By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
SAUGATUCK—Saugatuck senior quarterback Matthew Hartgerink was firing on all cylinders in the Trailblazers’ home contest against Lakeview on Thursday, Aug. 31.
Hartgerink threw for two touchdowns and ran for a couple of others to lead Saugatuck to the 49-7 victory.
The win pushed the Trailblazers to 2-0 for the first time since 2018. That year saw the Brad Dunn-led Saugatuck squad finish at 9-2, culminating in an appearance in a district championship game.
“It’s definitely been a good start to the season for us, but we are not guaranteed anything but next week’s game,” Saugatuck coach Bill Dunn said. “We have lots of room for improvement and growth as a team, and that is the goal from week to week.”
The Saugatuck defense showed plenty of growth from Week 1 to Week 2. The Trailblazers limited Lakeview to 100 yards of total offense and one second-quarter touchdown.
“It was a great defensive effort,” Bill Dunn said. “We did a good job of containing the Lakeview offense. It was not a perfect game by far, but we showed much improvement from game one.
“Our defense played fast and physical, and limited Lakeview’s time of possession. We able to create some turnovers and converted those opportunities to points.”
Chris Foley had a team-best 13 tackles for Saugatuck, including three for a loss and a forced fumble. Carter Miller had three sacks and a forced fumble.
Hartgerink added an interception, with Mason Rehkopf and Brad Moorer each recovering a fumble.
Offensively, Hartgerink had 65 yards on 15 carries to go with 96 passing yards on 6-of-10 passing. Will Doucette amassed 159 yards on 13 carries for a 12.1-yards-per-carry average.
Cass Stanberry hauled in five passes for 92 yards, with Moorer accounting for the other catch for 51 yards.
“Offensively, we had better execution up front by the offensive line,” Bill Dunn said. “It was a nice balance with running the football and mixing in some timely play action passing.”
Hartgerink had a hand in both first-quarter TDs for Saugatuck, finding Moorer on a 4-yard pass and running for a 19-yard score.
Hartgerink also had a 1-yard scoring run in the second quarter and a 10-yard scoring pass to Stanberry in the third quarter.
Doucette (56-yard run in the second quarter), Landon Miller (2-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter) and Moorer (3-yard run in the fourth quarter) also scored for Saugatuck.
Cam Lewis went a perfect 7-for-7 on extra-point kicks.