The South Christian Sailors and Forest Hills Eastern Hawks met again on Friday. After a thriller early in the year, this time they met for a District Championship. The rematch was even better than the first rendition, as the winning score came with 29 seconds to go. The Sailors scored that touchdown, giving them a 22-14 win.
In the first quarter, South Christian took the lead. Charlie Schreur capped off a six-play drive with a 5-yard carry. This was the lone offense in the first half, as the teams went to the locker room in a 7-0 game.
Forest Hills Eastern was able to respond in the third quarter, as Will Morgan found the end zone. It was the opening drive of the third quarter when they marched 64 yards in seven plays. Morgan carried the final three yards for the equalizer.
South Christian responded with their own 9-play, 82-yard touchdown march. Carson Vis capped off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown toss to his trusty target Jake Vermaas.
Once again, FHE took their time to methodically march down the field. They took 11 plays, over six minutes of game play, and scored the tying touchdown. This time, Mark Fuehrer found Jake Heemstra for a 10-yard score.
With just under three minutes left to play, the Sailors offense went to work. They nearly took the entirety of the clock to go 84 yards in 11 plays. Vis was the stalwart again, finding Noah Funk for a go-ahead 23-yard touchdown. With just 29 seconds to go, South Christian was ahead by 7.
FHE had the ball at their own seven yard line when they began their last drive. They ultimately would be tackled in the end zone on the final play, giving the Sailors two extra points.
Carson Vis finished this game 11/17 passing for 166 yards and a score. He added 43 yards rushing, only outdone by Schreur (45). Preston Hoexum led all rushers with 50 yards in defeat.
Next week, South Christian will return home to host Big Rapids. The Cardinals had a stunning upset of Whitehall to advance to next week’s Regional Finals.
