By Greg Chrapek

WKTV Contributor

The South Christian football team may not have returned home with the state championship trophy, but its fans will never forget the effort the Sailors gave in the Division 4 state championship.

Despite falling behind early and trailing the entire way, the Sailors never looked to tap out, and in the end came just three yards from winning a second consecutive state championship before falling short 33-27 to Harper Woods in the Division 4 Final at Ford Field in Detroit.

Harper Woods jumped out to a 14-0 lead and led 27-7 midway through the third quarter, but couldn’t put the Sailors away until the final play when they stopped South Christian on fourth down at the Harper Woods three with three seconds remaining in the game.

“It was a heck of a high school football game,” said South Christian Coach Danny Brown. “It was one of those games between two great teams that came down to the final play. They (Harper Woods) took control of the game early and we could’ve folded, but the kids just kept fighting. Ultimately, we found a way to get back in the game and had a chance at the end, but it just didn’t come through.”

Carson Vis with a memorable, state-finals record performance

While the Sailors were stopped short on the final play of the game, the comeback was one South Christian fans will never forget. Junior quarterback Carson Vis was a big part of that comeback as he turned in a memorable performance. Vis completed 30-of-44 passes for a new state-finals record of 441 yards passing along with two touchdowns.

“Carson set finals records for completions and passing yards,” Brown said. “He came through the same way he has all year. The bigger the game the better he played. We ended up putting a lot on him. He threw 44 passes. Even when things were breaking down, he made plays and tried to will us to the win.”

Not only did Vis make plays with his arm, but he used his legs when they needed them. Vis finished the game rushing the ball 17 times for 72 yards and a touchdown.

Memorable game for Jake Vermaas as well; 10 passes for 196 yards

South Christian needed all the offense that Vis could generate as the Sailors were in a 14-0 hole at the end of the first quarter. The Sailors closed the gap to 14-7 early in the second quarter when Vis capped a 90-yard scoring drive by hooking up with Jake Vermaas on a 39-yard touchdown pass. Vermaas, like Vis, turned in a memorable day as he caught 10 passes for 196 yards. Drew Bruinsma added the extra point cutting the deficit to 14-7.

The Sailor receiving crew also had big efforts from Austin Tiesma and Noah Funk. Tiesma caught eight passes for 120 yards, while Funk caught five passes for 61 yards. Sailor running back Charlie Schreur caught five passes for 41 yards. 

Harper Woods grabs 27-7 lead in third quarter

Harper Woods, however, upped its lead to 20-7 late in the second quarter and then expanded the lead to 27-7 with a touchdown midway through the third quarter.

The 20-point deficit, however, did nothing to curtail the Sailors’ resolve as South Christian continued to battle back. South Christian answered that score with a seven-play, 67-yard scoring drive of its own. Running back Charlie Schreur capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run and the extra point from Bruinsma cut the deficit to 27-14.

South cuts Harper Woods lead to 27-20 in the fourth

The South Christian defense then came up with a big stop and the Sailor offense mounted another scoring drive. This time Vis capped a seven-play, 80-yard march with a 22-yard touchdown run closing the gap to 27-20 early in the fourth quarter.

“We found some things offensively that worked,” Brown said. “Our motion created some plays for us and we were able to sustain some drives. Early in the game we wanted to run to set up the pass but after they went up 14-0, we had to make some adjustments. We had to turn to our passing game and try to extend the game to make it a longer game. We tried to create some things with our passing game.

“Our defense also stepped up and made some stops. I can’t say enough about our kids. They never quit and kept fighting the entire game.”

Harper Woods added a touchdown midway through the final quarter to make the score 33-20.

Sailors keep roaring back

South, however, continued to battle. The Sailors answered that score with a seven-play, 64-yard scoring drive of their own. Vis capped the drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Noah Funk and the extra point from Bruinsma cut the margin to 33-27 with 4:52 remaining in the game.

In a similar situation that South Christian faced earlier in the season, in the Week 2 game against East Grand Rapids, the Sailor defense again came up big with another defensive stand to get the ball back for the offense with 2:45 remaining in the game.

Starting on their own 15-yard line, the Sailors marched the ball down the field to the Harper Woods three-yard line with three seconds remaining in the game. In the end, the Harper Woods defense made the final stand as a heavy pass rush forced Vis into making a hurried throw while being tackled that fell just short of the goal line.

“This game was a reflection of our season,” Brown said. “At the beginning of the year there was the hype of us being the returning state champions, but a lot of people didn’t think we would get that far again. We had an up and down season with three losses and two at the end. No one thought our kids would do it, but every Monday they would show up at practice rip roaring and ready to go.

“They were always ready to go at practice and kept improving throughout the year. They kept believing in each other and loving each other like brothers and when you are able to do that you can accomplish anything.”

South finished the season with a 10-4 overall record after winning district and regional championships along the way.

Defensively, Tanner Raak led the Sailors with 11 tackles including one tackle for loss and a pass breakup. Tiesma finished with nine tackles, while Vermaas and Tyler Brinks added seven apiece. Vermaas and Brinks each also had one tackle for loss. Luke DeJager and Colin Vugteveen both recorded a sack with DeJager totaling four tackles and Vugteveen, three. Daniel Niewiek and Rowan DeKam both added five tackles while Ben Mulder had four tackles and a pass breakup.    

“I’m super proud of our kids and our coaching staff,” Brown said. “Our coaching staff had to do a lot of things in that game to keep us in it. Being down 14-0 and 27-7, everyone had to make adjustments on the fly. At the end of the day the kids executed and we were in a position to win.

“We fell just short, but that happens sometimes. It’s a lesson I hope they can take with them through life. To keep believing and leave it all on the field.”