The Sioux County Index-Reporter
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Wolfpack: Final two minutes of 1st half prove costly Continued from page 12
two teams battling for playoff posi-
tioning.
"This week we have another huge
game against a team that's fighting for
a playoff spot," Kooima stated. "We
are going to have to get some things
fixed up front on both sides of the
ball so we are ready for a very physi-
cal Central Lyon/George-Little Rock
team."
Defensively, the Western Christian
3-5-3 alignment didn't play with the
same conviction as in prior contests.
Tackling was sloppy and the
Wolfpack had trouble reading
Sheldon's crafty misdirection plays
-- especially on a Balster 52-yard TD
scamper down the home sideline in the
third quarter -- which gave the Orabs
a 25-7 edge at the 8:14 mark.
"They stuck it to us," Kooima said.
"We weren't as ready to play as they
were. We knew we had to key on their
backfield. We had to be responsible
for what they run."
Sheldon gained 307 yards on a whop-
ping 70 plays. The Orabs sustained
drives by going 12-of-21 on third- and
fourth-down conversions, They also
took advantage of a 101-33 lead in
special teams yards for shorter fields.
"We didn't execute well," Kooima
said. "We didn't block or tackle
well. They made more plays than us.
Football is a game of one-on-one situ-
ations, and Sheldon won more of them
tonight."
Interestingly, though, Western
Christian produced the game's first
score.
Sam Van Ginkel blocked a Sheldon
punt. Four plays later, including an
Western Christian's Brian Hengeveld, left, and Heath Bonestroo (32)
attempts to put on some defensive pressure during the first half of
a District 2A-1 game on Friday. --- Photo by Eric Viccaro, Sioux County
Index-Reporter
Orab pass interference infraction,
Marcus Altena plunged in from 1 yard
out and Michael Den Herder kicked
the extra point for a 7-0 Wolfpack
edge at the 9:25 mark of the third
quarter.
Then the Sheldon 25-point onslaught
occurred.
Western Christian didn't respond
until early in the fourth quarter when
Kody Vande Kamp scampered in with
the first of his two TD runs of the
fourth quarter. Matthew Westra caught
a two-point conversion pass from J.D.
Boer.
The Wolfpack still had hope down
10 points, but missed on a crucial
fourth-down conversion on its own
25.
Sheldon didn't miss on its fourth-
down conversion during its next drive
as Balster connected with athletic
Ray Scott on a 17-yard pass.
The Orabs had sealed the Wolfpack's
fate.
Vande Kamp's second TD run
of the period only helped Western
Christian insofar as with the playoff
point differential. Sheldon's differen-
tial stands at plus-6.25 and WC is at
plus-4.5 with three weeks left in the
regular season.
i~i;: wc~ Kody Vande Kamp 4 run
::: (Matt Westra pass from J.D. Boer), Kody
~:26, Western Christian 15
: ~ Ray Scott17 pass from J.D. Boer, 1-
:8~lstet'(Westphalen kick), Sheldon -- Michel Lovan,
: 3~:WeStem Christian 15 Balster, 13-49,
i~ ~ ~nde Kamp 1 run 10-44; Michael
' ~ kick), 1:19, Sheldon 32,
• Western Christian 22
10 17
132
52-192
4-10-0
4-of-10, 89
89
33 101¸
CROSS COUNTRY NOTEBOOK
Western's Hulstein strides to a second-place finish in 16:16
By Eric Viccaro J0n H0fman was the fourth
EDITOR runner across the line for
hulleditor@ncppub.com the Wolfpack, grabbing 25th
spot in a time of 18:27. Luke
Western Christian Van Engen was Western
High School head Christian's final counted
cross country runner, earning 29th (18:33).
coach Dan Kroeze still per-
ceives a gap between the
Wolfpack and elite boys
'teams in the area.
The gap proved to be 26
points and Western Christian
finished third overall at its
own invitational at Rolling
Hills Country Club on
Tuesday.
The Wolfpack compiled
83 points while meet winner
George-Little Rock/Central
Lyon recorded 57 and sec-
ond-place Unity Christian
was one point behind the
Mustangs.
"The guys were deter-
mined to run with the lead-
ers, but they fell a little
short," Kroeze said in his
post-race comments.
"They let the lead group
get away too far in the first
half mile and then had to
spend a lot of energy getting
back into the race," Kroeze
continued. "We are getting
close to key races in the
season and we have a lot of
ground to makeup."
Weather was ideal for run-~
ning. Skies were filled with
sun. There was little if any
breeze and temperatures
cooperated in the mid-70s.
Once again, the Wolfpack' s
Derek Hofland was the top
finisher. Hofland was sev-
enth in a time of 17 min-
utes, 38 seconds. That was
14 seconds faster than last
year's performance on the
SalTI e COurse.
Patrick Kooima was next,
taking 10th in a time of
17:42. Continuing his way
back from early-season inju-
ries, Tyler De Vries placed
12th (17:51).
In his first-ever varsity
race, Marcus De Weerd
rewarded coach Kroeze by
finishing 39th in the field of
68 runners. He clocked in
at 19:06. Josh Dolieslager
was six seconds behind De
Weerd (41st, 19:12).
"Marcus held his own,"
Kroeze said. "He is a hard
worker and he will be push-
ing our top-5 (for the rest of
the season)."
Western Christian was also
third in the junior varsity
boys team standings with 66
points.
Justin Zandstra, David
TeKrony and Evan Geels
employed the pack rtmning
style and finished seventh
through ninth, respectively.
Zandstra's time was 19:30,
TeKrony 19:35 and Geels
19:42.
Here are the remaining
times and placements for
the Wolfpack boys JV cross
country runners: Micah
Wamala (20th, 20:04),
Austin Schut (22nd, 20:13),
Eric Geels (34th, 20:58),
Jonathan DenHartog (39th,
21:11), Jared Visser (58th,
22:33), Cory Slagter (61st,
22:57).
Unity Christian's Brandon
Bonnema was the meet med-
alist in a time of 17:12, four
seconds faster than Adam
Sohl from George-Little
Rock/Central Lyon.
Tuesday's Results
Team Scores
Varsity
1, George-Little Rock/Central
Lyon, 57; 2, Unity Christian,
58; 3, Westem Christian, 83;
4, MOC-FIoyd Valley, 133; 5,
West Lyon, 146; 6, LeMars,
155; 7, Odebolt-Arthur-Battle
Creek-Ida Grove, 181; 8, Sioux
Left, Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley runner Jordan
Bonestroo raced to a personal-best time of 19:31
during the boys event. Right, Miranda Hulstein took
second in the girls race, 10 seconds behind win-
ner Kayla Byl from Unity Christian. ~ Left photo by
Eric Viccaro, Sioux County Index-Reporter, right photo
provided by the Westra family, special to the Sioux
County Index-Reporter.
Center, 186; 9, Sheldon, 196;
10, Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley,
236; Granville-Spalding
Catholic and Cherokee didn't
have enough runners for a
counted team score.
Junior Varsity
1, Unity Christian, 35; 2, George°
Little Rock/Central Lyon, 51; 3,
Western Christian, 66; 4, Sioux
Center, 105; 5, MOC-Floyd
Valley, 122; 6, LeMars, 160; 7,
Odebolt-Arthur-Battle Creek-
Ida Grove, 324.
WE GIRLS
Hulstein takes 2nd
In her finest performance
ever, freshman Miranda
Hulstein was second in a
time of 16:16.
Hulstein's time was 10 sec-
onds off the winning effort
posted by Unity Christian's
Kayla Byl (16:06).
Overall, Western Christian
was fourth in the team stand-
ings with 100 points, 10 more
than Sioux Center but well
ahead of fiRh-place Sheldon
(163).
Fighting through injuries,
Mariah Lammers was 13th
overall in a time of 16:55. She
was 49 seconds off last year's
effort in 16:06.
Keanna Vaandrager helped
the Wolfpack close the gap on
the girls' side, taking 18th in a
time of 17:28.
Lauren Eekhoff was
Western Christian's fourth
runner into the chute, clock-
ing in at 18:00 flat, which was
good enough for 28th. Janelle
Westra was the Wolt~ack's
final counted performer (39th,
18:48).
Overall, there were 56 girls
running in the varsity field.
In the junior varsity girls
race, four Wolfpack girls fin-
ished in the 20s. Anna Bierma
was 21st (19:41), Leah Van
Tel in 22nd (19:45), Megan
Kelderman in 24 (20:13) and
See Cross, page 8
li
1
!
li
ii
