Pass-Happy Grandville Wins
Jeff Chaney / Grand Rapids Press
Brad Iciek looked like he could have thrown the
ball 50 more times. The Grandville senior qb led his Bulldogs
to an exciting 38-35 win over visiting Rockford Friday night
with an impressive aerial assault. He completed 25 passes on
49 attempts for 391 yards and four touchdowns and said after
the game that he felt great. "The arms not tired at all," Iciek
said. " It's all good when it ends like this."
Like he did all game, Iciek victimized the Ram
defensive backfield late in the game with his team trailing by
four points. With just more than three minutes to play, Iciek
hit senior running back Andrew Hawken on an inside slant play
that Hawken took down the right sidelines for 54 yards and the
game wining touchdown. "It was a privilege to be a part of this
game," Grandville coach Irv Sigler said. "What a great high
school game." Sigler said that last play was a big play, but
pointed to the start of the game as the turning point in the
outcome.
The Bulldogs came out a bit sluggish, and Rockford
took advantage with some excellent special teams play. After
holding Grandville's offense on its first series, Rockford's
Zach Breen blocked the punt and returned it to the Grandville
6 yard line. One play later, Breen ran the ball in for a TD and
a 7-0 lead. The Bulldog's offense was stopped on its next series,
and this time the punt got away, but Callan Sherd caught the
ball on the Grandville 42 yard line and returned it the distance
for a 14-0 lead just more than three minutes into the game.
But Iciek and his teammates would not be denied.
Three plays into the 3rd drive, Iciek hit wide receive Matt Laskovy
for a 79 yard scoring strike to cut the Rockford lead in half
and allow Grandville to get some momentum back. "That play completely
turned things around", Sigler said. "That play gave us confidence
and changed the game around." Rockford coach Ralph Munger admitted
big plays like that doomed his team. "There were a lot of ups
and a lot of downs in this game for us," Munger said. "And now
we have to figure out how to eliminate the downs and get more
of the ups."
The ups for the Rams were their special teams play
and quarterback Spencer Klukowski, who threw for 136 yards and
a score and rushed for 45 yards. But the night belonged to Iciek,
who completed his 25 passes to eight different Grandville receivers.
"The run wasn't working so well we stuck with the pass," Iciek
said. "We threw the ball last week and just figured to stick
with it tonight."