SPORTS

VARSITY TENNIS
Elks split with Rams on court

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Nicholas Huizenga, seeded at number one with Matthew Brown in doubles, reaches for a return in the far corner against the Rams. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography
The weather was a sunny 75 on Tuesday, perfect for tennis as the Elks won 5-3 over visiting Harbor Springs. The win avenged a 5-3 loss on Tuesday against the same Rams squad, played in Harbor Springs. In the Tuesday team victory, Christian Bush, seeded number two, had the Elks’ lone singles win 6-2, 6-1. The Elks swept the doubles competition, with wins by number one seed Matthew Brown and Nicholas Huizenga (6-3, 6-2), second seed Gabby Krakow and Monika Gregorski (6-4, 6-4), third seeded Ethan Huhn and Jon Clem (6-1, 6-1) and the number four seed duo of Josh McCann and Mary Gregorski (6-0, 6-0). A fifth seeded match was also an Elk victory, won by Hope Hoedel and Owen Turick (6-1, 6-0). 

Playing last Thursday after a two-week weather delay kept the team from competing, the Elks headed north to play at Harbor Springs, suffering a 5-3 defeat. In singles competition, number two seeded Bush had the only singles win 7-5, 6-3. Doubles play earned wins from the third seed of Huhn and Clem (6-1, 6-0) and fourth seeded McCann and Mary Gregorski (6-0, 6-1). The number five seed of Hoedel and Turick also took home a win (7-5, 6-1). 
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The team travels to Glen Lake on Thursday, then wrap up the regular season schedule against Glen Lake at home on Tuesday. The Elks will honor the seniors on the team during Tuesday’s regular season finale.

VARSITY FOOTBALL
Elks fall in gridiron opener to Red Devils 

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Izaak Huhn (83) heading through a big hole opened up by the Elk offensive linemen. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography
The drama of high school football for the 2020 season began in East Jordan on Friday night for Elk Rapids, where they fell 14-6. The Elks struggled to move the ball offensively, coming away with one score, a fourth quarter touchdown. The Elk defense played a solid game, except for giving up two first half touchdowns on long passes. Late in the fourth quarter the Elks flexed some defensive muscle, stopping East Jordan from scoring from a first and goal at the four.

“We gave up those two long touchdown passes; they got behind us and both balls were thrown into the endzone. Their first score came on a fourth down and 26! Otherwise, we played pretty well defensively. We are very green and rusty, we didn’t have the benefit of summer camps, 7-on-7 drills or the weight room, plus just one week with pads. We could have really used a scrimmage, but that is just the way it is this season. We will learn and adjust more as we go and improve as the season plays out,” said Elk varsity football coach Tony Moller.

The Elks lost five seniors, consisting of two-year starting receivers and running backs. The current group of wide receivers and backs have only a week of experience in pads, and it showed at times with confusion on routes and a slow-moving running game. “The teams that have players returning with varsity experience will be ahead early this season. It will be up to the coaches to make adjustments and get new players up to speed and quickly as possible. We will have to think of the East Jordan game as a scrimmage, and make changes from that game,” Moller said.

The Elks return experience in the quarterback position with Gordie LaFontaine starting for his third season. The linemen are an experienced group, but it might take a few games for them to get into game shape. The remainder of the team has many good athletes, but they are learning their positions with just over one week of practice. 

The Elks began the game by intercepting East Jordan on their first two series, a pick by LaFontaine, another by Jamison Starr. Penalties and struggling to move the ball resulted in zero points from either turnover. East Jordan scored on a 24-yard pass in the second quarter, missing the extra point for a 6-0 lead. On their next possession a 15-play drive stalled, giving the Red Devils a fourth and 21 at the Elk 30-yard line. Opting to go for it, East Jordan tossed a 30-yard touchdown, added a two-point conversion for a 14-0 lead at halftime. The Elks lone score came in the final quarter on a 20 yard over the shoulder grab by Carter Veliquette in the end zone. The extra point failed, ending the game with a 14-6 Elk loss.

LaFontaine was 18-23 passing for 99 yards, Veliquette hauled in two balls for 37 yards, Izaak Huhn rushed 16 times for 15 yards. On defense, Izaak and Ethan Huhn both had nine tackles.


“We will work all week on things we learned from the first game and should be much better this week,” Moller said. The Elks will host Glen Lake in their home opener on Friday.

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL
Elks sweep Rams

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Emma Macaluso goes airborne with steady concentration on the ball for a return shot. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography
A week after being swept at St. Francis the Lady Elks came back strong, sending Harbor Springs home after a three-game sweep of the Rams 25-11, 25-17 and 25-11. The first set was a dominating win by the Elks. In the second set, the Rams battled back, taking an early lead, then tying the game several times as the Elks fought back. Addison Jacobs went high for a kill return, then softly tipped the ball in between a pair of Rams for a 16-13 lead, igniting a 9-4 run to get the set win. The Elks never trailed in third set, finishing with a big win and giving them a Lake Michigan Conference match victory. Grace Mischel had 10 digs and seven aces, Alena LaPointe added eight digs, Jacobs tallied eight kills, Lili Hoberg chipped in six kills, two aces on a pair of blocks, Morgan Wirtz slammed five kills and three aces, Ryleigh Yocom sent over five aces and Kate Henderson racked up 30 assists with two kills.

“In the St. Francis game they played really well, the final score doesn’t really show how well they played. Several St. Francis parents told me after the game that they didn’t expect the Elks to be that strong after losing eight seniors, which was nice to hear. We will see them again,” said Elk varsity coach Connie Gorno. 

In the week after St. Francis, Coach Gorno worked on finding more drills to build confidence and give her team more touches to the ball.

 “We want to stay consistent with ball handling, and the basic fundamentals. I’m proud of these girls, they get along well, and have great spirit, great attitude. They are a comical group, having fun, and they are winning.” 

​The Lady Elks (7-3-2, 2-1 LMC) travel to Traverse City Christian for a non-conference match on Thursday, then are back home against East Jordan in a conference rumble on Tuesday.

VARSITY SOCCER
Elks play back-to-back tie games

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Preston Ball remains in control of the ball, running full speed with a Boyne double team. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography
The Elk soccer team came away with two ties and a win last week on the pitch as the regular season moves closer towards the end of the schedule.

Monday the Elks hosted Boyne City in a game to decide first place in the Lake Michigan Conference, both teams entering the game undefeated in conference play at 4-0. The game ended in a scoreless tie, with the teams scheduled to play again in the regular season finale in Boyne.

Zak Bolde guarded the Elk net, getting three saves. The Elks had 12 shots against Boyne, some were close but non found the back of the net.

Leland came to Elk Rapids on a cold Friday night, with the game ending in a 0-0 tie. Jack Spencer was in goal for the Elks having a slow night as the Comets didn’t take a single shot all night. The Elks fired off 22 shots in the game, 14 were on goal. In both of the tie games the strategy of the visiting team seemed to be to pack the box to stop the Elks from scoring but were unable to score themselves. The Elks held the ball nearly 80 percent of the time in each game, while the Elk defense is very strong, allowing just seven goals in 15 games played this season. 

“We have been controlling the ball, teams are having a hard time attacking. If we are a little more sharp in front of the box, we get the shot off quicker or not let it roll out a second further, things can change. We have a few games to work on this; teams are not going to beat us athletically. We are getting the shots, we are going to work more at getting them into the net,” said Elk varsity coach Nate Plum.

The Elks defeated Grayling 4-0 in an LMC game last Thursday. Mason Travis had a pair of early goals, assisted by Drake Collins and Mahaney VandeKerkhof. Just before halftime Avery Kellogg scored for a 3-0 advantage at the half. The last goal came with two minutes to play on a high, lofting kick by freshman Nolan Carroll, his first career varsity goal. Spencer was in net with four saves. The Elks have not given up a goal in conference play.

The Elks (9-2-4, 4-0-1) face Kalkaska on Senior Night on Thursday in the home season finale, then begin a five-game road trip to finish out the regular season.

VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY
Elks squeeze out win over Blazers 

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Lachlan Beebe taking an early lead for the Elks. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography
In a thrilling cross country dual meet with Kalkaska, the Elks finished with five of the top eight spots, edging out the Blazers 28-29 last Thursday in the home meet ran at Camp Maplehurst. The top four finishers for the Elks were Lachlan Beebe (2-18:02.15), Christian Kerfoot (5-18:50.81), Charlie Ward (6-19:03.25) and Brad Fitzpatrick (7-19:07.48) tallying 28 points for the win.   Also finishing for the Elks were Caleb Kerfoot (8-19:15.07), Seth Brown (10-19:43.82), Skylar Davenport (11-19:53.62) and Ben Vanderheide (14-20:26.69). There were 19 runners total competing on in the boys run. The girls squad was short two runners to qualify as a team but had some solid runs from Sarah Zamaites (2-22:46.54), Eva Pray (3-24:19.89) and Adrian Noecker (7-26:32.89). The girls had 13 runners competing overall.

Cherryland runners shine at Maplehurst
In a glimpse of the future of Elk cross country, the Cherryland Middle School competed in a 3200M run against the Blazers. The Cherryland teams dominated, the girls winning 15-47 and the boys with a 17-44 victory. The girls took seven of the top ten spots, the first four consisting of Brynne Schulte (1-13:18.40), Brooke Fluty (2-13:30.00), Anna Pray (3-14:01.58) and Hunter Schellenbarger (4-14:13.38). The race had 21 girls competing. The boys top four finishers were Max Ward (1-12:24.85), Will Vanderheide (2-14:14.59), Jason Jansen (3-13:16.22) and Keegan Kiel (5-14:07.11). There were 14 runners competing in the race.