By Sue Moore
Vicksburg Bulldogs had their chances to make a close game of it after being down 24-0 to Plainwell in the first half. An interception by Conner Henderson just before halftime made it 24-7 and gave the red and white momentum going into the locker room.
The Bulldogs received to start the second half and marched down the field with a mixture of the run game and some nifty passing by Dalton Ketelaar. With a determined effort, Nick Wallace scored and Keenan Erb kicked the PAT to tighten the score 24-14. Shortly thereafter, Blake Rankin picked up a Plainwell fumble and rambled all the way to score, making it 24-21 with momentum going the Bulldogs way. A couple of untimely penalties began to hurt along with Plainwell’s nifty running back, Jacob Geter gaining ground on most of his carries, finally taking the ball in for a 31-21 lead with about eight minutes left to play.
Vicksburg seemed determined to equalize things with a march to the 13 yard line of Plainwell, when the drive was stalled by a holding penalty a couple of incomplete passes and an offside call against the Bulldogs with only 2:50 left on the clock, Plainwell was able to keep possession for a big victory.
“We’ll need to rest up after this hard fought game,” head coach Tom Marchese said as his dejected players walked off the field. “We’ve played three very good football teams that are extremely physical and next week it’s Three Rivers which is also a tough team. This group represents the ‘meat’ of the Wolverine Conference and to be 4-1, we can feel pretty good about it, he said. I was worried about spotting Plainwell too many points in the beginning, because their running back is so talented. He can find the holes, get outside and cut loose. We had our chances and we played well, once we got the momentum going.”