RUNNING BACKS: Brad Horling, Zeeland East; Ethan Colton, Saugatuck; Ben Bregg, Hopkins

WIDE RECEIVERS: Neil VanderLaan, Rockford; Matt Houston, Lowell

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: Parker Ehinger, Rockford; Drake Hoffman, Forest Hills Central; Danzell Maze, Ottawa Hills; Tyler VanderSyde, Hopkins; Tyler Gruszka, Comstock Park

SPECIALISTS: Jaylin Staten, Grand Rapids Christian; Jake Hovingh, Allendale

KICKER: Mike Stepanek, Unity Christian

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: Joel Maddox, Greenville; Robert Cuba, Grand Rapids Christian; Patrick McCarthy, West Catholic; Kyle Rasmussen, Saugatuck

LINEBACKERS: Brett Egnatuk, Rockford; Desmond Morgan, West Ottawa; Trent Voss, East Grand Rapids; Dalton Stenberg, Grand Haven

DEFENSIVE BACKS: Sean O’Brien, Greenville; Dan Pittman, West Catholic; Kevin McCarthy, Comstock Park

PUNTER: Alec Smith, Grand Haven

Read the full story with The Grand Rapids Press: “Meet the Grand Rapids Press 2010 All-Area…

Read the full story with The Grand Rapids Press: “Ryan Elble’s arms, fourth-down gambles key in East Grand Rapids’…”

On a sunny, brisk Saturday in November, East Grand Rapids traveled to Ferris State University in Big Rapids to take on M.t Pleasant in the Division 3 state semifinals. To listen to coach Peter Stuursma, the Pioneers didn’t play their best game on Saturday. They didn’t execute on several occasions, and their killer instinct was sporadic. Yet, they took down their undefeated opponents 31-16, winning their 32nd consecutive victory in a game that really wasn’t as close as the score.

East Grand Rapids has been slow out of the gate all season, which has lead to some close contests that probably didn’t need to be close. Yes, they’re still undefeated. Yes, they’re heading into their fifth consecutive state title game. But this year’s Pioneer squad isn’t quite as dominant as in years past.

That said, the Pioneers jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on the first drive of the game, when tailback David Drummond took the ball in from a yard out. Drummond followed that score up with a 22-yard scoring run midway through the second quarter, and then caught a 34-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Elble for his third touchdown of the half. Drummond finished with 83-yards rushing and 78-yards receiving, along with the three scores. All this, and the Pioneer defense had kept Mt. Pleasant from sustaining a drive for more than eight plays.

Murray Sports Photography

Trying to end the half with some momentum, Mt. Pleasant finally got into a rhythm on the final drive of the half, stringing together a series of big gains on the strength of quarterback Ryan Elliot. But on 4th and goal from the 6-yard line, Elliot’s pass was broken up by, guess who, Drummond.

Still, Mt. Pleasant opened the second half with a couple strong defensive stops. They held East Grand Rapids to a three-and-out on their first posession, and held them to a field goal attempt on their subsequent two, only one of which was converted. Overwhelmed in the first half, the Mt. Pleasant defense held their own in the second, but they still couldn’t get it going on offense.

Finally, late into the fourth quarter, the Oilers found some success in a rapid-fire offense, designed to keep the Pioneers on their heels. Running back Alex Horton scored twice on a pair of short runs, which punctuated his 145-yards rushing. There were signs of the previously undefeated Oilers’ dominance, but they were fleeting. The East Grand Rapids machine, not as dominant as in years past, was simply too good.

Which is promising, considering they’ll be meeting nemisis Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in the state finals for the third time in the last five years. And the first two victories, by teams considered to be relatively more dominant, came by a combined 10 points.

Quick Hitters:

• As a converted linebacker playing fullback, Trent Voss’s ability to navigate between blockers and would-be tacklers to find the crease on a run is impressive for a guy his size, and lead to 31-yards rushing on the day. But it’s not surprising, considering that those are the same skills he has used so successfully all season to avoid blockers to tackle ball carriers, which lead to 9.5 tackles. He’s still a bruiser, first and foremost, but don’t let him fool you — that big guy’s got some light feet.
• Vulnerable more frequently this year than in years past, East Grand Rapids has been successful by not panicking. This attribute is personified by quarterback Ryan Elble, who along with being an accurate and effective passer, is as good of a leader on the field as the Pioneers have had through their 5-year run. Send the house on a blitz at him, and Elble neatly evades those who get through while keeping his eyes on the open man downfield. That script was repeated multiple times on Saturday.

Photos courtesy of Murray Sports Photography.

A mascot change may be in order for East Grand Rapids.

The Pioneers will hardly be venturing into new territory after their 17-13 win over Zeeland East will send them to their fifth state semifinals in as many years.

The Chix wasted no time showing the Pioneers what they were made of, scoring on their first offensive drive of the game. Senior quarterback T.J. VanDyken lobbed huge pass to Brandon Jackson, who ran the ball all the way to the end zone for an 85-yard touchdown. A missed extra point gave the Chix a 6-0 lead exactly one minute into play. The Pioneers wouldn’t let the Chix hold on to their lead for too long. A touchdown less than two minutes later by Trent Voss and a successful extra point by Bobby Aardema put East Grand Rapids up at the 9:13 mark, 7-6.

Zeeland East regained the ball after the kickoff and made the best of their possession. With just over five minutes remaining, the Chix found themselves in a tense situation. On fourth down with 11 yards to go, Zeeland East decided to go for it. VanDyken completed a pass to Josh Snyder for the Chix second touchdown of the game. The kick after was good to give Zeeland a 13-6 lead.

Zeeland East began to show their trademark defensive strength as time expired in the first quarter, sacking Ryan Elble to spark a series of offensive problems for the Pioneers including a false start and a big tackle by Brad Horling of Zeeland East that forced East Grand Rapids to punt for the first time in the game as time ran out.

Murray Sports Photography

East Grand Rapids took over on the defensive end during the second quarter. Voss intercepted a pass from VanDyken, though the Pioneers couldn’t convert and the ball returned to the Chix within four plays. Voss’s biggest play in the second quarter was yet to come. With Zeeland on their own 36, Voss stripped the ball right out of VanDyken’s hands.

“Our defense really stepped up,” Voss said. “We finally played as a team. If we play as a team, there’s no one that can score on us.”

The Pioneers didn’t convert that possession into points, but soon got their offense rolling. With 17.8 seconds left in the first half, Elble connected with DeAndre Grady to tie the game. Another PAT by Aardema sailed through the goalposts, giving the Pioneers a narrow 14-13 lead heading into halftime.

“We preach to our kids all along, ‘Good teams don’t give up big plays right before the half,’” Zeeland East head coach Derek Pennington said. “We preach to them about that all the time, and we gave one up there.”

Aardema continued to make an impact in the second half. In the third quarter, his 31-yard field goal that gave East Grand Rapids a four-point lead and marked the only time in the quarter that the scoreboard would change. Zeeland East began to build offensive momentum in the fourth quarter, with VanDyken connecting with Horling in a second-and-15 situation that resulted in a first down for the Chix. East Grand Rapids’ defense successfully prevented another first down, even after a fourth-and-2 play was run twice as a result of a timeout that had been called before the first attempt began.

“Our defense bucked down,” East Grand Rapids head coach Peter Stuursma said. “We had to, and frankly I don’t think we moved the ball where we needed to in big spots. We’ve been saying it all along that [Zeeland East] is so balanced and they’re well balanced, and obviously they proved that today.”

Zeeland’s KJ Alfaro, who had been injured in the first half, prevented the Pioneers from getting a first down on their possession, returning the ball to the Chix. With five minutes left to play, East Grand Rapids’ tight end Deon Jobe picked off a VanDyken pass to regain the ball. With 2:37 to go in the game and East Grand Rapids in a third-and-7 situation, Elble threw his first interception of the season, with Zeeland East senior Keegan DenUyl picking up the ball. VanDyken moved the Chix down the field fast, completing passes to Snyder, Tanner Bryant, and a pitch to Horling all in quick succession to put the Chix within touchdown distance. The Pioneer’s defense kept Zeeland from doing any damage. With 6.9 seconds remaining, VanDyken completed another pass to Bryant, but the catch was ruled out of bounds, giving East Grand Rapids their 31st consecutive win and their fifth trip to state semifinals, where they will face an undefeated Mt. Pleasant team.

Photos courtesy of Murray Sports Photography.

The only thing we know for sure going into Saturday’s match up between East Grand Rapids and Zeeland East is that someone’s streak is coming to an end.

The Pioneers have been on an amazing run, and with last week’s nail-biting victory over Grand Rapids Christian they racked up their 30th victory in a row. However, the Chix of Zeeland East have a rather impressive run of their own. Of course they are 11-0, as is East Grand Rapids, but they’ve racked up 14 consecutive wins since a coaching adjustment set them in the right direction. Moving defensive coordinator Troy Ayotte up to the coach’s box and handing over signal calling to assistant coach Ken Toth from the sideline has allowed Zeeland East to make better adjustments on the fly, and the Chix haven’t looked back.

The move came after a loss in which Zeeland East saw themselves get beat by a trap play over and over on tape. Ayotte now sees the field better and is able to make changes on the fly. And if you’re wondering if it’s working, the 8.5 points per game allowed by the Chix defense is all the proof you need. With the defense in tow it’s been up to head coach Derek Pennington to guide the Chix through the OK Green, and he has a dynamic pair of players on the offensive side of the ball to facilitate that.

Senior running back Brad Horling has run up 385 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns in the two Zeeland playoff wins while quarterback T.J. VanDyken has returned from a broken leg at the conclusion of last season to conduct the Chix offense to perfection in his senior campaign. In what could be their final run together, Horling and VanDyken will have to navigate around the four-time state champions, East Grand Rapids.

The Pioneers have become the gold (and blue) standard for all teams in West Michigan during their current run, lead by head coach Peter Stuursma. But was last week’s one point victory over Christian the glimmer of hope an opponent needs to take down this mighty East squad? After a ten point halftime lead, the EGR defense and special teams let up and gave Christian a 42-37 lead near the end of the game only to pull through in the end and escape with a 49-48 victory.

The Pioneers are led by a dynamic trio in quarterback Ryan Elble, running back/linebacker Trent Voss and wideout/safety DeAndre Grady. This group was just enough to get by Christian, and after looking uncharacteristically vulnerable in three of their last five contests one has to wonder if EGR will finally meet their match in the undefeated Chix.

Either way, the long road of winning ends for one of these West Michigan teams on Saturday.  Game is at 1:00 at East Grand Rapids, and you know we’ll be there.

No one’s jumped up the top ten rankings quite like Greenville. For two weeks in a row, the Yellowjackets gave us games to watch, re-watch, then watch again. From obscurity to prominence, Greenville is on the map for the final OK conference football rankings with WMA.

Voting for the WMA football team ends tomorrow at midnight. Check out the players from each of the top ten teams who are up for consideration.

1. East Grand Rapids (9-0): faces Byron Center in round one. Up for WMA consideration: QB Ryan Elble, WR Nick Mulhall, WR Zach Weiner, OL Joe Monticello, OL Alex Watkins, LB Trent Voss, and K Bobby Aardema.

2. Zeeland East (9-0): faces Fruitport in round one. Up for WMA consideration: RB Brad Horling, DL Patrick Banks, DL T.J. Beelen, DL K.J. Alfaro, and DL Juan Sarmeinto.

3. Grand Haven (8-1): faces West Ottawa (again) in round one. Up for WMA consideration: QB Adam Poel, RB Trent Hitsman, WR Alec Smith, WR Mike Moorehead, DL Tyler Rose, DL Quinton Van Dorne, DL Nic Whalen, LB Dalton Stenberg, LB Jerry Westerman, LB Everett Ingalls, DB Erik Johnson, and K Alec Smith.

4. Rockford (8-1): faces Traverse City West in round one. Up for WMA consideration: WR Neil Vanderlaan, OL Parker Ehinger, LB Brett Egnatuk, LB Tyler Pratt, and K Steven Mette.

5. Greenville (8-1): faces Kenowa Hills in round one. Up for WMA consideration: QB Zach Burris, WR Sean O’Brien, TE Zane Weaver, OL/DL  Joel Maddux, DL Roman Andrade, LB Justin Zimmer, and P Garrett Veihl.

6: Muskegon (6-3): faces Forest Hills Central in round one. Up for WMA consideration: QB Ka’Vonte Keyes, RB Justin Means, RB Juwan Lewis, WR T.J. Mitchell, WR Ra’Male Roundtree, DL Damon Knox, DL Najee Brown, LB Landon Sandford, DB Dion Bailey, DB Key’Marius McMillian, and DB Charlie Farmer.

7. West Ottawa (7-2): faces Grand Haven (again) in round one. Up for WMA consderation: RB Zac Boersema, DL Curtis Smith, LB Desmond Morgan, LB Garrett Daniel, DB Josh Wisbang, and K Bryan Holmes.

8. Lowell (7-2): faces Grand Ledge in round one. Up for WMA consideration: QB Gabe Dean, WR Matt Houston, OL Garrett Stehley, DL Jone Destine, and LB Sam Young.

9. Middleville (8-1): faces Battle Creek Pennfield in round one. Up for WMA consideration: QB Coley McKeough, WR Patrick Bobolts, and OL Adrian Foster.

10. West Catholic (8-1): faces Kelloggsville in round one. Up for WMA consideration: QB Lance Buitendyk, WR/DB Dan Pittman, WR Zack Smith, OL/DL Patrick McCarthy, and K Mitch Bredberg.

We’ve come a long way since week one. Team’s have fallen, others have risen, but the dust started to settle about three weeks ago. Fourteen teams have punched their ticket to the playoffs by winning six games, but a few five game winners will squeak in.

1. East Grand Rapids (8-0): Quarterback Ryan Elble eclipsed the 1,000 yards passing mark last week against Creston. We probably won’t see much of Elble until the playoffs, but with the Pioneers ranked number two in the state, I doubt he’ll be rusty. Winning is just what East does.

2: Lowell (7-1): After their hiccup to East Grand Rapids, Lowell got back to their dominating winning ways. Gabe Dean rushed for 187 yards and two touchdowns and went 8-of-12 for 126 yards and three touchdowns. Career records will fall next year if Dean stays healthy until graduation.

3. Zeeland East (8-0): Hired before the 2008 season, head coach Derek Pennington has created another “East” power in the West. Pennington showed that his junior class is just as strong as his senior class when quarterback Casey Van Hoof tossed two touchdowns in their dominating week eight win.

4. Rockford (7-1): Rockford scored over 50 points for the third consecutive week. Their defense made the Ram’s job easy forcing five turnovers with Nate Schuiteman and Shain Showers recovering fumbles, and Anthony DeDamos, K.C. Zenner and Andy Cunningham making interceptions. They’re finally the Rockford of old.

5. Muskegon (6-2): Stopping West Ottawa was a tall task for the Big Reds, but they got the job done. While their defense was keeping track of West Ottawa’s tough rushers, defensive back Key’Marious McMillan stayed back and picked off his seventh interception of the year. It’s all about the big plays at Muskegon.

6. Grand Haven (7-1): The ‘Bucs went Buc-wild in the second quarter scoring 30 points. Receiver Mike Moorehead caught eight passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns to lead Grand Haven. They’ll have to be careful in the air against Muskegon this Friday though.

7. West Ottawa (6-2): Half of the OK Red makes the playoff, but that’s not before they beat up on each other. West Ottawa knows what it’ll take to go deep in the playoffs after losses to Rockford and Muskegon. Add Desmond Morgan to the Rockford game, take away the interception against Muskegon and they’re 8-0. The OK Red is unforgiving.

8. Zeeland West (7-1): They just felt like runnin’. The Dux rushed 58 times for 488 yards. Compare that to their 11 yards passing. Quarterback Daniel Pung showed his 400-meter state champion breakaway speed on his two long scores.

9: Middleville (7-1): Middleville claimed at least a share of the OK Gold title with their win over Caledonia. They’ve made a complete about-face in quarterback Coley McKeough‘s third year being center. There may not be anyone else who wants to win as much as McKeough.

10. Greenville (7-1): What a beautiful way to end their home stand in 2010. They’ve finally cracked our top 10 thanks in large part to their penetrating defense and Zach Burris‘ interception. They may not be the biggest, but they keep those legs moving and get the job done.

Bubble teams: West Catholic, Comstock Park, Forest Hills Eastern, Forest Hills Central, and Byron Center

If you missed the comeback of the year, watch it out here at MHSAA.tv. East never looses their cool. I guess when you when 26 straight games and you have head coach Peter Stuursma and defensive coordinator Jim Voss on your side, you can walk with a little swagger. Not much changed this week besides a switcheroo at the number one and two spots.

1. East Grand Rapids (7-0): Senior linebacker Trent Voss came up big against Lowell with an interception late to set up a Ryan Elble touchdown. The 84 points put up by both teams were the most scored in an East vs. Lowell game ever.

2. Lowell (6-1): Gabe Dean continued his dynamite statistical season racking up 358 total yards on 55 plays. But Lowell gave up the most yards in one game all season.

3. Zeeland East (7-0): If anyone wants to challenge the size and speed of the Chix, just look at Juan Sarmeinto and Patrick Banks. These Big Birds plow through opponents and sacked or hurried Unity Christian in every play of the first half.

4. West Ottawa (6-1): The Panthers have already qualifed for the playoffs and could rest quarterback/linebacker Desmond Morgan against Muskegon. They can’t afford losing Morgan for the playoffs, but throwing in the towel for the last two games is a no-no.

5. Rockford (6-1): Rockford survived the heart of the OK Red gauntlet behind a strong season performance by junior quarterback Mark LaPraire. The Rams have out passed opponents 1229 yards to 715 yards.

6. Muskegon (5-2): Ke’Vonte Keye‘s legs rule the Big Red’s offense. He’s rushed for at least two touchdowns in every game this year. Muskegon is the only

7. Grand Haven (6-1): They did themselves a huge favor topping Rockford in week five with their strong run-stopping defense. If you want to beat the ‘Bucs, you better take to the air.

8. Catholic Central (6-1): Catholic Central has perhaps the most balanced offense in the league. Both running back Bronson Hill and wide receiver John Haley have break away speed that separates them from the pack.

9. Middleville (6-1): Middleville always have a chance with Coley McKeough behind center. Against Forest Hills Eastern and Catholic Central, McKeough’s third rushing touchdown against the Hawks gave Middleville their first playoff appearance since 2005.

10. Zeeland West (6-1): The Dux gave #3 ranked Zeeland East their closest game of the season back on September 17, and with how the season’s played out, that’s an accomplishment. Junior running back Joe Gaiser has no intention of letting his last season end short.

Bubble teams: Greenville, Grand Rapids Christian, West Catholic, Comstock Park, and Forest Hills Central

Vote on the top performers at quarterback, running back, receiver, and on defense.