Zeeland East Football Preview

Sam Erman August 3, 2021 @ 12:26 PM

Zeeland East is starting fresh this fall and doing a complete rebuild. They decided to start from the top and work their way down. They have a ton of adversity to fight through with the changes but some young talent and a team led by a heavily recruited star. Zeeland East is a team to keep your eye on as the season gets underway here soon. Last season, the Chix finished 5-3 and decided to part ways with long-time tenured coach Derek Pennington. After moving on they began their head coach search and landed on one man. The Chix hired Joe Woodruff as their new leader. Woodruff left White Lake Lakeland High School over the past 6 years. He has plenty of head coaching experience and is well-respected in the local communities. They’re hoping he can come in and bring a fresh start to the Chix program. On the field, the Chix are led by their star LB [player_tooltip player_id="162660" first="Tag" last="Bonnema"]. Bonnema is an absolute freak. He’s got great speed and solid tackling form. He’s also a very big boy. He stands at a whopping 6’4" and 228 lbs and is as fast as any LB. The size doesn’t slow him down at all. He can play inside or outside and is built for either. Bonnema is currently the 24th ranked LB in the state of Michigan. He’s got offers from Western Michigan, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, and Cincinnati. He can play and everyone within a few hundred miles wants him on their team. He has some serious potential if he gets with the right program. It’s not often you come across a player with his size and speed at that position. Most of the time players will have either 1 or the other, but not both. Offensively last year, the Chix were able to manage over 40 ppg. They can move the ball and they do it with a collective effort. Tag plays on offense here and there as well. Guys like Aidan Taylor and Jason Natte will be called on this year to step up. They are younger guys with potential and their time is now. The Chix start their new season later this month. On the 26th the new era begins at 6 PM on the road against Warren Woods-Tower. They are on the road for the first 3 weeks of the season before they get to come home and play against Reeths-Puffer. They finish their season on the 22nd of October on the road against Muskegon. That game, I’m sure of it, will have some huge playoff implications. Zeeland East has a ton of moving pieces heading into 2021. How well they do depends on how much they trust in the new coaching and if Tag stays healthy. Sometimes when you have a star player it makes everyone else’s jobs easier. That very well could be the case here in 2021. There is a ton of intrigue and potential with the Chix in 2021. The best part, we are only 3 weeks away from finding out the answer to all of these questions.