MUSKEGON – Zeeland West came into the historic Hackley stadium and stole one from the Big Reds 28-13. The two historic programs went head-to-head on Friday night and the game certainly did not disappoint. For Muskegon, there are many positives to take away from tonight’s loss. “Physicality, I thought we hit people hard, we did really well on all special teams…offense showed signs of explosiveness,” said coach Shane Fairfield.
Muskegon Senior transfer Quarterback James Young showed lots of promise in his Big Red debut. Late in the second quarter, Young found his receiver Danelle Lawrence in the back of the end zone for the score. “He proved tonight that he’s the dude, a legit quarterback and I’d put him up against any quarterback in the state of Michigan right now” Fairfield stated. Some growing pains did occur midway into the second half for Young when a strong offensive possession ended in an interception.
Game Summary
Zeeland West started the scoring first with a long drive to start the game that ended with Senior Quarterback Trey Sloothaak finding the endzone on a 7-yard TD run. Then, in the closing moments of the first half, James Young put a perfectly placed ball on his receiver’s hands for a Muskegon Touchdown.
Meanwhile, in the second half, it was virtually all Zeeland West when senior running back Keaton Hendricks found the endzone twice. Zeeland West tight end Brody Smeyers caught a crucial touchdown with just over 3 minutes left in the game.
Looking Ahead
Muskegon falls to (0-1), and will face Rockford in week two. For Zeeland West, they pick up a huge road win to start the season and will travel to West Ottawa next week.
