By K.D. Norris
Clearly the Grand Rapids South Christian High School football team hoped and practiced for a better result than the 47-7 road loss at state-power Edwardsburg, Saturday, Jan. 9, after the state playoffs resumed following a six-week, state-mandated pause due to COVID-19 restrictions.
But Sailors head coach Danny Brown had nothing but praise for his team, which finished the season 8-2, their best season since 2014, and never backed down from the challenge of a night road game in freezing January temperatures against the Division 4 powerhouse Eddies (now 9-0).
“Our team as a whole deserves a lot of praise,” Brown said to WKTV this week. “This has been a tough journey for these kids and they never wavered. They were always ready no matter what was thrown their way.”
And a lot was thrown their way, including the nearly two-month layoff, less than a week in pads to prepare for the game, and a rigid COVID-19 rapid testing protocol the team and staff had to pass. And that was before they took the field.
In the game, South Christian took the opening kickoff and drove to Edwardsburg 28, keyed by a 22-yard pass from senior Ty Rynbrandt to Trevor Hansen that got the ball to the Eddies’ 28. But the drive stalled, Edwardsburg took over, and the Eddies scored first. The Sailors answered later in the first quarter with a 7-play, 60-yard scoring drive finishing with Hanson’s 28 yard run and Nate Brinks’ PAT to make the score 8-7.
But Edwardsburg, and its prolific offense, proved just too much from there on out. For the game, the Eddies out-gained the Sailors in total yards 306-138, and the host team marched to their fourth Regional title in five seasons while continuing a streak of scoring at least 43 points in every game this season.
For the game, Sailors’ quarterback Rynbrandt was 11-of-26 for 96 yards while returning to the field after recovering from an injury in the November.
But finishing the season on the field was important to Rynbrandt, and to the rest of the South Christian team.
“I think it was important to get closure on the season,” Brown said. “There would of always been this thought of ‘what if’ if we weren’t allowed to continue. We always just wanted a chance to complete the season. The game didn’t goes as we hoped but at least we know we got to play in our last game of the season.”
