Hudsonville Unity Christian win first ever state title in dominant fashion, defeating Portland 42 to 7

In their first ever state finals appearance Hudsonville Unity Christian did not disappoint. They came out strong both on offense and defense and coasted to a victory over Portland by the final of 42 to 7.

“I told them today nobody probably picked you to be here and nobody probably picked you to win today and they stepped up, I’m very proud of these guys” Head coach Craig Tibbe said.

The first half was all Crusaders, who jumped out to a 28 to 0 lead. The offense had five possessions in the first half and the only time they didn’t score was because the half ended.

Rushing lead the way for the Crusaders, finishing with 279 yards. The rushing attack was led by Isaac TeSlaa who finished with 97 yards and two rushing touchdowns.

“I don’t want to single myself out, I thought we played great today both offensively and defensively. We only had the one breakdown but overall we played very well” Quarterback Isaac TeSlaa said.

The Crusaders first score was a 44-yard touchdown run by Hayden Large to give them an early six to zero lead.

The defense got the ball right back to the offense with great field position after an interception by Austin Schuiteman.

It didn’t take long for the Crusaders to capitalize, two plays later Isaac TeSlaa found TJ VanKoevering for a 31 yard touchdown. A two point conversion made it 14 to 0 midway through the first quarter.

On their third drive of the game, the Crusaders continued their success and marched down the field with the drive capped off by a nine yard touchdown run by TeSlaa to make it 20 to 0.

TeSlaa would break off another big run this time from 45 yards to extend the Crusader lead to 28-0.

“I thought we played really well. Our defense did a great job and slowed down a very good team. We only gave up a specials teams score” Tibbe said.

The second half would be similar to the first half. Portland could not manage anything offensively against the Crusader defense. Defensively for the Crusaders they only gave up 189 total yards and

The only score that Portland was able to get was from a 91 yard kick return touchdown by Jacob Veale.