GR Christian Eagles 8 South Christian Sailors 36
 

 Opening the season on the road in Byron Center, the Eagles and Sailors traded punts in
the first quarter before trading touchdowns early in the second quarter. The Eagles
followed a Sailors’ TD drive with a methodical 10-play, 60-yard drive that ended with
Bradley Nuiver finding Cooper Brisbane in the end zone from 1 yard out. Nuiver then
completed the two-point conversion on a pass to James Veldheer giving the Eagles the
lead at 8-7 with 4:52 left in the first half. The second half saw the Sailors do all the
scoring even though the Eagles kept battling and making plays throughout the game.
Offensively, Nuiver completed 16 of 30 passes for 126 yards and a TD. His receivers
included Jacob Burgess with 4 catches for 32 yards followed by Zeke Sare, Wyatt Stuit,
and Cooper Brisbane with 3 catches each. It was tough going in the running game but
Isaac James darted for 14 yards and James Veldheer churned out 13 yards.
Defensively, four players tied for the team lead with 4 solo tackles: Wyatt Stuit, Bentley
James-Spearman, Zeke Sare, and Cole VanderBaan. Three of Sare’s tackles, and one
of VanderBaan’s, dropped Sailors’ ball carriers behind the line of scrimmage! Jacob
Bierling and Javi Cummings each recorded sacks to thwart the Sailor passing attack.
Zay Owens and Josiah Gurley each caused fumbles with big hits – one of which was
recovered by Brisbane. Veldheer recorded a lovely, diving interception in the game.
It wasn’t the result that the Eagles wanted, but there are positives to build on and they’ll
go back to work getting ready for another road game on Thursday next week with a
6:00PM start against the Wyoming Wolves.