The DeWitt Panthers sneaked through the semifinal round with a 21-20 victory over St. Clair and seemed ready to take home that elusive state title. Rob Zimmerman, in his 15th year as coach, entered the Division 5 state title game with a 149-34 record. Win No. 150 at Ford Field would have been sweet.
But the Panthers were denied by a tough and talented Zeeland West team that walked away with a 34-27 victory and the Division 3 state title.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our kids,” Zimmerman said. “13-1 is a doggone good season. When you lose to a team like this, obviously we’re not happy we lost. But I’m proud of what our kids accomplished and what we did this year.”
The Panthers have appeared in previous state final games and been unable to pull out a win. But this year, there was plenty to smile about, as far as the DeWitt coaching staff was concerned.
“This was a much closer game and a much better game,” Zimmerman said. “This was as good of a team as we’ve played. The mentality all week in practice was great. Their preparation was outstanding. We made some mistakes, but I thought we played very good football. To come back from being down…generally, when these guys get on someone like that they blow them out. To come back like we did is a great tribute to the character of these kids.
“I’m pretty proud of what we accomplished. [Media] can take the negative approach if you want. But I’m proud of what we accomplished as a program. I think there’s a few schools that would like to be in our shoes.”
Zeeland West team is coached by nine-year veteran John Shillito, who has an 85-21-9 record and has also had success at other schools like Orchard View and East Kentwood.
“They deserve all the credit in the world, their coaching staff and kids,” Shillito said. “To hang in there when you’re down like that…they made some plays.”
“John’s a great coach and has a lot of senior kids,” Zimmerman said. “This is the first team we faced that matched us physically. I thought our kids rose to the occasion. We didn’t win…generally when they get up, it’s ‘Katy, bar the door.’ Our defensive coaches did a nice job at halftime and our kids played their hearts out. It’s a tough loss. I’m proud of their effort.
“[Danny Bauber] presents some major problems. If you key on him too much, the other guys are good enough that they can hurt you. It’s a tough loss; we knew we’d have to play our best game to beat them.”
Zimmerman had an emotional final huddle with his team when the game ended.
His message?
“How proud [I am] of them,” he said. “We have to have a great off-season. But we have a lot of talent returning. We return our quarterback, we have a good starting quarterback there.”
Another junior who will return next year is starting safety Ben Zamiara. “It’s very tough, I feel for our seniors,” he said. “We worked so hard this year. We listed our goals for this season and accomplished every goal up to this point. When we reflect, we’ll realize we had one heckuva season. It’s tough right now.
“I’ll never forget these guys. Our relationships will last a lifetime. It’s tough, coming that close.”
But the Panthers can take pride, Zamiara agreed, in coming back from a huge early deficit. “In the halftime lockerroom, we talked about it; that we weren’t going to lay down,” he said. “We talked all year about getting back up and fighting back. And we did. It’s a testament to our team. We never give up.”