By Greg Chrapek
WKTV Contributor
The South Christian football team has been busy the past two Thanksgiving weekends. Two years ago, the Sailors traveled to Ford Field and won the Division 4 state championship and last season they returned to the state finals, but fell just short of the end zone on the final play of the game.
The Sailors and their fans would like nothing less than spending Thanksgiving weekend in Detroit once again. To return to the finals, however, will require a host of young players to step up as the Sailors were hit hard by graduation. A host of seniors are gone from last year’s team that averaged 35.9 points per game and fashioned a 10-4 overall record. Developing new starters is job one for the Sailors as they opened fall camp last week.
While a large group of veterans have moved on, the Sailors do return a pair of key returnees who provide the team with a solid nucleus to build around.
Senior Carson Vis returns as quarterback
One of those returning players happens to be at the all-important quarterback position. Senior Carson Vis (6-foot-4, 190 pounds) is back after a glittering season last fall as a first-year starting quarterback. Vis finished the season passing for 2,972 yards and 34 touchdown passes along with 939 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns on his way to earning all-state honors. Vis saved his best for last as he completed 30-of-44 passes for 441 yards and two touchdown passes in the state championship game while adding 72 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown.
With a year of starting experience at quarterback under his belt and some promising young receivers stepping in, Vis is optimistic about how the offense is looking heading into the new season.
“I feel pretty good,” said Vis, who has committed to Western Michigan University in basketball. “Our offensive line is looking good. We’re strong up front and our receivers are catching the ball. I have a lot of trust in them and they make me look good a lot. We have some junior receivers who had big seasons on the JV and came up in the playoffs, so they kind of know what that playoff run is like so they should be ready. We’ve been practicing in the offseason throwing routes so we should be pretty good.”
Senior Tyler Brinks also is returning for the Sailors. Brinks is a 6-foot-6, 215-pound senior who has committed to Grand Valley State University to continue his career. Brinks will line up at tight end on offense and is a returning outside linebacker on defense.
The Sailors graduated four starters from the offensive line. South will count on senior Camryn Veltman (6-3, 210) to anchor the offensive line as he returns to the center position.
New offensive line, receivers and running backs
Along with finding new starters along the offensive line, the Sailors have to develop a new cast of receivers and running backs. Plenty of candidates are vying for playing time at those positions.
“Nobody that we have at running back got any reps last year,” South Christian coach Danny Brown said. “We have one guy, a senior, who had a few reps in games where he was able to get it. It’s a young group, there’s about three or four of them, and we’re still trying to figure out what’s that right mix. It’s so early to tell where it’s at, we kind of have a plan in place, but we’re going to need somebody to grab it.”
Among the players looking to contribute at running back are juniors Kasjen VanSolkema (5-11, 175), Brady VanNoord (5-11, 160) and Isaac Osterhaven (6-0, 185).
Wide receiver also is a work in progress with senior Bryce Kenyon (6-0, 160) and junior Owen Burgess (6-1, 180) among the receivers to watch for.
Receiver Jake Vermaas will be missed
“It’s going to be different,” Brown said. “Last year we had Vermaas (Jake) who had 98 receptions and he was the guy. This year we are going to spread it out more. We might not have as much experience as years past, but we’ve got some guys who can do some work.”
The Sailor defense also is restocking the starting positions. The secondary will have a new cast of starters as will the defensive line. The Sailors do have some experience to lean on at the linebacking positions.
Along with Brinks, who returns at outside linebacker, the Sailors bring back sophomore Greyson Hunderman (5-11, 185) who started at inside linebacker as a freshman last season. Senior linebacker Rowan DeKam (6-0, 180) also is back at an outside linebacker position.
“Fortunately, we have three of our four backers that we play will return having played meaningful snaps for us,” Brown said. “They are going to have to be good for us. A lot of the stuff that we do requires them to be good so I think we’re hopefully sitting pretty good there.
“Up front, it’s similar to our offensive line. We don’t know who is going to play. We’re shifting guys around and trying to figure that out and hopefully by game one we have a good rotation and we’re ready to rock.”
A tough new league
Not only will returning to Ford Field be a tall task for the young Sailors this season, but getting back to the playoffs will be a challenge in itself as South Christian has a rugged schedule. Making the schedule even more difficult is the fact that they are playing in a new conference this season after the OK Conference realigned at the end of the past school year. South Christian is now playing in the new-look OK Gold Conference that includes defending Division 3 state champion Forest Hills Central, Zeeland West, which reached the Division 3 state semifinals last season and Zeeland East, which went 6-4 last year.
The Sailors also face a rugged non-league slate with games against East Grand Rapids, who went 7-3 last year, West Catholic, 11-1 and reached the regional final last year, and Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 13-1 and won the Division 5 state title last fall.
“It’s a tough league,” Brown said. “That’s not one thing we can control, so whoever they say we have to play in league that’s who we get stuck with. The biggest thing for us is we’re excited about the competition of the teams that we are going to play and I think the other thing that is pretty cool is we are excited about the communities we get to play against.
“I think we are going to have a lot of fans at our games that are passionate, whether it’s South Christian football or whoever our opponent is, and I think that creates a good experience for the high school athlete.”
