The Eagles went on the road and knew they were in for a tough test against Spring Lake’s
grinding veer offense. That fact led to some aggressive play-calling and taking some chances on
fourth downs early in the game. This gave Spring Lake a couple of short fields to work with and
they were able to capitalize before the Eagles got on the board midway through the second
quarter. That 65-yard, 7 play drive saw a 26-yard pitch and catch from Charlie King to Aaron
Gholston on 4th and 5. King followed with a lovely 14-scramble and Will Owens darted in from 5
yards out for the TD. Late in the first half, the Eagles received a kickoff that went off a player
and out of bounds at the 1 yard line. Behind on the scoreboard, with the full length of the field
ahead, and 1:08 on the clock before halftime, King dropped back into his own endzone and let
one fly. Gholston streaked behind the Lakers defense, snared the pass, and took it the full 99
yards for GRC’s second TD of the game.
The first time the Eagles got the ball in the second half saw King and the offense engineer a beautiful
10 play, 79-yard drive. Throws from King to Gholston and Drew Shripka got things going. A huge
play deep over the middle and caught by a soaring TD Davis for a 31-yard gain. A couple plays
later, King sprinted into the endzone from 12 yards out. Spring Lake answered with a 13 play
drive of their own for another score and used up half of the fourth quarter doing so. With 5:09 on the clock and facing a large deficit, there was no quit in the Eagles. Freshman RB Justin Davis showed some quick feet and strong running carrying the ball on six consecutive plays gaining 48 yards before Junior QB Nathan Larsen found Drew Shripka for a catch and run of 27 yards for the final Eagles TD.
Spring Lake was tough to handle during this game but the Eagles battled and scrapped throughout the game. Several Eagles played just about every snap on both offense and defense including Davis Hutt reliably getting King the ball from center and tallying 7 tackles on defense.
Drew Shripka added 5 tackles with Hudson Ogle, Dane Fitzgibbon, and Ty Damstra each supporting with 4. Offense was led by King who went 14 of 21 for 254 yards and 1 TD through the air and added 11 rushes for 54 yards and a TD. Justin Davis had 7 carries for 66 yards to
add to the rushing attack. For the second straight game, Aaron Gholston was kryptonite to the opposing defense totaling 8 catches for 192 yards, including a state record 99-yard TD reception. TD Davis (4-51 yds) and Drew Shripka (3-38 yds, 1TD) rounded out the air attack.
The Eagles welcome the Maroons of Holland Christian to Eagle Stadium at 7:00pm this Friday for the final game of the 2024 season. Come out Friday and support these young men, especially the seniors, who have worked so hard this season. Roll Eagles!