Rockford Rams 24, West Ottawa 31

The West Ottawa Panthers used big plays and three Rockford turnovers to upset their second perennial O-K Red Conference power in as many weeks.

After pounding Jenison last week, West Ottawa scored all its points in a big first half and then held off defending conference champion Rockford, 31-24, at Ted Carlson Memorial Field Friday.

West Ottawa, ranked seventh in the state in Division 1, defeated Rockford for the first time since a 21-20 win in 1994 to improve to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Red. Fifth-rated Rockford is 3-1, 1-1.

"We just work so hard in practice, and we have a great coaching staff," said West Ottawa's all-everything C.J. VanWieren. "It's unbelievable how hard we work. We deserve it."

It's rather unbelievable how much VanWieren does all on his own.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior completed 12 of 20 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. He led the Panthers in rushing with 60 yards, including a 1-yard scoring romp late in the first half to give his team a 31-14 lead. Plus, he booted a 31-yard field goal, sent all the kickoffs deep into Rockford territory and connected on all four of his point-after kicks. And he made a number of tackles on defense.

But he denied the rumor that he sells programs at halftime of home games.

"It's great," said West Ottawa senior standout Zach Osburn. "Everyone doubts us, and that just fires us up. We like being the underdog."

Those underdog days of late summer are way over.

The Panthers took their opening drive 60 yards into the end zone, capped off by VanWieren's 11-yard scoring pass to Mike Grijalba. Less than two minutes later, they scored again, capitalizing on a Rockford fumble on its own 20-yard line.

This time, Dean Klingenberg powered his way in for the 1-yard score, giving the Panthers a 14-0 lead after the first quarter.

Both teams scored bunches of points in the second quarter, but the closest Rockford got was 17-14 after Andrew Wertz connected with Joe Staley on an 82-yard TD pass with 5:40 left.

Less than one minute later, West Ottawa went back on top 24-14 when Klingenberg caught a 70-yard scoring pass from VanWieren. VanWieren's scoring run came four minutes later.

Rockford's Eric Ledbetter booted a 37-yard field goal with no time left to narrow the score to 31-17 at halftime.

"Really, this was just like any game," said West Ottawa coach Jim Caserta, who beat the Rams for the first time in his seven seasons. "You do your best to prepare. Usually, that's what wins games. Rockford made some mistakes, and that helped. We just try to do what we've been doing. You can't let rankings and what's being said effect you."

In the second half, Rockford came out strong. The Rams limited West Ottawa's offense, but the Rams didn't get enough of their own.

With 26 seconds left in the game, Wertz tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Staley to pull to within 31-24.

But West Ottawa's Justin Caserta won the scramble for the football after the onside kick. The Panthers ran out the clock.

"There were no surprises," said Rockford coach Ralph Munger. "They are a very talented, very gifted football team. They came to play at a higher level than we did. We moved the ball better in the second half, but we couldn't come up with the big plays. We didn't make the plays tonight."

Wertz, a senior, did have a big night for the Rams, completing 24 of 40 passes for 361 yards and two touchdowns. Staley, a 6-5, 220-pound tight end who committed to Central Michigan in the preseason, grabbed seven catches for 156 yards.

Rockford also had a 30-yard touchdown run by senior K.C. O'Rourke early in the second quarter to bring the score to 14-7.

"We were up, but you better be up if you're going to play Rockford at home," Jim Caserta said. "We knew we had a big win last week, but last week doesn't win you any games this week. We talked about that. It would've been easy to have a let-down. Our guys came to play. It was a big win."

By Jane Bos
The Grand Rapids Press

Next up: the Rams will travel to East Kentwood (tickets are limited)