Mpa sports feature entry hart jv's ar

Volleyball Montague 3, Hesperia 0 Pentwater 3, Baldwin 0 Montague 3, Shelby 0 Pentwater 3, Brethren 0

Sports November 12, 2015

Oceana's Herald-Journal

B

atch 4

Hart girls 11th @ State Finals ALL-STATE FINISHERS: Adelyn Ackley & Sierra Albus (Hart); Arik LaFave (Hesperia); Emily Merten & Perrin Kirwin (Walkerville)

THURSDAY, NOV. 12

Volleyball

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 18

SATURDAY, NOV. 21

Hockey

Pentwater @ Regional Forest Hills Central @ Finals, Big Rapids CrossManistee, 7 p.m. roads, 7 p.m. (if necessary) THURSDAY,

w

Cross Country

hat 2

get the score

TUESDAY, NOV. 17

Volleyball

Pentwater @ Quarterfinals, Buckley, 7 p.m. (if necessary)

NOV. 19

Volleyball

Pentwater @ Semifinals, Kellogg Arena, 3:45 p.m. (if necessary)

Hockey

Manistee @ Hudsonville, 5:30 p.m.

Volleyball

Pentwater @ Finals, Kellogg Arena, 10 a.m. (if necessary)

9-0 JV season sparks hope for Hart football future ing against opponents of their age in hopes of building participation, and success, in future The Hart football program’s seasons. future was in flux less than a The first step in that plan year ago. It was last Decemwas a rousing success, as the ber that the school announced Pirates’ JVs went a perfect 9-0 it would not play varsity foot— Larry Witham this season, capping it with a ball in 2015 in response to a Hart football coach win at Beal City, a consistent lack of interested players in Division 8 powerhouse, in the upper classes. The idea was verse City Central freshman their final game. Beal City’s JV Mark Platt said. to get interested freshmen and Hart also faced Belding, a team over the course of the program had not lost a game sophomores experience playin four years, superintendent Class B school, and the Tra- season. Hart only trailed once all season — 7-0 early to Beal City.

Not having to move the younger players immediately to the varsity level certainly was reason for optimism for the JV Pirates heading into the season, but 9-0 surpassed even the most optimistic expectations, especially considering Hart only played two games at home due to the renovations at the football stadium.

“I jokingly commented to (former A.D.) Mike Rawert last spring that I thought they’d go 9-0, but I don’t know that we ever felt 9-0 was going to happen,” Platt said. “A lot of great teams don’t go 9-0.”

Of course, a lot of JV teams don’t have a player like junior Brady Tate. Tate entered Andrew Skinner • Oceana’s Herald-Journal file photo the season having played, and played well, on the Hart varHart running back Brady Tate (left) tries to break free of Shelby defenders Kristian Oberlin (2) and sity the previous two seasons.

Latrell Sobers during the Pink and Green JV game in September. Tate led the Hart JVs to a 9-0 season, He put up numbers befitting and should be the Pirates’ top offensive threat on the varsity in 2016.

By Andy Roberts

“It’s a great start, but it was just the

Herald-Journal Writer

beginning. We don’t want this to be the end.”

Andrew Skinner • Oceana’s Herald-Journal file photo

Hart’s Dustin Klotz (8) pulls away from a Mesick defender during Hart’s homecoming football game in October. The Pirates’ JV team won the game, and all nine of its games this season.

that stature, carrying the ball 84 times for 1,047 yards and 14 touchdowns, catching five passes for 236 yards and three more scores, and getting into the end zone five more times on kickoff returns and interceptions.

The Pirates also had good play from their quarterback, Cameron Tanner, who had over 1,000 yards of total offense, running for nine touchdowns and passing for seven. He also had four interceptions on defense, two of which he took back for scores. O’rian Torres was a great complement to Tate, carrying for nearly 500

yards and six touchdowns.

The Pirates’ defense was also a big-play group, scoring nine times. The foursome of Jesse McGhan, Joe Rader, Gus Gale and Aja Hernandez led the defense in tackles. Rader and Gale each had pick-sixes, and all four were regulars in the opposing backfield.

In addition to the individual talents, coach Larry Witham said another key to Hart’s success was the players’ embracing of a new offensive system.

Witham, who led the JV team

HART JV 9-0 continued on 3b

Pirates’ Ackley earns runner-up spot at state Hart girls finish 11th overall; county turns in 4 other all-staters with Shepherd’s Amber Gall as the future of Division 3 at the Shoreline Media MHSAA state cross-country BROOKLYN — Hart’s Ademeet Saturday at Michigan lyn Ackley ran neck-and-neck International Speedway in

By David Bossick

Brooklyn.

Ackley edged her freshman counterpart by a little less than six seconds to finish second (18:18.2) to senior Holly Bullough of Traverse City St. Francis, the state champion.

Hart’s girls finished 11th as a team, with Sierra Albus, AlayAd. Ackley

• Cotnributed photo by Kirstie Smith

The Hart girls cross-country team takes off from the starting line of Saturday’s Division 3 state crosscountry finals. The Pirates finished in 11th place, with top runner Adelyn Ackley second overall.

Albus

na Ackley, Brooke Hodges and Kayleigh Gordon chipping into the team score of 325, 25 points behind 10th-place Blissfield.

“We were shooting for a top 10 finish, but came up a little short. Despite a season marked with some injuries, the girls ran incredibly well,” Hart coach Terry Tatro said.

Junior Sierra Albus, an allstater last year with a ninthplace finish, finished with another all-state honor despite missing most of the season with a fracture, coming in 29th this time. She clocked a time of 19:42.2. Sophomore Alayna

Kirwin

LaFave

Ackley, who also missed most of the season, was an all-stater last year, too, with a 28th-place finish. This year she ran to a 125th-place finish and a time of 21:05.0.

“I’m so glad that I came back,” Albus said. “My foot, it was so frustrating me. The doctor said it was completely healed and the X-rays were OK. But it was frustrating that it hurt every once in a while.

I’m glad I placed at regionals and got to go to states.”

Albus said she was in a boot for three weeks after she suffered a fractured foot, unable to

Merten

get out and run. She had a few doubts when she was all clear to run, but she also had trust.

“I put my trust in God, because He gave me running ability,” she said. “I’ve got to give Him all of my credit.”

Seniors Brooke Hodges and Kayleigh Gordon finished 127th and 172nd, respectively.

Hodges ran to a time of 21:07 while Gordon had a time of 21:45.8. “(They) ran their all-time personal best Saturday, capping

STATE FINALS continued on 2b

Pentwater scores district 3-peat

Falcons faced Middleton-Fulton Tues. in regional semis at BR Crossroads

By David Bossick Shoreline Media

WALKERVILLE — Pentwater’s volleyball team started off Friday’s MHSAA Class D district championship match with two no-doubt victories against Brethren, and then rallied in the third game to finish the sweep, 25-5, 25-11, 25-22.

“The girls really came out hot tonight,” Pentwater coach Kerry Newberg said. “They really wanted this. The energy today, at school we had a pep assembly for them at the end of the day. We stayed after school, and I let the girls hit a little before we got on the bus. They wanted this.”

The Falcons advanced to a regional semifinal Tuesday at Big Rapids Crossroads and played Middleton-Fulton. The Pirates defeated Fowler in five games at the district in Ashley. The Tuesday contest was

b01.oh.111215.ohjpages1-3.indd 1

played after the Herald-Journal went to press.

The other regional semifinal is between Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart and Muskegon Catholic. The championship match is at 7 p.m. next Thursday.

“We’re going to practice Sunday and we’re going to go Monday,” Newberg said. “I’m getting some game film from a couple of districts, so that will be nice.”

Brethren scored the first points of each of the first two games, but the Falcons quickly gained control. Pentwater went on a 10-0 run in the first game and wrapped the game on a 12-1 roll.

In the second game, the Bobcats got within two points a few times and had the game at 118. But serving betrayed Brethren and Pentwater rolled from there with a 14-3 edge from that point on.

The Falcons (33-9-2) relied on their strengths — pounding the ball on the attack and hitting their serves — but added in some quick tips over Brethren’s aggressive blocking at the net.

“When a team blocks like that, we sometimes have a hard time adjusting to that,” Newburg said.

“We still want them to hit the ball, and we want (the other team) to go side to side. We had some hitting errors, and that’s something that gets in our own heads.”

Newberg decided to delve into her bench for the third game, and the Falcons rallied David Bossick • Shoreline Media from as much as a seven-point deficit, 14-7, to eventually tie Pentwater’s Emily Gebhart (center) spikes the ball against Brethren during Friday’s MHSAA Class B volleyball district championship match at Walkerville. Gebhart and the Falcons swept the Bobcats in the game five times thereafter, three games to win their third straight district title. including at 22-all. Jill Miller’s ace started Pentwater’s three the girls that we have on our are making the starters bet- made sure they got playing consecutive points to close out team,” Newberg said. “Our ter every day. So I know they FALCONS WIN AGAIN the match. subs bring it at practice. They wanted to play tonight, so I continued on 2b “I trust every single one of

11/9/15 5:30 PM

Oceana’s Herald-Journal • November 12, 2015 • 3b

Montague too much for Tigers in district title match

By Andy Roberts Herald-Journal Writer

Andrew Skinner • Oceana’s Herald-Journal file photo

Hart running bck O’rian Torres (left) heads to the end zone while following a block from teammate Anthony Moldanado during the Pirates’ homecoming game in October against Mesick. Hart’s JV team went 9-0.

Hart JV 9-0 and is slated to coach the varsity team when it returns in 2016, replaced the T-formation that Hart had run in previous seasons with a spread-based attack designed to get athletes into space.

“We threw a lot of new things at them very early,” Witham said. “They had two choices: Reject what we were trying to feed them and stumble through the season, or embrace what we were trying to do. Their football IQ increased tremendously the 16 weeks or so we were together.”

Witham ran the offense, and longtime Hart assistant Pat Ferrier helmed the defense, which also installed a new system.

Five of the Pirates’ nine victories came by shutout, which made Witham’s job easier, he said.

“Our defense played tremendously,” Witham said. “It’s a blessing, being an offensive guy, to be able to think about what we’re going to do on the next series offensively and not have to worry about the defense.

“We went from a five-man front to a 4-4 attacking style of defense where we use our speed to our advantage and attack offenses more. It was a big transition for these kids. They welcomed the opportunity to do something different, and the proof was in the pudding.”

Witham said he learned quickly that he had a special group. The Pirates traveled to Oakridge the second week of the season, and the varsity Eagles have been a powerhouse in the WMC for years.

The visiting Pirates were up to the task early, scoring on a 75-yard touchdown pass and going into halftime with a 6-6 tie. In the second half, the Pirates responded to their coach’s halftime challenge.

“We challenged the kids at halftime, telling them this was their golden moment,” Witham said. “They could scrap with (Oakridge) or be happy with a 6-6 game. And on the first play of the second half, we recovered a fumble, and went in two plays later and scored. At that point Pat and I looked at each other and realized we had kids with some moxie.”

As the season unfolded, Hart got to witness the community react to a successful football season, something it hasn’t gotten to see at the varsity level.

The response, Platt said, was incredible.

“We won our final game, and coming back into town, the community greets us at the school and out on Oceana Drive, and we had a police escort into town,” Platt said. “We got back to the school, and there were cars everywhere.

This is at 11 at night. We believe that will translate into more kids playing, or at least considering playing.”

That, for Hart, has always been the question. The Pirates have a 2016 varsity schedule planned, starting with a tough opening game against Ludington. Most of the players that made up the 9-0 Pirates will be on that varsity team. Hart also plans to field a JV team, which would be an important step to ensure the Pirates don’t end up back in a low-numbers situation in a few years.

Witham is optimistic that the buzz his team built will pay off with more participation.

“I would expect us to have 25-30 kids at the varsity level, and roughly the same with the JV,” Witham said. “I’ve heard through the grapevine that because of the success this last fall, there are large numbers of

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from Page 1b

Andrew Skinner • Oceana’s Herald-Journal file photo

Hart’s Anthony Moldanado (left) beats Shelby’s Nick Felt to the edge during September’s Pink and Green JV game.

kids interested in playing. That bodes very well for the JV and varsity programs. I guess we’ll find out next spring, when we have the meeting.”

That increased participation will be vital to keeping Hart’s momentum going into the 2016 football season. Low numbers, Platt said, can spell doom to a team, even one with talent. The Pirates need look no further than county rival Shelby for that — despite not lacking in talent themselves, having only 19 players helped contribute to an 0-9 Tigers’ season this fall.

“It was never lack of talent,” Platt said. “Our kids are just as talented as any in the conference, but when you have low numbers, and you lose games for that reason, it’s hard to compete. (The WMC) is not a conference one can play ironman football and be successful.”

In the meantime, neither Platt nor Witham have penciled in a playoff spot on the 2016 schedule just yet. Both men know that the success the Pirates just had will get the attention of WMC varsity coaches, which means Hart won’t sneak up on anyone in 2016. And, Witham pointed out, varsity football is a whole different animal than the JV game. Off-season preparation will be just as vital to the 2016 team’s success as anything that happens from August onward.

“Other than Brady, none of them have ever experienced a varsity game before,” Witham said. “Our style of play won’t be drastically different. But things will get more complicated. Defenses will be better and offenses will be less basic than at the JV level. We’ll have to learn to play faster and play smarter.

“Maybe the most important season of all is the one that starts now and leads up to next August. We have a lot of kids that need to get in the weight room and get stronger and faster.”

However, while there is much work to do to accomplish the twin goals of success on the field and more participation, the Pirates laid down a tremendous first step this fall and have stoked anticipation for what may come next.

“Some of the target we’ve put on people’s backs for a lot of years may have shifted to us,” Witham said. “Hopefully we’ve sent a message to our

opponents that you can’t look past us. It’s a great start, but it was just the beginning. We don’t want this to be the end.”

SCOTTVILLE — Shelby entered Thursday night’s district championship match against third-ranked Montague with good reason to be confident. After all, the Tigers had beaten Montague two consecutive times, including once just a week prior, at the West Michigan Conference tournament.

However, this time it was not to be for Shelby, as Montague rallied past the Tigers for a game-one win and easily won the last two games to eliminate Shelby, 25-20, 25-12, 25-18.

“It just stings,” Shelby coach Tom Weirich said. “We played so well against them in our home tournament, and we played them so well in our conference tournament as well.

I thought we had a little more to offer.”

Game one was the big one in the match. Shelby (23-21-3) held a three-point lead virtually the whole way up until the 19-16 mark, at which point Montague roared back, scoring nine of the last 10 points. Both teams had played so well in the opening game that it became clear quickly that whoever won it was going to be in command.

Letting it get away was a big blow to the Tigers.

“Not winning game one after carrying a lead through the whole thing was devastating,” Weirich said. “After game one, I still had a good feel, but the wheels fell off in a hurry after that. They’re good. They’re ranked in the state, and we have to be better if we’re going to beat them.”

Shelby struggled in serve receive from that point, as the Wildcats stormed out to a 10-0 lead in game two, a deficit Shelby couldn’t overcome, though the Tigers did get back to within 12-5 at one point.

“I don’t know if we’ve been down 10-0 all season,” Weirich said. “We just started chasing the ball around the gym. That’s tough to battle back from. We got caught in one rotation (late in the first game), and we got caught in that same rotation in the second game. I don’t know what it is with that server they have (Morgan Roesler), but she

Andy Roberts • Oceana’s Herald-Journal

Shelby’s Brooke James (center) tries to get the ball over the Montague defense during Thursday’s district title match at Mason Co. Central. Shelby lost, 3-0.

burns us a lot.”

The Tigers fell behind again in game three, by a 6-2 margin.

Though they rallied to tie the game at nine, Montague wasn’t to be denied on this night and never let Shelby get into the match again.

Shelby sophomore McKenna Peters, who has taken on the brunt of the offense after Chloe Sillman’s season-ending injury, had a valiant match in defeat, posting nine kills, four aces and seven digs. Classmate Jaren Smith posted five kills, eight digs and two blocks. Although imperfect, the two have shown flashes throughout the season of the offensive leadership they’ll need to pace the Tigers in 2016.

“Losing Chloe shows up in games like that,” Weirich said.

“We put a lot of pressure on a couple of sophomores, who I have complete confidence in, but they’re still sophomores.

They have a lot of growing to do. We’ll get them in the gym, and they’ll be ready for next year.”

Weirich said he was proud of how the team bounced back from Sillman’s injury and played a strong last couple of weeks.

“I told them in the locker room, if you hang your head over what we’ve accomplished, even over the last two weeks, shame on you,” Weirich said.

“If you’d told me going into the last two weeks that we’d lost our outside hitter, I’d have had the thought that we didn’t have a chance to do anything.

But we represented the Shelby name pretty well.”

Shelby 3, Holton 0 SCOTTVILLE — Shelby reached the district finals with a tremendous performance as a team last Wednesday night against Holton, as the Tigers pounded the Red Devils 25-9, 25-14, 25-18.

“We served very well and finished the ball pretty well,” Shelby coach Tom Weirich. “It was one of our best nights of the season. If we can play like this (Thursday), we’ll have a nice battle with Montague.”

McKenna Peters was all over the court for the Tigers, racking up 17 kills, 15 digs and an impressive nine aces. Brooke James had three blocks, and Sarajane Fortier had 34 assists.

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