Panthers Fall in Division 3 Regional Championship

QB Reed Myers (2) possesses the football. Myers finished with 109 passing yards on Saturday. Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.

By David Rice | JTV Sports

Saturday, November 11th

The struggles on offense for the Western Panthers began early at home on Saturday afternoon, and continued for the majority of the game.

Western forced a three-and-out on the opening drive for a Zeeland West punt. But, the offense ran into trouble on their opening drive. Noah Berdiner caught an 11-yard pass to set up a Western first down and move the chains. Two plays later, QB Reed Myers was picked off by Keaton Hendricks of Zeeland West to give the Dux the football.

A 24-yard pass to Trey Sloothaak set up a six yard rushing touchdown by Rolando Robelin with 7:23 left in the opening quarter, 8-0 Zeeland. Western opened up the next offensive drive with a 12-yard strike to Berdiner but was sacked on third down, and a punt gave the Dux the ball.

Zeeland continued it’s successful offense to open up the second quarter. A quarterback keeper by Trenten Bolhouse for seven yards set up a nine yard rushing touchdown by Sloothaak to make it 14-0 ZW. The panther offense had a handful of opportunities to convert on passes, but couldn’t capitalize. An incomplete pass to Ben Parrott forced a Western punt followed by a Zeeland punt.

With 4:10 left in the first half, Western fumbled the ball towards the end of the play as Zeeland West recovers. The Dux followed that up with a 62-yard touchdown run by Keaton Hendricks to make it 20-0 with four minutes to go. Western started to gain some momentum on offense soon after. A 10-yard pass to Alex Trudell and 50 receiving yards by Noah Berdiner set up a goal line touchdown for Trudell to make it 20-7.

Then, in just over a minute, Zeeland West drove over 60 yards down the field for a QB sneak touchdown to make it 26-7 at the half. Zeeland West continued to roll in the third quarter, getting the ball back after a Western punt to open the third.

A 26-yard touchdown pass to Trey Sloothaak made it 34-7 with five minutes to go in the third. After Reed Myers was sacked by Mason Myers of the ZW defense, it forced them to punt it away. Another Sloothaak touchdown made it 42-7 after the third quarter. Zeeland iced the game by retaining possession the entire fourth quarter and walked away with a 42-7 regional final victory on the road.

QB Reed Myers finished 12/25 passing for 109 yards for Western. Alex Trudell scored the lone Panther touchdown as they finish 10-2 and close a historic season. “I know it hurts right now, but it was a heck of a season. It will mean something to all of us” said Western HC Nick Rulewicz.

Jeff Steers contributed to this game recap.

For game highlights, photos, recaps and more, visit JTV.TV and follow @JTVJACKSON and @JTV_SPORTS on social media.