Holt at Mason – – Football – – The Bleacher Denizen – – August 28, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, after a couple months of working steadily on his Tiddly-Winks game since the end of baseball season, it is now time to get back to writing “The Bleacher Denizen.” Tonight, in the first game of the season, the Holt Rams will be visiting the Mason Bulldogs!!

Your Bleacher Denizen pointed the BleacherDenizenMobile at Mason and got there with plenty of time to spare. It’s a cold night for August. I actually had to wear a long-sleeved shirt, long pants and a fall jacket to stay warm. (I needed the jacket after halftime.)

After the coin toss, we learned that Holt will receive the opening kickoff. One of the pleasures of coming to Mason football games is that you get to see the excellent band play. They played the Bulldog Fight Song and the National Anthem and the game was on!!

Jacob Ackley kicked off for Mason. Greyson Widmeyer fielded the kick and returned it out to the seventeen line where Brett Camp pulled him down. Holt began its first series of the game on its own 17 yard line.

Joey Schild stopped Holt’s first down run into the middle for a one yard gain. On second down, Ethan Melville completed a pass to Mikah Williams for a six yard gain. Hayden Hendrickson made the tackle for the Bulldogs. LaDon Hatcher took a third down pitch to the left and gained eight yards to earn a first down before Luke Goss forced him out of bounds.

Michael Aimery gained six yards on a first down run to the right before running into Troy Peters and Boone Smith. James Gandy went up the middle for a three yard second down gain. Joey Schild got the Bulldog tackle. Quarterback Ethan Melville went into the middle for a two yard gain to give Holt a first down on its own 43 yard line. Jackson Rewerts and Joey Schild teamed up for the Bulldog tackle.

Brett Camp stopped the Rams’ first down run up the middle for a one yard gain. Ethan Melville heaved a long pass to Manollo Williams for a forty-one yard gain. Hayden Hendrickson made the tackle for Mason. Holt had a first down on the Mason 15 yard line.

Michael Aimery ran a reverse around the right end and gained five yards before Luke Goss stopped him. A penalty on the next play set Holt back five yards. A pack of Bulldogs stopped the Holt second down run for a one yard gain. A holding penalty on the next play cost Holt nine yards. (One yard gain less a ten yard penalty.) An illegal procedure penalty set Holt back another five yards. On third down, Conor Vondra, Joey Schild and Brennen West pressured the Holt quarterback into throwing an incomplete pass.

Holt attempted to punt on fourth down, but a bad snap forced the punter to dive on the ball. Mason took over the ball on downs on its own 37 yard line.

Hayden Hendrickson took the ball up the middle for a seven yard gain; Michael Aimery made the tackle for Holt. Hayden Hendrickson took the ball to the right for a five yard second down gain to earn a first down. LaDon Hatcher made the tackle for Holt.

Blake Bristow and LaDon Hatcher covered on Mason’s incomplete first down pass. A penalty cost the Bulldogs five yards on second down. On the second down replay, Bulldog Quarterback Gerrit Koot completed a pass, but a holding penalty brought the ball back to the Mason 45 yard line; the Bulldogs faced a third down with fifteen yards to go situation.

Jacob Warren plowed up the middle and gained twelve yards on third down before LaDon Hatcher took him down. Gerrit Koot completed an eleven yard pass to Luke Goss to give Mason a first down on the Holt 34 yard line. Michael Aimery made the tackle for Holt.

Joey Schild took the ball up the middle for a three yard first down gain before running into Mikah Williams. Cooper Thompkins and Carl Flinton applied the pressure and Ethan Melville and LaDon Hatcher covered on Mason’s incomplete second down pass. Gerrit Koot tossed a third down screen pass to Troy Peters, who gained thirteen yards before he was tackled by Michael Aimery. Mason had a first down on the Holt 18 yard line.

Hayden Hendrickson took the ball up the middle for a four yard first down gain. Bryson DeSmith got the tackle for the Rams. On the next play, Geritt Koot fired the ball to Luke Goss for a fourteen yard touchdown.

Hunter Thorne made the long snap, Colton McCaleb held the ball and Jacob Ackley booted the ball through the uprights for a successful extra point. With 36.0 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Mason took a 7-0 lead.

Jacob Ackley booted the kickoff to the five yard line where Greyson Widmeyer fielded it and gained nearly fifty yards before C.J. Church made the stop. However, a holding penalty moved the ball back to the Holt 26 yard line where the Rams began their next series.

Brennen West and Boone Smith stopped Holt’s first down run for a two yard loss.

The first quarter ended with Mason holding a 7-0 lead.

On the first play of the second quarter, Frankie Trigo intercepted a pass, but a pass interference penalty negated the interception and gave Holt a first down on its own 39 yard line.

Stephen Pickering stopped the Holt first down run up the middle for a one yard game. An illegal procedure penalty set the Rams back five yards. Ethan Melville passed to Greyson Widmeyer on the right side for a four yard gain. Travis Davis and Conor Vondra teamed up for the Bulldog tackle. Hayden Hendrickson covered on Holt’s incomplete third down pass.

Michael Aimery’s fourth yard punt went out of bounds on the Mason 40 yard line; the Bulldogs started their next series at that point.

Blake Bristow, Carl Flinton and Martel Moore stopped Mason’s first down run for a one yard loss. Gerrit Koot completed a screen pass to Luke Goss, who broke a tackle and burst out for a fifteen yard gain before Michael Aimery took him down. Mason had a first down in Holt territoery on the 44 yard line.

Cruz Diaz made a hard hit to force Mason to drop its first down pass. Bryson DeSmith covered on Mason’s incomplete second down pass. Cruz Diaz covered on the incomplete third down pass. On fourth down, Carl Flinton blocked Mason’s punt and Holt ended up with the ball on the Mason 49 yard line where the Rams began their next series.

Ethan Melville tossed a first down screen pass to LaDon Hatcher who gained fifteen yards before Troy Peters tackled him.

Drew Lator got into the backfield to stop Holt’s first down run for a six yard loss. Hayden Hendrickson and Troy Peters covered on Holt’s incomplete second down pass. Offsetting penalties caused a replay of third down. Drew Lator got into the Ram backfield and sacked the quarterback for a nine yard third down loss. Michael Aimery deftly fielded a bad snap and quickly got his fourth down punt up and away to avoid a disaster. Troy Peters retured the ball to the Mason 25 yard line before he was stopped by Cruz Diaz and Laterion Perkins.

Carl Flinton and Cooper Thompkins teamed up to stop Mason’s first down run for a one yard loss. Carl Flinton got into the Bulldog backfield to force a five yard second down loss. Blake Bristow and Carl Flinton sacked the quarterback on third down and nearly forced Mason to lose a fumble. Colton McCaleb punted for Mason. His punt was fielded by Michael Aimery at the Holt 45 line. There was a solid return, but a holding penalty cost Holt yardage and the Rams started their series on the Mason 47 yard line.

LaDon Hatcher took the ball to the left for a five yard Ram first down gain; Joey Schild made the Bulldog tackle. Brennen West stopped a Ram quarterback keeper up the middle for a one yard second down gain. Brett Camp stopped Holt’s third down run to the left for no gain. Ethan Melville ran around the right end and appeared headed for a touchdown before Troy Peters forced him out at the Mason 15 yard line where Holt had a first down.

Frankie Trigo stopped Holt’s first down run up the middle for a two yard gain. Brett Camp and Joey Schild teamed up to stop Holt’s second down run for a two yard loss. Holt’s third down pass was tipped and fell incomplete. There was a delay of game penalty on third down that cost Holt five yards. Troy Peters intercepted Holt’s fourth down pass and returned the ball about fifty yards out to midfield where Mason started its next series.

Geritt Koot passed to Luke Goss for a five yard first down gain. Geritt Koot was chased out of the pocket on second down, but managed to gain four yards before James Gandy pulled him down. Geritt Koot passed to Troy Peters on the right side for a twenty-one yard gain before Blake Bristow forced him out of bounds. Mason had a first down on the Holt 20 yard line.

Geritt Koot ran to the left and gained two yards before Cruz Diaz took him down. Mason spiked a pass on the next play with just 2.9 seconds left to get ready for a field goal attempt. Hunter Thorne snapped the ball, Colton McCaleb held the ball and Jacob Ackley booted the ball through the goalposts for a 36 yard field goal. Holt committed a penalty on the play, but Mason declined it to keep their points.

This field goal was the final play of the first half and gave Mason a 10-0 lead.

As I mentioned earlier in the game, Mason is always one of the best bands in the area. Beth Bousfield has led them for a long time and the band is always great both at playing the music and at doing the precision marching! Matt Slezak also helps to direct the band.

Ben Faupel and Josie Faupel are drum line instructors. Maddy Quinlan and Olyvia Mollitor are color guard instructors. The drum majors are Mikayle Rice, Briquelle Trotter and Michael Utter.

This year, the Band’s halftime show consists of rock songs. The band did their usual excellent job on “Sandman” by Metallica, “Creep” by Radiohead, “The Pretender” by the Foo Fighters, “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin and “Dream On” from Arrowsmith!

As your Bleacher Denizen is a musician with 84 videos up on You Tube, I always enjoy saluting a good musical performance by high school students. (I used to include links to some of the songs in my articles, but Facebook frowns upon You Tube and harrasses me when I include the links. Without Facebook, there would be no readers, so I have to go along with them.)

Ben Fisher kicked off for Holt to open the third quarter. Luke Goss fielded the kick and got out to the Mason 40 yard line before Laterion Perkins stopped him.

Carl Flinton stopped the Bulldog first down run for a one yard loss. An offside penalty gave Mason five yards. Ethan Melville and Greyson Widmeyer teamed up to stop the Bulldog second down run for a four yard loss. An illegal procedure penalty cost Mason five more yards. Manollo Williams and Blake Bristow pressured the Mason quarterback into throwing an incomplete pass. Colton McCaleb punted for Mason. Hayden Hendrickson downed the ball at the Holt 19 yard line, where the Rams started their next series. (This was a 46 yard punt!)

Brett Camp and Troy Peters teamed up to force Holt’s first down runner out of bounds after a one yard gain. James Gandy went up the left tackle on second down and gained five yards before Troy Peters and Joey Schild teamed up to stop him. Troy Peters pressured the quarterback and Frankie Trigo covered on Holt’s incomplete third down pass. Michael Aimery punted for Holt on fourth down. Troy Peters fielded the punt on Mason’s twenty-seven yard line and had a nice return, but the play was voided by offsetting penalties and Holt had to punt again.

The snap went over the Holt Punter’s head and bounced out of Holt’s end zone for a safety. With 8:44 remaining in quarter number three, Mason boosted its lead to 12-0.

Holt had to kick the ball off from the 20 yard line; the play had to be repeated because for some reason, the referees weren’t ready. On the second try, Ben Fisher made a solid kick, but James Gandy made a hard tackle and Mason coughed the ball up. Troy Peters dived onto the ball to prevent a turnover. A penalty on Mason moved the Bulldogs back to the Mason 25 yard line where they started their next series.

Blake Bristow and James Gandy got into the Bulldog backfield to stop the first down run for a three yard loss. Greyson Widmeyer covered on the Bulldog incomplete second and third down passes. Colton McCaleb punted on fourth down. It bounced out of bounds around the fifty yard line, but a fifteen yard penalty on Holt moved the ball back to the Holt 34 yard line.

Marley Dambro stopped Holt’s first down run for a two yard gain. Ethan Melville took the ball to the left on second down and gained four yards before Travis Davis tackled him. Travis Davis knocked the Holt third down pass out of the air. Michael Aimery punted the ball on fourth down; the ball was downed on the Mason 44 yard line. A holding penalty cost the Bulldogs ten yards and they started their next series on their own 34 yard line.

A first down offsides penalty gave Mason five yards. Jacob Warren blasted up the middle for a six yard gain (and a first down) before Bryson DeSmith halted his progress.

Michael Aimery nearly intercept Mason’s first down pass; the ball fell incomplete. Dominic Edgerly and Ethan Melville got into the Bulldog backfield and stopped the second down run for a five yard loss. Ethan Melville covered on Mason’s incomplete third down pass. Colton McCaleb punted for the Bulldogs on fourth down. The ball was downed on the Holt 31 yard line and the Rams started their next series there.

Luke Goss knocked Holt’s first pass down for an incompletion. Troy Peters and Jackson Rewerts stopped Holt’s second down run to the right for no gain. Ethan Melville passed to Michael Aimery on third down; he gained four yards before Luke Goss tackled him. Michael Aimery had to rush his punt after a bad snap; Manollo Williams downed the ball at the Holt 40 yard line where Mason started its next series.

Troy Peters crashed through the right tackle and gained twenty yards before Michael Aimery tackled him.

Troy Peters ran again on first down and gained five yards before James Gandy took him down. Mason’s second down pass fell incomplete. Troy Peters ran to the right for a three yard first down gain; Greyson Widmeyer made the Ram tackle. Mason’s twenty-seven yard field goal attempt went wide and Holt took over the ball on their own 20 yard line.

Ethan Melville passed to LaDon Hatcher for a two yard gain; Travis Davis pushed him out of bounds. On the final play of quarter number three, James Gandy twisted and turned for four yards up the middle before Brett Camp tackled him.

At the end of three quarters, Mason had a 12-0 lead. Holt had the ball; it was third down with four yards to go on the Ram 25 yard line.

Troy Peters stopped the Holt third down play for a one yard loss. Troy Peters knocked Holt’s fourth down pass harmlessly down to the ground. Mason took over the ball on downs on the Holt 25 yard line.

Hayden Hendrickson ran around the left end on first down and gained nine yards before LaDon Hatcher tackled him. Cooper Thompkins stopped the Mason second down run for no gain. A delay of game penalty moved Mason back five yards. Greyson Widmeyer covered on Mason’s incomplete third down pass and Michael Aimery tipped the fourth down pass to cause an incompletion.

Holt took over the ball on downs on its own 21 yard line.

A first down holding penalty cost Holt ten yards. Troy Peters and Jacob Warren broke up Holt’s pass on the first down replay. After an illegal procedure penalty cost Holt five more yards, Hayden Hendrickson intercepted a Ram pass and returned it about twenty-five yards for a Bulldog touchdown. Hunter Thorne made the long snap, Colton McCaleb held the ball and Jacob Ackley kicked the extra point to give Mason a 19-0 lead wioth 8:34 remaining in the game.

Jacob Ackley booted the kickoff to the Holt 20 yard line where Greyson Widmeyer picked it up and gained thirteen yards before C.J. Church and Jacob Warren took him down. Holt started its series on its own 33 yard line.

After faking a handoff, Ethan Melville ran for two yards before a pack of Bulldogs descended on him. Ethan Melville’s second down pass to Greyson Widmeyer on the right side earned seven yards before Travis Davis tackled him. LaDon Hatcher took the ball through the middle for a three yard gain and a first down betfor Brett Camp stopped him.

Luke Goss covered on Holt’s long, incomplete first down pass. Joey Schild nearly intercepted the Ram second down pass; it fell harmlessly to the turf. Holt’s third down pass fell incomplete. Ethan Melville passed to Mikah Williams for an eight yard gain; Hayden Hendrickson stopped him two yards short of a first down.

Mason had a first down on its own 47 yard line.

Jacob Warren plowed through the middle and gained twenty yards before Greyson Widmeyer stopped him.

Jacob Warren’s first down run up the left tackle gained six yards before Greyson Widmeyer and Dominic Edgerly teamed up to tackle him. Boone Smith went up the left tackle for seven second down yards and a first down; Greyson Widmeyer made the Holt tackle. Mason had a first down on the Holt 20 yard line.

C.J. Church went up the right tackle for a seven yard first down gain; Blake Bristow got the tackle for the Rams. C.J. Church went for eight yards and another first down on the next play before a Mob of Rams stopped him.

Mason was on the Holt 5 yard line. Devon Swagart ran to the right for two yards on first down before James Gandy and Laterion Davis stopped him. Dominic Edgerly stopped the Bulldog second down run for a three yard loss. On the final play of the game, the Holt quarterback took a knee.

Mason won its football season opener by the final score of 19-0.