ROCKFORD ATHLETICS I HOME OF THE RAMS

By Randy Gregory, Photo by Miles Postema Rockford made the trek to Grandville on Friday, September 26 to take on the Bulldogs in a showdown between two teams ranked firmly in the top ten in the state in Division 1. Both squads came into the contest shorthanded as Grandville was missing their All-State running back Jayden Terry with a knee injury and the Rams were without senior quarterback Brayden Daniels due to an ankle injury suffered last week against East Kentwood. But it was the visitors from Rockford who kept firing on all cylinders despite the key injury as sophomore quarterback Casen Whitford took the reins and smartly guided Rockford to a touchdown in each quarter on the way to a thoroughly dominant 28-0 Rockford victory. With the win the Rams advance to 4-1 on the season and 3-0 in OK Red play. The loss dropped Grandville to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play. The other unquestioned stars of the game were the cumulative efforts of the Rockford defense. The Rams never allowed Grandville to break into Rockford territory for the entirety of the contest. Grandville made it to their own 48 on one occasion but a stingy Ram defense turned them aside over and over. Grandville is a frustrating team to play against as they feature a “power” T offense that emphasizes ball control and just enough big play capability to really keep a defense on their toes. The Bulldogs were so thoroughly contained from a rushing perspective that they attempted far more passes than they normally do. But even that ploy was stuffed with regularity as the Bulldogs went only 2 for 8 in the air for only 16 yards. “The defensive line did a great job tonight,” said Rockford Coach Brent Cummings. “They are rolling around on the ground and really frustrating the ability of the Grandville running backs to find any lanes. And the communication amongst the linebackers and the ability to stop the trap, stop the power and force them into doing things they are not comfortable doing offensively. We also made a few wrinkles defensively and got a couple of big, strong kids at outside linebacker who really did a great job of setting the edges, Ryan Kerry and Otto Packard were very noticeable tonight with the way they performed exactly as Coach (Randy) VanderVeen drew it up. We are all very proud of what the defense did from the opening whistle to the final buzzer. Just a total team effort.” With Whitford thrust into the starting rotation, a fair amount of the Ram faithful were probably a bit concerned as to what the game portended for the offense. But Whitford looked as if he had run the offense from the first game of the year until the present with his calmness and skill at the quarterback position. Rockford took over their initial possession at their own 20 and Whitford proceeded to go four for four passing for 63 yards before capping off the drive with a beautiful 22-yard scamper for the touchdown over the left side to give Rockford a quick 7-0 lead with 4:08 left in the opening quarter. Dawson Hoekert connected on all four of his PATs on the night. Rockford took the next possession at their own 38, but the result was identical to the opening Ram drive. After another Whitford completion, the Rams turned to senior running back/safety Luke Ahern to do the bulk of the work. Using three consecutive rushing attempts, Ahern ripped off runs of four, forty-six and four runs to expand the lead to 14-0 Rockford. The scoring run was straight up the gut and came at the 11:18 point of the second quarter to make it a two-score game. That was how the first half ended as Grandville started bringing more pressure defensively and it took the Rams a while to adjust. But the Ram defense was unrelenting, and the teams went into the half with a 14-0 Rockford lead. The Rams received the second half kickoff and Whitford started off right as he had ended the opening half. Whitford went three for three on the drive for 33 yards before Kerry did the honors on a bruising 15-yard TD run to make it 21-0 Rockford. The 220-pounder easily shrugged off an attempted tackle at the line of scrimmage before kicking it into gear and thundering in off the left side. That score started many of the home Bulldog fans to begin heading for the exits as Rockford took a 21-0 lead with 7:08 to play in the third quarter. Ahern again did the honors for Rockford on their final score of the night. Facing a fourth down and goal at the Bulldog one, Ahern went untouched over the right side to push the lead to 28-0 with 9:47 to play. “Casen (Whitford) is a very composed young man,” said Cummings. “We asked him to fill some big shoes tonight and he stepped right in and did a very nice job. He didn’t try to do anything more than what he has been coached to do and he was exactly who we thought he was going to be. Grandville brought a lot more pressure as the first half moved on but I thought our offensive coaching staff made some nice halftime adjustments and Casen executed them very well. All in all, we were very pleased by the efforts of the young man to step up and really answer the bell tonight for Rockford.” Next up for Rockford is the homecoming contest on Friday, October 3 against Hudsonville. The Eagles will be entering the fray at 5-0 and are the defending runners up in Division 1 from 2024. They are the fourth team this year ranked in the top ten that the Rams will have faced. The winner takes a huge step towards procuring the OK Red crown and a huge turnout is expected. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 P.M. and seating will be at a premium so make plans to get there early for this clash of state powers.