A.J. Westendorp may not have seen his record-setting day coming, but he did see the game's most important play coming from a mile away - well from a few yards, anyway.
Birmingham Detroit Country Day had a 20-14 lead and the ball in a fourth-and-one situation on its 22-yard line when it lined up in punt formation.
"There was this huge gap there," said Westendorp. "We had our return on and watching for fakes, but the short back was right there and I figured if they were going to run a fake, that's where it was going to be. There was a hole for me and I just knocked him head to head.
"I lit him up."
He also lit up the scoreboard, as Holland Christian captured its first state championship with a 35-20 victory over Birmingham Detroit Country Day in the Division 4 final at Ford Field.
Holland Christian's victory made the state's west side 4-for-4 in titles, joining Muskegon Christian (Division 8), Muskegon (Division 2) and Montague (Division 6).
Westendorp set championship-game records with 26 completions and 426 yards of total offense. He was 26-for-33 for 318 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for 108 yards.
"I thought maybe the thing we couldn't account for on tape was that once he decided to pull it down he was quicker, stronger to get outside," said Country Day coach Dan MacLean. "A couple of times he broke contain and that was deadly for us."
Westendorp completed 15 of 17 passes for 152 yards in the first quarter, and Christian (14-0) was ahead, 14-12, when it failed to convert a fourth-and-one from its 35-yard line with 2:30 left in the first half. By halftime, Country Day (11-3) was ahead, 20-14.
But with 8:00 left in the third quarter, MacLean called for a fake punt, which Westendorp stopped and then threw a 22-yard TD pass to Jordan Mast on the next play, and Christian never trailed after that.
"We just wanted to get a first down," said MacLean. "We had pretty good success with that. It would have been a big play for us to pick that up."
It was huge for Holland Christian, and Country Day continued with its fourth-down follies on its next possession, when Mark Timmerman blocked a punt, and the Maroons took over at the Country Day 14. They scored two plays later on Westendorp's 14-yard pass to Willie Sneed IV. "The guy couldn't catch me, couldn't block me," said Timmerman. "I went sailing past him."
By MICK MCCABE - November 28, 2008In your voice
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