Mona Shores gets defensive in Senior Night victory over Zeeland West

By Tom Kendra
LocalSportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON – Mona Shores has become known for its offense in recent years, led by innovative offensive coordinator Aaron James and superstar quarterbacks like Tyree Jackson and Brady Rose.

But on Friday night, the defense stole the show.

The Sailors held visiting Zeeland West to less than 100 yards rushing – and nearly dealt John Shillito only his second shutout loss in 19 years as the Dux coach – in a 14-6 victory in rainy, windy conditions on Senior Night at Sailor Stadium.

“We love playing that style of defense – we love the contact,” explained senior safety Hayden Terpstra, who also came in at quarterback in the fourth quarter to seal the win after starter Jonathan Pittman tweaked a previous ankle injury.

“To get a huge win like this on Senior Night with your best friends, there’s nothing like it.”

Shores (6-2, 5-1 in the O-K Green) scored all of its points in the second quarter – on a 1-yard run by Pittman and then a 29-yard pass from Pittman,to junior Micah Carefelle, who made an acrobatic catch in the end zone with just 12 seconds left in the half.

The Sailors made that lead hold up behind a great game plan from defensive coordinator David Check, who has now held the Dux to 12 points, 6 points and 6 points in their last three meetings.

Micah Carefelle makes a spectacular catch while landing on his back for a Sailor touchdown. Photo/Eric Sturr

The defensive dominance on Friday night started up front, inserting starting center Luke Emmons (6-3, 315) at nose guard, with Jeremiah Love (5-10, 295) and Ja’Mari Taylor (6-0, 265) at tackle.

“That’s 900 pounds right in the middle of the line and those guys did a great job,” said 13th-year Mona Shores coach Matt Koziak. “They didn’t score on us until there was less than 3 minutes left to play. To do that to a Zeeland West team, I am super proud of them.”

That play up front allowed the Sailors’ linebackers to do their thing.

Senior Trent Rosenthal, back in the starting lineup at middle linebacker, led the hosts with six tackles. Outside backers Andrew Baker and Carefelle had five and four tackles, respectively.

“The biggest compliment you can get defensively is when you are able to force a John Shillito-coached team out of the wing-T, which is what happened in the fourth quarter,” said Koziak, who also lauded assistant defensive coaches Kyle Brott and Tyler VanBergen. “They were running power-read, shotgun stuff.”

That change did open things up a bit, as the Dux pulled to within one score on an 11-yard pass from Trey Sloothaak to Orion Yant with 2:55 remaining to avert the shutout.

Shillito, who led Orchard View to the state finals in 1995 and 1999 and has won four state championships at ZW, has only been shut out one time in 19 years as the Dux coach – a 20-0 loss to Muskegon in the Division 3 semifinals in 2014 at Greenville.

On the ensuing on-side kick, it was Terpstra who was Johnny-on-the-spot, pouncing on the ball.

Mona Shores’ Omari Hall-Brown (2) and Hayden Terpstra (15) make the tackle. Photo/Eric Sturr

When the Shores offense came back out, it was the undersized Terpstra (5-8, 160), who was at quarterback in place of the hobbling Pittman.

“Jonathan wanted to go back in, but he understood why we went with Hayden,” said Koziak, who expects Pittman to be ready to go next week. “We needed to run out the game. Hayden reminds me a little bit of Brady Rose. He’s very fleet of foot and when he sees an opening, he can hit it quickly.”

Terpstra did just that on a 4th-and-7 play with 15 seconds remaining, bouncing a keeper run outside for a first down to seal the win, leading to a sideline celebration by offensive line coach Brian Sikkenga.

Shores held a 250-183 edge in total yards and a 165-92 yard edge in rushing yards, led by bruising sophomore running back Tomarion Steward with 15 carries for 81 yards.

Leading the way up front were Emmons at center, guards Eric Gould and Jaden Brown and tackles Chris Smith and Vincent Coleman.

Zeeland West (6-2 and 4-2 in the O-K Green) held a surprising 91-85 edge in passing yards. Bolhouse completed 3-of-6 passes for 62 yards and Sloothaak was 2-of-3 for 29 yards and a touchdown.

Isaac VanderZwaag was the leading rusher for the Dux with 18 carries for 43 yards and also the leading tackler from his linebacker position with a game-high seven tackles.

The Dux, a Division 3 playoff team, have now lost two in a row after a 6-0 start. They conclude the regular season next week at Reeths-Puffer.

Shores, a Division 2 team which will likely be in a district with conference rivals Muskegon and Puffer, close out the regular season at Zeeland East.

“We played those tough games early in the year and it showed us what we needed to work on and fix,” said Terpstra, who finished as his team’s second-leading rusher with five carries for 46 yards. “We have improved a lot.”

Mona Shores’ Omari Hall-Brown (2) and Hayden Terpstra (15) make the tackle. Photo/Eric Sturr