Rockford shows why they're the Rams, and you're not

Stonewalled.

Conventional wisdom said that Rockford would beat Grand Haven in Friday night’s battle between the number-1 and number-6 teams in Division-1.  Although both teams were undefeated at 4-0, Rockford had historically owned the Buccaneers, having won their past eight matchups, including most recently a 51-0 drubbing in 2008.  The Rams continued their dominance in 2009, solidifying their place at the top of Division-1 with Friday’s 14-0 victory over the Buccaneers.

Conventional wisdom was confirmed.  But it wasn’t easy.

Whether or not Grand Haven entered Friday night’s all-world Game of the Week with the same record as their rivals, only a small percentage of those in attendance would have bet on them to win.  That percentage may have shifted slightly after the Buccaneers played the Rams to a 0-0 tie at halftime, but even then you got the feeling that Rockford wasn’t done.  It wasn’t that they were holding back; more that they hadn’t quite warmed up yet.

Grand Haven's Trent Hitsman led the Bucs with 61-yards rushing.

You can’t blame them.  The Bucs never gave them the opportunity to get started.  The Rams were on their heels for almost the entire second quarter, as the Bucs drove 89-yards in 18-plays, in a drive that lasted over 9-minutes.  But with no more real estate on which to backpedal, looking at a Buccaneers’ first-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Rockford stuffed their rivals four consecutive times.  After that, the 0-0 halftime score was tilted decidedly in Rockford’s favor.

Running back Ryan Darby wasn’t surprised.  “Backs against the wall, we knew we could stop them.  We have that confidence, and we went out and did it.”

“That one put a smile on my face,” said longtime Rockford coach Ralph Munger of his team’s goal-line stand.  “If you’re team’s the one doing it, that one’s awesome.  That’s just great football, there.”

After holding the Bucs to a three-and-out to start the second half, the Rams were forced to punt three plays later.  And that’s when the game was decided.

Rockford quarterback Taylor Masiewicz found success with the screen pass.

The ball sailed high in the air off the punter’s foot, and the Buccaneer return man positioned himself underneath it.  Only, not quite far enough underneath it.  The ball squirted through the Buccaneer’s hands, and the Rams pounced on it at the Grand Haven 28-yard line.  Suddenly the closest they’d been to the Grand Haven endzone all game, it took only two plays for Darby to punch the ball in for a 7-0 Rams’ lead.

Smelling blood, the Rams reached deep within their playbook on the subsequent drive, trying to put the game away in one single moment.  Darby was handed the ball on an end-around, and nobody saw the pass coming.  Darby found Neil VanderLaan wide open down the sideline for a 36-yard gain.  Rockford scored on the very next play, quarterback Taylor Masiewicz finding Joe Johnson wide open in the endzone for a 6-yard touchdown.

After almost an entire game of rock-solid defense — par for the Buccaneer course — Grand Haven found themselves down 14-0 within the span of less than 5-minutes.  They were never able to recover.

And that’s the difference between number-1 and number-6 in the state.

Just that much.

But that much, nonetheless.

Congratulations!  You’re the new owner of the O-K Red

With the win, Rockford advances to 5-0, and has all but locked up one of the toughest conferences in the state, the O-K Red.  Even without many stars from their 2008 state championship squad, Rockford hasn’t skipped a beat.  It’s a testament to Munger and his staff, along with the culture of Rockford football, that they can so consistently reload.  Their defense is dominant, and their offense, as they showed on Friday, can be electric.

Perhaps more importantly, with their win over Grand Haven the Rams showed that they can continue to do the little things, even in the face of a stiff challenge.  Looking at their remaining schedule, it wouldn’t be surprising in the least if the Rams were able to run the table for an undefeated 9-0 regular season.

Mainstream Media Coverage

• The Venerable Jane Bos covered everybody’s game of the week for the Grand Rapids Press
• Correspondent Matt Kazawa covered the game for the Grand Haven Tribune