ZEELAND - With playoff spots completely dictate by playoff points, every team has hope heading into the final weeks of the season.
The Zeeland East football team is a team that stands to benefit the most from the current system, in a conference loaded with some of the state's best teams.
Case in point, the Chix lost to defending Division 3 state champion Forest Hills Central only to have to face the No. 1 team in Division 4, Hudsonville Unity Christian, falling 56-13 on Friday .
That is why playoff points mean more than total wins. It doesn't punish teams as harshly for losing to higher-ranked teams, especially in the OK Gold that is loaded with perennial state title contenders.
The Chix are 4-4 and entered the night with the 25th-highest playoff points in Division 3 with 32 teams qualifying in each division.
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The loss makes next week's finale even more intruiging. The Chix might need a win to get in.
Zeeland East hosts Hamilton on Friday, Oct. 25, in the final regular-season game of the season. The Hawkeyes also will look to make the playoffs in Division 4 and might need that win as well.
"I think numbers-wise we are in either way, numbers-wise playing in the state champions league, which is one of the advantages of that," Zeeland East coach Joe Woodruff said. "We have to continue to get better every week. The conference prepares us for a playoff run. But it is a bear physically and mentally."
Undefeated Unity Christian clinched the OK Gold Conference title with the win.
Zeeland East trailed 22-0, their biggest deficit of the season as the top-ranked Crusaders proved why they are No. 1, stretching the lead to 29-0 after just one quarter.
"They were so dominant. They are big and physical and fast. Anyone here saw the size differential," Woodruff said. "That is the best team we have seen. I don't always put a lot of (stock) into polls, but they are No. 1 and if there is someone better than them in Division 4, I'd love to see them."
Unity proves to be No. 1
The Crusaders were nothing short of impressive against a Zeeland East team likely headed to the playoffs.
Unity Christian quarterback Jackson DeHoop scored on a 10-yard run and Isaac Stienstra scored the conversion for a quick 8-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. Stienstra scored on a pair of 1-yard runs and caught a conversion and Nolan Vis scored on a 2-yard for a 29-0 lead after one quarter.
Jared DeVries scored on a 26-yard run in the second and Stienstra scored on a 57-yard catch from and it was 42-0 at half.
Meanwhile, defensively, the Chix couldn't get anything going as the Crusaders controlled the line on both sides of the ball.
Chix keep fighting
Trailing 42-0 at halftime, Zeeland East came out with a 59-yard pass from Will Drnek to Isaiah Boonstra and then a 16-yard touchdown run by Eli Walcott to get the Chix on the board.
Boonstra scored on a 33-yard slant pass from Drnek.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSport s.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: No. 1 Unity Christian crushes Zeeland East to clinch OK Gold; Chix aim for playoff regroup
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