be broadcast LIVE on Michigan Sports Radio, so make sure to tune in for the action.
