By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
COLOMA—After playing at running back throughout his career, Cass Stanberry moved behind center for his senior season at Saugatuck.
He appears to be comfortable with his new position.
Stanberry ran for 202 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries to go with a passing touchdown to lead the Trailblazers to the 45-22 win over Coloma on Friday, Sept. 20.
The victory was the third straight for Saugatuck.
Chris Foley added 135 yards on 17 carries in the win.
“Cass and Chris did a great job of leading us offensively,” Saugatuck coach Bill Dunn said. “And our offensive line did a good job of communicating and adjusting to Coloma’s aggressive line play.”
Others who played well offensive include Max Page and Jaxon Green with rushing touchdowns and Norm Bos, who was on the receiving end of Stanberry’s TD toss.
All told, Saugatuck racked up 427 yards of total offense, with 406 of those coming on the ground.
Cam Lewis, meanwhile, went 6-for-6 on extra-point kicks. He made good on a 27-yard field goal with time running out in the first half to push Saugatuck’s lead to 10 points at 24-14.
On the first possession of the second half, Coloma drove inside the Saugatuck 10-yard line before Green recovered a fumble.
The Trailblazers then marched 92 yards for a touchdown to increase its lead to 31-14.
“This was an excellent road win for us to open up league play,” Dunn said. “We had two huge momentum swings that really helped us.
“The first was putting a really good drive together just before halftime to get the field goal just after Coloma had scored. The second was on the opening of the second half when we got the big fumble recovery and we went down and scored.”
The Trailblazers finished with no turnovers.
“Ball security and ball control were key components of the game,” Dunn said.
Defensively, Saugatuck got five tackles each from Page and Will Soule. Page also had an interception.
Green had four tackles and the fumble recovery, while Carter Miller added two sacks.
“Our defense did a great job of containing Coloma’s two talented running backs and creating a couple of turnovers that were big swings in our favor to win the game,” Dunn said.
Next for Saugatuck is its homecoming game with Delton on Friday, Sept. 26. Delton enters the game at 1-2.