THE HASTINGS
Thursday, September 30, 2021Trojans set to celebrate 50 years in ‘The Pit’
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Bob White Stadium in Middleville, affec-
tionately known as “The Pit” to Trojan fans
and less affectionately so to foes, was ready
for football in 1971. The Trojans took one
home victory that fall, and then didn’t lose
another game at home over the course of the
next four seasons.
The Trojans are celebrating 50 years of
Bob White Stadium during the annual home-
coming festivities happening this week. The
Trojans have won 140 ballgames in “The Pit”
since it opened and are hoping to get win
number one in 2021 on the relatively new
artificial turf this week when they play play
host to a tough Cedar Springs team.
TK built a little momentum last week with
a defensive effort that stymied the Kenowa
Hills Knights in a 34-14 TK win. The Trojans
are now 1-4 overall this season, taking on a
4-1 team of Red Hawks who have scored more
points than any other OK Gold Conference
team so far this fall. Powerhouse Rockford
handed the Red Hawks their only defeat so far.
There are special happenings and a tough
match-up at Delton Kellogg High School this
Friday night as well. The Panthers are hosting
their annual Salute to Veterans and First
Responders Night. Veterans, active service
members, first responders, police and fire
personal are invited to join the Panthers on
the field for the National Anthem to be hon-
ored by the team and the community.
The Lawton Blue Devils have honored
their community by winning football games
this fall. The Devils come to Delton Kellogg
with a 5-0 record, and DK head coach Ryan
Bates had the Lawton team pegged as the
Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley
Division favorites from the get-go. It’ll be the
first conference ballgame for the Blue Devils
who have outscored opponents by a whop-
ping 285-21 so far in five games.
A now 5-0 Jackson Lumen Christi team
handed the Hastings Saxons their first defeat
of the season last week, now the Saxons will
look to bounce back and stay on the Titans
heels in the chase for an Interstate-8 Athletic
Conference championship when they travel
to Pennfield this Friday night to face the 2-
Panthers. Pennfield was thoroughly handled
by a Parma Western team last week that the
Saxons defeated in week four of the season.
Lakewood made the most of a four-hour
trip to Harbor Springs last week to improve
its record to 3-2 overall this season. The
Vikings spent the two Fridays prior picking
up a pair of Greater Lansing Activities
Conference wins. Lakewood will look to
keep its conference record perfect when it
goes on the road to face Stockbridge Friday.
The Panthers are 2-3, and 0-2 in the GLAC.
They gave 118 points combined in league
losses to Olivet and Leslie, so the Vikings
should have a chance to put up some points of
their own.
Maple Valley has the long ride this week,
traveling outside of the Tri-River 8-Man
Football Conference for a ballgame at New
Buffalo. The Lions were shut out by
NorthPointe Christian last week, but teams
have been able to put some points up against
the Bison who come into the contest at 3-2.
New Buffalo can certainly score points. The
Bison scored 82 points in a victory over Lake
Michigan Catholic two weeks ago and bested
Eau Claire 58-44 last week.
Local Standings (W-L, playoff points)
Hastings 4-1 (49.400)
Delton Kellogg 3-2 (28.800)
Lakewood 3-2 (22.800)
Thornapple Kellogg 1-4 (22.800)
Maple Valley (8-player) 1-
Conference Standings
(overall, conference)
Interstate 8 Athletic Conference
Lumen Christi 5-0, 4-
Hastings 4-1, 3-
Harper Creek 3-2, 3-
Coldwater 3-2, 3-
Parma Western 3-2, 2-
Pennfield 2-3, 1-
Marshall 1-4, 0-
Northwest 1-4, 0-
OK Gold Conference
G.R. Catholic Central 5-0, 3-
Cedar Springs 4-1, 3-
Kenowa Hills 2-3, 1-
South Christian 3-2, 2-
Forest Hills Eastern 2-3, 1-
Ottawa Hills 2-3, 1-
Thornapple Kellogg 1-4, 1-
Wayland 0-5, 0-
Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley
Delton Kellogg 3-2, 1-
Saugatuck 3-2, 1-
Lawton 5-0, 0-
Schoolcraft 0-4, 0-
Galesburg-Augusta 0-5, 0-
Greater Lansing Activities Conference
Olivet 4-1, 3-
Lakewood 3-2, 2-
Perry 1-4, 0-
Leslie 2-3, 1-
Stockbridge 2-3, 0-
Tri-River 8-Man Football Conference
Britton-Deerfield 5-0, 3-
NorthPointe Christian 3-2, 2-
Concord 2-3, 1-
Maple Valley 1-4, 1-
Vandercook Lake 1-4, 1-
Here is a round-up of last week’s local
gridiron action.
Lumen Christi 33, Hastings 22
“That was a tough one,” said Hastings varsi-
ty football coach Jamie Murphy as he finished
up his postgame interview on the turf inside
Baum Stadium at Johnson Field Friday night.
Win or lose, that is what everybody says
when they walk off the field having just
played the Jackson Lumen Christi Titans.
The Titans have won 80 percent of the
varsity football games they have played since- They added one more win to their total
Friday night as they took sole possession of
the Interstate-8 Athletic Conference lead by
scoring a 33-22 win over the Hastings Saxons
in a contest between the only unbeaten teams
left in the conference.
Hastings spent seven seasons from 2013
to 2019 never finishing with a winning
record, and then broke through in 2020 to
score their first ever victory over the Titans
and the title of I-8 Conference Champions
for the first time.
That is what made Friday night so tough.
The Saxon program is at a point right now
where they all wanted, worked and expected
to win every single week and finish atop the
I-8 again. Hastings is now 4-1 on the season
and 3-1 in the Interstate-8. The Titans move
to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
“We have a group of kids that decided they
wanted to change it,” Murphy said of the
winning culture around the program. “Lumen
Christi has a heck of a football team. I don’t
know many teams in the state of Michigan
that they won’t beat. Hats off to them. Our
kids are pretty resilient. Our captains have a
good head on their shoulders. They really
keep in touch with the players on a personal
level on a day to day basis. They have a great
connection with them and I have a ton of trust
in them. The connection they have. The rela-
tionships the coaches have with the kids. It
makes all the difference in the world.”
That Saxon captain group this fall includes
seniors Mason Denton, Owen Winegar,
Victor Ramirez and Dan Harp, and their skills
on the field were as important as their leader-
ship as the Saxons rallied in the second half.
The Titans led 25-8 after a three-yard touch-
down run by Cole Simpson 85 seconds into
the second half.
Saxon senior Jackson Dubois recovered a
Titan fumble midway through the third quar-
ter and the Saxons moved 43 yards six plays
to get a 19-yard touchdown run by Robby
Slaughter. Slaughter added the two-point run
to get his team with 26-16.
The Titans went the other way until a drive
was killed by a fourth down interception by
Ramirez in the end zone.
Denton turned in one of the plays of the
game for the Saxons following that intercep-
tion. On a third-and-seven run from his
team’s own 16-yard-line he performed his
slight-of-hand in the backfield and rolled
around the left end.
“Up in the box they noticed that they
weren’t checking our quarterback very well
and we were getting a little more of a push off
tackle, which opens up the quarterback and
makes that corner dive inside and help out on
the off-tackle play,” Murphy said. “[Assistant
coach Pat] Coltson saw it and had them look
for it up in the press box. Sure enough it was
there, so he called the play. It was a gutsy
play and Mason did a heck of a job. He doesa really nice job hiding that ball. He puts that
sucker right behind his back. He is pretty coy
with it.”
He was at least ten years down field before
he pulled the ball in front and picked up
speed. He flew up the visitor sideline 55
yards before he was taken down at the Titan
39-yard-line with nine and a half minutes to
go in the game.
“I think it was the corner on the opposite
side who saw him. It was a good play.”
unfortunately for Denton and the Saxons,
he didn’t get up right away, and spent the rest
of the ballgame on the sideline with an injury
forcing JV quarterback, sophomore Owen
Carroll, to step.
“We have been watching him,” Murphy
said of Carroll. “He was a JV quarterback as
a freshman and the JV quarterback this year.
We like his leadership and we like his com-
mand of our offense. He understands what
we’re trying to do. He has a good head on his
shoulders. Those are all the characteristics
you want leading your team on the field. The
kids rally behind him. They love him.”
Carroll snuck through the middle for a first
down on a fourth-and-1 to keep the Saxon
drive rolling, and tossed an 18-yard pass to
teammate TJ Russell for another first down in
the face of heavy pressure.GLAC lead belongs to Lakewood
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Lakewood’s Drew Marquoit swung the
ball across the field to find teammate Colby
Carter in the offensive end. Carter collected
the ball, took a couple dribbles and ripped
a shot in from just above the 18 to give the
Vikings a 2-1 lead midway through the
second half at Lansing Christian Wednesday.
They held it the rest of the way to take
over the top spot in the Greater Lansing
Activities Conference standings and keep
their record undefeated on the season.
Lakewood is now 5-0 in the GLAC after
knocking off the perennial conference
champs from Lansing Christian.
“It was just a really, really good hard
fought game in the rain and muck and
wind,” Lakewood head coach James
LeVeque said. His team is now 11-0-
overall this season after also scoring a 1-
win over visiting West Michigan Aviation
Thursday afternoon, a 4-1 win over Portland
Saturday and a 1-0 win over Delton Kellogg
outside the conference this weekend.
The Vikings chose to take the wind attheir backs in the first half Wendesday,
which coach LeVeque said was steady at 30
to 35 miles per hour, throughout the eve-
ning. It didn’t help them tally goals the way
they were hoping, and in fact coach LeVeque
though his guys may have started trying to
rely on the wind a bit too much. He was
pleased with the way his guys moved the
ball with control on the ground with the
wind in their faces in the second half.
“The first half we were relying too much
on through balls and we didn’t play much
of a possession game,” LeVeque said. “We
were trying to hit everything over their
heads and take advantage of the wind while
we had it.”
The two teams were tied 1-1 at the half.
Garrett Feighan scored the first goal for
Lakewood, flicking a header off a long
throw in from teammate Tyson Raffler, into
the net. Lansing Christian added a penalty
kick goal to even things up.
“The game was very, very fast paced and
very entertaining. We kind of have a bend
but don’t break mentality on defense. We
don’t pressure real high, but once they getnear the 18 the guys step up a little harder,”
LeVeque said.
The Viking defense didn’t allow many
strong chances on its net, even pushing hard
the final ten minutes to get the equalizer.
The emotional conference victory took a
lot out of the Vikings, and it showed back
on the field Thursday afternoon as they
bested West Michigan Aviation 1-0.
Alex Russell beat the last Aviation
defender after getting a through ball from
Carter 15 minutes into the contest to score
the only goal of the evening.
Ben Scobey had to make a few big saves
for the Vikings. He only made three total
saves on the evening, but coach LeVeque
said it was really the first time this season
that the Vikings have had to rely on him to
bail out his teammates.
Lakewood was scheduled to return con-
ference play yesterday at home against
Perry and then will play a final GLAC regu-
lar season game at Leslie Oct. 6. The GLAC
Tournament, which the Vikings will host
should they finish atop the regular season
conference standings, will be held Oct. 9.See FOOTBALL, page 12
Hastings defender Collin Fouty fights to pull down Jackson Lumen Christi's Cooper
Keene after a reception during the first half of their I-8 contest inside Baum Stadium
at Johnson Field Friday. (Photo by Brett Bremer)Saxon defender Owen Winegar gets to Lumen Christi running back Cole Simpson as his Hastings teammates Glen McFarlan
(67) and Daniel Weatherly (63) chase the play Friday night. (Photo by Brett Bremer)