By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio
There are always upsets in football. When David topples Goliath it always makes for headlines and sends shockwaves across the landscape in prep sports. Last year saw one of the biggest upsets Rockford has been part of on the receiving end in decades as Jenison beat Rockford at Carlson-Munger Stadium by the score of 15-14. Anything that could have gone wrong did for Rockford including missed chip shot field goals, multiple times being in the red zone and coming away with nothing and ill-timed turnovers. But a great deal of credit had to also go to Jenison as they played Rockford to a draw in the physical aspect and went for two points and the win in the final ten seconds after scoring a touchdown to draw within 14-13. A stunned Rockford crowd and team stood shocked while Jenison was overwhelmed to have pulled off the major upset.
Rockford looks to come out and show that last year was just a blip but will be faced with a Jenison team that returns several starters from a 4-5 team that missed qualifying for the playoffs by a fraction of a point. Josh Lucas returns for the Wildcats as the head coach for his second year. He previously won a state title at Chelsea before moving west. Brady Schuiteman returns as a starting running back and ran for over 1300 yards as well as being named as a member of the OK Red All-Conference squad. Parker Felgner did not start for the Wildcats until the Rockford game last year but showed what he was capable of over the balance of the year.
Several other returning starters also dot the lineup for Jenison. Jenison doesn’t have the number of players that Rockford does so multiple players end up having to go both ways. Mason McKinney is a wide receiver and outside linebacker while Max McKinney is a wide receiver and defensive back. Brady Hubbs returns as a tight end and defensive end while Kole Bassler is a safety and wide receiver.
The Wildcats are 3-3 thus far in 2025 and have high hopes they will qualify for the playoffs in 2025. Their three wins are over Kalamazoo Central, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and Grand Haven. Their three losses are to teams all in the top half of the standings in OK Red play. They have fallen to Hudsonville, East Kentwood and Grandville. The Grandville defeat was particularly galling as they had battled back from a huge deficit to take a 26-25 lead with less than a minute to play before falling 31-26 on an 81-yard TD pass with less than 10 seconds remaining.
This has been a tightly contested rivalry over the years and until recently Jenison held the edge in the all-time series. But Recent Ram successes has given them a narrow 25-24 advantage over the years.
