Fal l 2012 Preview

GRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN FOOTBALL

In this Preview: The 2012 Schedule

Year 3 with Coach Fellows

The Ties That Bind

GRCHS College Recruits

2012 Overview

2011 was a record set-

ting season for the

Grand Rapids Christian

Eagles Varsity Football

program.

It was a season that

saw the Eagles capture

their very first O-K

White conference title,

while going undefeated

during the regular sea-

son.

The Eagles spent the

off season looking for-

ward to the 2012 sea-

son, knowing expecta-

tions would be high.

After key personnel

loses on both sides of

the ball, Coach Don Fel-

lows and his staff be-

gan the tedious off sea-

son work of building

the program towards

the 2012 campaign.

Dawn Patrol training

sessions began right

after spring break,

which typically signi-

fies the starting bell

for the Eagles football

program. The 6:15

am, three day per

week, training ses-

sions are considered a

“right of passage” for

Eagles

football

players.

After sev-

eral weeks

of training,

Dawn Pa-

trol gave

way to

summer

workouts, 7 on 7 pass-

ing workouts and

camps.

After a great off sea-

son leading up to Fall

2012, the Eagles look

to take the field and

drive towards another

championship season.

Go Eagles!

Fal l 2012 Preview

LE A D U P T O 2012

www.GRCHSFootbal l .com

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Lead Up To 2012 2

The Schedule 3

Coach Fellows: Year 3 3

The Ties That Bind 4

College Prep Corner 4

Eagle Preview 5

“FOR TH E L O N G RU N” By Tommy Doles

For many athletes sports have become synonymous with

the challenges of everyday life and how to deal with

them. Eagle Offensive Lineman Tommy Doles offers his

insight in his article “For the Long Run”.

(Click here to Read the entire article)

The Grand Rapids

Christian Eagles will

play one of their

toughest football

schedules in recent

memory this fall. A

schedule that kicks off

at home against cross

town rival South Chris-

tian, also once again

includes, Forest Hills

Central and Kenowa

Hills.

Labor Day weekend

will find the Eagles

making an out of state

trip to Archbishop

Moeller in Cincinnati,

Ohio.

The addition of Jeni-

son and Hudsonville

to the schedule is a

new challenge for the

Eagles, and yearly

foes Lowell and East

Grand Rapids will

prove to be tough

games as well.

Page 3

C OAC H D O N F E L L OW S : Y E A R T H R E E

TH E 2012 SC H EDU L E

winning the O-K White

division outright.

Year three brings an-

other host of challenges,

but don't look for Coach

Fellows to lower his ex-

pectations for his Ea-

gles. After taking the

helm in 2010, each year

Fellows has set out the

challenges in front of his

teams with the highest

expectations of success.

Look for the same ex-

pectation from him in

2012.

Note:

Blast from the past:

View 2011 Video Inter-

view with Coach Fellows

(Click Here)

Going into his third sea-

son as Head Varsity

Football Coach at Grand

Rapids Christian High

School, Don Fellows un-

derstands the territory

he is entering.

After coming out of the

starting gate in his initial

season in 2010 with the

Eagles with a regular

season record of 6-3,

then advancing as far as

the second round of the

playoffs, Coach Fellows

set even loftier goals for

the following season.

In 2011 the Eagles

posted an undefeated

regular season while

setting several school

records in the process,

Fal l 2012 Preview

Blue-White

Scrimmage

Saturday Aug 11

Fresh/JV 11am

Varsity 7pm

3rd Annual Eagles Golf Outing

Monday August

13th

VanDeBurg, Hall, Korhorn,

Faulkner, Hein, Crouch,

Boyd, Meekoff, Veenstra,

Betts, Bosscher and Kerk-

stra.

The seniors listed above

head into their final sea-

son of high school football

sharing a unique bond:

they have played together

since age 9.

It’s this unique bond that

they share which brings

them to the gridiron for a

“reunion”, year after year

since age 9. Now entering

into it’s final year, this

seasonal “reunion” is

about to come to a

close, with these 12

attempting to put their

mark on Christian foot-

ball history.

“We have all played

pretty much the same

positions too,” laughs

senior LB Matthew Hall.

Entering their biggest sea-

son ever, these 12 young

men have ridden the long

road together. Now closing

in on the end, they will at-

tempt to not just end the

story, but do so in story

book fashion: with a Cham-

pionship. It would be a

great way to finish the trip.

Page 4

GRCS CO LL EG E PR EP C OR N ER

TH E T I E S TH AT B I N D : EAG LE S C O M I N G U P TO GE TH E R

sity), Robert

Cuba (Ferris

Sate), Nate Mi-

togo (College of

the Canyons,

CA.), Kavon Fra-

zier (Central

Michigan) and

Wes Johnson (Ball

State) will all begin

their collegiate foot-

ball careers this fall.

2011 graduates, Matt

Grasmeyer (Wake For-

est), and Willie Sawyer

(Northpark), were two

of several others who

signed to play at the

next level.

This July, junior WR

Drake Harris made a

verbal commitment to

play at Michigan

State, senior TE Zach

Crouch committed to

Central Michigan, and

junior OT Tommy

Doles was offered a

full-ride to the Univer-

sity of Michigan.

When Coach Don Fel-

lows left the college

ranks to return to the

high school level, one

of his main goals was

to create a “pipeline”,

for players to move on

and play at the colle-

giate level.

This past spring on

National Signing Day,

when high school sen-

iors sign letters of in-

tent to play at the next

level, five Christian

High football players

put pen to paper, and

signed on the dotted

line:

Christian Benn

(Northwood Univer-

Fal l 2012 Preview

2012 SEASON OVERVIEW

Eagles Offense

Notable loses: Kavon Frazier (RB), Brandon Pott

(WR), and Mitch Konynenbelt(OL)

Notable returners: Drake Harris(WR), Alex Vande-

Vussee(QB) and Tommy Doles(OL)

Player to watch: Christian Vandeberg (RB)

Fast Fact: In the past two seasons the Eagles Offense

has set, and broken, it’s own scoring records

Eagles Defense

Notable loses: Robert Cuba(DL), DJ VanderBaan(DB), Nate Mitogo(DL) and

Wes Johnson(DL)

Notable returners: Matthew Hall(LB), Davaris Col-

lier(DB) and Jack Bates(LB)

Player to watch: Jack Bates(LB)

Fast Fact: Entire starting DL from last season is play-

ing at the collegiate level this fall

Page 5 Fal l 2012 Preview

Coaches Quote:

“Once again the outlook for the 2012 season has great expectations. We will look to

replace some key components from the 2011 offense, although there has been some

tremendous competition to replace these positions. I have been very pleased with the

progress we have made this off season.

“We will try to maintain a balanced attack in 2012—I think our depth at running back will

be a huge asset for us this season. The growth of our returning players will be pivotal in

our success for 2012. I believe that this group has the potential to become a great of-

fense. Finishing on every play will be a major focus for us this season; I look forward to

working with these young men to accomplish some lofty goals that we have set.”

Jeremy Fellows, Eagles Offensive Coordinator