RHS 16, W. OTTAWA 12

More than 6,000 fans attended Friday night's game at West Ottawa between Rockford and the Panthers, and it's possible that no one saw how exactly the Rams pulled this one out. Did anybody see it? Rockford quarterback Steve Fusee dropped back to pass, then slipped the ball to running back Baron Grutter, who rushed 58 yards for the touchdown, giving the Rams a 16-12 victory over the Panthers. The draw play fooled the Panther defenders. Fusee was thrown to the ground while Grutter slipped through the line and broke free into the secondary. By the time the Panthers had realized Grutter had the ball, he was home free.

The No. 3 ranked Rams remained undefeated and gave West Ottawa its first loss of the season in the O-K Red Conference showdown. Grutter's touchdown came with 8:10 to go in the game. Rockford fell behind 12-0 early, but scored on a 90-yard pass play on the final play of the first quarter. "That might have been one of only a few offensive plays we executed well tonight," Rockford coach Ralph Munger said of the fourth-quarter draw. "It's pretty difficult when you have to go through your sheet and none of the plays worked. "But we hit one. We hit one. And it was a big one. I'm pleased, obviously."

West Ottawa, 4-1 overall, played nearly three quarters of the game without standout senior running back Ameer Ismail, who injured his ankle with seven minutes to go in the second quarter. Ismail did not return. "Unfortunately, we gave up two big plays," West Ottawa coach Jim Caserta said. "We gave up a long pass play, and then the draw play. We had a guy assigned to him, and then we made a mistake. On the pass play, we had a guy on him, but we missed a tackle. That was how they beat us."

The Panthers held the upper hand in the first half. They converted three fourth-down plays in the opening quarter. West Ottawa dominated time of possession considering the Panthers ran 37 plays to Rockford's 13. The Panthers had an opportunity to extend their 12-7 lead before halftime, too, but Rockford's Andy Henshaw pounced on a West Ottawa fumble at the Rams 18.

West Ottawa took the game's opening kickoff and marched 55 yards in 10 plays to go up 6-0. Dean Klingenberg took a pitch and rambled right from 5 yards out for the score. West Ottawa struck again late in the first quarter when quarterback C.J. VanWieren dropped back and rolled right on fourth-and-20 at the Rockford 31. He then looked left, and with a hand in his face, lobbed a pass downfield to Klingenberg, who pulled in the ball and scampered into the end zone. Rockford answered on its next possession on one play from its own 10. Fusee dropped a quick hook pass to Erik Hansen, who juked by one defender, then raced down the sidelines for a 90-yard touchdown. Eric Ledbetter's 25-yard field goal in the third quarter brought Rockford to within 12-10. (By Steve Kaminski The Grand Rapids Press)