The Grand Rapids Christian boys varsity football team traveled to play rival East Grand Rapids Friday night in a thriller that ended with an Eagle victory.

The Pioneers started with the ball on their own 30 yard line after receiving the opening kickoff.  They would take an early lead with a 13 play drive that ended in a touchdown.  However  the Eagles offense would come out swinging and the early EGR lead would quickly disappear.  On the Eagles first play from scrimmage, Eason Harduin connected with Marcellus Vanderkoddde for an 80- yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7.  The Christian defense stepped up on the next Pioneer drive to stop them on 4th down to get the ball back.  Four plays later, senior Thad Gamble would take the carry amd score on a 70 yard run to give the Eagles a 7 point lead.  Gamble would end the game as the leading rusher for the Eagles with 174 yard on 22 carries and one touchdown. 

The Eagles defense would step up again on the next EGR drive, intercepting a pass and setting the GRC offense up for another scoring opportunity.  Harduin would again find Vanderkodde in the endzone for the eagles score, extending the lead to 14 points.  Harduin ended the contest with 14 completions on 23 attempts for 288 yards passing and 4 touchdowns.

East Grand Rapids would rally in the second half, battling back to make it a close game that came down to the last minute.  They would score midway through the 4th quarter and successfully recover an onside kick to set up a second score, cutting into the Eagle lead even more.  Up by only a touchdown, GRC was forced to punt late in the fourth quarter, giving the Pioneers the ball with 4 minutes left on the clock.  East would threaten with a few good plays and be helped by multiple defensive penalties against the Eagles.  East had the ball at midfield trying for a potentially game tying score, but the Eagles defense would prove too much for them to overcome.  Ultimately forcing an incomplete pass on 4th down to essentially end the game.

A few QB kneels later, the Eagles would come away victorious with a final score of 38-31.  This moves the Eagles to a 6-2 record,  remaining undefeated in conference play with one regular season game left on the schedule.