The night began with West Ottawa (5-2, 2-1 in OK Red) taking over after a fumble by Grandville (3-4, 1-2 in OK Red) running back Nolan Meekhof on the second play from scrimmage on the Bulldogs’ first drive.

After West Ottawa QB Caleb McNitt converted a 4th and short on a run up the middle, McNitt hit David Rich across the middle who took the ball deep into Grandville territory for a 28-yard gain down to the Grandville 12. After being stuffed on back to back runs, the Panthers reached the end zone as McNitt hit Rich for the 11-yard TD and a 7-0 lead with 6:05 left in the 1st.

After a nice kickoff return set up Grandville at the 45-yard line, Nolan Meekhof busted a 14-yard run to the West Ottawa 28 and then Brian Cappiello ripped off a 28-yard TD run. The Bulldogs converted the 2-point conversion to take an 8-7 lead with 3:37 left in the 1st.

On the next possession, the Panthers picked up big chunks of yardage off runs of 11, 16, and 16 yards to reach the Grandville 6-yard line to start the 2nd quarter. Two plays later, McNitt’s QB sneak gave West Ottawa a 14-8 lead with 11:21 left in the half.

Grandville responded with a 22-yard run by Nolan Meekhof and then a 23-yard run by Brian Cappiello to reach the West Ottawa 20. A few plays later Cappiello capped the drive with a 10-yard TD run giving the Bulldogs a 16-14 lead with 7:34 left in the half after converting the 2-point conversion.

The rest of the game was dominated by Grandville as the Bulldogs scored 38 unanswered points in the 54-14 win.

After a steady dose of Meekhof the Bulldogs took a 24-14 lead after a 2-yard TD run by QB Ryan Koorndyk with 21 seconds left in the half.

On their first drive out of the half, West Ottawa was forced to punt after a three and out. A bad snap forced Collin DeShaw to try and pick up the first down after grabbing the ball off the turf and he was stopped short giving Grandville the ball at the West Ottawa 37-yard line.

Grandville capitalized and drove 37-yards for the TD ending the drive with a 12-yard TD run by Nolan Meekhof extending their lead to 32-14 with 9:42 left in the 3rd.

After forcing another three and out, Grandville took over on their own 30-yard line. A 10-yard run by Cappiello and a horse collar penalty put the Bulldogs at the West Ottawa 35 and two plays later Cappiello raced in for a 32-yard TD building Grandville’s lead to 40-14 with 6:12 left in the 3rd.

On their next drive, West Ottawa busted out a nice reverse play to David Rich that went for 35 yards down to the Grandville 12, but then Grandville forced a fumble as Christian Rodino was just about to dive into the end zone from 4-yards out and the Bulldogs fell on it for a touchback.

Grandville’s drive then extended into the 4th quarter and was almost halted when Ryan Koorndyk was hit rolling out to his left, but the Bulldogs were able to fall on the loose ball and avoid the turnover. On the next play, a sweep to Nolan Meekhof resulted in a 26-yard TD and a 48-14 Grandville lead with 10:37 left in the game.

The Bulldogs added one more TD, this time a 51-yarder from Parker Remminga with 5:47 left in the game. Grandville improved to 3-4 on the season and 1-2 in the OK Red with the 54-14 win, while West Ottawa is now 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the OK Red.

Notes:

Brian Cappiello had 15 carries for 157 yards and 3 touchdowns

Nolan Meekhof had 25 carries for 145 yards and 2 touchdowns

Caleb McNitt had 2 total touchdowns for West Ottawa (1 pass, 1 rush)