Senior quarterback leads South Christian’s push for repeat success

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Carson Vis has experienced the highs and lows of the state finals the past two years.

The South Christian senior standout was a key contributor on the 2022 team that won a Division 4 state championship with a 28-0 win over Goodrich and was the starting quarterback in last year’s heartbreaking 33-27 loss to Harper Woods.

Despite the range of emotions, Vis said he feels fortunate to have had the experiences of two straight state title runs.

“It’s been fun to be able to do that, and not a lot of people go there once and we got the opportunity to go there twice,” he said. “I feel blessed for that, and I’ve been able to do it with my best friends.”

Vis set state championship game records for passing yards (441), completions (30) and total offense (513) in the loss last year.

The Sailors were three yards away from tying the game in the final seconds but couldn’t find the end zone on the final play.

“It was hard for all of us, and we all wanted to win that game,” said Vis, who has committed to Western Michigan University to play basketball. “We are using that as motivation for this year and we are focused on Week 1. We are ready for it to come.”

After heavy graduation losses from last year’s 10-4 team, Vis will again be expected to lead South Christian in his final season at the helm.

“We are very fortunate to have him back,” Sailors coach Danny Brown said. “He’s a guy you would love to coach every year and I’m excited for him. He had an unbelievable season for us last year and I think we are going to ask more of him this year. I think he’s ready for the moment.”

Brown said Vis has unique traits as a quarterback.

“He’s a really good athlete, and he does things that not a lot of guys can do,” he said. “He has some unique stuff that you just don’t coach, He just does it.”

The Sailors had one of their biggest senior classes in recent memory a year ago so they will have to rely on the returning seniors and underclassmen to repeat their past successes.

“We lost a fair amount of seniors that were good players for us,” Brown said. “In high school football you’re going to lose seniors and you are going to rely on seniors and it’s going to cycle through every year. You’re going to need the juniors that were role players the year before to step up and be key contributors.”

In addition to Vis, South Christian also returns outside linebacker and tight end Tyler Brinks, as well as lineman Cam Veltman. Senior Charles DeHaan is back after missing last season with a knee injury.

“We’ve all worked hard in the offseason,” Vis said. “The JV guys have put their time in the weight room and on the field and I think we’ve looked great the first few days. I’m not worried about anything.”

Brown said the days leading up to the season opener will be important for the younger players.

“When you lose 32 seniors, it’s getting the guys coming up, a lot of juniors and a few sophomores, to get them to understand what it takes to play at the varsity level,” he said. “To understand what it takes to prepare.

“These first two weeks of camp are tough. It’s a lot of work, and we demand a lot from them. The faster they can grow up and understand that this is going to make us better in the long run then it will be best for us.”

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