At East Kentwood high school, the Eagles football team came with the intent to avenge last
year’s shootout loss to South Christian. It was a great atmosphere for high school football and
the only thing more colorful than the sunset was the energetic and tropical-themed GR Christian
Student Section.
Both teams came out firing with good offense beating aggressive defense to start the game.
South Christian got a long return on the opening kickoff and paid it off with a touchdown.
Responding, Aaron Gholston took the ensuing kickoff 50 yards to set up the offense. Strong
running behind the big boys up front softened the defense before QB Charlie King hit senior wide receiver Tyler Davis on a
swing pass to his right. Davis got a block from fellow wideout Ben Toly to spring him and he
sprinted 24 yards into the end zone. A blocked extra point made the score 6-7 less than halfway
through the first quarter. South Christian continued the back and forth start with a TD on their
next possession. After receiving the kick, the Eagles were looking at 2nd and 10 from their own
21. Aaron Gholston blazed past his defender and King lofted a ball that everyone in the stadium
figured was way overthrown. Gholston accelerated under the ball, reached out, and made a
soft-hands catch on the dead run leaving the Sailor defense far behind for 79 yards and the
answering score. Fittingly, King found Gholston in the left, front corner of the end zone for the
2-point conversion to tie the game at 14 with less than a minute left in the first quarter.
The Eagles defense made some solid adjustments and a combination sack shared between
Trevor Moore and Caleb Pugh pushed the Sailors back and forced a punt. Starting at their own
11, the Eagles used a combination of runs and passes including a 37-yard strike from King to
Davis to get across midfield. Tony Phillips took over with several strong carries capped off with
a mash behind a pulling Dane Fitzgibbon for 13 yards into the end zone. U’Maree Talley
completed the kick to give the Eagles a 21-14 lead early in the second quarter.
South Christian ground the ball down the field before the Eagles defense stiffened at the 24-
yard line and forced an incompletion on fourth down, giving the red-hot Blue and Black offense
the ball back looking to extend the lead. The O-line was strong in both run-blocking and pass
protection as the offense mixed runs and passes to move down the field. With under a minute
left in the half and the ball inside the 10, a valiant stretch for the first down and a well-timed hit
by a Sailor defender caused a fumble and the Eagles turned the ball over at the 7-yard line.
South Christian used plays to the sidelines to move the ball out from the shadow of their own
end zone before a receiver slipped between Eagle defenders, caught the pass, and scampered
65 yards for a TD with only 4 seconds left in the half. Devastatingly, the pooch kick by South
Christian bounced on the turf just long enough for a Sailor player to dive on it and give South
Christian one more chance from inside Eagle territory. They capitalized with a jump-ball TD
reception in the back corner of the end zone, shocking all onlookers by scoring 14 points in the
last 39 seconds of the first half to make the score 21-27 after 24 minutes of play.
The Eagles received the second-half kick, couldn’t overcome a couple of penalties, and were
forced to punt. The Defense, behind strong tackling by Ben Toly and Davis Hutt and QB pressure by Cam Morgan forced a turnover on downs at the Eagle 34. From there, King led a mix-and-
match, thirteen play drive to grind down the field for over six minutes but the Eagles were
ultimately stopped at the 6-yard line on a 4 th and 2 try. South turned around and drove the field
for a touchdown and two-point conversion making the score 21-35.
To end the third and start the fourth quarters, the teams traded drives that ended in fumbles
with South’s fumble pounced on by Will Hausig. South Christian then drove and cashed in
another touchdown run to make the score 21-42 with less than two minutes left in the game.
With 75 yards of real estate ahead of them and the clock winding down there was no quit and
all grit in the Eagles. The offense marched down the field behind strong running from senior Will Owens,
and another explosive pass from King to Davis before Owens powered in for the TD from 5
yards out. The Eagle extra point was blocked and the Sailors knelt out the game clock making
the final score Eagles 27 Sailors 42.
It was not the final result the team wanted but the Offense didn’t stop grinding - gaining 437
yards overall to South’s 451. The Defense never stopped fighting and picking one another up
after each play. Team leaders on offense were King with 285 yds and 2 TDs through the air with
explosive plays to Gholston (135) and Davis (109) both with 5 receptions and a TD each. On the
ground, Phillips (65yds), Owens (31), and King (56) shared the load generating 152 yards at 4.3
yds/carry with TD runs from Phillips and Owens. The defense was hustling all over the field led
by Davis (6 tackles) and Toly (6.5) patrolling the second level with Hutt (5.5 and a sack) and Cam
Morgan (3) leading the way in stuffing things up at the line of scrimmage.
The Eagles have many positives to build on and will work together to learn from mistakes as
they prepare to host the Red Hawks of Grand Rapids Union at Eagle Stadium this coming Friday
for the first home game of the season. Let’s Roll Eagles!