Lady Panthers fall to St. Phil in
district championship match
By Bruce Rolfe
While the Climax-Scotts varsity volleyball team showed determination and were competitive, the Lady Panthers could not end a long losing streak to Battle Creek St. Philip in the district championship match November 7 at Battle Creek St. Phil.
The Lady Panthers found themselves down often and couldn’t the deficits in all three losses, falling short 25-20, 25-18, 25-13.
The loss in the district championship match to St. Phil now leaves C-S with 53 straight matches without a match win against the Tigers.
The losing skid includes 35 straight match losses before C-S earned a split at the Harper Creek Tournament in 2016 (27-15, 16-25). That split has now been followed by 17 consecutive match losses.
C-S also lost to St. Phil in three games in a regular season clash this season (12-25, 12-25, 20-25).
C-S coach Angela Gilbert said her team only had one more error then the Tigers and felt St. Phil was more effective putting the ball away then her team was.
“They just had some better shots at us then we did at them,” said the C-S coach.
Sophie Braithwaite and Kendal Reitz each had a team high 16 digs in the district championship match, Ashlynn Gilbert led the team in assists with 11, Braithwaite had a team high eight kills and Mackenzie Vincent had four solo blocks and one block assist for five total blocks.
C-S finishes the season with a 19-12-5 record.
District championship match at B.C. St. Philip
Battle Creek St. Philip def. C-S, 25-20, 25-18, 25-13
C-S Stat Leaders
Holly Talbert - 1 ace, 4 kills, 11 digs; Mackenzie Vincent - 1 kill, 4 solo blocks, 1 block assist, 5 total blocks, 2 digs; Sophie Braithwaite - 8 kills, 16 digs, Kendal Reitz - 3 block assist, 3 total blocks, 16 digs; Jane Carillo - 4 digs; Michaella Carillo - 3 digs; Alyse Langs - 4 assists, 5 digs; Ashlynn Gilbert - 11 assists, 6 digs; Adalynn Reeves - 4 kills, 1 solo block, 2 block assists, 3 total blocks, 1 assist, 2 digs
C-S Advances To District Championship Match With Win Over Bellevue
Climax-Scotts advanced to the district championship match with a win over Bellevue in the semifinals November 6 at St. Phil, 25-9, 25-11, 25-14.
St. Phil topped Athens 3-0 in the other semifinal match November 6 to set up the district championship clash between the two rivals.
Athens defeated Battle Creek Calhoun Christian 3-0 and Bellevue defeated Marshall Academy 3-0 in first round matches.
C-S took charge early in all three wins over Bellevue.
In the first game C-S never trailed, moving out to a 5-0 lead before stretching the lead to 21-8 on a kill by Adalynn Reeves.
Bellevue enjoyed a 3-1 lead early in the second set but that was short lived.
After the teams were tied 3-3, C-S took the next four points and never trailed the rest of the way.
With the exception of a 2-2 tie, C-S led the entire third set.
C-S Coach Angela Gilbert felt her team meshed well to earn the win.
“They’re camaraderie with each other. Their support of each other. Even subbing in, they’re loving on each other and excited for each other. And they’re playing for each other,” said the C-S coach when noting one of her teams’ strengths in the win over Bellevue.
Sophie Braithwaite led the Panthers in kills with 10 to go with six digs. Holly Talbert had a team high seven digs, Ashlynn Gilbert had a team high 22 assists and Adalynn Reeves added eight kills and three aces.
C-S Def. Bellevue, 25-9, 25-11, 25-14
C-S Stat Leaders
Holly Talbert - 3 aces, 4 kills, 7 digs; Mackenzie Vincent - 5 aces, 4 kills, 3 digs; Sophie Braithwaite - 4 aces, 10 kills, 6 digs; Kendal Reitz - 1 ace, 6 kills, 2 digs; Jane Carillo - 1 assist; Alyse Langs - 6 assists; Ashlynn Gilbert - 2 aces, 1 kill, 22 assists, 4 digs; Adalynn Reeves - 3 aces, 8 kills, 2 digs; Olivia Bolt - 1 kill, 1 dig; Kyla Etheridge - 1 dig
While the Climax-Scotts varsity volleyball team showed determination and were competitive, the Lady Panthers could not end a long losing streak to Battle Creek St. Philip in the district championship match November 7 at Battle Creek St. Phil.
The Lady Panthers found themselves down often and couldn’t the deficits in all three losses, falling short 25-20, 25-18, 25-13.
The loss in the district championship match to St. Phil now leaves C-S with 53 straight matches without a match win against the Tigers.
The losing skid includes 35 straight match losses before C-S earned a split at the Harper Creek Tournament in 2016 (27-15, 16-25). That split has now been followed by 17 consecutive match losses.
C-S also lost to St. Phil in three games in a regular season clash this season (12-25, 12-25, 20-25).
C-S coach Angela Gilbert said her team only had one more error then the Tigers and felt St. Phil was more effective putting the ball away then her team was.
“They just had some better shots at us then we did at them,” said the C-S coach.
Sophie Braithwaite and Kendal Reitz each had a team high 16 digs in the district championship match, Ashlynn Gilbert led the team in assists with 11, Braithwaite had a team high eight kills and Mackenzie Vincent had four solo blocks and one block assist for five total blocks.
C-S finishes the season with a 19-12-5 record.
District championship match at B.C. St. Philip
Battle Creek St. Philip def. C-S, 25-20, 25-18, 25-13
C-S Stat Leaders
Holly Talbert - 1 ace, 4 kills, 11 digs; Mackenzie Vincent - 1 kill, 4 solo blocks, 1 block assist, 5 total blocks, 2 digs; Sophie Braithwaite - 8 kills, 16 digs, Kendal Reitz - 3 block assist, 3 total blocks, 16 digs; Jane Carillo - 4 digs; Michaella Carillo - 3 digs; Alyse Langs - 4 assists, 5 digs; Ashlynn Gilbert - 11 assists, 6 digs; Adalynn Reeves - 4 kills, 1 solo block, 2 block assists, 3 total blocks, 1 assist, 2 digs
C-S Advances To District Championship Match With Win Over Bellevue
Climax-Scotts advanced to the district championship match with a win over Bellevue in the semifinals November 6 at St. Phil, 25-9, 25-11, 25-14.
St. Phil topped Athens 3-0 in the other semifinal match November 6 to set up the district championship clash between the two rivals.
Athens defeated Battle Creek Calhoun Christian 3-0 and Bellevue defeated Marshall Academy 3-0 in first round matches.
C-S took charge early in all three wins over Bellevue.
In the first game C-S never trailed, moving out to a 5-0 lead before stretching the lead to 21-8 on a kill by Adalynn Reeves.
Bellevue enjoyed a 3-1 lead early in the second set but that was short lived.
After the teams were tied 3-3, C-S took the next four points and never trailed the rest of the way.
With the exception of a 2-2 tie, C-S led the entire third set.
C-S Coach Angela Gilbert felt her team meshed well to earn the win.
“They’re camaraderie with each other. Their support of each other. Even subbing in, they’re loving on each other and excited for each other. And they’re playing for each other,” said the C-S coach when noting one of her teams’ strengths in the win over Bellevue.
Sophie Braithwaite led the Panthers in kills with 10 to go with six digs. Holly Talbert had a team high seven digs, Ashlynn Gilbert had a team high 22 assists and Adalynn Reeves added eight kills and three aces.
C-S Def. Bellevue, 25-9, 25-11, 25-14
C-S Stat Leaders
Holly Talbert - 3 aces, 4 kills, 7 digs; Mackenzie Vincent - 5 aces, 4 kills, 3 digs; Sophie Braithwaite - 4 aces, 10 kills, 6 digs; Kendal Reitz - 1 ace, 6 kills, 2 digs; Jane Carillo - 1 assist; Alyse Langs - 6 assists; Ashlynn Gilbert - 2 aces, 1 kill, 22 assists, 4 digs; Adalynn Reeves - 3 aces, 8 kills, 2 digs; Olivia Bolt - 1 kill, 1 dig; Kyla Etheridge - 1 dig
(Photo by Bruce Rolfe)
Panthers fall to Martin in
regional championship game
By Bruce Rolfe
While a 36-20 loss to No. 3 ranked Martin last Friday in the 8-man, Division 1 Regional Championship game at Martin certainly didn’t have the outcome the Climax-Scotts football team was hoping for, the team enjoyed growth throughout the season that gives the Panthers optimism heading into the off season.
C-S completes the season with an 8-3 record.
Martin (11-0) will square off against Kingston (10-1) in the 8-Man Division 1 semifinal game November 15 at 1 p.m. at Chelsea.
C-S did a good job of keeping the potent Martin offense off the field by piling up 19 first downs, resulting in some long drives that chewed time off the clock.
However when the Martin offense was on the field, the Clippers were efficient. According to C-S team statistician Josh Vick, Martin ran 23 plays and gained 375 yards rushing for an average of 16.3 yards per play.
“We’ve seen some pretty good teams. I thought their speed and quickness got us. The first two series they scored and after that it’s an even ball game. Defensively, I thought we played really well after that. We had two possessions that didn’t go our way,” explained C-S assistant coach Kevin Langs, who coached the team the last three games while the school district performs an investigation after the school district placed his son and Panther head coach Tyler Langs on paid administrative leave for complaints the school district received regarding the head football coach.
The game was extremely physical. With the two schools forming a co-op in wrestling for a number of years that ended after last season, players on both sides were familiar with each other.
“We have a lot of respect for what they do. I thought our young kids came right in and stuck their nose in there,” said Langs.
“They would hit you. The play’s over, they would hit you, smack you, talk trash. That’s football,” adds Panther junior Mason Shannon.
Martin junior Seth Torres scored on the first play from scrimmage on a 66-yard scamper just 14 seconds into the game. Torres ran in the two-point conversion.
C-S, which started a drive on its own 35-yard line, drove 65 yards in 4:50 and knotted the score 8-8. Colton Selby connected with Elijah Bowron on a 14-yard reverse pass play at the 5:52 mark and Liam LaSala ran in the two-point conversion.
Martin responded quickly with a 52-yard touchdown run by Torris and successful two-point conversion just 16 seconds after C-S scored for a 16-8 lead after one quarter.
Both teams’ defenses then dug in. C-S stopped Martin on a fourth and four play to take over on its own 26-yard line. Martin forced C-S to punt moments later.
Martin broke through on a 63-yard touchdown run by Haylen Buell with 5:40 left in the first half. The two-point conversion was not good, leaving the Clippers with a 22-8 lead.
C-S was able to move down to the Martin 29-yard line and for a few moments thought the drive had stalled on an interception by Zaiden Buell. However a pass interference on Martin kept the ball in C-S’ hands.
C-S was able to march down to the Martin 9-yard line, however a fumble C-S recovered and a loss of 11 yards pushed the Panthers back to the Clipper 20-yard line.
Facing a fourth and 16, C-S attempted a pass that fell incomplete and Martin took a 22-8 lead into halftime.
A big defensive stop by Martin on a fourth and eight play early in the third quarter gave the home team the ball back at its own 48-yard line.
Four plays later Haylen Buell found a gap and raced 34 yards for a touchdown with 6:47 left in the third quarter. Buell ran in the two-point conversion for a 30-8 lead.
Facing a 22 point deficit and the game getting late, C-S went for a first down on a fourth and 11 play from its own 19-yard line after the team was penalized on a fourth and one on the previous play. Bowron was able to keep the drive alive by evading two Martin players and fought for the 11 yards needed for the first down.
C-S, which trailed 30-8 after three quarters, was able to move to the Martin 35-yard line.
A 10-yard pickup by Bowron and a huge 22-yard gainer on a pass from Alex Wurtzel to Hunter LaSala left C-S knocking on the door at the Martin 1-yard line.
Liam LaSala finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown run with 8:04 left in the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion attempt by Liam LaSala on a run, fell short and C-S trailed 30-14.
Martin delivered a big blow by scoring on its next drive.
A 44-yard pickup by Seth Torris set up the Clippers’ next score, a nine-yard run by Torris, who followed blocks and ran into the end zone untouched at the 5:58 mark (the two-point conversion attempt was no good).
C-S scored on its last drive on a three-yard touchdown run by Maddox Wyman with 40 seconds left in the game (the two-point conversion attempt was no good) and the Clippers walked away with a 36-20 win.
Alexander Wurtzel completed 9-of-13 passes for 86 yards with one interception. Maddox Wyman was a perfect 5-for-5 passing for 26 yards.
Wyman added another 77 yards rushing on 13 attempts and Liam LaSala had 54 yards on 12 carries. Bowron pitched in with 42 yards on 12 carries.
Hunter LaSala had 56 receiving yards, with four catches and Mason Shannon had six catches for 44 yards.
Brody Vosburg and Bryce Birkam each finished with four tackles.
C-S totaled 322 yards offensively, while Martin rolled up 375 yards.
The Panthers rushed for 203 yards and passed for another 119 yards. Martin had 375 yards rushing and no yards passing.
Some Season Ending Numbers
C-S had two runners pick up over 1000 yards rushing for the season. Senior Liam LaSala finished with 1240 yards on 128 carries (9.68 yards per carry) and junior Elijah Bowron churned out 1165 yards on 101 carries (11.5 yards per carry. Junior Maddox Wyman rushed for 889 yards on 75 carries.
Sophomore Alex Wurtzel had an impressive 72 percent pass completion number, completing 36-of-50 passes for 597 yards and six passing touchdowns.
Wyman completed 68.6 percent of his passes, completing 24-of-35 passes for 446 yards and four touchdown passes.
Junior Mason Shannon caught 31 passes for 573 yards including six touchdown receptions and senior Hunter LaSala caught 16 passes for 333 yards and three touchdown receptions.
On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore Easton VanMiddlesworth led the team with 63 tackles including 32 solo tackles. He had a team high eight tackles for a loss and six sacks.
Bowron had 58 tackles including a team high 40 solo tackles and three interceptions.
Wyman had 57 tackles, including 32 solo tackles and a team high four interceptions.
Sophomore Dane Sattler added 53 tackles including 30 solo tackles. He also had four tackles for a loss.
Liam LaSala finished the season with 61 kick attempts for 2169 yards (35.55 yard average) and Colton Selby had 22 kick attempts for 560 yards (25.45 yard average).
Bowron had 16 kick returns for 262 yards.
While a 36-20 loss to No. 3 ranked Martin last Friday in the 8-man, Division 1 Regional Championship game at Martin certainly didn’t have the outcome the Climax-Scotts football team was hoping for, the team enjoyed growth throughout the season that gives the Panthers optimism heading into the off season.
C-S completes the season with an 8-3 record.
Martin (11-0) will square off against Kingston (10-1) in the 8-Man Division 1 semifinal game November 15 at 1 p.m. at Chelsea.
C-S did a good job of keeping the potent Martin offense off the field by piling up 19 first downs, resulting in some long drives that chewed time off the clock.
However when the Martin offense was on the field, the Clippers were efficient. According to C-S team statistician Josh Vick, Martin ran 23 plays and gained 375 yards rushing for an average of 16.3 yards per play.
“We’ve seen some pretty good teams. I thought their speed and quickness got us. The first two series they scored and after that it’s an even ball game. Defensively, I thought we played really well after that. We had two possessions that didn’t go our way,” explained C-S assistant coach Kevin Langs, who coached the team the last three games while the school district performs an investigation after the school district placed his son and Panther head coach Tyler Langs on paid administrative leave for complaints the school district received regarding the head football coach.
The game was extremely physical. With the two schools forming a co-op in wrestling for a number of years that ended after last season, players on both sides were familiar with each other.
“We have a lot of respect for what they do. I thought our young kids came right in and stuck their nose in there,” said Langs.
“They would hit you. The play’s over, they would hit you, smack you, talk trash. That’s football,” adds Panther junior Mason Shannon.
Martin junior Seth Torres scored on the first play from scrimmage on a 66-yard scamper just 14 seconds into the game. Torres ran in the two-point conversion.
C-S, which started a drive on its own 35-yard line, drove 65 yards in 4:50 and knotted the score 8-8. Colton Selby connected with Elijah Bowron on a 14-yard reverse pass play at the 5:52 mark and Liam LaSala ran in the two-point conversion.
Martin responded quickly with a 52-yard touchdown run by Torris and successful two-point conversion just 16 seconds after C-S scored for a 16-8 lead after one quarter.
Both teams’ defenses then dug in. C-S stopped Martin on a fourth and four play to take over on its own 26-yard line. Martin forced C-S to punt moments later.
Martin broke through on a 63-yard touchdown run by Haylen Buell with 5:40 left in the first half. The two-point conversion was not good, leaving the Clippers with a 22-8 lead.
C-S was able to move down to the Martin 29-yard line and for a few moments thought the drive had stalled on an interception by Zaiden Buell. However a pass interference on Martin kept the ball in C-S’ hands.
C-S was able to march down to the Martin 9-yard line, however a fumble C-S recovered and a loss of 11 yards pushed the Panthers back to the Clipper 20-yard line.
Facing a fourth and 16, C-S attempted a pass that fell incomplete and Martin took a 22-8 lead into halftime.
A big defensive stop by Martin on a fourth and eight play early in the third quarter gave the home team the ball back at its own 48-yard line.
Four plays later Haylen Buell found a gap and raced 34 yards for a touchdown with 6:47 left in the third quarter. Buell ran in the two-point conversion for a 30-8 lead.
Facing a 22 point deficit and the game getting late, C-S went for a first down on a fourth and 11 play from its own 19-yard line after the team was penalized on a fourth and one on the previous play. Bowron was able to keep the drive alive by evading two Martin players and fought for the 11 yards needed for the first down.
C-S, which trailed 30-8 after three quarters, was able to move to the Martin 35-yard line.
A 10-yard pickup by Bowron and a huge 22-yard gainer on a pass from Alex Wurtzel to Hunter LaSala left C-S knocking on the door at the Martin 1-yard line.
Liam LaSala finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown run with 8:04 left in the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion attempt by Liam LaSala on a run, fell short and C-S trailed 30-14.
Martin delivered a big blow by scoring on its next drive.
A 44-yard pickup by Seth Torris set up the Clippers’ next score, a nine-yard run by Torris, who followed blocks and ran into the end zone untouched at the 5:58 mark (the two-point conversion attempt was no good).
C-S scored on its last drive on a three-yard touchdown run by Maddox Wyman with 40 seconds left in the game (the two-point conversion attempt was no good) and the Clippers walked away with a 36-20 win.
Alexander Wurtzel completed 9-of-13 passes for 86 yards with one interception. Maddox Wyman was a perfect 5-for-5 passing for 26 yards.
Wyman added another 77 yards rushing on 13 attempts and Liam LaSala had 54 yards on 12 carries. Bowron pitched in with 42 yards on 12 carries.
Hunter LaSala had 56 receiving yards, with four catches and Mason Shannon had six catches for 44 yards.
Brody Vosburg and Bryce Birkam each finished with four tackles.
C-S totaled 322 yards offensively, while Martin rolled up 375 yards.
The Panthers rushed for 203 yards and passed for another 119 yards. Martin had 375 yards rushing and no yards passing.
Some Season Ending Numbers
C-S had two runners pick up over 1000 yards rushing for the season. Senior Liam LaSala finished with 1240 yards on 128 carries (9.68 yards per carry) and junior Elijah Bowron churned out 1165 yards on 101 carries (11.5 yards per carry. Junior Maddox Wyman rushed for 889 yards on 75 carries.
Sophomore Alex Wurtzel had an impressive 72 percent pass completion number, completing 36-of-50 passes for 597 yards and six passing touchdowns.
Wyman completed 68.6 percent of his passes, completing 24-of-35 passes for 446 yards and four touchdown passes.
Junior Mason Shannon caught 31 passes for 573 yards including six touchdown receptions and senior Hunter LaSala caught 16 passes for 333 yards and three touchdown receptions.
On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore Easton VanMiddlesworth led the team with 63 tackles including 32 solo tackles. He had a team high eight tackles for a loss and six sacks.
Bowron had 58 tackles including a team high 40 solo tackles and three interceptions.
Wyman had 57 tackles, including 32 solo tackles and a team high four interceptions.
Sophomore Dane Sattler added 53 tackles including 30 solo tackles. He also had four tackles for a loss.
Liam LaSala finished the season with 61 kick attempts for 2169 yards (35.55 yard average) and Colton Selby had 22 kick attempts for 560 yards (25.45 yard average).
Bowron had 16 kick returns for 262 yards.
(Photo by Bruce Rolfe)
