get the score
Sports
Football
October 15, 2015
Oceana's Herald-Journal
Boys Soccer
Hesperia 47, Lakeview 20 North Muskegon 32, Shelby 20
Volleyball Morley-Stanwood 3, Hesperia 0 Pentwater 3, Mason Co. Eastern 0 Hart 1-4, Hesperia 3-1-1, Pentwater 3-2, Shelby 5-0 @ Shelby Invitational
B
Ludington 2, Shelby 0 Shelby 8, Mason Co. Central 0 North Muskegon 3, Hart 1
Ravenna 1, Shelby 0 (PK) Hart 1, Oakridge 0 Buckley 1, Pentwater 0
Cross Country
Pentwater 3, Baldwin 0 Whitehall 3, Hart 0 Ravenna 3, Shelby 2
Walkerville boys 3rd, girls no score, Pentwater no score @ WMD Meet Hesperia boys 13th, Hart 32nd, Walkerville 19th (Div. 4), Hart girls 19th, Hesperia 39th, Walkerville no score @ Portage Invitational Hart girls 2nd, boys 6th, Shelby girls 7th, boys 8th @ WMC Jamboree
Hart bounced by Norse in WMC semis Reasons for optimism in Pirates’ 3-1 defeat
By Andy Roberts Herald-Journal Writer
MUSKEGON — Hart may have entered Monday’s West Michigan Conference semifinal match as the #6 seed, but the Pirates didn’t look like it much Monday. However, their effort wasn’t enough to come away with an upset as #2 seed North Muskegon scored two late goals to knock them out, 3-1. The Pirates tied the game with 25:43 to play when Dylan VanderZwaag connected on a long floater of a shot off an assist from Logan Wells, who got him the ball on a throw-in. The Norsemen’s Justice Sikkema had two goals and an assist to
Andy Roberts • Oceana’s Herald-Journal
Hart’s Logan Wells (far right) tries to outduel a North Muskegon foe for the ball during Monday’s WMC tournament game at North Muskegon. Wells had an assist, but Hart lost 3-1.
overpower the visitors. “The boys played the best I’ve seen them play,” Hart coach Brenda Seguin said. “They’re playing their best the last couple of games. One goal was scored on them at the end of the first half, and they came back in the second half and scored. They held their heads up.” Sikkema put the Norsemen on top with only 2:52 to go in the first half, making a great one-touch score to tap the ball past Pirates’ keeper Damian Gonzalez. To that point, the game had been mostly played in the midfield, although Gonzalez had made a nice save as well.
The sophomore Hart keeper would step up again with 20:15 to go and the score tied. Sikkema was awarded a penalty kick after being fouled in the box, but Gonzalez made a diving save to his right to keep the score deadlocked. “We work on PKs every day,” Seguin said. “We know in the tournament, it could come down to PKs, so we work on them. He had a great save there. He was our player of the game.” There was little Gonzalez could do later, though, when Sikkema drew him out by approaching the net from his right and delivered a perfect pass to teammate Spencer Mueller,
norse top hart continued on 3b
Tigers still in search of 1st win
Hesperia won conference title last week, next goal is 9-0 By Andy Roberts Herald-Journal Writer
Hesperia took home a conference championship in style Friday night, pounding Lakeview 47-20. The Panthers claimed their first league title in 13 years with the win. As has been the case all year, the ground game was overwhelming for Hesperia, which
piled up 466 yards rushing. Mark Workman was the star of the evening, scoring five times and gaining 203 yards on 22 carries. Gerrit Yates added 129 yards and a score, and Davian Gowens took a kickoff to the house as well. “Our guys came out with the fire to compete on every play,” Hesperia coach Aaron Sims
said. “Definitely the best first half we played this year. We are very repetitive to do our best to make sure we know, understand, and execute. When we can do those three things, it comes down to having the burning desire to compete one play at a time. I think that is what we did.” On defense, Brandon Goins compiled 10 tackles and Gage Balkema had nine. Yates forced a fumble, and Andrew Gentz and Nathan McKeown each had fumble recoveries. While the league championship was something to celebrate, Sims was impressed at the way his team continued to keep its focus on its week-toweek goals. “Everyone was excited about this win,” Sims said. “However, after about two postgame songs played on stereo in the locker room, one of our guys started talking about focusing up for next week. We enjoy the wins, but this group has a special ability to keep the perspective of where we are at, and what is next.” What’s next for the Panthers are two games that don’t appear, on paper, to pose much of a threat to a 9-0 regular season. Such a feat is exceedingly rare: Hesperia has two 9-0 seasons dating to 1950, in 1970 and
Andrew Skinner • Oceana’s Herald-Journal
Above, Shelby’s Zach Stuberg (2) follows teammate Alex Dean on a block during Friday’s WMC football game against North Muskegon. At left, Stuberg (far left) tries to make a catch against the Norsemen. Shelby, which wore its Pink and Green uniforms for the game, lost to North Muskegon 32-20.
1973. The first of those matchups is Friday, when the Panthers will host Fremont. The Packers enter the game winless, albeit against larger schools. Fremont
has played valiant games in de- sign against the well-oiled mafeat against Orchard View and chine of Hesperia. Still, the focus is there for Sparta, games it lost 19-7 and 20-19 respectively. However, week 8 kickoff the Packers have only once continued on 3b scored 20 points or more, a bad
Shorthanded Hart remains 2nd Oceana meet in WMC girls cross-country is Thursday By Andy Roberts Herald-Journal Writer
SHELBY — Little changed Tuesday to disturb the West Michigan Conference pecking order, but not for lack of effort, as WMC runners toughed it out on a lousy weather day at the Shelby course for the most recent jamboree. Whitehall won both races. The Hart girls topped county finishers, taking second place to Whitehall once again. Although the Pirates lost key runners Sierra Albus and Alayna Ackley early in the year to leg injuries, the team has managed to keep afloat and post solid finishes. Albus has a fracture, while Ackley has a stress fracture,
Hart coach Terry Tatro said. The full fracture is more severe than the stress fracture, but ironically it also heals quicker, so Albus is more likely to be back at full strength soon, although neither will know for sure until next week. “It’s taken a big toll,” Tatro said of the injuries. “Some of the girls have really stepped up. It’s put some pressure on some girls who were a bit further down. They’ve kind of grabbed the ball and ran with it, so that helps. Hopefully, they can get back in and still have a shot at regionals, which is our goal all season.” In the meantime, freshman
wmc meet continued on 3b
atch 4
w
Herald-Journal Writer
Andy Roberts • Oceana’s Herald-Journal
Hart runner Kayleigh Gordon (right) remains ahead of Shelby’s Abby Bahena as both head to the finish line in Tuesday’s WMC jamboree at Shelby. Hart finished 2nd, and Shelby was 7th.
thursday, oct. 15
saturday, oct. 17
Oceana Co. Meet, Oceana G.C., 4 p.m.
Hesperia @ Godwin Heights Invitational, 8:30 a.m. Pentwater, Walkerville @ WMD Tourney, Walkerville, 9 a.m.
Cross Country
hat 2
By Andy Roberts
Volleyball
Shelby @ Ravenna Tri, 5:30 p.m. Bear Lake @ Pentwater, 6 p.m. Brethren @ Walkerville, 7 p.m. White Cloud @ Hart, 7 p.m.
friday, oct. 16
Cross Country
Hesperia @ Montabella Invitational, 4 p.m.
Football
Fremont @ Hesperia, 7 p.m. Whitehall @ Shelby, 7 p.m.
Volleyball
monday, oct. 19
Boys Soccer
Shelby @ Big Rapids, Pre-Districts, 6 p.m. Hart @ Western Mich. Christian, Pre-Districts, 6:30 p.m. Pentwater @ Calvary Christian, Pre-Districts, TBA
The annual Oceana County cross-country meet is a premier event each year on the county’s fall schedule. Each year, the best of the county assemble at Oceana Golf Club and compete for the top spot. Last season, Hart won both titles in the absence of Hesperia. This year, the Panthers will be back, but they’ll be running a split crew, with a scheduled meet at Montabella Friday as well. “We won’t feature all the varsity guys, but we’ll feature some of them, along with some reserve guys,” Panthers’ coach Doug Baird said. “We hope to put a challenge in at
Volleyball
Hart, Hesperia @ Hesperia Quad, 5:30 p.m.
tuesday, oct. 20
Cross Country
Hesperia @ CSAA Jamboree, Lakeview, 4 p.m. Hart, Shelby @ WMC Jamboree, Ravenna, 4:30 p.m.
Volleyball
Pentwater @ Manistee Tri, 5 p.m. Hart @ Fruitport Crossover, 5:30 p.m. Shelby @ Fremont Crossover, 5:30 p.m.
the county meet and run really well the next day as well.” Senior Arik LaFave, if he’s among the HespeLaFave ria runners competing, appears on paper to be a shoo-in to win the individual boys’ race. LaFave has had an outstanding season, finishing in the top two of nearly every race he’s run, and is coming off a school record-
oceana preview continued on 3b
wednesday, oct. 21 Boys Soccer
Walkerville vs. North Muskegon/Muskegon Catholic winner, District Semifinals, Western Mich. Christian, 5 p.m. Hart/WMC winner vs. Pentwater/Calvary Christian winner, District Semifinals, Western Mich. Christian, 6:45 p.m. Shelby/Big Rapids winner vs. Whitehall/Newaygo winner, District Semifinals, TBA (Shelby/BR winner will host)
Volleyball
White Cloud @ Hesperia, 7 p.m.