HAMILTON, MI – With playoff hopes hanging in the balance, Hamilton’s undermanned football team nearly pulled off an upset win over Spring Lake in Week 9 last season, but the defense couldn’t stop enough attacks in the 47-38 loss.
The loss cemented the final score at 4-5, extended the Hawkeyes’ playoff drought to three years, and wiped out the team’s 4-1 start.
Many players and coaches wondered what could have become of a season that had shown so much promise early on.
“Spring Lake didn’t have our quarterback at the end of last year, but we had a unique game with Benji (all-state running back Ben Boehm),” Hamilton coach Phil Koops said. “He carried the ball 38 times and almost set a school record in rushing, but we couldn’t get enough stops on defense.”
“…They were a good team and we played them hard and at the end of the game you think, ‘What if?'”
Although Boehm is now a running back at Harding University, one of the best Division II football teams in the country, Hamilton boasts seven starters on offense and nine on defense – the most in Koops’ six years.
The Hawkeyes also have 22 seniors and the goal this season is to avoid the “what if?” question at the end of the year.
“These kids have played a lot of football,” Koops said. “We have 22 seniors and we talk about just wanting to max it out. We want to be as good as we can be, and whether that’s five wins or seven – whatever the number is – we just want to be as good as we can be. We don’t want to get to the end of the season and say, ‘If only… if only… if only.'”
Replacing one of Hamilton’s all-time best running backs won’t be easy, and it will take multiple people to match the 1,400 yards and 22 touchdowns that Boehm put up last year.
Fortunately, Hamilton has several players available to step in as ball carriers, including junior Brooks Hawkins and seniors Cy Berens and Jeren Bronkhorst, the latter of whom was also an all-conference linebacker.
Slot receiver Lincoln Phillips and H-back Logan Eding will also be used a few times, making it difficult for the defense to focus on one player.
“I think our biggest strength is going to be we have a lot of guys that can touch the ball,” Koops said. “You can have a week where one of the running backs has a lot of yards, and then we have one where we might have a lot of yards. We have three or four receivers that can go out and catch balls and have scored touchdowns in seven-on-seven games all summer. We have a guy that kind of plays receiver, but he also plays tight end, so we have a lot of guys that can touch the ball, whereas last year it was more of, ‘Hey, we’re going to line up and try to find every possible way for No. 24 (Boehm) to touch the ball.’
“This team is going to be pretty much the opposite. It’s going to be death by 1,000 paper cuts instead of trying to line up and shoot Benji Boehm out of a cannon.”
“Last year we were a pretty young team and we let go of one of the best players in decades,” Koops added. “We’re happy for Ben and we’re going to try to figure out how to get better with the sum of all the pieces that are left. We think that could hopefully come true with all the experience these guys have, but we’re certainly losing a lot of production from that kid from last year.”
Senior quarterback Grant Petroelje, who replaced the injured Justin McIllwain late last season, is back for his first full year as a starter. While he is not as dynamic an athlete as McIllwain, he throws accurate balls and has multiple targets all over the field.
On defense, Hamilton returns his entire secondary, most of his linebacker corps, and two defensive ends of enormous stature: his cousins Dominic VanDerHulst (6’4″, 220 lbs) and Riley VanDerHulst (6’5″, 195 lbs).
Perhaps the most important key for the experienced Hawkeyes will be finding the confidence to finish strong despite a schedule that features the return of five playoff teams in the final six weeks.
“When you’ve not had a lot of success and the football program here has been pretty low for a while, it’s a tough mental hurdle to overcome,” Koops said. “You’re playing against the big guys, and when you get into those close games, you just think, ‘How can this go wrong?'”
“That’s not the mentality you need to be successful.”
Follow us for more information about this year’s Hamilton football team.
Head coach: Phil Koops, 6th year (17-28 record)
Conference: OK White
Important returnees: Jeren Bronkhorst (Sr. RB/LB), Brooks Hawkins (Jr. RB/LB), Cy Berens (Sr. RB/S), Lincoln Phillips (Sr. WR), Logan Eding (Sr. TE), Grant Petroelje (Sr .QB), Dominic VanDerHulst (Sr. DE), Riley VanDerHulst (Sr. DE), Logan O’Connor (Sr. WR/S)
Top new arrivals: Ben Nykamp (Sr. OL/DL)
Review 2023: Hamilton opened the season with wins over Plainwell, St. Johns and Fruitport, then saw its winning streak end with a 61-38 loss to Allendale before bouncing back with a 44-38 win over Holland Christian. The second half of the schedule was brutal, however, as the Hawkeyes lost to playoff teams Coopersville, West Catholic and Spring Lake, as well as a close loss to Unity Christian, where they were outscored 38-14 in the final three quarters.
As a private citizen, Boehm has received national awards from the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association and the Associated Press.
Outlook 2024: Hamilton moves from OK Blue to OK White, and the schedule doesn’t get much easier. The Hawkeyes will still face Spring Lake and West Catholic in conference play, and while they’ll avoid Coopersville and Unity Christian, Forest Hills Eastern and Wayland both have playoff appearances under their belts and should be strong again.
Hamilton and GR Christian are the only OK White teams that missed the playoffs last season, so there probably won’t be many easy conference games for the Hawkeyes. An undefeated streak in non-conference games is possible and might be necessary if Hamilton wants to have a winning season for the first time since 2016.
Schedule 2024 (Conference games marked with *)
Thursday, August 29: in Plainwell
Friday, September 6: vs. St. Johns
Friday, September 13: vs. GR Union
Friday, September 20: vs. Wayland*
Friday, September 27: at Forest Hills Eastern*
Friday, October 4: vs. GR Christian*
Friday, October 11: vs. Spring Lake*
Friday, October 18: at West Catholic*
Friday, October 25: in Zeeland East
