The Wayland varsity football team took advantage of its huge offensive line to pound the rock and defeat Sparta 21-13 Friday night.
Even so, the Spartans stage a couple of frantic comeback attempts that were halted more by their mistakes than anything else. The Wildcats had shot out to a 21-7 advantage with just 3:37 left in the ballgame, but still had to hang on for their second win in as many tries this season.
Wayland established its smash mouth, tackle to tackle offense that not only led to a 7-0 lead in the second quarter, but also ate up a lot of time on the clock. QB Carson Reurink scored from eight yards out.
Sparta, meanwhile, ran only three plays in the entire first quarter before throwing a scare into the ‘Cats secondary with a 57-yard Grady Buson to Jayden Cochrane pass that put the ball only eight yards from the goal line late in the second period.
But the Wildcat defense was able to thwart the threat, thanks to a holding penalty.
On another occasion, Spartan defensive standout Dustin Warner came up with a fumble recovery that put Sparta just 30 yards away from pay dirt. But from there they stalled on downs at the 7-yard line.
Sparta came out firing on the second play of the second half with a 72-yard TD run by Jayden Antor.
So the Wildcats responded with yet another smash mouth, clock-eating drive, going 69 yards to the end zone, with Reurnk plunging one yard and just 11 minutes left in the ballgame.
It looked like Wayland had the game sewed up with only three and a half minutes left on the clock after a bad snap and a shanked punt. Though they were up 21-7, they had to find ways to finally stop an effective air attack in which the Spartans’ southpaw QB fashioned, capping a 65-yard drive with a 10-yard TD aerial to Cochrane.
But at that time there was only 47 seconds left in the game.
Because of terrific clock management, the Spartans were given a couple of last-ditch desperate attempts at midfield, but an interception officially ended it.
The win gives Wayland a 2-0 start to the season. It will begin O-K Gold Conference play at Middleville Thornapple Kellogg next Friday.
Martin 42 Bridgman 36
Martin pinned a 42-36 loss on homestanding Bridgman Friday in its second game of the season.
The Clippers lost to the Bees by two points a year ago. They improved their record in 2024 to 2-0, at the same time halting Bridgman’s 35-game winning streak. Haylen Buell led the defensive charges and scored the winning TD on a 45-yard rum late in the fourth quarter,
The Clipppers shot out to a 20-0 in the opening period and then. had to hang on the rest of the way.
Martin will return to the home field next Friday, entertaining Muskegon Heights.
Allendale 20 Hopkins 12
The Vikings were coming off a 34-20 season opening victory over Fremont, but this time they lost to an Allendale squad that also evened its season record. The game was played surprisingly at Allendale on a Thursday evening.
Hopkins will take on O-K Silver Conference foe Wyoming Godwin Heights next Friday.