Tag Archives: Caledonia High School

Check out our WKTV Friday Night Highlights show from Week 3

Citizen Journalism, City of Kentwood, City of Wyoming, Local Sports, Sports, West Michigan, , , , , , , , ,
Check out our latest edition of Friday Night Highlights with Ron Schultz (left) and Ty Marzean.



By Cris Greer

WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director

greer@wktv.org


Check out the exciting clips above from our latest Friday Night Highlights show of the season featuring many of the local high school football teams in Kentwood and Wyoming.


Just like during basketball season, every week we’ll bring you most of the local high school football home stadium action from the Wyoming and Kentwood varsity teams, highlight some top performers and their stats, give final scores, and show a snapshot of the latest conference standings in an exciting 30-minute Friday Night Highlights show.

Look for our fast-paced local highlights show every Tuesday! Thanks for tuning in.


WKTV Game of the Week

Year after year, our high-tech WKTV Truck Game of the Week covers one matchup per week, which includes two play-by-play announcers, an occasional field announcer and various camera angles with slow motion replays to capture all those great plays for your viewing pleasure.

You can count on our very experienced, exciting game announcers for both football and basketball to guide you through your local team’s games. If you are interested in volunteering at WKTV Sports for our Truck or Studio productions, please email me at greer@wktv.org

Game of the Week airs every Friday night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 & AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 at 11 p.m. with a rebroadcast on Saturday at 11 a.m. If you don’t have cable, visit our website at WKTV.org to watch the livestream. You also can watch these games on our WKTV YouTube Channel.

WKTV Truck Game of the Week Sked

Friday, Sept. 20: Wyoming vs. South Christian (at East Kentwood)

Friday, Sept. 27: Hudsonville at East Kentwood

Friday, Oct. 4: Zeeland East vs. South Christian (at Byron Center)

Friday, Oct. 11: Godwin Heights at Kelloggsville

Friday, Oct. 18: Jenison at East Kentwood

Friday, Oct 25: Catholic Central vs. South Christian (at East Grand Rapids)

East Kentwood football team learns lesson in winning in 41-35 victory over Caledonia

Citizen Journalism, City of Kentwood, Kent County, Local Sports, Sports, West Michigan, , , ,
WKTV Friday Night Highlights Video (Katie Bogema)



By Greg Chrapek

WKTV Contributor

greer@wktv.org



Along with teaching the X’s and O’s of football, new East Kentwood football coach Tyrone Spencer is also teaching the mental part of the game to his squad. The Falcons took another step in that mental course last Friday when defeating Caledonia 41-35 in the OK Red season opener.



The visiting Falcons stormed out of the gate fast and then had to fend off a furious Caledonia rally to come away with the win and improve to 2-1 for the season.

The fast start for the Falcons was a reversal of the Week 2 game against Byron Center where Kentwood fell behind by a large margin in the first half.

“I thought the guys played well,” Spencer said. “I think a real big thing was that the guys fought through adversity. We jumped out to a 34-0 lead and then Caledonia scored on a pick six. They came back and cut it to 34-28, but then our guys ended up making the plays at the end of the game that they needed to make.”

East Kentwood made plenty of plays in the opening half as it raced out to a 34-0 lead. Falcon running back Elijah Jones started the scoring as he reeled off a 60-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The lead grew to 13-0 when Falcon quarterback Drew Burton connected with Caiden Holt on a 21-yard touchdown pass with Jayden Garcia tacking on the extra point kick. The lead expanded to 20-0 later in the first quarter when Kayd Coffman, who shares the quarterback duties with Burton, scored on a one-yard touchdown run with Garcia converting the extra point.



East Kentwood’s Elijah Jones led the way with 201 yards rushing on 22 carries and three touchdowns against Caledonia. (Courtesy, Falcon News Network)



“We use both Drew and Kayd,” Spencer said. “They have both been great leaders for us. Kayd did some really nice things out there and Drew also did a nice job and threw a touchdown pass.”

The Falcons added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to grow the lead to 34-0. Coffman tossed a two-yard touchdown pass to Holt, while Jones scored his second touchdown of the game on a three-yard run. Garcia added both extra points.

Caledonia’s comeback

Caledonia began to mount a comeback late in the second quarter when Leighton Fink intercepted a Falcon pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.

The Fighting Scots continued the comeback in the second half with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns. Caledonia quarterback Brody Betser connected with Parker Little on a 29-yard scoring strike to make the score 34-14 after the extra point by Brody Siler. Betser then connected with Reed Vogeler on a touchdown pass cutting the Kentwood lead to 34-21.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Fighting Scots trimmed the deficit to six points as Betser ran for a touchdown from six-yards out and Siler tacked on the point after.

Kentwood, however, stemmed the tide later in the quarter when Jones ran in for his third touchdown of the game from a yard out. Garcia tacked on the point after putting the Falcons up 41-28.

Caledonia added one final touchdown on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Betser to Lincoln Senti with Siler tacking on the point after making the final score 41-35.



East Kentwood quarterback Kayd Coffman completed 8-of-13 passes for 142 yards with one TD pass and one rushing. Andrew Burton threw one TD with 21 yards passing. (Courtesy, Falcon News Network)



“I thought this game was a great lesson for the guys,” Spencer said. “They have to learn how to win and this was a great lesson. I also talked to them about how important it is to get an early lead. To have early success and build on that momentum and we were able to do that with Elijah’s early 60-yard touchdown run. I also thought our coaches did a great job with the game plan.”

The Falcons showed good balance on offense for the game. Coffman completed 8-of-13 passes for 142 yards, while Burton added 21 yards passing. Jones led the way in the ground game with 22 carries for 201 yards with three touchdowns.

Holt led the way in the receiving department with six catches for 143 yards.



East Kentwood receiver Caiden Holt. (Courtesy, Falcon News Network)



Kabanda led EK with seven tackles

Terrence Kabanda led the Falcons with seven tackles, while Tyler Meeuwsen added five tackles and one tackle for loss. Steph Jones had an interception for EK.

“This was a huge game for us,” Spencer said. “Caledonia is a good team; it was our first conference and it was a road game. It felt really good to get this win. We have West Ottawa and Hudsonville coming up and we want to keep improving and getting more confidence.”

The Falcons travel to West Ottawa this Friday and then return home on Sept. 27 to host Hudsonville.

East Kentwood holds off Caledonia 41-35 Friday; check out our WKTV highlights

City of Kentwood, Local Sports, Sports, West Michigan, , , ,



By Cris Greer

WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director

greer@wktv.org


East Kentwood grabbed a large 34-6 halftime lead and held off Caledonia 41-35 Friday to improve to 2-1 overall, 1-0 in the OK Red.


Caledonia dropped to 2-1 overall, 0-1 in the OK Red.

East Kentwood travels to West Ottawa (0-3) Friday.

Caledonia defeated East Kentwood 21-0 Friday; Check out our WKTV game highlights inside

City of Kentwood, Local Sports, Sports, , ,



By Cris Greer

WKTV Managing Editor

greer@wktv.org



Check out our WKTV highlights from Caledonia’s 21-0 win over East Kentwood Friday.


WKTV Game of the Week

Year after year, our high-tech WKTV Game of the Week truck films one game each week, which includes two play-by-play announcers, a field announcer and various camera angles with slow motion replays to capture all those great plays for your viewing pleasure.

Game of the Week airs every Friday night on WKTV Comcast Channel 25 & AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 at 11 p.m. with a rebroadcast on Saturday at 11 a.m. To watch the WKTV Game of the Week online, visit WKTVVideos on Youtube.

South Christian knocks off Caledonia 44-36 in girls hoops Tuesday

City of Kentwood, Sports, West Michigan, , , ,
South Christian plays some tight defense in a win over Caledonia Tuesday. (WKTV/Alex Bernhardt)



By Cris Greer

WKTV Managing Editor

greer@wktv.org



After trailing 10-1 to start the game, South Christian clawed back to eventually grab a 44-36 win over visiting Caledonia Tuesday.

At halftime, the game was tied at 21 and knotted at 28 to end the third quarter.

“The game went back and forth with both teams just really digging in on defense and struggling to get much going on offense,” said South Christian Coach Kim Legge, whose team is 10-5 overall, 5-2 in the OK Gold.

Caledonia led 36-35 with 3:30 left in the game and then the momentum was all South Christian.

Ashley Thomasma’s trey turns the game

“Ashley Thomasma hit a big three that put us up two points,” Legge said. “Our defense would hold strong from that point on holding Caledonia scoreless the rest of the way.”

Thomasma led the Sailors with 15 points, followed by Ashley Raredon, 13 points and 11 rebounds and Lizzie Wolthuis, 11. 

Caledonia’s Gracie Gortmaker finished the game with 18 of the team’s 36 points.

“It was a great non conference matchup against a crosstown school,” Legge said. “Both teams worked extremely hard to keep the other team out of their rhythm.  A lot of the players from both teams know each other so that always makes for a fun matchup.     

Civic Theatre shakes up the summer by heading down the rabbit hole with two one-week only productions

City of Kentwood, City of Wyoming, Entertainment, Local Entertainment, , , ,
Kentwood resident Micah Hamstra performs in “Alice in Wonderland.” (GRCT)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org


When Kentwood resident Micah Hamstra saw that the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s Summer Repertory program was going to include “Alice In Wonderland,” he just knew he had to audition.

“The story has been a very big part of my life,” said Hamstra, who will attend Caledonia High School in the fall. “It really showed me how you could just be who you are.”

So Hamstra prepared by “knocking out” his musical audition followed by “blowing up” his script reading. Needless to say, he landed the role of Tweedledum and Humpty Dumpty in the upcoming “Alice In Wonderland” production.

The show along with “All Shook Up” wraps up the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s 2018-2019 season. The shows run during the same week, July 26 – Aug. 4, with the productions alternating performance dates. “All Shook Up” is July 26, 27 (afternoon), Aug. 1, 3 (evening), 4, and “Alice In Wonderland” performances are July 27 (evening), 28, 31, Aug. 2, and 3 (afternoon). 

“It’s Elvis,” said Wyoming resident and Byron Center High School student Xavier Turner when asked why he auditioned for “All Shook Up.” “Who wouldn’t want to be involved in a show about Elvis?”

Wyoming resident Xavier Turner is in “All Shook Up.” (GRCT)

“All Shook Up” combines the songs of Elvis Presley with Shakespeare, being loosely based on the “Twelfth Night.” 

“I knew of the show,” said Turner who plays the young, quirky, aspiring dentist, Dennis, “ I love that show so, I knew I wanted to get involved.”

This is Turner’s first time participating with Grand Rapids Civic Theatre and specifically selected the Summer Repertory program because of the classes tied to the production as well as the chance to be involved on the stage and behind it. Through the Summer Repertory program, each production has its own cast with the cast members of the opposite show serving as the back stage crew. For Turner, he will be helping with wardrobe and the fly rail for “Alice In Wonderland.” Hamstra will be helping with wardrobe for “All Shook Up.”

“Through this program you learn a lot more about theater,” said Hamstra, who said that “Alice” is his third production with Civic Theatre. “You really get the opportunity to learn everything that there is to do back stage along with being in the front.”

Both teenagers said that while they have enjoyed learned about the other aspects of the theater, their hearts are really in performance.

“I know I want to make a profession out of this and for me, I can sing,” said Turner, who has won several awards for his singing performances. “I knew the classes would be really helpful and that it is important to start now.”

Both Hamstra and Turner said they have found a community of family and friends through the production which has made being a part of it even more special.

“It sounds a little cliche but being part of a family has really made coming to this so much fun,” Turner said. “ The opportunity to see something come to life with this group of people has given me the realization of how much I look forward to coming here to do this everyday.”

Hamstra added that those bonds between the actors is what makes the shows fun which in turn makes the production even more exciting to the audience.

“It is just a lot of fun,” Hamstra said. “You have so many very talented people up there on stage just giving it their all.”

Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and 2 p.m Saturday and Sunday with all shows at the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, 30 N. Division Ave. Tickets are $10 – $16. For more information, visit grct.org or call 616-222-6650.