The Sun and News, Saturday, August 28, 2021/ Page 15Scots and new head coach win
2021 football opener at Holt
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
New Caledonia varsity
football coach Derek
Pennington brought a spread
offensive system known for
fast paced ride and read con-
cepts with a strong passing
component.
The preparation through-
out the summer and presea-
son paid off, at least on the
first night of the season. The
Caledonia Fighting Scots
opened the 2021 season with
a 41-14 victory in a non-con-
ference ballgame at Holt
High School Thursday.
Pennington led Zeeland
East to the state playoffs ten
times in 13 seasons before
taking over for long-time
state championship winning
coach Tom Burrill at
Caledonia following the
2020 season.
In the early going, coach
Pennington and his coaching
staff have been pleased with
the atmosphere around the
team and the support from
the community.
Junior quarterback Mason
McKenzie led the offense on
the opening night, an offense
designed to give playmakers
space to make plays. The
offense has a couple good
ones in sophomore Brock
Townsend and junior Justice
Reed. Townsend was a very
good player at cornerback for
the Scots as a freshman and
will carry a bit more offen-
sive load this season as he
returns at running back as
well.
Senior lineman Caleb
Paarlberg will anchor the
lines, bringing experience on
both sides of the ball at an
offensive tackle spot and at
defensive end.
The Scots have a couple
transfers looking to contrib-
ute right away in senior inte-
rior lineman Andrew Devries
and sophomore running back
Blake Herron. Fighting Scot
assistant coach Patrick
Wolfer called Devries an
aggressive lineman with avery good football sense. He
likes Herron’s vision and
expects him to be invaluable
to the offense.
Caledonia will be at home
for its next two ballgames,
taking on Lowell Thursday
and then opening the OK Red
Conference schedule against
Grandville Sept. 10. The
Scots’ other home games this
fall are against Grand Haven
Sept. 24 and Jenison Oct. 15.
The new coaching staff
plans to take things one game
at a time, but is looking at
Rockford as the top team in
the conference this fall.Brock TownsendScots set sights on more tough
battles on OK Red soccer fields
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The OK Red Conference
continues to be filled with
teams that can win on any
given evening.
Caledonia will be no
exception to that rule once
again as it looks to build on
an 8-4-2 season from a year
ago in which it reached a
Division 1 District Final
before losing a thriller in the
final against Holt.
Adetunjui “TJ” Ifaturoti
was on the coaching staff for
that tough district defeat and
has been a part of the pro-
gram for four years. He has
been tabbed as the interim
head coach at Caledonia for
this fall and hopes to contin-
ue the process of building the
program that coach Carl
Winterbottom began the past
few seasons.
He has a good base to start
with.
Caledonia brings back tal-
ented players at every level.
In the back senior goalkeeper
Connor Beach will be helped
in protecting his net by senior
defender Zane Schrader and
junior defender in Luke
Vogeler. Senior Kyle Buchan
is an excellent leader in the
midfield returning for the
Fighting Scots.
There is speed and skill
spread throughout the rest of
the roster.“I am looking forward to a
positive season with a great
group of guys,” coach
Ifaturoti said.
Caledonia is already 3-
on the season, and 1-1 in the
OK Red Conference.
The Scots opened league
play against Hudsonville
Monday, scoring a 4-0 win
over the visiting Eagles at the
newly redesigned Scotland
Yard, but fell 2-1 at WestOttawa Wednesday.
Caledonia has another
tough August conference
match on the slate for
Monday at East Kentwood.
Grandville will visit
Caledonia Wednesday in the
week ahead.
The Scots also scored a
2-0 win over Covenant
Christian and a 1-0 win over
Wyoming at its own Scotland
Yard Invitational Aug. 21.Kyle BuchanaCaledonia tennis working
toward top four Red finish
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
There is versatility on the
doubles side, great work
ethic on the singles side and
some solid experience as the
Caledonia varsity boys’ ten-
nis team tries to score a finish
in the top half of the OK Red
Conference this fall.
Grant Peek, a four-year
senior in the tennis program
is back in the second singles
spot for the Scots. Sophomore
Sam Kosse has worked his
way into the first singles spot
in his second varsity season.
Aidan Sowerby, a four-year
senior like Peek, is slated for
the third singles spot so far.
Caledonia also had a pair
of guys with three years of
varsity experience, senior
Alec Bisterfeldt and junior
Adam Morris, to team up at
first doubles.
Fighting Scot head coach
Scot Bont also has his eyes
on teaming up seniors Eli
Deese and Spencer Chapp at
third doubles and finding a
home for freshman Justin
Trees at fourth singles this
fall. They’re a few of the top
newcomers to the program
this season.
“Our team this year has
several doubles players who
could play with a few differ-
ent partners to maximize
their strengths,” Bont said.
“Our top singles players have
really worked hard and have
played in tournaments. Our
team chemistry and working
together is so great to see.
These guys really have been
doing a great job of having
fun together and supporting
each other. We had a good
turn out for summer camp.
This senior class has spent a
long time together playing
since middle school and get
along so well.”
Trees is just one of ten
freshmen in the program
looking to help fill the loss of
five seniors who graduated
last spring. Coach Bont said
the depth in the program isn’tquite on par with some of the
top teams in the OK Red.
The Scots placed second
in their first two tournaments
of the season. They have
plans for a dual at Northview
Monday and then will open
the OK Red Conference sea-
son at Grandville Sept. 1.
Coach Bont expects
Hudsonville, West Ottawa
and Rockford to the trio most
likely battling it out for a
conference championship in
the OK Red this fall.
The Scots’ next home meet
will be their own Caledonia
Invitational Sept. 11.Grant PeekYoung middles will give
Scots new options at net
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Senior leaders and stars
graduate and others step up
to take their place. That is
how high school sports
works.
Even with the graduation
of its two top hitters last
spring, second-year
Caledonia varsity volleyball
coach Val Lurye thinks her
team can keep a good attack-
ing going with a wider vari-ety of options.
Junior setter Avery
Palmateer returns for the
Fighting Scots for her third
varsity season. She mostly
took the setting reigns for the
Scots as a sophomore.
The junior class is a strong
one for the Scots, with out-
side hitter Paige Williamson
and junior libero Erin Asper
returning as well.
Coach Lurye had planed to
have three freshmen in thestarting line-up for the Scots’
season opener, the East
Kentwood Early Bird
Tournament Tuesday. That
group includes middle block-
ers Josie Noble and Georgia
Pennington and Georgia
Pennington, as well as out-
side hitter Cambria Gaier.
The Scots were 2-1 at East
Kentwood, scoring wins over
the Falcons and Gull Lake
and falling to Portage Central.
Caledonia was back in action
Wednesday at home with a
quad where it scored a win
over Fremont and fell to
Grand Rapids Catholic
Central and Forest Hills
Northern. Caledonia was
right back at it on Thursday
playing an outdoor scrim-
mage in Lowell as part of the
Pink Arrow event, which also
included soccer and football
games to raise funds in honor
of those in the community
whose lives have been affect-
ed by cancer.
In the 13 sets for the week,
Palmateer put up 100 assists.
Wiliamson had a team-high
35 kills and Noble added 32
to go along with 12 blocks.
Williamson had 26 digs. Ella
Moorlag, a senior outside hit-
ter in her third varsity season,
had 27 kills and 15 digs.
Moorlag is one of three
seniors on the roster, joiningAvery Polmateer See SCOTS, page 17