The Allendale Falcons suffered four defeats to start the 2025 season, the last three by at least two touchdowns. On Friday, they hit the road to face the Sparta Spartans, who have been one of the more pleasant surprises in the area at 2-2. The slide for Sparta continued, as they suffered their third straight loss, falling to Allendale 26-13.
After a scoreless first quarter, Sparta scored first. With 8:42 remaining in the second quarter, Aaron Merdzinski ripped off a 6-yard touchdown run, pushing the Spartans ahead 7-0. Allendale responded with a quick touchdown march. Facing a fourth down, Zyion Smith slipped past the Spartan tacklers, racing 18 yards to even the score.
Allendale would take a lead into the locker room when Cayden Pattinson powered across the goal line from two yards out. a second successful PAT pushed the Falcons ahead 14-7 as the teams broke for halftime.
In the third quarter, just one team found the end zone. Allendale went to Zyion Smith, who broke free for an 8-yard touchdown carry. Already ahead by 13, the Falcons went back to Smith early in the fourth quarter. The junior iced the game with another 8-yard touchdown run with 1:32 to play, putting Allendale ahead by 19.
Sparta would get a 40-yard touchdown run from Merdzinski with 42 seconds to play, but already trailing by 13, they were unable to rally in such a short time.
With the win, Allendale snaps an 11-game losing streak, the program’s longest since they lost their first 13 varsity games in program history between 1969-1971 (the streak was 18 winless gams with one tie included). Next week, Allendale will look to keep this momentum rolling against Coopersville. Sparta, now 2-3 after their 2-0 start, will look to snap their slide against Greenville next Friday.
