Rockford uses some razzle dazzle to sink South
Lyon
By Bob Becker / Grand Rapids Press Sports Editor
LANSING -- Rockford's Rams lowered the KA-BOOM!
on South Lyon here Saturday afternoon-- literally -- and their
17-10 win puts them
into next Saturday's 1 p.m. Division I State Championship game
against Sterling Heights Stevenson.
KA-BOOM! is a one-time-use-only
razzle-dazzle play cooked up in the fertile mind of Rockford
coach Ralph Munger that resulted
in a 54-yard Spencer Klukowski-to-Bryan Anderson touchdown
pass at the start of the fourth quarter, tying the game at 10-10
and
turning game momentum back to the Rams.
"The only problem with that
play is that we showed it today, so we won't be able to use
it next week,' Munger
said. The play starts out like a sweep right, Klukowski handing
off
to Kyle Osborn. But as Osborn reaches the right side of his
line, he hands it to wide receiver Josh Rauser on what appears
to be
a double-reverse. When Rauser gets to midfield, he suddenly
stops and tosses a pass to Klukowski on the left sideline.
Klukowski looks downfield
and sees Anderson wide open.
"
All I could think of was 'Catch it, catch it'," Anderson
said. "It takes awhile to get that play going, but I
could see that I was going to be wide open. I just wanted
to make sure
I made the play." "
We've never used that play before," Klukowski said. "I
was afraid that I wouldn't catch the pass to me, because
I could see Brian was going to be wide open and I wanted to
get the ball
and get it down to him. The protection has to hold up to
give us time to get all those exchanges down. But it did, and
it was
great to watch him running in the clear."
Although that
bit of offensive sleight-of-hand will be talked about more
than anything else that happened here Saturday,
it was the Rockford defense that stood tall against a South
Lyon
team that averaged 40 points a game through their first 12
outings. The Rams allowed just 10 points, and the Lions'
single field goal and single touchdown came off Rockford mistakes
that
gave them short-field opportunities.
A punt that hit a Rockford
downfield blocker gave South Lyon the ball on Rockford's 17
in the second quarter, resulting
in a 27-yard field goal by Alex Gentile. Then, late in
the third
quarter, a botched Rockford hand-off on a kickoff return
again gave the Lions the ball on Rockford's 17, and three
plays later
Nate Spurgess bulled over from the one, for a 10-0 lead.
"
I have to give our defensive coaches and defensive players
all the credit," Munger said. "To overcome the
mistakes we made, fumbles, penalties, and interception, and
hold them
to just 10 points was a remarkable accomplishment."
Sophomore
defensive back Callan Sherd made two picks Saturday afternoon,
the first a diving third-down grab that gave
Rockford possession on South Lyon's 19. That saved field
position for the Rams, who would have had to come back a long
way...against the clock...if South
Lyon
had
punted. Instead, in four plays Klukowski's sneak with 1:32
left that gave the Rams the winning points.
Thirty seconds
later a sideline grab by Sherd stopped South Lyon's last chance
to get back into the game. "
The guys up front kept their quarterback under pressure all
day," Sherd
said. "So he was throwing on the run. On the second
one my guy slipped a little and I just stepped inside
him. It couldn't
have come at a better time."
"
Those weren't just interceptions," Munger said. "He
was spread out as far as he could on both. Those were
outstanding defensive plays." Rockford struggled early,
Klukowski passing for just 55 yards in the first half. But
in the second he hit
seven
of 11 for
112 yards, continually moving his team on third downs. "
We knew coming in that games like this sometimes come down
to a big play," Munger said. "So we put it in the
hands of our defense, to keep them pinned down until
we got going.
We had to overcome a lot of things. I guess this was
just our day." |