Powers Writes End to Championship Story
November 2, 2013
By Greg Chrapek
Special to Second Half
TROY – When it comes to storybook endings, Flint Powers Catholic coach Tony Rowe has overseen one that is hard to beat.
With a 4-8 record at one point this season, Rowe and his Chargers were just hoping to climb to the .500 mark, let alone end up in the Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship game.
Not only did the Chargers right the ship, but they advanced to the Final in Troy where they defeated reigning champion Grand Rapids South Christian 1-0 after surviving overtime and prevailing 8-7 in a sudden-death penalty-kick shootout.
“It’s just unbelievable,” Rowe said. “It is a story book. We were 4-8 at one point this season. I told one of my friends that it was like a (ESPN) 30 for 30 feature. We just got on a roll at the right time and kept on rolling.”
Powers also played some air-tight defense in the title match. It survived heavy pressure from South Christian in the second half and overtime periods to get the game into a shootout, where anything can happen and did.
After 80 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime sessions, the game went to a penalty kick best of five round. After both teams missed their first attempts, South Christian took a 1-0 lead on a made shot from Nick VanderHorst.
Powers then missed its second attempt and after two rounds trailed 1-0. Both teams scored in the next two rounds with Taylor Buist and Austin Clark scoring for South Christian and Alex Clark and Brad Tuttle scoring for Powers.
Heading into the fifth round, South Christian was up 3-2 and needed just one more made shot to end the match.
The Sailors, however, came up short on their fifth shot, and on its last attempt Christian Mansour scored for Powers to tie the goals at 3-3 and force the match into penalty kick sudden death. Both teams scored in the next four rounds and the shootout was tied 7-7 heading into the fifth sudden death round.
That’s when Powers goalkeeper Stephen Wilbur came up with a diving save.
“I just tried to stay composed when everything is going crazy,” Wilbur said. “I go into a corner and keep quiet and try to keep focused.”
Wilbur’s save set the table for Powers sophomore Erich Ruth to win the game. Ruth stepped up to the ball and delivered as he sent a shot into the net.
“When I stepped up to the ball, I kept my eyes on one post the whole time,” Ruth said. “Then I shot it the other way. I just tried to keep my composure.”
After Ruth’s shot went in the Chargers erupted on to the field, their storybook finish complete.
“It’s just crazy,” Wilbur said. “It’s a dream come true.”
A dream the Chargers had to feel was far off when they were 4-8.
“We just kept working all season,” said Powers senior captain Charlie Emmert. “We went to practice every day and kept working. I told the guys the state finals are November 2 so keep your parking passes until November first.”
The Chargers also put in plenty of work on penalty kicks during their practices.
“We practice penalty kicks every day,” Emmert said. “Everyone practices them at the end of practice. That walk feels like a mile with everyone watching you take the kick.”
Powers had a couple of scoring opportunities during the first half. On its first opportunity, South Christian goalie Zac Medendorp used all of his 6-foot-7 frame when he made a diving stop and knocked a shot away.
South Christian (21-2-3) gained the momentum in the second half and applied heavy pressure on the offensive end. With seven minutes remaining in regulation, the Sailors came within inches of a go-ahead goal when VanderHorst whistled a shot that hit the crossbar dead on but bounced away.
The Sailors also carried the play in the two overtime sessions. Powers found it difficult to get the ball past midfield while coming under constant pressure from the South Christian offense.
“That’s the way it is; soccer can be a pretty cruel game at times,” South Christian coach Jason Boersma said. “These guys did everything they could. I thought the first half was evenly matched, but I thought we carried the play in the second half. They (Powers) didn’t get the ball over midfield much at all. We pressured them, and pressured them and pressured them but we could just not get one in the back of the net.
“Our guys feel like they won the game but lost the shootout. Give credit to Powers, they have a fantastic team and a fantastic program.”
The Chargers also had a defense that would bend but not break and a spirit that was the same.
“We played with all heart,” Mansour said. “We just never quit.”
Powers ended the season 14-8-2. The title was its first since winning in 1996.
“We didn’t think it was impossible to get to state,” Rowe said. “Anytime you play, you want to get to the state finals. These guys were just awesome.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Flint Powers' Erich Ruth (8) unloads what will become the winning shot in the Chargers' 1-0 sudden-death shootout win. (Middle) Powers' Reed Macksood (22) works past a pair of South Christian defenders including David Hubbard (21). (Click to see more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Kemp Proud to Keep Troy Athens Tradition
August 29, 2019
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
TROY – Jason Kemp has never needed the tradition of Troy Athens soccer explained to him, because he’s been able to experience the sights and sounds of the program his entire life.
Living less than a mile from the school, Kemp, now a senior goalkeeper for the RedHawks, has heard the cheers and seen the lights of the stadium from his house numerous times growing up.
“I’ve grown up watching playoff games and watching league games,” Kemp said. “I can hear the crowd and the goals from my house. My whole childhood has been Athens soccer. Now I’m a captain on the team and get to play in front of large crowds that support us. It’s kind of a dream come true for me.”
Kemp won’t be hearing cheers this year from his house, mainly because he’ll be on the field as a big reason why Athens is producing the positive crowd noise.
Kemp certainly generated a lot of cheers last year for the Athens faithful.
After splitting time as the starting keeper as a sophomore, Kemp was dominant in his first full year as the starter last fall, recording 16 shutouts and allowing just four goals in being named first team all-state by the coaches association.
Kemp is back for his senior season to anchor the net for an Athens team with understandably high expectations.
The RedHawks started the season ranked No. 15 nationally by Top Drawer Soccer and feature a senior-laden roster that has grown up playing travel ball together in the community, which Kemp said gives the team an even bigger advantage to go along with its talent.
“I’ve been playing with most of these guys my whole life,” Kemp said. “I always have thought that was cool growing up playing travel with these guys and now adding high school to it. I feel like it gives us an advantage. A lot of teams, they only have trained a couple of times in the summer before they even start with their high school teams. For us at Athens, a lot of us have been playing together since early middle school years or even elementary school years. It adds a cool twist to our team because we’ve been playing together so long.”
Big reasons for the 16 shutouts Kemp recorded last year were Athens’ stout defenders and organized system, but make no mistake about it: Kemp was also a vital component.
“He’s able to catch balls instead of punch them or tip them,” Athens head coach Todd Heugh said. “He’s got shot-stopping ability and quite honestly, he’s got the confidence of all his teammates. They think he’s good and in turn, I think that helps the way we defend and I think the way he goalkeeps a little bit too.”
Despite putting up terrific numbers as a junior, there is one area Kemp said he has worked on improving going into his senior year.
“Last year, I was very timid on set pieces, especially corner kicks,” said Kemp, who sports a 4.0 grade-point average and took five Advanced Placement classes during his junior year. “A lot of teams would curl a ball in the box, and I would rely on my defenders to clear that away. Now that I’m a little bigger, a little stronger and worked out a lot over the summer, those set pieces don’t really bother me anymore. I don’t have a problem coming out and jumping with a forward and getting hit around a little bit. I’ve grown out of that struggle.”
Athens won Class A titles in 1983, 1984 and 1989, and claimed Division 1 in 1997. Heugh was a senior on the 1989 team.
But a fifth championship has proven elusive. Athens also finished runner-up in 1986 and 2016, when it lost the Final in a shootout to East Kentwood
And the RedHawks still feel a stinging loss from last year’s tournament – they entered unbeaten and ranked No. 1, but were upset in the District Final by Utica Ford, 1-0.
While October is still a few weeks away, Kemp said there’s “a lot of fire in our bellies” among the seniors to try and bring Athens its first title in 30 years.
“This is it,” he said. “This is our last season and a lot of us have been dreaming of this moment for our whole lives. We really want to make this year count as well as we can in the postseason.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Troy Athens keeper Jason Kemp provides skillful play and leadership from the net. (Middle) Kemp dives to thwart an opponent’s shot. (Photos courtesy of the Troy Athens boys soccer program.)