MUSKEGON – So what would have happened two weeks ago if Nick DeKraker hadn’t been on the field for the West Michigan Ironmen?

The Ironmen were in big trouble in the final moments of the home game against the very tough Battle Creek Smoke on March 18.

They trailed 31-27 and Battle Creek had the ball with 30 seconds remaining. Another first down and West Michigan would have lost.

The first heroic effort that prevented that from happening came from the Ironmen defense, which stood tall and kept Battle Creek from moving the ball on its last possession.

The biggest play of that defensive stand came from DeKraker, who burst into the backfield and sacked the Battle Creek quarterback on fourth down, giving the Ironmen the ball back with just seven seconds remaining.

Three plays later, Ironmen quarterback Alex Carder completed a touchdown pass to Jon Ross with no time left on the clock, giving West Michigan a thrilling 33-31 victory.

“We had been close (to getting to the quarterback) the whole game,” said DeKraker, who is ready for another challenge on Satureday night when the Ironmen host the Southern Michigan Apex. “We were doing a good job of preventing big plays, and then in that last series, the coverage our secondary had on their receivers was amazing, and that gave the quarterback a slight hesitation that helped free us up on the last two plays.

“The first couple plays I was trying to overpower the lineman (who was assigned to block him), then on that last play he tried to chop block me and take out my knees, but I got my hands on his shoulders and shoved him to the ground, which freed me up to get the quarterback from the back side.

“It was amazing. It was a blast.”

Of course, without DeKraker’s sack, Battle Creek might have completed a pass for a first down and ran the clock out on the Ironmen.

And that very well could have been the case, because DeKraker kicked off the 2023 season by announcing his retirement from football.

He has been a mainstay on the Ironmen defensive line since the team’s second season in 2017. But with a growing family – a wife and three children – and new responsibilities at his day job, DeKraker decided it was time to hang up his helmet.

He was not on the roster for the Ironmen’s first game against Ohio, but then realized how much he missed it, made some arrangements with his wife, and came back for Game 2 against Battle Creek.

“I really didn’t want to walk away, but family time is pretty important to us, and my position at my job outside of football changed,” said DeKraker, who lives with his family in Norton Shores and works in sales for a company called Airgas USA. “I was covering Michigan and Indiana, then they added two more states, Illinois and Wisconsin, which obviously meant more time spent on work.

“We were originally thinking we were not going to be able to make this work, but after a little bit of shifting around, my wife and I found a way to make it work.”

Ironmen general manager/head coach Nate Smith is very glad that DeKraker changed his mind and came back to the team.

“He’s a family guy with a great career who finds the time and has the discipline to keep himself in great shape,” Smith said. “He was going to retire because he didn’t think he had the time anymore. He did not play the first game, then he called and said, ‘I gotta come back. I’m ready to go.’ We’re real glad he was able to be back on the field.

“He gets good pressure and he’s a real good run-stopper, too. He’s just very smart on the field, and what elevates his game is his great technique. Offensive lineman have trouble getting their hands in on him. Before his big sack, he had been setting up the opportunity, and when the time came he just blew right past the blocker.”

The one game he missed with the Ironmen this season was not the first time DeKraker was away from football.

After a standout career at Coopersville High School, Grand Rapids Community College and Youngstown State University, he took his business degree, entered the work world and was out of the sport for five years.

Then he heard about the Ironmen playing in Muskegon, became curious about arena football, and realized how much he missed the game.

DeKraker had kept himself in good shape in the years after college, so he transitioned back into football pretty easily and has been a force on the Ironmen D line ever since.

“I went straight from college with my business degree, I was pretty passionate about that, and I knew my degree would be something that I could use for the rest of my life,” DeKraker said, when asked why he didn’t pursue pro football immediately after college. “After a few years I heard about a pro arena team in Muskegon, I figured I missed the game a lot, and I decided to go out and have some fun.

“I just love the game of football. It’s something that I’ve been doing since I was eight-years-old, and I can’t even describe the sensation I still get from going out on the field.”

DeKraker was not particularly sorry he missed the Ironmen’s first game this season, an 81-6 victory over the Ohio Blitz. A lot of the Ironmen’s games have been like that in recent years, with inferior opponents coming to town and getting creamed by the skilled West Michigan squad.

DeKraker said the tough games, against challenging opponents like Battle Creek, are much more fun.

“If I was going to miss a game this season, I was OK missing that one,” he said about the season-opening win over Ohio. “I like the tougher games. I don’t really like the blowout games. As much as we want to win, the competitive games are by far the most fun.”

The Ironmen are expecting another major challenge on Saturday night when they host the Southern Michigan Apex, a new team in the new Great Lakes Arena Alliance, on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Trinity Health Arena. Both teams are 2-0, and the winner will emerge all alone in first place in the GLAA, albeit with lots of season yet to play.

That will be the second league game of a Saturday doubleheader at Trinity Health Arena. Battle Creek will battle Ohio in the opening game at 1 p.m.

If Saturday’s main event against Southern Michigan is anything like the Ironmen-Battle Creek battle, fans are in for another treat.

“It was a lot of fun,” Coach Smith said about beating Battle Creek. “We showed a lot of grit and belief in each other. In arena football you know teams can score in a heartbeat. When there is one tick left on the clock you know you have a chance to win.”

The victory gave the Ironmen the opportunity to practice a skill that they rarely get the chance to practice – performing under pressure and winning under tough circumstances.

“We try to create some of those situations in practice, but it’s practice,” Smith said. “You can’t create the crowd noise or the energy on the field. Battle Creek was hungry and they are a really good football team. It was good to be in that situation and know how to play in that situation.”