With senior-heavy 61-player roster, South Christian football eyes return to championship form

BY SCOTT DECAMP

For Michigan Sports Radio

BYRON CENTER – South Christian’s football team was riding high after a 27-13 victory over Grand Rapids Christian in the 2025 season opener.

The following week, South Christian’s 21-0 home loss to East Grand Rapids brought the Sailors back down to earth.

When South Christian lost a 42-41 overtime heartbreaker at Portland in a Division 4 playoff opener to cap an uncharacteristic 4-6 campaign, the Sailors vowed to never experience that feeling again.

“I think one thing we learned, we won (in Week 1) and thought we were a really good team. Then we kind of got to the next week and we scored zero points and it was kind of just a shocker,” said South Christian receiver Charlie Vermaas, now a senior and three-year varsity performer. “We learned it takes a lot of work to win games and especially close games against good teams.”

South Christian’s six losses last year came against perennial or historical powers, four of them by a touchdown or less.

Following the 2025 season, the Sailors changed their mindset and went to work immediately.

South Christian opened the 2026 season last week with another impressive win over Grand Rapids Christian, 35-14. East Grand Rapids is next up on the schedule: 7 p.m. today at the Pioneers’ Memorial Field. The Sailors remember all too well what happened last year in that matchup and they’re determined to write a new, happier chapter.

“We were disappointed in how (2025) ended,” said linebacker Gavin Bouma, now a senior and also a three-year varsity player. “We felt like we were good at the start of the year and then it kind of just got off the rails, went downhill. I think we took it upon ourselves to be better leaders, pushing each other, making sure people were at the workouts, making sure people are working out, getting better, pushing themselves to be better, and just being great leaders.”

In addition to plenty of motivation, South Christian believes it has strength in numbers. The 61-player varsity roster is the largest in coach Danny Brown’s eight years at the helm. A senior group of 27 strong has provided great leadership, according to Brown.

And, as Brown noted, it’s one thing to have a bunch of seniors on a team, but it’s vital to have the right ones – the leader types. He said the buy-in for his squad is collective.

“Typically, we wait a little bit (to resume offseason weight training when a season ends). We start really getting after it right after Christmas break. And these kids, kind of on their own, they just started diving in before I was even pushing it,” Brown said. “Football is a physical game. Injuries happen, so conditioning and strength in the room is a big part of (success for) any season.”

Added senior center Joe Gritter: “Losing by one point (to Portland in the playoffs), I think it really motivated all of us to get back to work immediately. Guys getting (in the weight room) before school, after school; you know, in the summer, in the mornings, at night. Getting together and really pushing each other, working together well as a team, and seeing everyone in there motivating each other and working hard to get better as well.”

A scan of the dozens of players putting in work on South Christian’s practice field behind the high school on Monday revealed a roster with plenty of size and athleticism. 

The Sailors have plenty of bodies, they appear to have the physical tools, the experience is there (nine returning starters on offense, seven returning starters on defense), and they certainly possess the drive to get back to what the program has done so well: Winning big and making deep playoff runs.

South Christian last captured a state championship in 2022, when it went 14-0 and outscored opponents by a combined 508-178 margin. That roster featured 53 players.

In 2023, South Christian made it back to the Division 4 state finals and finished with a 10-4 record while outscoring opponents 502-330. In 2024, the Sailors advanced to the semifinals in an 8-5 season when they scored plenty of points but also surrendered a lot (391-377).

Last fall – the first losing season for the program since 2015 – the Sailors still finished with a slight edge in points scored and points allowed (242-229). The defense kept them in most games; they just struggled to put up points and had trouble finishing games.

Exhibit A: In South Christian’s 21-0 loss to EGR last season, the Sailors allowed around 100 yards of total offense, according to Brown.

“I think it was one of those years where everything was close and we just got to the fourth quarter and ran out of gas or whatever it was,” Brown said.

Added Bouma: “We played great defensively last year, but in the fourth quarter we just wore down a lot and that’s how we lost a lot of close games. We couldn’t finish strong, so that’s something that we’ve talked about a lot. Finishing games better, staying fresh.”

With a large roster, keeping players engaged is a big deal for the Sailors. Brown said his squad has come up with a good script in practice to keep everybody involved.

Another key factor is focusing on the task at hand and not looking ahead. Brown said a lot of that responsibility falls on coaches as well as players.

“You reflect on last year and you talk about the close games and all that stuff, and I don’t think I did a good job – I made it bigger than it needed to be,” Brown said. “I think our focus has just been, we flip back to what made us successful. Just being the best we can be today, being 1-0 today, and then when you get to Friday, obviously trying to be 1-0 that day. 

“Really, just back to the basics. You watch film, look at what we did right, look at what we did wrong, continue to build. The hope is just to be the best we can be by the end of the season – wherever that takes us. We’ll be ready for it.”

When asked about goals for this season, Vermaas was not taking the bait. He immediately responded, “Beat EGR. That’s all we’re thinking about. Not talking about anything else.”

Working to improve on a daily basis. Stacking days. Those are the things that should help the Sailors return to the form that many have come to expect over the years.

“When we were younger, we watched these South Christian teams go to the state championship, go on deep playoff runs, and it just kind of, like, hurt us to see our (2025) team was the team that didn’t do that and kind of let the program down lower than what our standard really is,” Vermaas said. “Just seeing that kind of drove us to make a change in our team and it started really with our seniors.”

Featured photo at the top: South Christian football players break a huddle at the end of practice Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, at South Christian High School in Byron Center, Mich. (Photo | Scott DeCamp)