Hamilton football playoff chances take hit with loss to Unity Christian, QB injury
HAMILTON - The Hamilton football team knew the playoffs could be determined on homecoming.
The Hawkeyes hosted Hudsonville Unity Christian on Friday in a steady rain with a tough road ahead to the finish line.
The road to the playoffs will be a little tougher after the 44-28 loss to the Crusaders on Friday.
The Hawkeyes (4-3, 2-3 OK Blue) face West Catholic and Spring Lake in the final two weeks of the regular season - both teams that defeated Coopersville, a team that beat Hamilton 42-6 last week.
That made this game all the more pivotal.
The Hawkeyes got long touchdowns by Ben Boehm and Justin McIllwain and a short one from Keaton Haverdink, but Hamilton could not slow the Unity Christian offense enough and McIllwain left with an injury.
"It is a tough loss for us. It has been a while since this team made the playoffs except for the COVID year. Our quarterback was out and we just have to stick together as a team and trust our brothers next to us," Boehm said.
Of course, the Hawkeyes shouldn't be counted out of the last two games with a potent rushing attack.
Quarterback injured
Hamilton quarterback Justin McIllwain had a strong game, but left with a leg injury in the fourth quarter.
He was banged up several times in the game and his status for the rest of the season is unknown.
Grant Petroelje came in to replace McIllwain and led a scoring drive, but it could be a tough spot for the Hawkeyes with two weeks to go.
"We lost our quarterback and have two weeks to morph who we are. Grant did a great job and I am proud of that kid, but hurt for Justin of course," Hamilton coach Phil Koops said. "If we get to five wins, everything says that will get us in."
Kicking game swing
Hamilton used special teams to steal a possession from the Crusaders to start the second half.
The opening third-quarter kickoff was a high, short kick that the Crusaders had trouble fielding and the Hawkeyes' Ty Berens recovered, marched down the field and scored on a run by Justin McIllwain to pull the team with in 22-20.
Hamilton nearly did the same thing on the ensuing kickoff, but when the Hawkeyes dove on it near the home sideline, they were ruled out of bounds and the Crusaders got the ball.
Unity Christian then scored on a fourth-down run to push the lead to 29-20 with 3:00 to go in the third.
Max VanKoevering added a 40-yard touchdown run and conversion to push th elead to 37-20.
Hamilton offense back on the run
After being held in check last week, the Hamilton offense was quickly off to the races.
Boehm had a 15-yard run, then scored on a 49-yard swing pass from McIllwain where he ran around right end, broke through the first line of defense and used his all-state sprinting speed to get into the end zone untouched.
In the second possession, quarterback Justin McIllwain scampered through the right side for a 40-yard score.
The Hawkeyes rushed for 191 yards as a team, but allowed 350.
Hamilton still eyes playoffs
It has been a while since the Hawkeyes have had a playoff team. The COVID season in 2020 saw everyone make the playoffs, but Hamilton despite its losing record, won a playoff game, then won a playoff forfeit to reach the district finals before losing to South Christian.
So that is a legit playoff team in our book.
But it hasn't happened as much in recent years.
Hamilton made the playoffs 10 times between 2001-2020, but has been just one time since 2016 and twice since 2012.
More: Week 7 high school football live scoreboard, roundup
It used to be a yearly almost certainty, but a lot of factors played into that.
The Hawkeyes were in the OK Green for several years where they faced much bigger schools like Muskegon, Mona Shores, Zeeland East and Zeeland West - teams that all made at least the state semifinals during that time.
That is four losses for most teams and before the rule change of playoff points, 5-4 playoff teams were rare, making the roadblock extremely difficult.
The last season the Hawkeyes had a winning record was 2016 when the team went 6-4 and made the playoffs.
But Hamilton has a winning record this year so far and will look to keep it that way and clinch a playoff spot.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hamilton football playoff chances take hit with loss to Unity Christian, QB injury
