Flint Powers Catholic QB Noah Sargent tis tackled by Zeeland West RIley Brinks, during the first half of the Michigan High School Athletic Association football Division 4 finals at Ford Field in Detroit on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015. Z west was up 16-0 at the half. during the Michigan High School Athletic Association football Division 4 finals at Ford Field in Detroit on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015., during the Michigan High School Athletic Association football Division 4 finals at Ford Field in Detroit on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015.
There’s two things that Flint Powers needed to know about Zeeland West’s wing-T offense. First, the Dux were apt to keep the ball on the ground. Second, the ball was going to Darius Perisee. Or maybe Tyler Thompson. Unless it was Dakota Geurink.
Zeeland West has thrived behind a running attack featuring precision and deception, and while Powers got better reads than most opponents, the Dux stuck to their game plan Friday and mixed up their assignments, cruising by the Chargers 40-14 in the Division 4 championship.
“Me, Dakota and Darius, we always go out and we always want to give our all,” said Thompson, who led the attack with 117 yards and two touchdowns. “No matter whose number is called, we always want to do our thing and we want to be successful in the end. We’re all seniors and we want to get the big prize, and we did it.”
The Dux didn’t need to air it out, throwing only four passes in 59 offensive plays, since they rushed for 318 yards and five touchdowns.
Zeeland West (14-0) turned the ball over on downs at the Powers 5 on the opening series before hitting paydirt the next time around, traveling 86 yards in nine plays. Perisee took the ball 8 yards around left end for the game’s first touchdown. Thompson scored on a 4-yard run in the second, increasing the lead to 16.
Then, it was Geurink’s turn to power into the end zone, carrying in a tackler on a third-and-goal call from the 4. Thompson added a two-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, making the lead 32-6.
Casey Brinks got into the act as well, scoring on a 39-7 yard quarterback keeper for the game’s final touchdown. He also intercepted two passes, including one in the end zone as time expired in the first half.
“To win the state championship as a senior, it’s the best feeling in the world,” he said. “During the regular season and the playoffs we worked it week by week, and we finally got here and it was a dream to get here and finish it all.”
The Chargers (11-3) got their scores on a 15-yard keeper by Noah Sargent and a 35-yard pass from Sargent to Luke Brcic.
Zeeland West has only been in existence since 2005, but has won four state titles in that timespan, collecting trophies in 2006, 2011 and 2013. Powers last won a championship in 2011, in Division 5.
“Our hard work really paid off, and just everything turned out like a normal storybook ending,” Thompson said. “We just give our best effort. That’s all anyone can ask for. We are told our assignment and we go out and we fill that assignment and do everything in our power to make each play that we do successful. We’re doing our job every play, and that’s it.”
Live audio, updates from prep football state finals
