Photo courtesy of Miles Postema,

Check out all his pictures from last nights game here:  https://milespostema.smugmug.com/Rockford-Sports/2020-Rockford-vs-West-Ottawa-football/

 

The Rockford Rams are in the thick of the OK Red title race as the season’s halfway point is upon us. After defeating West Ottawa on Friday night, the Rams are now tied atop the league standings with Grandville at a perfect 3-0. This contest was close early, but strong play from Alex McLean carried the team to victory.

Midway through the first quarter, Calvin Kibbe was on the receiving end of a touchdown pass of twenty one yards from Zak Ahern that gave Rockford a 7-0 edge. West Ottawa would embark on a scoring drive of their own to tie the score, as Jake Zimmer kept the football and ran across the goal line from a yard out with twenty nine seconds to play in the first quarter. Much like in the Caledonia game last week, Rockford had one more last second scoring play up their sleeve. Ahern and McLean connected for a seventy yard strike to put Rockford ahead 14-7, a lead they would carry into the half and never relinquish.

In the third quarter, Zak Ahern used his legs to extend the lead. He ran it in from seven yards out to get the scoring started once again. McLean and Ahern paired up again before the quarter came to an end, and their twenty three yard passing play gave Rockford a 26-7 edge heading into the fourth.

Jake Zimmer scored on another quarterback keeper in the fourth, but it would not be enough for the Panthers to come back. Rockford would add one more touchdown on a run by Shawn Sims of twenty three yards. This brought the game to its final 33-7 tally.

West Ottawa slides to 0-3 on the season. The Panthers’ hunt for their first victory will be extremely difficult next week when they travel to unbeaten Grandville. As for Rockford, the unbeaten Rams will host Grand Haven (0-3) next week as they try to keep pace with those Grandville Bulldogs in the league title race. The Rockford and Grand Haven game will be broadcast LIVE on MSR on Friday night from The Ted.