SPORTS
FRIDAY’S LOCAL FOOTBALL SCORES Ionia 42, Lakewood 7: Game was played Thursday, Ionia totaled 403 yards rushing in victory. Central Montcalm 47, Newaygo 21: Preston Scott led Green Hornets with 192 yards rushing, two touchdowns.
Saturday, October 24, 2020 | Page 1B
Belding 46, Eaton Rapids 3: Kyle Prosser had 100-yard kick return TD. Montabella 14, Lakeview 6: Mustangs move to 1-4 on the year, Lakeview 0-6 Vestaburg 42, Bear Lake 6: Cole Dailey had 211 yards rushing, four touchdowns. Newaygo 19, Tri County 16: Vikings finish regular season at 2-4.
MHSAA council confirms on-time winter sports start, approves precautions Submitted by Michigan High School Athletic Association
EAST LANSING — The Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association confirmed during its meeting Thursday (Oct. 22) that 2020-21 winter sports will begin on time, and also approved a series of guidelines for those sports that schools must follow as they continue to work toward limiting the spread of COVID-19 while still providing opportunities for athletes to compete. Most high school sports traditionally begin practice during the first three weeks of November, with competition starting during mid-November and the first weeks of December. The starts of middle school winter sports seasons are determined by local leagues and conferences; many are slated to begin during the next few weeks. Sport-specific guidelines for all Winter sports will be posted early next week to their respective sport pages on the MHSAA Website at mhsaa.com/sports. A number of precautions have been put in place addressing competition limits, numbers of spectators allowed and wearing of face coverings, among a variety of topics. The guidance also specifically addresses equipment and facilities
for each sport. “The Council believes it is safer to begin Winter practices on time, and keep athletes in school programs where safety precautions are always in effect,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “With the vastly different circumstances faced by schools in different regions all over the state, an on-time start still allows schools to decide when they feel most comfortable beginning activity – and allows all of them to slowly ramp up their frequency of activity and numbers of spectators attending competitions. “But let’s be clear: Our statewide COVID-19 numbers have to get better. In order for our schools to continue playing sports this winter, and in order for fans to be there to cheer them on, we must continue working to slow down this virus.” As with fall sports, scrimmages will not be allowed for winter sports to limit mixing of communities outside of official competitions. The numbers of teams at regular-season competitions also will be limited, like during fall, with a maximum of four schools/teams allowed in competitive cheer, gymnastics, swimming & diving and wrestling. Bowling and skiing competitions
will be restricted to a maximum of 72 competitors at one event. There are no school/team limits for basketball and ice hockey, as only two teams are able to play each other at one time and those sports may play only one game per day — with fans leaving after their game is complete. Host sites must strictly enforce spectator capacity limits on a game-by-game basis. The Council approved as part of these guidelines an allowance of two spectators per participant at all contests to begin the regular season. This guideline could be reconsidered by the Council later in the winter season, with a possibility of allowing more spectators later while still staying within possible Emergency Orders from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). As per MDHHS requirements, face coverings must be worn by athletes practicing and competing in basketball, competitive cheer, ice hockey and wrestling. They are not required for athletes practicing and competing in bowling, gymnastics, skiing and swimming & diving, which all allow for appropriate social distancing — but face coverings are required for those athletes when not involved in active participation.
Hot at the right time
STEVE MERREN
wildernesslandscape@outlook.com
Stuck in the rut
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Carson City-Crystal junior quarterback Zane Forist looks upfield as he gets a block from junior Paul Wright (8) and looks for more yards on a rush during the Eagles’ 60-13 win over Fulton on Friday. Forist finished with four total touchdowns, two rushing and two passing, and 211 total yards. — DN Photo | Alex Freeman
Carson City-Crystal football has offensive outpouring, defeats Fulton, 60-13 ALEX FREEMAN
afreeman@thedailynews.cc CARSON CITY — Everything came easy for the Carson City-Crystal (CC-C) Eagles at home on Friday night. The varsity football team welcomed in Fulton and sent them home packing after putting the game out of reach early, winning 60-13. The Eagles grew a 28-0 lead before the first quarter expired and the game was largely over from there. CC-C went into halftime leading 47-7, leaving the Pirates on the wrong side of a running clock for the rest of the game. It hasn’t been the story the Eagles had hoped for this season after being forced to quarantine for two weeks following the district shut down on Sept. 23. However, now with a 3-1 record and plenty of momentum, things are starting to look up for the Eagles. “We practiced hard this last week,” said Eagles senior running back Kyler Stone. “We’re just ready to keep going and we’re going for that district championship … We have a lot of momentum, we’re ready to kick some butt. We’re just looking for that district title.
We’re hungry for it. We’ll go from there. We want a regional title too if that happens.” “We’ve talked to our kids about just playing solid football,” added CC-C head coach Tim Swore, who noted this was his team’s best game of the season. “It’s one thing to ask them to do that and then not being able to practice for two weeks, but I think we’re coming into our own. I like the different things we can do, when a team takes something away, we go to something else. We could have thrown the ball more tonight but it was a nasty night.” The Eagles dominated in every facet of the game, not allowing a single first down to Fulton until the second quarter on defense and ending every first-half drive with a touchdown. Junior quarterback Zane Forist started the scoring with a 32-yard touchdown rush, followed by a 19-yard receiving touchdown by junior Paul Wright, a two-yard rushing touchdown by Stone and another 30-yard rushing touchdown for Stone. It took the Eagles 11:38 to score 28 points and nearly force a running clock a quar-
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Carson City-Crystal senior Kyler Stone brings down the Fulton quarterback on the Pirates’ first offensive possession during the Eagles’ 60-13 victory on Friday. The Eagles’ defense didn’t allow a first down to Fulton until their scoring drive late in the second quarter. — DN Photo | Alex Freeman
Greenville’s Zimmer promoted to Bills active roster Staff report Greenville native Justin Zimmer turned heads on a national stage on Monday night and it earned him a spot on the active roster of the Buffalo Bills. Zimmer, a 2011 graduate of Greenville High School, was promoted off of the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad for a game against the Kansas City Chiefs, which was played on Monday night in front of a national audience. The defensive tackle took advantage of the opportunity, totaling a career-high six tackles and a tackle for loss. Zimmer also forced a fumble on Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire but the running back was ruled down, negating the fumble.
The performance on Monday night was impressive enough for the Bills staff to promote Zimmer to the active roster on Wednesday. This was the second game of the season in which Zimmer appeared for the Bills, Justin also totaling four tack- Zimmer les and one tackle for loss against the Jets in week one. Zimmer has appeared in five regular-season games since entering the NFL in 2016, totaling 15 tackles and three tackles for loss. This marks Zimmer’s second stint with the Bills, as he was signed as an
undrafted free agent following the 2016 draft. Zimmer played the 2017 season in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes and also spent time with the New Orleans Saints in the NFL in 2017. From there, Zimmer was with the Atlanta Falcons in 2018 and the Cleveland Browns in 2019 before being signed by the Bills, once again, for the 2020 season. Zimmer played college football for Ferris State University, where he was named a Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association All-American in 2015. The Bills, currently in first place in the AFC East division with a record of 4-2, will travel to face the New York Jets (0-6) on Sunday at 1 p.m. on CBS.
he time has finally come. Every year, the deer herds of Michigan become fueled by hormones and the hunting can never get better. Knowing what to expect and how to react can not only provide more opportunities but more successes, as well. Typically, during the last week of October in Michigan, whitetail deer enter their breeding season. This season is a very complex system that alters from region to region and from subspecies to subspecies. But, in all cases, it’s designed to optimize the likelihood of fawn survival. As the temperatures begin to drop and the days begin to shorten, the doe enters what is called estrus, which is their receptive time and, in turn, this triggers the bucks to enter the rut. As these animals begin to feel the influence of surging hormones, they begin to drop their guard to some degree to hunters and become more concerned with mating. This season, however, is a very short period of time, lasting little more than a month with a very brief late season in December, leaving relatively limited time to take advantage of their naïve movements. It so happens that in our state the main rut starts with three weeks of bow hunting left before firearm season opens. Deer may be distracted by the need to breed but after a day or two of booms in the woods, they tend to get skittish and become mainly nocturnal. Because the deer are on the prowl, the chances of seeing them while hunting during this period peaks. Most deer attractants are designed to be used during this narrow window, and sometimes the use of scents and sounds too late, or too early, will actually detour deer. Waiting until now to use deer urine is far more effective than using it in the early season, especially doe estrus. If the other deer don’t feel the effects of the upcoming season then they will either feel pressured to leave the area to reduce the chances of a conflict with a more dominant peer or because they know that a human has introduced the scent. Buck urine can typically be used early but, again, lesser bucks may avoid the area because it has already been claimed, limiting the chances of seeing them while hunting. After the rut heats up, things like grunting and rattling become super effective. If a buck is within hearing distance of the sound of a doe bleat, it will most definitely want to check it out. Other stimuli may ward them off, like the smell of a human or dog but, rest assured, it will want to investigate. The same is true for grunts. When a buck hears the grunt of another buck that he thinks he can challenge, he will. And that is where, in my opinion, the best sound attractant can be used. Rattling has been my most effective use of sound to draw in deer. At first, I thought it was novel that I would draw in doe while rattling, thinking maybe they were just moving my way anyway. But, after years of doing it and seeing the effect it has on bucks, I’m convinced it just works. Much like a boxing match, it seems that everyone just wants to see who will win in a good fight. Now is the time to sit that extra couple minutes, leave a good scent trail and try a hand of rattling because the deer are just a smidge preoccupied and are too busy to worry about the hunter hiding up in a tree. Good luck hunters!
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