ARTICLE BY: CHELSEE MARTINO

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Grand Rapids Public Schools, Ottawa Hills and Union faced off for the first city-wide alumni reunion. It was the season opener for both teams as they all stepped on the turf to battle for the win. Both teams traveled to Houseman Field in Grand Rapids, MI.

In the first quarter, Union started the game off strong as Tommy Stevens scored a forty-yard touchdown followed by an extra point to put the Red Hawks up 7-0. Just twenty seconds later, Ottawa Hills quarterback Anthony George went 48 yards to put the Bengals on the scoreboard, but the two-point conversion was incomplete resulting in a score of 7-6. As the end of the first quarter approached, Keaunt’e Swarn carried the ball into the end zone to put Union up 14-6.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Keymarion Gibson completed the play of the game. At the 30 yard line with the pressure of the fourth down, Gibson faked a punt and put his legs to good use for seventy yards as he raced into the end zone for a touchdown. The Bengals went for the two-point conversion but they were unsuccessful, the score getting closer 14-12. With six minutes left, Keondre Anderson scored a 20-yard rushing touchdown but the team failed to get an extra point as they missed the kick, putting their lead at 20-12. Tommy Stevens made a power play as he darted downfield for a seventy-three-yard touchdown run, and Union followed that up with a successful two-point conversion from Keaunt’e Swarn.  As the clock ticked down, Scharai Horton from Ottawa Hills covered sixty yards to successfully score, trimming the halftime deficit to 28-18.

The third quarter saw two touchdowns, both coming from Ottawa Hills. The first was scored early on by Anthony George as he walked into the end zone. He followed up with a successful two-point conversion to lessen the Red Hawks’ ten-point lead to just two points (28-26). In the final eight seconds of the third, Keymarion Gibson went  fifteen yards into the end zone, and the team capitalized once again on a two-point conversion give Ottawa Hills their first lead at 34-28.

In the final quarter, both teams offensively and defensively matched each other for the first few minutes. As the excitement in the crown built, Union successfully took the lead as Tommy Stevens speedily ran fifty-two yards to score. Stevens’ touchdown was followed by an extra point to deliver a narrow victory for the Red Hawks, 35-34.

Next week, Union will travel to Detroit Osborn. Ottawa Hills will host Benton Harbor next Thursday.