The game began rather inauspiciously for Rockford as they suffered an interception on the third play of the game. Three plays later West Ottawa scored on a jet sweep and it was a 7-0 lead for the Panthers less than three minutes into the contest. But from that point forward the Rams imposed their will as they went on a 47-0 run to set the running clock in motion as they thoroughly dominated West Ottawa to the tune of 47-15 at their state of the art stadium on Friday, October 11.
“Yeah, some good special team plays and defensively, we got some good pressure on the quarterback all night long,” said Rockford Coach Brent Cummings. “They had some good players and they’re dangerous but we played sound defense and controlled the line of scrimmage. On offense it was great to see Brayden making some nice plays and put the pressure on him too where we are basically scoring on every drive. Brayden (Daniels) is a really good player and he can run and pas the ball equally as well. And Tommy Becker had a couple of really nice runs too. It is always nice to have a solid back who can come in and give (Isaac) Poot a break too. Just a solid win tonight over a team that is much better than their record.”
After the quick Panther score the Rams responded quickly. Daniels hit Gavin Currie on a 38-yard pass to set himself up for an 11-yard TD run to knot things up at 7-7 with 7:45 left in the first quarter. The Rams followed that up with another scoring drive that was capped off by a 4-yard touchdown run from Becker. Becker had ripped off a 19-yard burst earlier in that drive. That gave Rockford a 14-7 lead with 1:47 left in the opening quarter.
Defensive lineman Thatcher Wilson then proceeded to make the next splash play for Rockford as he blocked a punt out of the quick kick formation and then proceeded to recover it as well. Poot did the honors of finishing that drive for the Rams to make it a 20-7 Ram lead early in the second quarter. Rockford drove deep into the West Ottawa zone on the next possession before turning the ball over on downs at the Panther 10. It appeared as if the half may end with that 20-7 score but Luke Ahern had other ideas for Rockford. The Rams stopped West Ottawa at their own 45 and forced a Panther punt at that juncture. With less than a minute left in the half, Ahern fielded the punt over his shoulder at the Ram 30-yard line. Quickly reversing his course, Ahern sped up the right sideline and was never headed on his way to a 70-yard TD with only :41 seconds to play in the half to make it a 27-7 contest at the half.
The third quarter saw Poot cap off the opening drive of the second half with a 14-yard twisting run that made it a 34-7 game. Daniels scored on an eight-yard run of his own to make it 41-7 late in the third quarter. Then it was Daniels again with 9:57 left in the game on a run from 13 to make it 47 to 7 with just under 10 minutes remaining. A late TD and two-point conversion from West Ottawa made it a 47-15 final.
“West Ottawa runs a lot of formations and does a lot of different things on both offense and defense, said Cummings. ” So our deal this week was communication to talk and make sure you are in the right position and then we can make plays. Don’t let all the smoke and mirrors get to you and just play ball. We are on the right track and we are going to continue to keep growing as a team.”
Daniels was 7 for 11 passing for 177 yards, He also led the Rams in rushing with 10 carries for 81 yards and three touchdowns. Poot had 71 yards on 14 carries and a pair of TDs while Becker had 36 in five carries and a score of his own. Reed Binney had nine tackles to lead the defense while Corbin Starkey, Ahern and Caden Leddy had 6, 5 and 5 respectively.
The Rams will close out the home portion of the regular season when they square off with Grand Haven at Carlson/Munger Stadium on Friday, October 18 at 7:00 P.M. Rockford sits at 5-2 on the season and 3-2 in OK Red play. If they can win their final two games (at East Kentwood October 25), they would solidify their chances of hosting at least one playoff game.
