***Article by Josh Longstreth
Things have come at the Zeeland East Chix in a hard way late in the season. The Chix were able to grab a win last week after a modest two-game skid. It wouldn’t be any easier in week eight as they faced a hot Reeths-Puffer team.
The Rockets would get the party started fairly early in the game. Antrel Jones burst in from 2-yards away and the Puffer would hold an early 7-0 lead heading into quarter two.
East would bounce back early in the second quarter when Austin Keur found Gabe Amid from 4-yards out. This made it a tie game at 7-7. Late in the quarter the Rockets would find their offense again. Jones would pick up his second touchdown of the half on a 1-yard dive to make it a 14-7 Puffer advantage. The Chix would grab the momentum right back with just seconds remaining in the half on a Keur 17-yard pass to Teagan Slenk. We had ourselves a 14-14 ball game heading into the locker room.
It would be the Rockets drawing first blood just minutes into the second half. Brody Johnson would help give his team the lead on a 3-yard touchdown run. This gave Puffer a 21-14 lead to that point. Right back come the Chix. They would tie the game right back up when Keur took one in on the ground from 2-yards away. This would make things deadlock at 21-21 after three.
One team was going to have to deliver a couple blows to pull away on the night. It would be the Rockets taking advantage of that. They regained the lead to make it 28-21 after a Bryce Ross 8-yard scamper. To top it off, Johnson would pick up his second rushing touchdown of the night on a 1-yard plunge. Puffer comes up big late and goes on to defeat Zeeland East, 35-21.
Reeths-Puffer improves to 6-2 with the win. Brody Johnson was an absolute man possessed on the night. The senior runningback toted the rock 35 times on the night for 196 yards rushing to go with 2 second half scores. The Rockets look to take down Zeeland West in week nine. The Dux fell to Mona Shores in a tight battle Friday night.
Zeeland East drops to 5-3 on the season. Austin Keur led the Chix going 10 of 16 passing on the night for 101 yards passing and 2 touchdowns. The senior signal caller added 52 yards on the ground and 1 touchdown rushing. East looks to get over it quickly when they take on Mona Shores next week. The aforementioned Sailors sit at 6-2 heading into the final week of the regular season.
