Rockford Rams 41, E. Kentwood Falcons 17

Rockford rams Kentwood Saturday
 By Jane Bos / The Grand Rapids Press

Rockford senior quarterback Spencer Klukowski thumped his heart as best he could through his shoulder pads and jersey and said, "It feels good right here." The Rams' 41-17 thumping of previously unbeaten East Kentwood, the two-time defending O-K Red Metro Conference champs ranked third in the state, meant more than simply a victory.
It was a thumping a long time coming.

" I have never beaten them before, never," said Klukowski, a three-year varsity player who threw for 207 yards, ran in a 1-yard touchdown and tossed a two-point conversion pass. "Not once. To do it on their field, it feels pretty good right now." After suffering a wild 38-35 loss to Grandville two weeks ago, Rockford, ranked sixth in Division 1, needed the win to stay alive in the conference race. Only Hudsonville, which East Kentwood faces next week, is unbeaten. " We needed this win, coming off the big loss, for morale," Klukowski said. "We knew we had to prepare hard for this one. We looked at it that we had to win this one."

The Rams won it in a unique way, behind the foot of Steve Kamphuis. The 5-foot-11, 145-pound senior kicker booted a school-record four field goals -- from 31, 21, 31 and 20 yards -- and he booted all three of his point-after kicks. His first two field goals came after Rockford failed to convert on third down inside the 13-yard line in the first quarter, giving the visitors a 6-0 lead. This marked the first time this season anyone scored on Kentwood in the first quarter. " I don't like to have to kick so many field goals, but the bottom line is, that is points on the scoreboard," said Rockford coach Ralph Munger, whose team never trailed and led 20-10 at halftime.

" I did not expect this. I really felt if we had an opportunity to score tonight; I thought that would be our strength. They took that away from us, and credit them for that." Scoring once they reach the red zone is one of the few things the rams, who racked up 428 yards in offense, need to work on. Rockford scored on every possession but one, when the Rams fumbled the ball as time expired in the first quarter. Credit Kentwood's bruising linebacker Anthony Quinn with the hit and Aaron Winstrom with the recovery there.

But credit the Rams defense for holding the Falcons to three-downs-and-out on the proceeding series. Ten plays later, Kurtis Salter ran in a 3-yard touchdown, giving the Rams a 13-3 lead. But 14 seconds later, the Falcons answered with a Michael Simon school-record 98-yard kickoff return, narrowing the score to 13-10. The teams continued to exchange touchdowns as Kyle Osborn's 10-yard run gave the Rams a 20-10 lead at halftime. Then Kentwood quarterback Kyle Perry raced in from the 2-yard line to narrow it to 20-17 with 5:50 left in the third.

From there, it was all Rockford. The Rams recovered two straight fumbles by Brian Amey and Drew Lindrup and scored on their next four possessions: two field goals, a 7-yard run by Zach Breen and Klukowski's touchdown romp. " I thought our defense played tough, played well, we tried not to give away the big plays, and we did all right there, but they still made field goals," said Kentwood coach Tim Wauben, who is the first first-year coach in the Falcons' storied history to win his first five games. "But those turnovers against a good team is something we cannot afford to do."

Kentwood kicker Saban Sehic, a recruit from the soccer team, also booted a 23-yard field goal.


(T.J Hamilton/Grand Rapids Press)

(T.J Hamilton/Grand Rapids Press)

(T.J Hamilton/Grand Rapids Press)

(T.J Hamilton/Grand Rapids Press)