Football results

By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor

Allegan’s Tyler Smith makes a one-handed attempt at this pass during the Tigers’ 47-6 loss to Three Rivers. (Photo by Mark Stamm)

FENNVILLE 44 LAWTON 22

Fennville senior quarterback Miguel Aldaco was a one-man wrecking crew in the Blackhawks’ season opener with Lawton Thursday, Aug. 28.

In addition to completing 15-of-24 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns, Aldaco racked up a team-best 89 rushing yards and one TD on 15 carries as Fennville doubled up Lawton for the win.

Among Aldaco’s completions were four each to L.C. Cooper (86 yards) and Trevor Crane (56 yards), three to Wes Leonard (32 yards) and two apiece to Tony Stennett (31 yards) and Taylor Crane (12 yards).

“It was a good start for our football team,” Fennville coach Tim Schipper said. “We were able to get the ball to several receivers and several backs had good yards.”

Michael Fries was second to Aldaco in rushing yards with 63 on just three carries, while Chico Beach added 55 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Beach also recovered a fumble in the end zone for a TD in the second quarter.

Fennville scored two touchdowns in each of the first three quarters, leading 42-14 heading to the final quarter. Lawton capped the game’s scoring with a 12-yard run by Cameron Johnson.

HOPKINS 44 EDWARDSBURG 6

Jeremiah Pavlak hurt Edwardsburg with both his arm and his legs as Hopkins cruised to the easy victory in its season debut Thursday, Aug. 28.

Pavlak ran for a pair of first-quarter touchdowns and threw for another in the second quarter to help the Vikings claim a 36-0 advantage at the intermission. Hopkins extended that lead to 44-0 on Andrew Wilson’s 25-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter before Edwardsburg finally got on the scoreboard.

Pavlak’s first scoring run covered 26 yards, with his second going for 30 yards. He also ran for both two-point conversions.

Kevin Stein (74 yards) and Cameron Crowe (one yard) added rushing TDs in the second quarter prior to Pavlak’s passing score, which went for 15 yards to Nolan Hazen.

Pavlak finished the game 2-for-2 passing for 53 yards. Stein paced the Vikings’ ground attack, amassing 145 yards in nine attempts for an average of 16.1 yards per carry.

Stein was also converted on two of his three extra-point-kick tries.

WAYLAND 33 JENISON 6

Brandy Forcier and Anthony Castaneda proved quite the one-two rushing punch for Wayland in its Week 1 battle with Jenison Thursday, Aug. 28.

Forcier had a game-best 123 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, while Castaneda added 69 yards and three TDs on 13 carries to help lift the Wildcats to the decisive victory.

Wayland scored the first 26 points of the game before Jenison cut the lead to 26-14 following a pair of scoring passes from Sean Melinn. The first of those scoring strikes went for four yards to Justin Szymanski in the second quarter, with the second going 24 yards to Mitch Hackley in the third quarter.

But Castaneda capped the scoring with a one-yard plunge in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on the win.

While Wayland did most of its offensive damage on the ground, quarterback Jack Weick also did his part. Weick went 5-for-8 passing for 44 yards without throwing an interception.

PLAINWELL 7 PAW PAW 12

Following a scoreless first quarter, Plainwell’s Kyon Dorsey broke loose for a 60-yard scoring run in the Trojans’ season opener against Paw Paw Thursday, Aug. 28. Kicker Shane Lyons added the extra point to give Plainwell the 7-0 lead.

And for a while, it looked like those points might stand up.

With an aggressive, swarming defense, Plainwell limited Paw Paw to six points through three quarters and entered the final frame leading 7-6.

But Paw Paw’s Armand Brown had other ideas, making his way into the end zone on a four-yard run to give the Redskins the 12-7 come-from-behind win.

Brown also scored Paw Paw’s first touchdown, racing 11 yards in the second quarter.

Dorsey led the Plainwell offense with 74 yards on 10 carries, while Tim Burnham finished with 47 yards on 13 attempts.

Defensively, four players had six tackles each for the Trojans, including Burnham and Chad Mossman.

ALLEGAN 6 THREE RIVERS 47

After being upset by Allegan in Week 1 last season, Three Rivers and quarterback Aaron Spence had revenge on their minds when the Wildcats hosted the Tigers Thursday, Aug. 28.

And revenge was had.

Spence completed 9-of-15 passes for 227 yards and five touchdowns as Three Rivers rolled past Allegan for the victory.

Allegan, which failed to score through the first three quarters, avoided the shutout when Travis Dame found the end zone from 14 yards out late in the final quarter.

The game was close early, with Three Rivers leading just 7-0 after one quarter. By halftime, however, that lead stood at 34-0 as Spence tossed four TD passes—the first two of which went to Dan Shutes—in the second quarter.

Allegan, which failed to complete a pass in eight attempts, got a team-high 45 rushing yards on 11 carries from Dave Ochampaugh. Steve Poffenberger added 38 yards on eight carries.