One of the biggest challenges in sports is responding after a large setback. In Week 1, East Grand Rapids was dealt a big blow with a 40-7 defeat against their biggest rivals. This Friday, the schedule remained tough with another rival, South Christian, on the docket. East Grand Rapids flipped the script, pitching a shutout in a 21-0 win over South Christian.
Just fifty-four seconds in the game, the Pioneers capitalized on a mistake to seize an early lead. South Christian had an errant snap that sailed into the end zone. Zach Caswell, the senior linebacker, pounced on the loose football in the end zone to put EGR ahead 7-0.
Later in the quarter, East increased their lead. After blocking a South Christian punt, they took over just fifteen yards away from the end zone. With an extremely short field, the Pioneers needed just four plays to score. Josh McCune kept the football, and the quarterback scored on a 5-yard touchdown.
From this point forward, the defenses locked in. Neither team found the end zone again until the fourth quarter. After stopping South Christian on downs, East iced the game with a 3-yard touchdown run by McCune with 2:28 to play.
There were just 252 total yards of offense in this game, 150 by South Christian and 102 by EGR. The pivotal miscues by the Sailors led to short field touchdowns for the Pioneers, allowing them to grab this 21-0 victory.
East Grand Rapids improves to 1-1. They will continue non-league play next week against Grand Rapids Christian. South Christian falls to 1-1 after suffering their first shutout since 2005. They will look to bounce back next week against West Catholic.
