GR Christian Eagles 24 East Grand Rapids Pioneers 22
On another perfect evening for football in Eagles Stadium, GRC faced rival East Grand
Rapids. EGR got on the board first and completed the Swinging Gate two-point
conversion to go up 8-0. The Eagles offense started slowly before Cooper Brisbane got
behind the defense. Bradley Nuiver tossed a perfect ball, and Brisbane sped in for a 59-
yard TD! Nuiver ran in the conversion to even the score 8-8.
After the quick strike, the Eagles’ defense had to step up. They stopped the Pioneers on
fourth down, but a fumble gave the ball right back. Three plays later, the defense held
strong again and forced another EGR punt. An interception on the ensuing series put
the Eagle D in a tough spot and, this time, EGR was able to punch into the end zone.
Their 2-point conversion failed: 14-8 East. The GRC offense responded quickly. A 34-
yard pass from Nuiver to Stuit on the first play was followed by a Nuiver-to-Brisbane 25-
yard TD connection just two plays later. An unsuccessful two-point try kept the score
tied at 14. Stuit and Bierling collected back-to-back sacks to thwart East, but the
Pioneer defense quickly forced the Eagle offense off the field. With just 40 seconds in
the half, Bierling charged through to tally another QB sack and the teams went to
halftime tied at 14.
The Eagles’ defense opened the second half with a fourth-down stop, but another
fumble quickly put them right back on the field. The D responded again with Bentley
James-Spearman breaking up a Pioneer fourth-down pass! The Eagles offense was
stopped on its own fourth down try and, this time, EGR was able to take the ball in for
the TD after an 11-play drive. Their 2-point try was stuffed again leaving the score 20-14
East with 8:01 left in the game. A nice kickoff return by Brisbane helped the offense find
its stride. The team executed a masterful 13-play 66-yard drive. James Veldheer carried
the load with 4 rushes and 3 receptions including a beautiful catch and dash to the
endzone from 16-yards out! The TD was sprung by lineman Micah Bergin, who hustled
all the way out to the sideline to erase the last Pioneer with a chance to make the
tackle! Nuiver threw to Stuit for the conversion and the Eagles took the lead 24 – 22
with 1:14 left in the game. The Pioneers had one more chance, but the Eagles D was
too strong tonight. A Javi Cummings thunder-sack was followed by a Veldheer pass
deflection. VanderBaan ended the Pioneers chances with an interception, and a Victory
Formation snap sealed an impressive 24-22 victory for the Eagles JV team.
The defense came up huge with Jacob Bierling (9 tackles, 2 sacks), Wyatt Stuit (8
tackles, 3 TFLs, 1 sack), and Cole VanderBaan (6 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 INT) leading the
way. The offense leaned on the passing game with Bradley Nuiver completing 10 of 16
throws for 173 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT. James Veldheer caught 4 passes for 42 yards
and a TD and Cooper Brisbane had 3 catches for 80 yards and 2 TD. Zeke Sare led the
ground attack with 4 carries for 23 yards.
The Eagles are back on the road next week for 6:30PM matchup with the Lakers of
Spring Lake. Go Eagles!