Sports Shorts

Hockey dawgs are going pro
Another Ferris State Bulldog hockey player Sean O’Rourke signed his name on a pro contract, the fifth Dawg to do so after the 2015-2016 season ended.

O’Rourke signed on to play for the Kalamazoo Wings of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). He joins Kyle Schempp, Simon Denis, Kenny Babinski and Brandon Anselmini in signing a pro contract after making another run in the NCAA Tournament last year.

O’Rourke’s 2015-2016 season was his best as a Bulldog on the offensive end and played in all 41 games for the Dawgs. He wrapped up the season with 12 points on four goals and eight assists. The Alta Loma, California native’s new team, the K-Wings, currently trail the South Carolina Stingrays 0-2 in a best-of-seven playoff series.

O’Rourke, along with the other men who signed a pro contract, helped the Bulldogs to their first conference tournament championship in the history of the school.

Basketball signs new Michigan talent
Coming off of a great 2015-2016 season, Bulldog men’s basketball signed All-State wing Michael Peterson of Rockford to play for Ferris State next season.

Peterson, standing at 6-feet-6-inches, was granted Detroit Free Press All-State honors this past season after averaging 15.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

Head coach Andy Bronkema told ferrisstatebulldogs.com, “It’s nice when you don’t have to travel far to find the piece you are looking for in your class.”

Not including the four graduating seniors, there are currently 10 Dawgs on the squad who are native to Michigan while only one man is from out of state. While Peterson played for the Rockford Rams, he also played for the West Michigan-based AAU squad known as the Grand Rapids Storm.

Bulldog men’s basketball won the GLIAC Tournament the past two years under Bronkema and made it as far as the Div. 2 NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2016 before falling to Saginaw Valley State.

Quarterback position up for grabs
A total of five different quarterbacks saw action in Bulldog football’s Crimson & Gold Spring Game on Saturday, April 16.

With three total scoring plays of 40 or more yards, three different Bulldog quarterbacks threw touchdown passes. As the stalwart backup quarterback to Jason Vander Laan the past couple years, Trevor Bermingham tossed two TD passes.

Div. 1 transfer Reggie Bell threw one TD which turned out to be the game winner for the white squad. A couple other quarterbacks who saw significant action were redshirt freshmen Travis Russell, who had a 60-yard TD pass and John Higgins.

Bermingham is the only remaining quarterback that has played in a regular season game for the Dawgs. Last year he completed 24-of-31 passing attempts and threw for one TD with two rushing TDs.

Bulldog football will open their 2016 regular season with Ohio Dominican in Big Rapids on Saturday, Sept. 3.