**ARTICLE BY LIEN VELDBOOM**
The Unity Christian Crusaders hosted the Spring Lake Lakers for their week 8 matchup. The Lakers were 2-3 in the conference thus far, while the Crusaders were undefeated. This game seemed like a pretty easy pick as the Crusaders have dominated all season long, while the Lakers have struggled. This however was not the case on Friday night, as the Lakers knocked off the only remaining undefeated team within the OK Blue.
The Crusaders looked to be running away with the game in the first quarter when they scored three back-to-back touchdowns. The first one came from Carter Bylsma who received a 9-yard pass from Mitch Tibbe. The next two came from the ground when Issac Stienstra and Tibbe ran it in to give the Crusaders an 18-0 lead after 3 failed 2-point conversions.
It was now the Lakers’ turn to put points on the board and they hit the gas hard. They were able to score the next five touchdowns in the game, not allowing the Crusaders back in the endzone till the end of the third quarter. Alex Lee accounted for three of these touchdowns as he rushed for scores of 1, 81, and 13 yards respectively. The others came from Reid Grimmer, one through the air and one on the ground. Grimmer found Jackson Lemmen for an 18-yard score, and he was able to sneak it past the goal line for a one-yard run.
The Crusaders were 2 scores behind but had plenty of game left. Unity Christian was able to find the endzone two more times, however, they still didn’t have the lead. Dylan DeHoop added six to the board, and Stienstra ran for his second of the night. The Crusaders were still 3 points behind the Lakers, and they weren’t able to find those three points before the game clock read zero. The Lakers completed the upset 35-32, taking down the only remaining undefeated team in the conference.
The OK Blue conference title is up for grabs next week as the highly talked about West Catholic versus Unity Christian matchup is set to take place. The winner will be crowned the champion of the conference, with Fruitport also having a chance to claim a share. The Lakers will hope to make a playoff run with a win next week against the Coopersville Broncos. If they play similarly to their effort tonight, we should have an exciting game on our hands next week.
