South Christian football snaps Catholic Central's 43-game winning streak

Forty-three games. That's how many Grand Rapids Catholic Central had won in row coming into Friday night's game at South Christian. Now, that streak is zero.

South Christian upended Michigan's No. 1-ranked team by a final score of 36-34. 

Here are four takeaways from the game.

South Christian's special teams was the difference

Football is divided into three main parts: offense, defense, and special teams, and South Christian's unit won the day (and the game) Friday night. 

Catholic Central missed two extra points, including one that was blocked at the end of the game that would have otherwise tied the game. South Christian's Jackson Haik also returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

"We put a ton of (emphasis) on special teams," South Christian head coach Danny Brown said. "You have to create plays, especially in a game like this. Our special teams have been really good this year."

Catholic Central head coach Todd Kolster didn't provide much of an explanation on the two missed extra points.

"It's just part of the game," Kolster said.

South Christian overcame little mistakes

It was a rough first half for the Sailors. They couldn't get anything going on offensive with lots of penalties and dropped passes. That was until the very end, when quarterback Jacob DeHaan found wide receiver Seth Ritsema to end the half.

"I think there were some nerves, especially since it was a big game," Brown said. "Our defense was playing lights out, and I put us in a bad spot going for it on fourth down. But our offense bailed us out with that touchdown right before the half."

DeHaan did everything for South Christian. He threw for a touchdown, caught one, ran for one and returned an interception for another on defense. He had actually got hurt right before the pick-six, but he said it was just cramps.

"I don't know what happened," DeHaan said. "I've been drinking water all day and I still cramped up. But I made a big play to help the team."

Catholic Central is mortal

Catholic Central, on the other hand, could not overcome little mistakes—or big mistakes, for that matter. It had three false start penalties on its first drive along. It also had several holding penalties down the stretch, and quarterback Connor Wolf threw a pick-six in the fourth quarter.

"We played with a lot of heart," Kolster said. "Our guys worked really hard. We just have to get some things cleaned up."

Kolster said it wasn't just the defense that let the team down.

"We gave up defensive touchdowns; we gave up a special teams touchdown," Kolster said. "I don't know if there was anything that shifted the momentum off our defense."

South Christian is keeping its goals ahead of it

South Christian is now 6-0 and is in prime position to win the OK Gold conference. Despite that, it is still taking the season one game at a time. 

"Our goal was always to win our conference," Brown said. "And we knew in order to do that, we had to go through Catholic Central. ... I think the big thing to remember for next week is that we won this week, and now we have to keep moving forward."

DeHaan shared similar sentiments, noting that the season is far from over.

"We still have three more games this season, so we have to keep working," DeHaan said.