By BUTCH HARMON
It’s not how you begin the season, it’s how you end it.
After starting the season with one win in the first four games, it would have been easy for the Mason football team to begin focusing on next year. Instead, the Bulldogs dug in and battled back to end up with one of the most successful seasons in school history.
After starting 1-3, the Bulldogs won their next seven games before falling to eventual Division 3 state champion St. Mary’s Preparatory in the regional championship game.
Not only did Mason reach the playoffs this season, but it won its first-ever district title and handed rival DeWitt its first loss of the season in the process. “Our kids had their backs to the wall,” coach Jerry VanHavel said. “We knew we had a tough schedule early, and we talked after game four about what we could do. We’re such a better football team than we were at the beginning of the year, just because our kids got better every week.”
Mason opened the playoffs with a 28-13 win at Linden on a cold, snowy night. Junior running back Hunter Holbrook took advantage of some outstanding blocking against Linden to rush for 187 yards and three touchdowns.
The following week, Mason avenged an earlier loss to unbeaten DeWitt by scoring 20 fourth-quarter points in a come-from-behind 30-14 win that gave Mason the district championship. “It comes back to character,” VanHavel said. “These kids are great kids, and you got to keep playing.”
Junior quarterback Jarrett VanHavel completed 13 of 21 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a touchdown. He hit Harrison Kinney for a 74-yard touchdown pass to give Mason the lead for good. Holbrook totaled 74 yards rushing and had a key fourth-quarter interception to help seal the win.
“It’s hard to describe how it feels, other than it’s amazing what you can accomplish when kids don’t care who gets the credit,” Coach VanHavel said.