Juan Enriquez Takes 4th Place at Wrestling Finals

Juan shows his toughness and determination as he ends up with a 4th place finish at the State Final Meet.  Great Job Juan!

In the weight room, we had our best week in attendance to date.  We averaged 42 kids per day last week.  The Varsity group has really stepped up the last few weeks as we are now averaging about 19 a day...  The JV team has increased their numbers too while the 8th grade class has lost a few from the previous weeks.  Overall, things are headed in the right direction.  We also started speed training on the 5th and kids are starting to realize they have a long way to go to get back into shape. 

Finally, we had 2 kids (Ray Vanputten and Matt Becker) attend a QB Football camp this past weekend.  It was a great workout for both kids who went home with some tired muscles and very sore arms.  Were very happy to see the effort being put forth by both these kids-  I'm not sure Grant has had very many QB's attend Camps in March- this is very encouraging!

 

Winter Sports are Winding Down

Be sure to check out our B-Ball Team tonight @ Home vs. Fremont Packers ( Round 1- Districts)...Game Starts at 6 PM.  Also, Def. End Juan Enriquez will be wrestling at the state meet  which starts this coming Thursday, March 8th.

Good Luck to both programs!

At the weight room, attendance continues to increase.  We had our biggest turnout of the year last week as 39 kids filed into the Fitness Center.  Besides for a summer workout, this is the largest attendance we've seen since the start of this off-season program was implemented a couple years ago... The 8th graders continue to impress as they have a ;arge group who has been very dilligent and consistent.  The Varsity team now has had 31 different players working out at one time or another, we just need a little more consistency from about 15 of those guys and we would be really making progress.  Overall, its been a great last couple weeks and guys are making good gains.

The Monthly Newsletter will be out after the State Powerlifting Meet takes place, which is March 17th.

 

Good Weekend for Tiger Faithful

It was an exciting weekend for Tiger Fans.  On Friday Night, our varsity basketball team started things out right by defeating Fruitport.

On Saturday, things continued to go well in two different events powerlifting and wrestling:

 At the Wrestling Regional Meet, Juan Enriquez was able to make it into the final round and keep his season going. 

Finally, at Wyoming Lee High School, a group of 12 Football Players competed at the Regional powerlifting meet and had great success. Attendees included:  John Wells, Brandon Castillo, Josh Alverson, Mark Wagner, Brad Saxton, Brian Wood, Dan Frey, Cory Acosta, Jake Mikula, Chris Lightfoot, Kaleb Vargo, and Lorenzo Lopez. 

 We were able to take home our first trophy as the JV Team Placed 3rd overall in the competition.  We also had 6 individuals qualify for the state meet, which will be held at Muskegon High School on March 17th:

JV

Cory Acosta:  145 Weight Class 1st Place

Jake Mikula:  155 Weight Class  2nd Place

 Lorenzo Lopez  119 Weight Class 3rd Place

Kaleb Vargo  207 Weight Class  3rd Place   

 

VARSITY

John Wells  181 Weight Class 1st Place

Josh Alverson - Qualified by lifting the total weight Required in his weight class

GREAT JOB TO ALL WHO COMPETED AND THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CAME OUT AND SUPPORTED THEM.                      

 

Reminders and Updates week Of Feb. 19th

1.)  Powerlifting Meet is this Saturday @ Wyoming Lee:  If you plan on attending you need to see Coach Chapman asap!  We will meet at the Fitness Center 7:45 AM and will probably be back around 2:30/3:00 PM.  Traditionally, the meet will start with the JV kids lifting first and then followed by Varsity.  We hope to have pictures and results from this meet posted on here next week. 

2.)  Juan Enriquez Qualified for the Regional Wrestling tournament this past weekend.  Congrats!

3.)  Speed Training and Conditioning is just around the corner.  It starts Monday Morning- March 5th @ the Middle School. 

4.)  Our Ironman Of The Week Program started the week of Feb. 5th.  Our first winner of the award this year was Dustin Guerne.  Dustin has been working very hard for well over a year and its paying off.  He has increased his 4 lift total by over 100 lbs since August, which is well above any of our other players.  He has been very reliable and is also someone who is close to the top in overall attendance.  Great Start to the off-season Dustin- Keep it up!

 

Congrats to the following football players for their success at this weekends "LAKES 8" wrestling conference tournament:

Varsity DE:  Juan Enriquez 215 Lb. Weight Class Champion

Varsity TE:  Tyler Jacobsen 171 Lb. Weight Class  4th Place

JV DB:  Mike Newton 112 LB  Weight Class 3rd Place

Freshman DE:  Kevin Atwood  140 LB Weight Class 3rd Place

 

THE 1st 2007 NEWSLETTER IS NOW OUT:

2007 FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

 

CONGRATS TO GRANT TIGERS BBALL TEAM:  DEFEATING RIVAL NEWAYGO LIONS 54-50 IN OVERTIME!!!  Great Game by Both Teams and Fantastic Win For the TIGERS!

36 People show up to watch the 2006 Highlight Video

We weren't sure how many to expect at the Fine Arts Center last night, but ended up with a very nice turnout.  The group of Seniors is a tremendous group of kids who we are all going to miss next year.   They made a great impact on this Tiger Football Program this past fall and they are doing a great job of building school spirit in the school as well.  It was good to see all of them come out last night for one last hoorah!  Go Tigers!

 

2006 Highlight Video will be shown Thursday Night

The Fine Arts Center is opening their doors for us this Thursday Night ( Jan 25th) @ 6 PM to allow us to watch our completed Highlight DVD on the big screen.  We will be serving pizza and snacks for all who attend.  You will have an opportunity to purchase one of these DVD's for $25 at this event.

The weight room attendance continues to get better since the new year started.  We had 3 JV B-ball players coming in to workout before practice last week, which is a great sign of commitment on their part.  We also have a core group now that we can count on each every time the room is open.  Things are heading in the right direction at the beginning of this off-season. 

Our First 2006 Newsletter will be out in the upcoming weeks with much more information.  We are very excited for some of the new opportunities our program will have over the next few months.  Stay Tuned!

 

Back To Work

I trust everyone had a nice relaxing couple weeks with family and friends, but its now time to get back to work with your teammates.  We started our lifting sessions again on Monday the 8th.  We had 14 different varsity players attend workouts last week.  We also have 12 Varsity Players participating in either Basketball or Wrestling.  We expect to have about 35 Varsity Players next season which means we are getting approx. 75% of those players who are involved in something right now. This is a good starting point but needs to be improved on. If your not at the weight room or in a sport, what are you doing to get better?  Its hard for us to count on you during the season if we don't see you in the off-season.

We are excited for the group who have been at our weight room sessions.  There has been consistency from about 11 Varsity Players and it sounds like we are going to get about that many to attend the powerlifting meets in February and March.  Any Freshman through Seniors who want to compete in these events can get with me at upcoming weight room sessions for more information.  Our first meet will be at the end of February at Wyoming Lee High School.

See you Monday the 15th at the Fitness Center!

 

Have A Safe and Happy Holidays

We are taking a break from football stuff over the next few weeks.  There is no lifting this week and the motor city bowl team trip this year has been cancelled.  If you have transportation and would still like to use the tickets, get with me and we will take care of it.  Thanks to everyone who has already been working hard this off-season.  Have a great holiday, be safe and enjoy your time off.  See you in January!

Weight Room Testing results and speed Testing results will be posted over the next few weeks.  In the mean time, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

OFF-SEASON LIFTING IS NOW UNDERWAY

Last week was our first week back to lifting.  We averaged 10 "future" varsity football players and 1 underclassmen.  It was an ok start to the off-season, but unfortunately we were missing quite a few players who we were expecting in attendance.  Today was better as we had 14 varsity guys in attendance and 4 future JV Players. Zach Marsh, Cody Brooks and Jake Mikula have done a nice job of getting our sophmore numbers up in the weight room as we were up to 6 today.

 Over the past week, we tested on the Bench Press, Squat, Deadlift and Power Clean.  Our strongest man in the program so far is John Wells, with Josh Alverson right on his heals.

Congrats to our Bball Team as they have gotten off to a 2-0 start this season with wins over Sparta and Ludington.  Our wrestling team, led by our interior lineman Juan Enriquez, is much improved this year too.  Go Tigers!

 

We are very exciting to be working side by side with the Rocket Football Program now.  We believe there are great things to come over the next few years as this relationship progresses.  Be sure to check out all the Rocket Football Information by clicking below:

http://www.grantrocketfootball.org/

We also have a link to the left for you to click on too.

 

7 Players went down and watched two of the Football Finals

Our 3 captains (Wells, Alverson and Wagner) joined up with Mikula, Saxton, Toohey and Vanputten and went down to Ford Field to watch the Division 1 and Division 7 State Finals.  Although both games were blowout victories it was still a great time together.  Its always a great site to see 20,000 fans watching a high school football game.  And its great to see teams from our Area competing for the highest prize and in 4 different divisions, actually winning the game.  Congrats go out to Muskegon Catholic, Muskegon, East Grand Rapids and Zeeland West for winning state tites.   Rockford and Coopersville also had fantastic seasons and ended up with being State Runner-Ups.   

We will be heading back down to Ford Field one more time this year to watch the Motor City Bowl.  If your interested in going, please sign up at the upcoming weight room sessions.  Speed Testing and Weight Room Testing starts December 4th... See you There!

GO TIGERS

27 Players from The Tiger Football Program will be involved in Winter Sports

Be sure to get out and check out the Basketball Games and Wrestling events as we have 27 players throughout the program who will be participating in these events.  For those of you who are not involved we look forward to seeing you at each one of the weight room sessions. 

We had our first football meeting today and there was a good turnout from the junior class but the sophmore class was missing several people.  If you were not there, you need to make sure that you get with one of the captains for more information.

Reminder: This coming Saturday we will be heading to Ford Field to watch two of the eight High School Finals football games.  We will first see Muskegon Catholic at 10 AM and then follow that up by watching two time defending champion Rockford defend their title.  If you want to go but didnt sign up, get with one of the captains so that we can make sure we have enough transportation arranged.  If you plan on attending you need to be at the Fitness Center by 6:30 AM this coming Saturday.  We should be back around 8 PM... Please bring $20 with you for your ticket and food money.  Thank you!

 

Eric Evans and Josh Hudson earn Honorable Mention All Area Awards

Congrats again to 2 of our captains as they earned Honorable Mention All-Area last night.  Both of these players were 1st team All-Conference also...  Congrats

Good Luck To all of our Football Players who are trying out for Winter Sports...We wish you all the best!

REMINDER:  We have our Next Football Meeting on November 21st at 3:15 PM in the Fitness Center.  We will be discussing all the upcoming off-season events and workouts.

 

 

Thanks to Everyone who Supported the Tigers This Fall

This was a year that we didnt really want to come to an end.  We had a great group of kids and a terrific group of varsity parents.  Thank you so much for all your support for this team.  Our Senior Class has laid the foundation of what Grant Football will be like for years to come:  Physical, Disciplined, Fast, Aggressive and Intense.  Thank you to every senior on this football team for working so hard the entire year.  Thank you.

We also need to say Congrats to members of our team who earned all conference recognition.  Congrats to the following kids:

Offense:   1st Team Eric Evans (RB #33)                Defense:  1st Team Josh Hudson(DB #2)                              

               2nd Team  Josh Hudson ( QB #2)            Defense:  2nd Team  Josh Alverson (LB  #42)

               Hon. Mention:  Ryan Toohey (WR #11)    Hon Mention:  Rich Hinton ( DL #65)

               Hon. Mention:  Mark Wagner (OL #56)     Hon. Mention:  Jake Mikula (LB #45)

 

Season Comes to an End tonight vs Whitehall

Its hard to believe that this is the last game...the year has seemed to go so fast.  Tonight its the 3-5 Tigers vs the 7-1 Vikings.  The game is a matchup of the 5th place team in the Lakes 8 Conference team vs the 2nd place team in the West Michigan Conference.  We hope to see everyone in Whitehall at 7 PM tonight.

JV's season comes to an end with a tough loss to Whitehall 14-13.  They ended up 4-4-1.

Grant Loses a Heartbreaker to Newaygo 35-32

We have had our share of Close Calls this year and most of them we have ended up on the winning side, but not last Friday.  It was a great game all night played on a very muddy field that went back and forth with neither team really being able to stop the other one.  Both Teams scored 5 touchdowns, both teams punted once, both teams were successful on all their 4th down conversions and both teams were intercepted once.  But, only one team (Newaygo) converted all of their extra points and that ended up being the difference. 

Grant scored first making it 6-0. Then Newaygo went on an 18 play drive to take the lead at 7-6. Grant responded on the next play to make it 14-7.  Newaygo tied it up 14-14.  At half the score was 21-20 Newaygo's lead...as Grant had missed another extra point.  Then after a couple TD's by both teams Grant finally reclaimed the lead again 32-28.   Unfortunately it didnt last long as Newaygo broke a long td run to give them the lead 35-32.  Grant wasnt quite ready to give up though as they converted on two more 1st downs and drove the ball to midfield.  But with 1:45 remaining on the clock, Hudsons pass to Ryan Toohey was intercepted sealing the victory for Newaygo.

It was a great game and all of the players on both teams played very hard.  There is no time to sulk though as it dont get any easier this week as Grant heads into Whitehall's stadium to take on the 7-1 Vikings.  See you Friday at 7 PM for the season finale.

Go Tigers!

 

 

Newaygo Tonight

Its No Secret, this is the game both schools have waited for the entire year.  Newaygo comes in at 4-3 and Grant at 3-4.  There is no question that both teams will play their hearts out and give it everything they got tonight.    Its cold and wet, but we hope that all the Tiger Faithful will be out cheering our team on in their orange and black.  We also hope for a safe game with a Tiger Victory.  Go Tigers!

The Freshman's season came to end last night with a loss to Allendale.  The freshman ended up with a 3-5 record, but made significant improvement the entire year.  This is a group that hasnt had much success over the last couple years but has shown a great work ethic and desire to compete. We look forward to working with these young men over the next few years.

The JV team dropped another game last night as they had way too many mistakes against a good Newaygo JV team.  The final score was 40-21.  The JV is now 4-3-1 and end the season next week at home vs Whitehall.

 

GRANT WINS IN TRIPLE OVERTIME VS TRI-COUNTY: Final Score 55-54

Our Tiger "SPECIAL FORCES" came up huge in this hard fought football game.  It started on the first play of the game as Eric Evans took a kick return of around 80 yards back for a score... and then, with about 3 minutes to go in the game, he did it again.  Then in the overtimes, it was Hudson (QB) and the passing game that took over.  Followed by a game winning 2 point conversion run.  It was an unbelievable football game to be a part of and something these kids will be able to talk about for a long, long time.  And although the Muskegon Chronicle wrote a BAD article which somehow included quotes from myself without ever contacting me, the game was 100% about the kids.. about their effort.. about their constant fight... about their confidence to get the job done when the game was on the line.  I couldnt be more proud of our players in this football game! 

Next Up is our Rival the Newaygo Lions.  We have several things to work on and correct before this game.   But both teams have very similar seasons thus far as Grant is 3-4 and Newaygo is 4-3...the only real difference being that Newaygo beat Spring Lake and we lost to them.  It should be a very good football game!  See you next Friday, 7 PM in Grant!

Go Tigers

HOMECOMING WEEK! 

An exciting week for the Grant Students.  Kids get to be part of so many different things with Assemblies, Parades, Games, Dances etc... that its a very busy week. But I believe our players are excited and focused about the game so hopefully it will be a great game to watch! Gametime is at 7 PM - see you there!

Our 9th and 10th Grade continue to get better as both teams won last night.  The 9th grade won a close game 13-12 and the JV won in blowout fashion 47-6.  This was a great feeling all the way around and Im really excited for our JV kids to pull through after we asked two of their players to join our varsity team this week.  Prentis Williams (#21) and Cody Brooks ( #81) will be playing with us tonight!  Great Job 9th and 10th graders!

 

TIGERS FOUGHT HARD ALL NIGHT BUT FRUITPORT IS TOO GOOD

Our Guys came out with a strong effort and had the lead early in the 2nd quarter. It was 14-7 after a long Eric Evans Kick Return for a TD. But, a blocked punt and then a punt return for a TD by Fruitport was too much to overcome as the Trojans went onto a 35-14 victory.  They have a GREAT defense and an offense thats been averaging almost 35 points a game so we couldnt afford to make some of those mistakes on special teams.  We knew going into the game that we would need to play near perfect to have a chance and unfortunately, that didnt happen.  The Fruitport players and Coaching Staff had nothing but positive things to say about the Tigers.  Although it was a loss for our team, we improved in several areas and that will help us heading into the final 3 weeks. 

Our Fans were great, loud and supportive.... and the tunnel coming out of halftime was great for our players. Thank you to everyone who continues to come out every week (in Bad Weather) and support these players. 

We look forward to coming back home this week for our Homecoming against Tri-County. Gametime is 7 PM Friday Night....and the weather is supposed to be nice!  

Freshman Team gets 2nd Win and JV game ends in a tie

The Tiger freshman came from behind last night to defeat Fruitport 19-14.  They improved their record to 2-4.

The JV game went back and forth all night.  The Tigers took the lead 42-36 with about 35 seconds left in the game.  But Fruitport completed a long pass with 2 seconds remaining in the game to make it end in a tie: 42-42.  The JV's record is now 3-2-1.

The Varsity team is on the road again for the third straight week.  We travel to Fruitport tonight to take on the 4th ranked team in the state.  Fruitport has been impressive all year and their 35-7 whoopin on OV last week showed that they are the real deal this year.  Our Tigers had a good week of practice and should make this an exciting game to attend.  Hopefully the bad weather stays away tonight and everyone can enjoy a great game!  Start Time 7 PM.

Tigers Lose to Spring Lake 17-6

Our team came out on Friday and played very hard right until the final whistle, but it wasnt enough as we left with a very dissappointing loss (17-6).  After being ahead 6-3 most of the game, Spring Lakes QB went on a long run of 62 yards to give the Lakers a 10-6 lead at the end of the 3rd quarter.  The Tigers were responding with a nice drive until a fumble at Spring Lakes 40 yard line stalled their drive.  Then, after getting the ball back again, our Tigers took the ball all the way to Spring Lakes 6 yard line with just over 4 minutes remaining in the game,  but once again were stopped by the Lakers defense.  Finally, after a missed field goal attempt by the Lakers, Grant had one final shot at it but an interception which was returned for a TD, sealed the victory for the Lakers.  This was a good game and our players played with great intensity.  Our Parents and other Fans were very supportive and could be heard throughout the game. Its just tough to be on the losing end this time.  We need to get back to work on the practice field this week as we have no time to dwell on this game. It doesnt get any easier as we get ready to play one of the top teams in the state next week - FRUITPORT. Fruitport is now 5-0 after taking it to Muskegon Orchard View last Friday night. We need to play our best football game of the year next Friday night. We hope to see everyone there and show why we are becoming a great program!

Freshman and JV will play at Home against Fruitport this Thursday.

Freshman and JV both suffer losses last night.  JV led at halftime 7-0 but couldnt keep it going in the 2nd half.  Freshman are now 1-4, while the JV are 3-2. 

Varsity plays tonight, so get yourself dressed up warm and we will see you there.

Tigers are on the road this week vs a Good Spring Lake Team

Our Grant Tigers head out on the road for the 2nd straight week as they take on the Spring Lake Lakers, Friday at 7 PM.  The Lakers are coming off back to back tough losses to Fruitport and OV in the last couple weeks.  Our Team is coming of a win against Ludington and is hoping to put a string of 2 in a row together for the first time this season.  We have had a very good week of practice thus far and if we play this way on Friday, it will be a fun night.  We hope to see all our supportive and LOUD FANS there on Friday night!!   

JV and Freshman are also looking for back to back wins and they are at Home Tonight.

TIGERS DEFEAT LUDINGTON 17-8

Grant improves to 2-2 ( 2-1 in the conference) with a victory over Ludington last Friday night.  The Tigers had a great start to the game with a quick stop on Defense followed by a long TD run by John Wells on their first offensive series.  The offense tacked on another score in the 2nd quarter as Eric Evans plowed his way into the endzone making it 14-0 at halftime.  Then the Tigers added a field goal with the opening possession of the 2nd half to make it 17-0.  The game appeared well in hand before Ludington's special teams started making big plays.  First, they blocked a punt that ended up being a safety. Then on the ensuing kickoff, they had a kick return that took them all the way down to Grants 12 yard line.  Two Plays later they were in the endzone and it had become a close ballgame again.  But, Grant was able to get the ball back on the next series and convert a couple big first downs to end the game.  This was a victory for our Tigers, but there is still a lot of work to be done if were going to win next week.

We are back on the road again next Friday night at Spring Lake.  Spring Lake is 1-3 with losses to OV, FRUITPORT AND WHITEHALL... all of which are still undefeated. This should be a great game to watch. Starttime is 7PM - See you there! 

GO TIGERS!

Freshman And JV both won their games last night

The Tiger Freshman have been improving every week and last night was their reward as they hung on to defeat Ludington 15-12.  The JV squad rebounded after last weeks game and came out on top with a 40-2 Victory.  Great Job Tigers!

BE SURE TO CATCH THE VARSITY TEAM TONIGHT IN LUDINGTON AT 7 PM

Tough, Hard Fought Football game ends in a loss

The Final Score ended up 30-10 in favor of OV, but it wasnt without a hard fought battle from our Grant Players.  The guys hung in there and battled all night, but the 4th quarter mistakes ended up being too costly to get the victory. 

With the score at 21-10 and Grant on the move at midfield, Josh Hudson completed a pass to Ryan Toohey all the way down to the OV 8 yard line... BUT it was called back for holding.  On the next play, Grant Fumbled, OV picked it up and ran it in for a touchdown.   That ended most of the hopes of the Tiger Faithful.

The Tigers will be hard at work this week as they prepare for the next contest, on the road vs. Ludington. 

 

The Orchard View Cardinals will be in town tonight

Our 1-1 Grant Tigers take on the undefeated Orchard View Cardinals tonight.  Orchard View started out the season by defeating Montague and Newaygo.  As most know, they are usually the team to beat each week, as they have now won something like 27 of their last 28 games.  Having said that, our guys are looking forward to the challenge and we we believe it will be another exciting Friday Night.  We will see all of our Fans tonight as we play our last Home Game this month.  GameTime is 7 PM!

The Freshman continue to improve and did lead at halftime last night....  But OV was too tough in the second half and defeated them.  The JV team did not play like they have the other two games this year and they ended up losing badly.  JV Team is now 2-1.

GO TIGERS!

TIGERS WIN IN DRAMATIC FASHION

The Grant Tigers and Fremont Packers went back and forth all night, but in the end it was our Tigers who held onto the victory.  Final Score:  Grant 28  Fremont 25.  This was a great football game and our guys played their hearts out.  They never put their heads down and kept fighting all night. Great Job Tigers! 

TIGERS WELCOME FREMONT PACKERS TONIGHT

The 1-0 Fremont Packers come to town tonight as both teams start with their conference game schedule.  Game time is 7 PM and will be broadcast on the radio.  We look forward to seeing all of our rowdy and crazy fans tonight!

JV team improved to 2-0 with a big win last night.  Freshman team dropped another one after being tied at halftime...they are now 0-2

GO TIGERS!

Birch Run Proves Why They are a Great Team

This wasnt the start that we had in mind, but you have to give credit to a great Birch Run Football Team.  Their Offensive and Defensive Line Controlled the entire game and their Running backs ran extremely well.  They are a very good football team who is going to win a lot of football games this year. As for our team, we have to get back on the practice field and get to work again.  We had way too many mental breakdowns and the energy level dropped right away with the early turnover and then the two Birch Runs TD passes. We have a good group of players who Im confident will respond next week against one of our neighborhood rivals- Fremont.  Fremont is 1-0 after defeating Lakeview 19-6 yesterday.

The JV did defeat Birch Run 32-18, but the freshman lost to Morley 31-8

See you Next Week, AT HOME VS FREOMONT - 7 PM

 

9 Days Remaining Until Opener

       We officially began practice on August 7th @ Midnight.  It was a fun start to a very good first week of practice.  The guys came out with a lot of energy the 1st practice and with great Focus. On Tuesday, the soreness kicked in a little and there was a let down but once we were finally in pads on Thursday things picked up again.  Overall, we had a good first week and made very good progress.  We need to keep things going as we head toward our scrimmage vs. Oakridge, Comstock Park and Big Rapids this coming Friday @ 10 AM.  We hope to see everyone in Muskegon on that Friday morning.

        We did get some good news for our program on Monday the 14th, as we have enough players to play both Freshman and JV football this year.  We needed to get a minimum of 22 players on each team as of that date and it happened.  This will help our program down the road tremendously.

  As a reminder, our Freshman will play their 1st game at Morley Stanwood on Wednesday the 23rd because Birch Run didnt have enough players to field a freshman team.  The JV will be travelling to Birch Run on Thursday the 24th. 

Less than 1 month to go

This was an exciting week for the Tiger Football Program.  The HS Players were able to go out all week and coach the younger rocket players and they did a great job.  We had nearly 17 of our players show up every night and teach these little kids about our program and this great game.  

The July Newsletter is now available and there are now more 7 on 7 pictures available by clicking Here: 7 on 7 pics

36 Days Until our First Game

We've been counting down the days since last November until our first game and its quickly approaching.  The month of July has been really busy, with our parents dinner, 7 on 7's all through the month and weight lifting.  Despite the busy schedule our players have really stepped up their efforts and made an effort to be at everything.   Our average attendance at workouts from our varsity players (in the last two weeks) has been around 25. At this point, we are only expecting to have about 30 on the varsity team this year, which would mean were getting close to 83% attendance lately.  Our JV numbers have gone up too recently as we have had 13 different players attend at least 1 event in the past two weeks.  The only group were struggling with and questioning right now is our freshman. We had good attendance at meetings and workouts during last school year, but the summer committment has been poor thus far.  There is just over two weeks left to get yourself in top shape for two-a-days. 

We wrap up the last of our 7 on 7's tonight @ home against Holton. Our focus at these events is simply to enjoy the friendly competition and get better each time we step on the field.  We feel that our players have done that for the most part.  There is still much to learn and this is only the beginning.

Our Ironman of the week last week, was our Kicker:  Mitch Murray.  Mitch has already surpassed the minimum summer hours we were asking for from the players.  He has been at nearly every workout and most recently attended the Michigan State Kicking Camp.  Despite Mitch being a full-time soccer player for Grant, He alwasy does what he can to show his committment to the Tiger Football Program.  Thanks for your efforts Mitch!

 

Thanks To Everyone who Came Out to The Parents/Players Dinner

We held our varsity parents dinner on July 7th, Friday night at the middle school.  It was a great summer night, beautiful weather and near the 4th of July but that didnt stop our committed players and parents from attending the dinner.  With 68 people in attendance, we had a good night together. We ate some delicious food, watched a short highlight tape and gave some of our players recongnition for their hardwork in the offseason.  Thanks to everyone who helped us put this night together and for everyone who came out to be part of it.  Thank you.

The following day, our players were back to work early in the morning.  We travelled to Muskegon Oakridge for our first 7 on 7 event.  As always, Oakridge did a great job of putting this event together and we were able to compete against some very good teams from around the area.  Although you could see the nerves and the jitters early, by the end of the day, our guys had settled down and showed a great deal of improvement throughout the day.  We will be competing again @ Kent City this coming Tuesday.

Our Ironman of the week, went to Kolin Stickney.  Kolin attended the Wednesday workout session and then was off to QB Camp at Ravenna on Thursday and Friday.  He then made it back Friday night to our dinner and finished off the week by attending the 7 on 7 at Oakridge on Saturday.  Kolin played fullback for us last year but has been doing whatever we ask of him and has tried to improve at different positions all over the field (including qb) so that we can use him in a variety of ways this year.  Good Week Kolin, keep up the good work ethic.

 

Happy 4th of July

I hope everyone had a great July 4th and was able to enjoy the nice weather.  Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on a few things happening in the next week or two:

1.)   Friday, July 7th is our Parents/Players Dinner at the Middle School ( 6:30PM)

2.)   Saturday the 8th is our first 7 on 7 at Muskegon Oakridge.  We will be meeting at Grant High School at 7:30 AM.  We should be back to Grant around 1:45 in the afternoon.  We will be scheduled to compete against 4 other schools while at this event:  Muskegon Hghts, Kent City, Sparta and Ravenna.

3.)   July 10th through July 14th is "testing week" in the weight room.  We expect many records to be  broken again during this week.

4.)  July 11th we have 7 on 7 competition @ Kent City and then on July 13th we will be competing against these teams at our place. On July 11th, we will meet at Grant at 6 PM, unless you want to meet at Kent City at 6:30.  On July 13th, we will meet at the Fitness center at 6:30 PM.   **Kent City and GR Central will be at these events.**

5.)  July 18th we travel to Cedar Springs for 7 on 7 ... We will meet at the Fitness Center at 4:45 PM, as the competition starts at 6 PM that night

6.)  July 20th we will be back Home for 7 on 7 vs Kent City and Holton.  Meet at 6:30 PM at the Fitness Center

    Our Ironman of the week last week was Josh Hudson.  Josh was there all 4 days and had a very good week in the weight room as well.  His weight lifting is already starting to get better as he gets in there more often and more consistently during this summer.  He also was the winner of our "punt, pass and kick competition" during the camp.  Our guys continue to look for his leadership as we get ever closer to the beginning of the season.  Good work last week Josh!

  If you were unable to get a copy of the "June" Newletter, you can get it on this site now.

Team Camp is this Thursday

The Summer seems to be going very fast and its probably only going to pick up as we getting busier and busier in the next few weeks.  In addition to weight lifting sessions this week, we also have our HS Camp scheduled for this Thursday. This camp will be held from 5-9PM on the practice field.  Then, next week we have our Varsity Parents/Players Dinner on Friday followed by our first 7 on 7 date @ Muskegon Oakridge on Saturday the 8th. 

Varsity turnouts for weight room sessions have continued to be good as we are averaging around 18 players each day and the guys continue to set personal records too. Again, we need this effort to continue as we head into the last month of our off-season.

We added a new first time Ironman to our list last week:  Ray Vanputten.  Ray was very busy during the school year while competing in basketball and baseball.  Unfortunately though, he wasnt around   as often as we had hoped. But, since the end of the baseball season, Ray has been to every workout and is already starting to get stronger. Ray has shown  that he's committed to this program 100% and will be there the rest of the way.  This dedication is putting him in a position to compete for the Varsity QB position next fall.  Great Beginning to the summer workouts and good week last week Ray!!