How Zeeland West football hung on with late stop and score to beat Lowell
ZEELAND - After allowing several fourth-down conversions, the Zeeland West defense looked for a little redemption.
Leading by eight points late in the fourth quarter, Parker Lovell topped Lowell quarterback Jackson Reisbig just short of the first down and took over.
A 39-yard touchdown run by Skyler Geurink, complete with two-point conversion by Rolando Robelin - plus the big defensive stop - allowed the Dux to hang on for the 36-28 win over the Red Arrows on Friday night at Zeeland Stadium.
"You gotta give tremendous credit to Parker (Lovell). We talk about doing whatever it takes, and he did what it took right there," Zeeland West coach John Shillito said. "Their quarterback was really getting after it, too. It was two guys trying to win a football game, and we were fortunate enough to come out on top."
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The Dux (9-1) will face St. Joseph (9-1), which beat East Grand Rapids 42-10, next week in the Division 3 district final.
"It comes down to the big games we have had during the season. That has prepped us for right now," Zeeland West quarterback Trevor Wallar said. "When adversity strikes, we know how to respond to it. This team never quits, and that's what makes it special."
Lowell had converted three consecutive fourth downs, and were 5-for-7 in the game, including one earlier in the drive, that led the Red Arrows to tie the Dux in the fourth quarter.
"Give our defense credit on that drive for rising up and making the play," Shillito said. "But they had a lot of fourth down conversions. We didn't get off the field very well on defense. That might be the biggest thing. We can't give up five fourth-down conversions."
On fourth-and-5 on the 16, Reisbig was stopped short of the first down and the Dux took over with an eight-point led with 4:09 to go.
The Dux were in control most of the game, but a couple of turning points in the third quarter allowed the Red Arrows back in it.
Lowell answered on a pass from Reisbig to Dawson Huhn and the Red Arrows pulled within 28-21.
The Red Arrows tried another onside kick and got it after they wrestled it away from the Dux at midfield. The same thing happened in a game against Muskegon earlier in the season where an onside kick got a team back in the game against the Dux.
"I thought we were on it first, but they obviously had the ball in the end. The officials had a long discussion, but (gave it to them)," Shillito said. "We will take a look at that on film to see exactly what happened."
On fourth-and-5, Aiden Fitzpatrick scored on a 44-yard pass from Reisbig and the Red Arrows stunningly tied the game 28-28 with 9:50 to go.
"We did not respond to some of the things they did very well, but at the same time, they did them a lot better than we expected," Shillito said. "Their quarterback did a tremendous job, and their receivers caught everything."
After a penalty on the kickoff by Lowell, Zeeland West's Parker Holman scored on a 37-yard run just seven seconds into the third quarter and the Dux led 22-7.
Lowell drove down and scored on a 1-yard run by Jackson Reisbig on fourth down, cutting the lead to 22-14.
The Dux faced a fourth-and-inches on their own 28-yard line. Skyler Geurink ran for the first down. The Dux continued the march all the way down the field and Rolando Robelin scored on a 1-yard run with 1:19 to go in the third - an 8-minute drive - and the Dux led 28-14.
In the first quarter, Geurink scored on a 1-yard run with 3:57 to go in the first quarter capping a 73-yard drive. Robelin ran in the conversion for an 8-0 lead after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Lowell put together a strong drive before facing fourth-and-5 on 20-yard line. The Red Arrows scored on fourth down as Jackson Reisbig finds Alex Binns for a 20-yard score, making it 8-7 after the extra point.
The Dux responded after a pass from Trevor Wallar to Parker Holman brought the ball down to the Lowell 14-yard line. A couple of plays later, Robelin was in for a 3-yard TD. The conversion failed and the Dux led 14-7.
Reisbig threw a 46 pass to Brenden Wittenbach on first down, after converting a fourth-and-2, with 2:17 to go in the half. but Evan Walters stuffed Reisbig on a fourth-and-2 with 25 seconds to go and the half ended with a missed opportunity for the Red Arrows.
With Lowell driving, Zeeland West's Evan Walters stuffed the quarterback on fourth down deep in West territory. It erased a scoring chance just before the half and the Dux had the lead at the break.
Geurink had 19 carries for 161 yards, including sliding himself down after a long run in the final seconds so the Dux could run out the clock. Robelin had 14 rushes for 89 yards and Holman had 12 carries for 78 yards.
Reisbig had 20 rushes for 96 yards. He was 11-for-16 passing for 295 yards.
"I thought we played really well offensively against a tough group on defense. They come and get you from all 11 spots, so we had to grind some things out," Shillito said. "They made things a lot more difficult for Parker Holman than other teams have. But Parker still makes yard for us. Skyler had two big runs and that was a tremendously heady play at the end, and that was all him."
The Dux will face St. Joseph in the district finals next week on the road. The Bears are coached by former Holland coach Andrew Pratley.
St. Joseph stunned the Dux in the first round of the playoffs last year.
The Dux haven't forgotten, but also aren't dwelling on years past.
"It is a different year," Wallar said. "But we are excited to move on."
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Zeeland West football hung on with late stop and score to beat Lowell
