By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio
Photo by Miles Postema
Rockford and East Kentwood have a storied and bitter rivalry. The teams have met 58 times over the years with Rockford holding a 32-26 edge. East Kentwood dominated this battle annually up until about 1990. But since then, the Rams have reeled off a record of 28-9 to take the lead in the All-Time standings. Last year saw Rockford race out to a huge early lead and prevail 45-27 after a pair of late East Kentwood scores.
But after struggling, by their standards, for the last several seasons the Falcons made a splash hire in bringing in Ty Spencer as the head coach in 2024. Spencer had won four state titles from 2016-2022 for Detroit Martin Luther King and gave them instant credibility as the new head man. After a disappointing 2023, Spencer took the Falcons back to the playoffs where they lost a narrow two-point contest to State runner-up Hudsonville in a game they led until the final play. The school also constructed a beautiful indoor All-Purpose practice facility that is top of the line in 2025.
The 2025 campaign could also not have gotten off to a better start for East Kentwood as they have rolled to a 3-0 record and outscored their first three opponents by an average score of 47-10. They topped Southfield A&T 43-8, defending D2 State runner-up Byron Center 43-14 and Jenison 54-7 last week as they opened up OK Red play. The offense has not come close to being remotely slowed and is led by Michigan State commit Kayd Coffman at quarterback. Coffman has thrown for multiple TDs in every game thus far led by a prolific receiving contingent. Ahman “Mighty Mite” Edmonds leads the way and he is joined by Steph Jones and Kendrick Mayhue. Last season Koffman passed for over 1600 yards and 20 touchdowns and Is blowing those stats out of the water in 2025.
The running back position is manned by returner Jesse Phillips and Nasir Williams. Up front the Falcons return center Charlie Nichols and guard Jabari O’Bryant.
The defense is led by Division 1 recruit Donavan Jones, who has several offers already as a junior defensive back. He will be joined by Benedi Kanda, Austin Nelson and Major Barnes in a deep and talented secondary. J.R. Jones and Tyler Meeuwsen return as defensive linemen for the Falcons.
Rockford is hoping to have back on the field senior defensive standouts Ben Cummings and Luke Ahern, who both missed last week’s contest against Grand Haven with injuries. The one big advantage the Rams have is that they have played a much tougher schedule with games against Saline and Muskegon before rolling past Grand Haven last week. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 P.M. at Carlson-Munger Stadium in Rockford on Friday, September 19 before what should be a massive crowd.
