Yep, there's a D in Kentwood
By Jane Bos / The Grand Rapids Press

Clearly -- or maybe not so clearly on such a rain-soaked, sodden night filled with fumbles -- the offense of the state's top-ranked Division 1 football team is impossible to stop.

Friday, the Falcons offense did what it had to do. But the defense earned top-billing, stopping relentless Rockford 2 yards short of an upset, to post a stunning 20-14 victory.

The eighth-ranked Rams and coach Ralph Munger put themselves into a solid position to upend East Kentwood. With the ball on the 3-yard line and 7.4 seconds on the clock, Rockford had time for two plays.

On the first, quarterback Spencer Klukowski threw a perfect fade to the back corner of the end zone, and Kentwood's Dan Voetberg, a senior back, swatted it away.

The second, a sweep left, occurred as time expired.

Thwack. Thud. And that was it.

Corey Crutcher, an East Kentwood junior defensive back, tackled Bradd VanderVeen on the 2-yard line to seal the victory before about 9,000 fans at the Ted Carlson Memorial Field.

"Our defensive guys called those plays," Kentwood coach John Shillito said. "They knew Rockford had time for two plays, and they called them both. Our guys did a tremendous job of executing. They did all night. It was just a great high school game. Rockford played a tremendous game. It's got to hurt right now, but they deserve a lot of credit."

Credit the Falcons with the win. East Kentwood (5-0 overall) stays unbeaten and alone atop the O-K Red Metro with a 3-0 mark. Rockford is 3-1, 4-1.

"I feel great about the effort of my team, they did what they had to do and did it well," Munger said. "From the competitive side, well, it hurts. We had our chances on offense. We didn't make a couple of plays in the first half. In the second half, it was a tremendous effort, especially on defense. On offense, we got a couple of big plays. We just needed one more."

Trailing 14-7 at halfitme, Rockford advanced 60 yards in five plays. Then three consecutive pass attempts fell short, and it turned the ball over on downs.

That's when the Falcons began the game-deciding, time-killing back-to-the-basics drive downfield. The 80-yard, 16-play scoring march ate up eight minutes and 19 seconds. Ronald Burns Jr. scored from the 7.

Kentwood's two-point conversion run failed, giving the Falcons a 20-7 lead with 41 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Rams responded in kind.

They used just over five minutes and 10 plays to advance 73 yards. Sean O'Rourke, the Rams leading rusher with 64 yards on eight carries, ran in the final 4 yards for the score.

Steve Kamphuis booted his second extra point of the game to narrow the score to 20-14 with 8:24 remaining.

Again, Kentwood methodically marched downfield, but this time, on the its 11th play, the Falcons fumbled -- and lost -- the ball for the second time.

Jason VanderWest pounced on the loose ball, giving the Rams one final shot at victory with 2:44 left in the game and the ball on their own 25-yard line.

That final and fateful drive, highlighted by a pair of pair of 15-yard Klukowski passes, wound up on the 3-yard line with time running out.

All that remained were Kentwood's defensive heroics.

"We played good defense, and played it for four quarters, and I am very proud of that fact," Shillito said. "The rain was difficult for us, obviously. Maybe we need to start practicing with a wet football."

Kentwood, which fumbled the ball five times and lost it twice, rushed for 381 yards. Senior fullback Noel Aleman led the way with 191 yards on 25 carries and a 75-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Kyle Hinton also scored for the Falcons on a 3-yard run in the second quarter to put his team on top 14-0.

Kentwood did not attempt a pass.

Rockford totaled 147 yards on the ground, and Klukowski completed 10 of 18 passes for 151 yards. He also scored on a 5-yard run.

"Our defensive coaches really did a masterful job of preparing our guys for the game," Munger said. "Our kids really executed the schemes as well as they could."

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