By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio
Photo courtesy of Miles Postema
Rockford will close out the 2025 football regular season with a home contest against West Ottawa at Carlson-Munger Stadium in Rockford at 7:00 P.M. on Friday, October 24. Rockford has clinched a spot in the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 playoffs with a 6-2 record. A win over the Panthers would also pretty much guarantee a home game in the first round. This will mark the 31st consecutive appearance (State record) for the Rams.
West Ottawa will enter the contest with a deceiving record of just 2-6. But if bad luck has cast a darker shadow on any other team in the state it would be a surprise. Included in their six losses is a last second “Hail Mary” against defending state champion Zeeland West (28-24), a 48-yard field goal by Jenison on the last play of the contest last week (9-7), a tough 33-30 defeat at the hands of Caledonia and a 30-27 loss to a solid Grand Ledge team.
The Panthers are coached by Pat Collins, who brought an enviable record of multiple state titles and playoff runs while calling the shots at Montague. But he walked into a difficult situation at West Ottawa and is gradually building a program at a school that has not had a winning season since 2018. West Ottawa built a beautiful, state of the art stadium a few years back and has made strides every year while competing in the always tough OK Red. Rockford leads the all time series against West Ottawa 47-12-1 and won last year’s game 45-17.
West Ottawa is led by their outstanding linebacker Elijah Reynolds. Reynolds is a returning all conference player and has already committed to continue his career at NCAA Division 1 school Central Michigan University. Reynolds will also see action on the offensive side of the ball and he needs to be accounted for on every play. Abel Anaya is in the midst of his third year as a starter and in 2025 he will play quarterback for the first time in an effort to take advantage of his athleticism. CJ Traylor and Caleb Montgomery will see time at running back and Griffin Dobb is a weapon as a wide receiver. Multiple members of the Panthers will see action on both sides of the ball.
West Ottawa lost four all conference players from their 2024 team but they have just enough size and athleticism across the board to make this a dangerous spot on the Ram schedule. The initial weather forecast calls for cool and dry conditions so the weather should be a non-factor.
