Rockford and Grandville have met each other 82 times over the years. Now you can make it an 83rd contest between the bitter rivals as the Michigan High School Athletic Association announced the pairings for the Division 1 playoffs. There was some conjecture that the Rams may head east in the first and second rounds and square off with East Kentwood and Howell but the MHSAA rightly opted to keep the Rams in a more local vein against an all OK Red quartet as the other half of the bracket will feature Jenison traveling to Hudsonville to face the undefeated Eagles. The two victors will meet the following week for the right to advance to the final eight teams. This week’s contest with Grandville will be played in Rockford at Carlson-Munger Stadium at 7:00 P.M. on Friday, October 31.
Grandville will enter the fray having lost four of their last five games. Their only win in that time frame was a last minute 31-26 win over Jenison. They did however acquit themselves quite well last week as they fell 28-25 to Hudsonville. On the other hand, Rockford has come out on top of seven of their last eight games with most games being decisive victories. Rockford won the regular season contest several weeks back in dominating fashion by the score of 28-0. Rockford quarterback Brayden Daniels missed that game with an ankle injury but sophomore Casen Whitford filled in admirably while the Ram defense was overwhelming in their dominance that evening. Grandville was hamstrung with the loss of two-time All State running back Jayden “Tank” Terry to knee surgery and he is almost certainly out for the balance of the season.
There is a precedent for Grandville to rise to the occasion and pull off the upset in 2025. Last year saw Rockford win decisively in the regular season 37-20 before Grandville claimed the playoff game 24-14. The Bulldogs are coached by Eric Stiegel, who is I his 12th year at the helm. He has done a great job of resurrecting a proud program that had fallen on hard times for several years. The Bulldogs run a power “T” formation featuring seven linemen in a bunch formation and a straight “T” formation in the backfield. They have gone to throwing the ball a bit more with the injury to Terry.
Jeffrey Fogelsonger is the Bulldog QB and he has thrown for multiple TDs while also being a threat with his legs. DJ Hardiman and Braylen Haney are also threats out of the backfield. Daniel Wylie and Lincoln Schachemeyer are returning starters on the offensive line while Keegan Kroll and Garret Nawrocki are a great pair of tight ends who double as linebackers defensively. Evan Wyman and Jayden Brown are the starting safeties while all of the previously mentioned players also see a lot of time on the defensive side of the ball.
The early weather outlook is promising and a large turnout is anticipated for both squads. The Rams record sits at 7-2 on the season while Grandville comes in at 4-5.
