With the weather feeling a bit more autumn-like in Week 2, McKenzie Stadium in Jenison was
packed to the edges for the 2024 home opener against the Forest Hills Northern Huskies.
Clearly, excitement was (and still is) building within the Jenison community, with new coach
Josh Lucas taking over a program that aims to return to its late 1990s form and begin
contending in the OK Red again in the next couple of seasons.
However, the Huskies continued to impress behind their experienced offensive line and solid
front-seven play, leading to a 28-6 victory for Forest Hills Northern in front of a huge crowd in
Wildcat land.
The game began far differently than Week 1, where the Huskies were ambushed by Kenowa
Hills in the first two drives and Jenison didn’t give up a point in their entire game. This time,
Northern struck swiftly on their first drive. Sophomore QB Owen Ostipow used his feet for much
of the first half, starting with a 30-yard touchdown run after just four plays to put his team on top
well before the crowd had fully filed into the stadium.
Jenison looked solid in its first home drive under Coach Lucas, mostly running the ball and
gaining 3-5 yards per play, converting a couple of first downs on third-and-short situations
before needing to punt. Both teams traded punts until Ostipow scored again on a tremendous
22-yard run, staying balanced through two would-be tackles and sneaking inside the right pylon,
stretching the lead to double digits. The Husky defense held firm twice more in the first half,
while RB Colton Sawyer, who took on much of the load later in the game, scored his first
touchdown of the year with a 2-yard run just before halftime.
The game wasn’t over yet.
The adjustments made by the Jenison coaching staff during halftime paid off. Starting the
second half with the ball, the Wildcats put together their most impressive drive of the night,
converting four first downs and running 12 plays. But the FHN defensive line, led by Eli
McCauley, dominated the interior, forcing several plays for a loss and ultimately causing a
turnover on downs at the Husky 12-yard line.
The field had flipped, though, and Jenison started their next possession in Husky territory for the
first time all night. They finally broke through with a 6-yard touchdown run by QB Eli Zietman,
snapping Northern’s near six-quarter shutout streak. But that was all. Northern’s defense
completely shut down Jenison for the remainder of the game never giving up another first down,
apart from the final drive when both teams’ second-stringers took the field.
A dominating performance by the Huskies’ offensive and defensive lines has set the team up
well as they head into the teeth of their schedule. In both Weeks 1 and 2, the team responded to
any threats by stabilizing the offense with their run game and smothering their opponents’ with
defensive pressure and discipline.
The real test is ahead, though. The crowd will be loud, proud, and packed next week for the
home opener against their cross-town rival and state champion Forest Hills Central Rangers.
After that, they face another state champion, Muskegon, in their toughest road game of the
season, followed by matchups with Top 10 teams Byron Center and Mona Shores in the weeks
ahead. The bar has been set, and growth will be measured, but Coach Eddie Ostipow has this
team looking as solid as possible to start the year, with even more potential to be tapped into. If
it happens over the next two weeks, Husky fans will just how special this season could be. Be
sure to check out all the coverage on MichiganSportsRadio.com next week, starting at 6:45 p.m.
for the home opener to see which Forest Hills team will remain undefeated and solidify itself as
a contender in 2024.
