ROCKFORD ATHLETICS I HOME OF THE RAMS

By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio Photo courtesy of Miles Postema It would be hard to overstate just how thoroughly Muskegon dominated the first half of their game against Rockford in Muskegon on Friday, September 5. The Big Reds went over, around and through the Rams play after play and it seemed as if there was nothing the Rams could do to stem the tide. The only time the Big Red offense was thwarted was when PJ LeBlanc gathered in an interception that only temporarily kept Muskegon off the board. The Big Reds got the ball back in short order and scored with only 13.7 seconds to play in the opening half. That touchdown and subsequent point after gave Muskegon a 20-3 lead going into the half. The only points the Rams were able to muster in the first half came on a 24-yard field goal from Dawson Hoekert. By all appearances this game had the makings of a dominant Big Red victory that seemed inevitable. But a funny thing happened immediately out of the gate that signaled the second half was going to bear absolutely zero resemblance to the opening 24 minutes. Rockford kicked off to begin the second half and Muskegon fumbled the ball as a swarm of Rams closed in on the Big Red return man. When the scrum cleared, it was the Rams who came away with the ball at the Muskegon three-yard line. Luke Ahern wasted no time capitalizing for the Rams as he punched it in on the first play to make it a 20-9 game with 11:47 left in the third quarter. The point after clanked square off of the upright and the score remained the same. After the teams exchanged possessions with no further scoring, the Rams got another break when they forced another punt. The Big Red punt went directly into the back of a Big Red blocker and the Rams were set up in great field position at midfield. Brayden Daniels proceeded to grab the bull by the horns as he completed three passes for 27 yards to march the Rams into scoring position after a face mask and pass interference penalty against Muskegon. Ahern again showed his acumen as a running back as he ran for four yards to make it a fourth and goal from the one and proceeded to punch it in on the next play to make it a 20-15 game. Not satisfied with the TD, Ahern powered it in on the conversion to make it a 20-17 contest with 41.9 seconds left in the third stanza. The Ram defense again answered the bell on the ensuing Muskegon possession as the Big Reds went for it on a fourth and one play from their own 49. The Rams stuffed the attempt in the backfield and Rockford took over at the Muskegon 48 to set the stage for the go-ahead score. Daniels completed a key third down pass to Jax Eichbauer for a first down and followed that up with a nine-yard completion to give Rockford a second and one at the Big Red 26-yard line. Calling his own number, Daniels kept the ball on the next play and burst through the line for a 26-yard TD that gave Rockford their first lead of the night at 24-20 following the Hoekert PAT. There was only 8:13 left in the game and the entire Ram contingent was in a frenzy following the unlikely comeback. But the Rams were not finished yet with their thrilling comeback. On the third play of the Muskegon possession the Big Red QB rolled right and fired a pass up the field. Senior outside linebacker Carter VanderTuig deftly stepped in front of the pass and grabbed another turnover for the Rams. Rockford began the drive at the Muskegon 30 and gained a single first down before finding themselves staring at a third and seven from the Muskegon 17. Rockford called a timeout to consider their options and offensive coordinator Jason VanderLaan came up with a gem of a play for another Rockford touchdown. Dropping back in the pocket and facing an all out blitz from Muskegon, Daniels stood tall and fired a bullet over the middle that was reeled in by Eichbauer to give Rockford a 30-20 lead with 5:18 to play. The point after was wide left but the Rams appeared to be in great shape with a 30-20 lead after stoning Muskegon the entire second half. But the Big Reds showed plenty of heart and returned the subsequent kickoff all the way to the Rockford 20. Using only three plays, the Big Reds made it a 30-26 contest with only 4:27 to play. Ahern then single-handedly ensured the Rams would leave the field with a hard-fought victory, Toting the rock on six consecutive plays he gained 51 yards and forced Muskegon to burn through all of their time outs as Daniels kneeled to run out the clock for the 30-26 win. In a fiery post-game speech Rockford coach Brent Cummings made it readily apparent that he was not pleased with how the team came prepared to play at the opening kickoff. Cummings shouldered the blame but made it clear that the first half effort was something that can’t happen again going forward. “There is an intensity that you need to play this game,” said Cummings. “And our guys can do it like we saw at the end but it is important we understand that this is a four-quarter deal. We will play a lot of great teams, and Muskegon is a great team. And they came out strong and did an incredible job at the beginning. Their incredible offensive attack had us reeling and I am proud of our kids and our coaches for how they responded in the second half. You can learn a ton from a loss if you are willing to learn and our kids were just not understanding the importance of doing their assignment on every single play in the first half. We are going to take one week at a time going forward and continue to play assignment football. We need to continue to focus on growing one day at a time and I think tonight we had a good talk afterwards in terms of understanding the importance of being ready to play right out of the gate.” Daniels was 10 for 19 passing for 90 yards and a touchdown. He also led Rockford on the ground with 12 carries for 92 yards. Ahern added 70 yards on 12 attempts and Ryan Kerry chipped in with 28 yards on just four carries. Eichbauer had three catches for 54 yards and a TD while sophomore Jack Cummings added 20 yards on three receptions of his own. The Rams will head to the Lakeshore again next week as they Travel to Grand Haven to take on the Buccaneers at 7;00 P.M. on Friday September 12. The win evened Rockford’s record at 1-1 as they begin their seven game swing through an imposing OK Red beginning next week.