2024’s Cinderella team. Time after time, Hudsonville defied the odds and rose to the occasion. This season recap will cover Hudsy’s preseason expectations, their rise during their regular season, the State Championship run, and a quick outlook for 2025.
Preseason
In 2023, Hudsonville went 5-5 with only ONE victory against a playoff team. Notable games include a 48-0 loss to Rockford and a 30-0 loss to Caledonia. Needless to say, I was not super optimistic about Hudsonville’s 2024 dreams. In fact, in my OK Red Prediction article, I predicted Hudsonville would place FIFTH- obviously an awful take looking back.
Seemingly, the only group that believed in Hudsonville was Hudsonville. I heard it- from players, parents, and fans, they thought that Hudsonville could be a much-improved team in 2024. But who could have possibly predicted that Hudsonville would go on a historic State Championship run?
Regular Season
Hudsonville’s 2024 season began with a loss to a team that went 3-6 in 2023- Howell. So, a team that went 5-5 in 2023 lost to a team that went 3-6 in 2023. There is no way that Hudsonville even makes the playoffs. Right?
Next, a win at home against a very talented East Lansing squad. It’s impressive, but hey, East Lansing could have a down year. Then, an expected win against Jenison.
Week four rolls around, and 3-0 Rockford comes to town. Rockford is coming off of three wins against powerhouses Cass Tech and Muskegon, on top of a 3-score W against their biggest rival, Grandville. The game gets going, and Hudsonville strikes first. Then, a late 2nd-quarter score gives Hudsy a 14-0 halftime lead. At the end of the day, Hudsonville held on to defeat the mighty Rams 28-21.
That was the turning point of Hudsonville’s season. All of a sudden, they were 3-1 with the most difficult portion of their schedule over with. Here’s how the rest of their regular season went.
Week 5: 35-6 W vs. East Kentwood
Week 6: 59-14 W vs. Grand Haven
Week 7: 35-16 W vs. Grandville
Week 8: 35-13 W vs. Caledonia
Week 9: 46-16 W vs. West Ottawa
Playoffs
The Eagles entered the postseason 8-1 and had the 3rd-most playoff points in the state. This means that Hudsonville was guaranteed home-field advantage until the regional finals. Here’s how the first two rounds of playoffs went.
Pre-Districts: 25-23 W vs. East Kentwood (game-winning FG)
Districts Finals: 19-16 W vs. Grandville
Hudsonville escaped major upsets TWICE in the first two rounds and was set to face off against the only team they’d lost to this season: 11-0 Howell. How would they respond?
Well, they responded like a team that’s already seen the Power-T offense three times this season. Hudsonville played incredible defense, forcing 3-and-out after 3-and-out, and before you could blink, Hudsonville went into halftime with a 28-0 lead. All of the sudden, Hudsonville was a win away from punching their ticket to Ford Field.
In the Semifinals, Hudsonville took care of Rochester Adams, winning 27-7. The Eagles punched their ticket to Ford Field.
State Championship
Hudsonville vs. Cass Tech. Two programs that wildly outperformed expectations, and two teams with amazing playoff runs. At kickoff, Hudsonville had the immediate edge due to their gigantic crowd. Seriously- Hudsy had the biggest crowd of the weekend!
Then, the game got started, and it was all Cass Tech all the way through.
Still, having been on the sidelines during the entire game, I was impressed with Hudsonville’s poise. Heading into halftime trailing 27-0, I heard several players remaining positive and hopeful for a 2nd-half comeback.
Hudsonville showed a lot of fight in the second half, even earning a chance to make it a two-score game. Despite the better second-half performance, Hudsonville fell to Cass Tech 42-20. A heartbreaking end to an unthinkably excellent season.
2025 Outlook
My biggest question now is, “Was this lightning in a bottle or a sign of consistent championship contention?”
Well, let’s break this down a bit.
Notable Class of 2024 Seniors
LB – Connor Brintnall (All-State)
LB – Ethan Carter (All-Region)
DL – Jalen Oosting (All-State)
DL – Isaac VanderVeen (All-Region)
DB – Trenton Naber (All-Region)
QB – Griffin Baker (All-Region)
WR – Carson Dykstra
G – Cooper Roberts (All-State)
K – Ian Jenkins (All-Region)
Senior QB Griffin Baker
Now, some key returning players
QB – Brady Van Leacke – VERY talented QB.
WR/DB – Braylon Miller
S – CJ Beckham
DT – Luke Brodnicki
So, Hudsonville is set to lose eight starters who earned All-Region or All-State honors. I’ve seen teams like Rockford and Dakota reload talent and consistently be in the State Championship conversation, but the jury is still out for Hudsonville.
What I do know is that Hudsonville has a massive roster and a few promising young prospects. They’ve got a few good quarterbacks in their system alongside a few players with excellent size—always promising. So, as long as the coaching staff remains intact and as long as the numbers remain as good as they are, I think Hudsonville will remain extremely competitive in the OK-Red.
I thought about finishing this article with a way-too-early 2025 prediction, but, well, it’s just way too early. What I will say- the OK-Red should be extremely competitive next season. Rockford is always near the top, Grandville has a lot of talent returning, and I expect Caledonia, East Kentwood, and Jenison to be better than they were this season. For most, it’ll be an uphill battle. For Hudsonville, they’ll be the ones defending the top of the hill.