Despite a few flashes of brilliance, the Wayland varsity football team absorbed its second defeat in as many tries this season, 28-12 to Cedar Springs.
The ‘Cats showed some defensive grit at times in stopping the visiting opponents on downs and they sometimes demonstrated a quality passing game, but faltered particularly near the end of the evening.
Wayland took its first lead of the season at the 5:44 mark of the first quarter on a three-yard run by lineman Matthew Guppy. The six points was set up by a couple of pass plays, of 30 yards to Ian Thompson and of 21 yards to Dustin Simmons, both tossed by quarterback Justion Holtz.
But the 6-0 lead was overtaken about three minutes later when Redhawks back DaMonte Barnett broke loose for a 53-yard TD run. He also picked up the two-point conversion.
That 8-6 score held up until the last play of the first half, when Aiden Brunin scored from 14 yards away on a third down and 10 situation.
The Wildcats got back on the scoreboard with three minutes left in the third period. Holtz hit Simmons with a 44-yard pass all the way down to the Cedar four-yard line and just when it looked like the Redhawks would put together a goal line stand, the senior QB ran to the corner of the end zone on a five-yard TD run. He was stopped just short of the goal line, however, in the PAT attempt.
Cedar Springs answered by pounding the rock smash mouth style, 51 yards in a time-consuming march that just about put the contest out of reach early in the fourth quarter.
The visitors tacked on the last TD of the night on a short plunge by Barnett, set up by a pass and run up the gut by Keith Ellison, all the way to the two.
Wayland will be looking for its first victory of the season next Friday when it visits Middleville Thornapple Kellogg.
