By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Friday’s final score will be documented accordingly as part of Windham’s 2025 season.

The game’s impact, however, is not designated for 2025.

Windham football head coach Jake Eye speaks to his team following Friday’s home game against Grand Valley.
Tom Nader/Portage Sports

With a 28-player roster that includes 17 freshmen or sophomores, the under-the-lights learning experienced inside Friday’s 68-8 home loss to Grand Valley was more for the program’s future than anything else.

As difficult as the lopsided loss was for the Bombers, and how dominating the Mustangs were, Friday was another foundation block to prepare for 2026 and 2027.

Understandably, that is a tough perspective to embrace now, but it is part of the process for the Bombers, who graduated 11 lettermen who accounted for nearly every percentage of the program’s offensive and defensive production last year.

“We are extremely young. Extremely young,” head coach Jake Eye said. “In some ways, tonight is an example of what the whole year will be like in regards to us growing together on the field as underclassmen. Really, the only seniors we have on the roster this year that have any kind of varsity experience at all are Azeon (Davis) and Matt (Kolaczek).”

That inexperience was exploited by Grand Valley (3-1) in the first quarter on Friday at Ed Liddle Field.

The Mustangs ripped off 41 points in the game’s first 11 minutes to take full control of the game.

In fact, in the first quarter, Grand Valley’s first nine offensive plays all went for first downs, with four of those touches breaking for touchdowns:

     • A 32-yard pass from Nate Stewart to Jay Williams.

     • A 43-yard run by Luke Giddings.

     • A 55-yard pass from Stewart to Williams.

     • A 37-yard run by Stewart.

Mixed in there was a 68-yard interception return from Jay Williams, then the quarter closed with a 10-yard run to the end zone by Hunter Doing.

“Grand Valley is a very good football team,” Eye said. “ Kudos to them, they played very well. Watching them on film, we knew we were going to have our hands full and that is a credit to them. They play hard and were well prepared.”

By halftime, Grand Valley’s lead ballooned to 54-0.

For the game, the Mustangs had 13 different players carry the ball and none of them had more than four carries, running the team to 349 yards on the ground on 25 carries.

Giddings had 65 yards on four carries and two touchdowns, while Tony Williams had a touchdown, four carries and 68 yards. Stewart added 51 yards and a touchdown on two carries.

Stewart was also 5-of-7 passing for 127 yards and three touchdowns, with two of those going to Jay Williams.

Windham’s lone score of the game came in the fourth quarter.

DeJuan Ramsey turned the corner on a handoff, broke some tackles and raced 29 yards for the score. The 2-point conversion was successful on a pass play from Bryan Smithberger to Gavin Kiser in the corner of the end zone.

Windham’s Ethan Thornton was the defensive star of the game, turning a would-be touchdown into a touchback in the end zone on a play reminiscent of Don Beebe chasing down Leon Lett in Super Bowl XXVII.

On Friday, a Grand Valley ball-carrier had turned the left edge, weaved through a series of Windham (0-4) defenders and was freely headed to the end zone. Thornton never gave up on the play, chased him from behind and just before the ball crossed the end zone, Thornton pushed the ball out of the carrier’s outstretched hands and out of the end zone for a Windham touchback.

Windham’s offense totaled just 91 yards and Ramsey led the way with 57 yards rushing.