By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio
Photo courtesy of Miles Postema
Rockford came into the opening round of the MHSAA Division 1 playoffs as a decided underdog to an undefeated Grand Ledge team on Friday, October 30 at Grand Ledge. But somebody forgot to tell the Rams that they were facing a difficult task as they led for nearly the entirety of the contest before a Comet touchdown with 52 seconds remaining gave them an unlikely victory to advance to the next round. Both teams exhibited big play after big play but it was the Rams who held the upper hand for an extended period. The Comets advance to take on the winner between East Kentwood and Brighton next weekend and improve to 10-0. Rockford closes out the 2026 campaign with a .500 record at 5-5. But it was a season of near misses for the Rams as they fell in several contests where they held the lead late before falling painstakingly short.
Between the Hudsonville lost two weeks ago and the one suffered last night it was almost as if it were a test of how much heartbreak the Rams could take. Big plays allowed defensively, turnovers and penalties were a common theme all season long and this one was no different for Rockford. The defense gave up eleven plays of over ten yards while allowing the starting and backup quarterbacks for Grand Ledge to run for over 200 yards on the night. The Rams did a great job of stifling the running backs for the Comets, but time after time, the QB broke loose for a big gainer. There were two turnovers on the night and both were interceptions thrown by the Rams. Rockford was also guilty of a questionable pass interference call on a fourth down pass on the second to the last drive for Grand Ledge. The pass had sailed ten yards over the receiver’s head but the penalty allowed them to keep the drive going and eventually resulted in a touchdown to bring the Comets to within 31-27.
Despite the glitches, Rockford moved the ball up and down the field on Grand Ledge on the back of a punishing ground game mixed with a creative passing attack. But the two turnovers came at crucial times as the Rams were moving the ball and in Comet territory. The first came as Rockford was looking to extend the lead late in the first half, and the latter came as the Rams were desperatelyattempting to at least get into field goal range with 15 seconds left in the contest.
The Rams took only 15 seconds to get on the board in this contest as Trey Currie kept the ball on the opening play and scurried 55 yards for a touchdown to stun the Comet faithful. Connor Vanos added the first of his four successful conversions and just like that it was a 7-0 Ram lead. But Grand Ledge immediately countered with a 12-yard TD pass of their own to make it a 7-7 game with 6:58 left in the opening quarter. That was the only point in the entire contest that Grand Ledge was level on the scoreboard until the final 52 seconds. Â Rockford got the ball back and immediately retook the lead on a neat little trick play. Currie took the shotgun snap and gave the ball to Jack Cummings on a jet sweep headed to the left. Cummings took a few strides before abruptly halting and lofted a pass to a wide open Currie in the front left side of the end zone to make it a 14-7 Ram lead at the 1:22 mark of the opening quarter.
After the teams traded several possessions with no scoring, the Rams built their lead to 17-7 on a 35-yard Vanos field goal with less than 1:30 left in the first half. The Rams looked to take that ten-point lead into the locker room at the half but disaster struck on the opening play. The Grand Ledge QB faked a handoff and sprinted right past the entire Ram secondary for a 75-yard TD that made it a 17-14 game with 1:17 to play in the half. Rockford tried to retaliate but the interception on a play form the Comet 29 kept it as a 17-14 game.
After stopping Grand Ledge on their opening drive of the second half, the Rams built the lead back to ten at 24-14 following an eight-yard run form Trent Gibbons with 6:56 left in quarter number three. But the Comets then scored the first of what would prove to be consecutive touchdowns to claim the win. The first made it a 24-21 game, but the Rams again had an answer as this time Gibbons went in for a five-yard jaunt to make it 31-21 at the 11:13 point of the final quarter. Then came the fateful pass interference call that extended a Comet drive and ended in a score to make it a 31-27 game with only 5:42 left to play. The Rams did block the PAT to force Grand Ledge to have to score a TD to take the lead.
Rockford got a single first down on their next possession but they were forced to punt with less than two minutes to play. Grand Ledge took over on their own 29 with less than two minutes to play and only a single timeout remaining. But two consecutive long runs from the backup QB ended up in a 15-yard TD that made it a 34-31 game with only 52 seconds to play. The Rams got to the Grand Ledge 48 before the late interception sealed the unlikely win for the Comets.
The Rams will return multiple starters and contributors to the 2027 team as well as undefeated junior varsity and freshman teams will join the fray. But that was little solace for the many seniors who took the field for the final time as a Ram.
