By Cris Greer, WKTV Managing Editor
The wins keep coming and the pressure keeps mounting for the South Christian football team, which knocked off Kenowa Hills 37-7 Friday to stay undefeated at 8-0.
The Sailors have a chance to go undefeated in the regular season for the first time since 2004 with a win at Forest Hills Eastern next Friday, and hope to stand alone atop the OK Gold for the first time since 2014.
They are currently 6-0 in the conference, one win ahead of Grand Rapids Catholic Central with a 36-34 win over them earlier this year.
“An undefeated regular season would be really cool,” said South Christian Coach Danny Brown, whose team reached a Division 4 regional final last year. “We’re playing a really good Forest Hills Eastern (4-2, 6-2 overall) team that is well coached with good players next Friday.
“We want to roll into the playoffs on a good note.”
Jake DeHaan stands tall again
Once again, quarterback Jake DeHaan led the way for the Sailors, completing 15 of 23 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown throw to Carson Vis. DeHaan added 51 yards on the ground with two more TDs.
“He threw the ball really well,” Brown said. “He was taking what the defense was giving him. We ran a lot of swing passes to our running backs, and our receivers did an awesome job of blocking downfield this week.”
Cayden Dykema led the Sailors with 6 tackles, while Sawyer TenHaaf added 5.
“We played really good on defense tonight,” Brown said. “We were flying around everywhere and good at the point of attack. We did a good job of putting pressure on the quarterback and made it tough on them.
“The kids seem to answer the bell every week.”
Nate Brinks “all over the place”
Brown said Nate Brinks had a great game as well, rushing 10 times for 50 yards and a TD and five receptions for 72 yards, plus handling all the kicking duties.
“He kicked a field goal and nearly puts every kickoff into the end zone,” Brown said. “He had a lot of touches today; was all over the place.”
Seth Ritsema had four catches for 99 yards.
Kenowa Hills Coach Rory Zegunis said the Sailors are very impressive.
“They are as advertised, that’s for sure,” said Zegunis, whose team fell to 1-7 overall. “I was super impressed with their defense. They are big, strong and fast. It’s hard to find a place to attack them.
“And offensively, the quarterback is so dynamic. He can throw, he can run, he’s just a smart kid back there and is dangerous.
“With a team like that, I was overall happy with how our defense played. We just couldn’t do anything on offense.”
WKTV Game of the Week
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