Lady Panthers closing out opponents early;
earn three splits at Marcellus
By Bruce Rolfe
The Climax-Scotts varsity volleyball team earned splits in all three matches at the Marcellus Tournament September 27.
The Lady Panthers split with Kalamazoo Premier, 20-23, 31-29; split with Calhoun Christian 20-25, 25-21; and split with Lawton 25-9, 16-25.
Sophie Braithwaite finished the three-game tournament with 14 kills and 20 digs, Holly Talbert had 11 kills, 11 digs and five aces, Mackenzie Vincent had 10 kills, seven aces and six digs, Kendal Reitz, Jane Carillo and Michaella Carillo each had 10 digs, Ashlynn Gilbert totaled 51 assists to go with 18 digs and Adalynn Reeves had 15 kills.
Marcellus Tournament
C-S splits with Kalamazoo Premier 20-33, 31-29; C-S splits with Calhoun Christian 20-25, 25-21; C-S splits with Lawton 25-9, 16-25.
C-S Downs Bellevue In 3 Games
While the Climax-Scotts varsity volleyball team realizes sweeping each opponent is unlikely, there’s nothing wrong with striving for long stretches of strong play that could put the team in a position for a three game sweep.
C-S enjoyed its second straight 3-0 win September 23 by downing Bellevue, 25-11, 25-17, 25-10, a day after the team posted a 3-0 win over Jackson Christian in three games (25-11, 25-20, 26-24).
“I really try to focus on the girls, that they play their hardest and they don’t let up. They go hard no matter what,” said C-S coach Angela Gilbert.
The Lady Panthers refused to allow Bellevue any extended runs in the first game and slowly pulled away.
C-S enjoyed a double digit lead late, 20-10, before closing out the match with a 5-1 run.
The Lady Panthers enjoyed strong passing that led to multiple attack opportunities in the second game.
C-S was strong defensively also, allowing just one Bellevue mini run midway through the contest when the Broncos secured four straight points to pull to within 14-11.
But C-S closed strong with a 11-6 finish.
Bellevue started with a 1-0 lead but that was the only advantage the visitors enjoyed in the third game.
Good passing and strong finishes at the net helped the home team to a 14-4 lead.
The closest Bellevue managed to get was 14-5, however C-S closed with a 11-5 surge behind strong passing and good play at the net.
Ashlynn Gilbert had a strong game passing, totaling 33 assists to go with four kills and one ace.
The Climax-Scotts varsity volleyball team earned splits in all three matches at the Marcellus Tournament September 27.
The Lady Panthers split with Kalamazoo Premier, 20-23, 31-29; split with Calhoun Christian 20-25, 25-21; and split with Lawton 25-9, 16-25.
Sophie Braithwaite finished the three-game tournament with 14 kills and 20 digs, Holly Talbert had 11 kills, 11 digs and five aces, Mackenzie Vincent had 10 kills, seven aces and six digs, Kendal Reitz, Jane Carillo and Michaella Carillo each had 10 digs, Ashlynn Gilbert totaled 51 assists to go with 18 digs and Adalynn Reeves had 15 kills.
Marcellus Tournament
C-S splits with Kalamazoo Premier 20-33, 31-29; C-S splits with Calhoun Christian 20-25, 25-21; C-S splits with Lawton 25-9, 16-25.
C-S Downs Bellevue In 3 Games
While the Climax-Scotts varsity volleyball team realizes sweeping each opponent is unlikely, there’s nothing wrong with striving for long stretches of strong play that could put the team in a position for a three game sweep.
C-S enjoyed its second straight 3-0 win September 23 by downing Bellevue, 25-11, 25-17, 25-10, a day after the team posted a 3-0 win over Jackson Christian in three games (25-11, 25-20, 26-24).
“I really try to focus on the girls, that they play their hardest and they don’t let up. They go hard no matter what,” said C-S coach Angela Gilbert.
The Lady Panthers refused to allow Bellevue any extended runs in the first game and slowly pulled away.
C-S enjoyed a double digit lead late, 20-10, before closing out the match with a 5-1 run.
The Lady Panthers enjoyed strong passing that led to multiple attack opportunities in the second game.
C-S was strong defensively also, allowing just one Bellevue mini run midway through the contest when the Broncos secured four straight points to pull to within 14-11.
But C-S closed strong with a 11-6 finish.
Bellevue started with a 1-0 lead but that was the only advantage the visitors enjoyed in the third game.
Good passing and strong finishes at the net helped the home team to a 14-4 lead.
The closest Bellevue managed to get was 14-5, however C-S closed with a 11-5 surge behind strong passing and good play at the net.
Ashlynn Gilbert had a strong game passing, totaling 33 assists to go with four kills and one ace.
Sophie Braithwaite had a team high 17 kills and six digs, Holly Talbert had 11 kills to go with six aces and two digs, Mackenzie Vincent had six aces and Kendal Reitz had six digs.
(Photo by Bruce Rolfe)
C-S Def. Bellevue, 25-11, 25-17, 25-10
C-S Stat Leaders
Holly Talbert - 6 aces, 11 kills, 2 digs; Mackenzie Vincent - 6 aces, 2 kills, 1 block, 2 digs; Sophie Braithwaite - 1 ace, 17 kills, 1 assist, 6 digs; Kendal Reitz - 1 kill, 6 digs; Michaella Carillo - 4 digs; Ashlynn Gilbert - 1 ace, 4 kills, 33 assists, 4 digs; Adalynn Reeves - 2 aces, 3 kills, 2 digs.
Lady Panthers Take Jackson Christian In 3 Games
The Climax-Scotts varsity volleyball team was quick to record a road victory over Jackson Christian September 22, posting three straight wins, 25-11, 25-20, 26-24.
C-S coach Angela Gilbert received an overall strong game from Ashlynn Gilbert, who had a team high four aces, led the team with 24 assists and recorded a team high 11 digs.
Sophie Braithwaite had a team high 10 kills to go with four dig, and Holley Talbert had two aces, six kills, one assist and nine digs.
C-S Def. Jackson Christian, 25-11, 25-20, 26-24
C-S Stat Leaders
Holly Talbert - 2 aces, 6 kills, 1 assist, 9 digs;Mackenzie Vincent - 2 kills, 1 dig; Sophie Braithwaite - 2 aces, 10 kills, 1 assist, 4 digs; Kendal Reitz - 6 kills, 4 digs; Jane Carillo - 2 digs; Michaella Carillo - 1 kill, 8 digs; Ashlynn Gilbert - 4 aces, 1 kill, 24 assists, 11 digs; Olivia Bolt - 1 ace, 2 kills, 1 dig
Varsity football team enters second half
of season with momentum
By Bruce Rolfe
As the Climax-Scotts varsity football team entered the second half of the season last Friday, it’s easy to reflect and point to a few areas where success has been abundant so far.
The C-S offense, which piled up over 60 points for the second straight game with a 66-0 win over Battle Creek St. Philip September 26 on homecoming night, is at the top of the list. The Panthers are averaging 52 points a game, rolling up over 400 yards in total offense in each of the five games.
While a large part of the offense has come on the ground where C-S has rushed for 1921 yards, the Panthers have balanced the attack with 457 yards through the air.
C-S coach Tyler Langs feels players are working hard to get better.
“Some of those inexperienced things we did at the beginning of the year, we’re getting better. We’re limiting some of those mistakes. I told them no matter what the score was, do your job, be better at your job then you were in week one. They’ve taken that to heart and done a really nice job,” said the C-S coach.
While Langs has been pleased with growth, he would like to see more improvement defensively as the Panthers head into the final four regular season games and into the playoffs.
“Tackling is one big one, no matter where you go. It travels with you, so we’ve got to be able to tackle better. One thing defensively, if we can hold on a little bit tighter. Offensively, I thought our offensive line and our running backs ran hard and looked good. For us defensively, tackling. We’re going to keep working on it for sure,” said Langs.
Climax-Scotts scored on seven of its eight offensive possessions, added another touchdown on a kickoff return and intercepted a pass for a touchdown in the 66-0 win over the Tigers.
C-S will take a 4-1 record into the final regular season home game October 3 against Athens at 7 p.m. on senior-parent night.
Athens, still searching for its first win in five games, scored its first points of the season in a 42-14 loss to Bellevue last Friday.
It took only two plays for C-S to strike first after the C-S defense held the Tigers to three yards on their first series of downs.
Panther quarterback Maddox Wyman teamed up with Mason Shannon for a 78-yard touchdown strike at the 9:17 mark of the first quarter. Liam LaSala ran in the two point conversion.
The Tigers met frustration again and had to punt after picking up just four yards.
C-S once again entered the endzone quickly, as junior Elijah Bowron found a big hole and motored 76 yards for a touchdown run with 6:58 left in the first quarter (Dane Sattler ran in the two-point conversion).
The Panther defense held St. Phil on a fourth and two play and the offense took over at the St. Phil 41-yard line.
As the Climax-Scotts varsity football team entered the second half of the season last Friday, it’s easy to reflect and point to a few areas where success has been abundant so far.
The C-S offense, which piled up over 60 points for the second straight game with a 66-0 win over Battle Creek St. Philip September 26 on homecoming night, is at the top of the list. The Panthers are averaging 52 points a game, rolling up over 400 yards in total offense in each of the five games.
While a large part of the offense has come on the ground where C-S has rushed for 1921 yards, the Panthers have balanced the attack with 457 yards through the air.
C-S coach Tyler Langs feels players are working hard to get better.
“Some of those inexperienced things we did at the beginning of the year, we’re getting better. We’re limiting some of those mistakes. I told them no matter what the score was, do your job, be better at your job then you were in week one. They’ve taken that to heart and done a really nice job,” said the C-S coach.
While Langs has been pleased with growth, he would like to see more improvement defensively as the Panthers head into the final four regular season games and into the playoffs.
“Tackling is one big one, no matter where you go. It travels with you, so we’ve got to be able to tackle better. One thing defensively, if we can hold on a little bit tighter. Offensively, I thought our offensive line and our running backs ran hard and looked good. For us defensively, tackling. We’re going to keep working on it for sure,” said Langs.
Climax-Scotts scored on seven of its eight offensive possessions, added another touchdown on a kickoff return and intercepted a pass for a touchdown in the 66-0 win over the Tigers.
C-S will take a 4-1 record into the final regular season home game October 3 against Athens at 7 p.m. on senior-parent night.
Athens, still searching for its first win in five games, scored its first points of the season in a 42-14 loss to Bellevue last Friday.
It took only two plays for C-S to strike first after the C-S defense held the Tigers to three yards on their first series of downs.
Panther quarterback Maddox Wyman teamed up with Mason Shannon for a 78-yard touchdown strike at the 9:17 mark of the first quarter. Liam LaSala ran in the two point conversion.
The Tigers met frustration again and had to punt after picking up just four yards.
C-S once again entered the endzone quickly, as junior Elijah Bowron found a big hole and motored 76 yards for a touchdown run with 6:58 left in the first quarter (Dane Sattler ran in the two-point conversion).
The Panther defense held St. Phil on a fourth and two play and the offense took over at the St. Phil 41-yard line.
C-S sophomore Colton Selby heads up field after catching a pass from quarterback Maddox Wyman on a play that went for a 13-yard pickup during first half action against Battle Creek St. Philip September 26 at C-S High School.
(Photo by Bruce Rolfe)
Wyman broke loose for a 41-yard touchdown run with 5:25 left in the first quarter and Liam LaSala kicked the extra point for a 23-0 C-S lead.
Another fourth down stop by the Panther defense gave C-S the ball on the Tiger 43-yard line.
The big play was once again part of the scoring formula for the Panthers. A four-yard touchdown pass from Wyman to Nyle Sattler was set up by a 39-yard pass play from Wyman to Hunter LaSala when the 6’ 3” LaSala dragged a Tiger defender several yards before getting tackled at the Tiger four-yard line.
Liam LaSala ran in the two-point conversion giving C-S a 31-0 lead entering the second quarter.
The high scoring Panthers bumped the lead to 38-0 at the 9:23 mark when Shannon caught a touchdown pass from Wyman covering 21 yards and Liam LaSala kicked the extra point with 9:23 left in the second quarter.
Pinned back on its own 13-yard line to start its next drive, St. Phil’s frustration continued just two plays into the drive when Bowron stepped in front of a pass and raced 25 yards for a pick six. Liam LaSala kicked the extra point for a 45-0 lead.
Another interception, this time by Dane Sattler with 7:52 left in the second quarter that gave the Panthers the ball on the Tiger 35-yard line, set up C-S’ next touchdown.
Lincoln Bartholomew completed the short six-play drive with a 10-yard touchdown run and Liam LaSala kicked the extra point with 4:25 left in the second quarter, sending the home team into the second half with a 52-0 lead.
C-S scored the only touchdown of the third quarter just 13 seconds into the stanza when Bowron took the second half kickoff and raced 92 yards for a touchdown. Liam LaSala scored on the two-point conversion after he took a bad snap on a point after kick attempt and crossed the goal line for a 60-0 lead after three quarters.
C-S culminated the scoring when JJ Vincent scored on a 14-yard run (the extra point kick attempt was no good) with 2:15 left in the game.
As the score widened for C-S, more and more underclassmen and second unit players enjoyed a significant amount of playing time.
“The best time today was when our second group got in on offense and defense and our seniors and upper classmen were coaching them up and cheering them on,” said Langs.
Bowron touched the ball three times and scored all three times, rushing for 74 yards on one carry for a touchdown, he had 117 yards on returns including one kick off return for a touchdown and one interception return for a touchdown.
It marked the second straight week a C-S player scored three different kinds of touchdowns. Wyman threw a touchdown pass, scored on a run and returned an interception for a touchdown two weeks ago against Colon.
Freshman JJ Vincent had nine carries for 68 yards and one touchdown.
Shannon had three catches for 97 yards. Wyman was 3-for-3 passing for 110 yards including two touchdowns.
Defensively, Dane Sattler had six tackles including three solo tackles and two tackles for a loss, one quarterback sack and one interception, Blake Buddemeier had six tackles, including four solo tackles, two tackles for a loss and one quarterback sack, and Blake Wechsler had six tackles including two solo tackles, two tackles for a loss and one quarterback sack.
C-S totaled 279 yards rushing and added 154 yards through the air.
The Tigers managed 67 total yards against the tough C-S defense, including just 23 yards rushing.
Runners set personal records
Climax-Scotts had just one runner in a high school SCAA event hosted by Hillsdale Academy at Hayden Park September 24, however three members of the middle school team posted personal record times.
C-S junior Zachree Roebuck was the only runner for C-S in the mens race, posting a time of 27:06.76 in 51st place.
Hillsdale Academy won both the mens race (15) and womens race (15)
In the 1.5-mile middle school girls race, C-S eighth grader Topanga Fields posted a personal record time of 12:26.03, finishing in 14th place.
In the middle school boys race, C-S 8th grader Blake Morrison also recorded a personal best time, running the course in 9:08.06 while finishing in third place out of 53 runners.
Seventh grader Jaxon Marlowe also posted a personal record time (12:16.80) in the middle school race.
Hillsdale Academy won the boys middle school race (17 points) and Battle Creek St. Joseph won the middle school girls race (19).
SCAA Event At Hillsdale Academy
Men
C-S Results
51-Zachree Roebuck, 27:06.76
1.5-Mile Middle School Race
Women
C-S Results
14-Topanga Fields, 12:26.03
Men
C-S Results
3-Blake Morrison, 9:08.06, 39-Jaxon Marlowe, 12:16.80
C-S junior Zachree Roebuck was the only runner for C-S in the mens race, posting a time of 27:06.76 in 51st place.
Hillsdale Academy won both the mens race (15) and womens race (15)
In the 1.5-mile middle school girls race, C-S eighth grader Topanga Fields posted a personal record time of 12:26.03, finishing in 14th place.
In the middle school boys race, C-S 8th grader Blake Morrison also recorded a personal best time, running the course in 9:08.06 while finishing in third place out of 53 runners.
Seventh grader Jaxon Marlowe also posted a personal record time (12:16.80) in the middle school race.
Hillsdale Academy won the boys middle school race (17 points) and Battle Creek St. Joseph won the middle school girls race (19).
SCAA Event At Hillsdale Academy
Men
C-S Results
51-Zachree Roebuck, 27:06.76
1.5-Mile Middle School Race
Women
C-S Results
14-Topanga Fields, 12:26.03
Men
C-S Results
3-Blake Morrison, 9:08.06, 39-Jaxon Marlowe, 12:16.80
