All-around effort gives Rockford
first title
By Greg Johnson / The Grand Rapids Press
PONTIAC -- Pursuit on
defense, a diverse offense and desire resulted in domination
for the Rockford Rams, Division 1 state champions. "
Bottom line, these kids have hearts as big as this dome," said
Rockford coach Ralph Munger after his Rams turned back Sterling
Heights Stevenson 31-6 for the school's first state football
championship Saturday at the Pontiac Silverdome."
" We lost a few games along
the way this season, and when you don't win your conference,
some doubts can creep in. But these kids
never stopped believing they could do this." The
Rams did it on defense. They totaled five sacks for 38 yards in losses, seven
other tackles for loss netting 41 yards and
profited from a pair of interceptions by defensive back/wide
receiver Bryan Anderson
The Rams did it on offense. They
netted 407 total yards, including 168 passing by senior quarterback
Spencer Klukowski,
69 yards
rushing and two touchdown runs by senior fullback Sean O'Rouke,
and long-touchdown receptions by Josh Rauser (65 yards) and
Anderson (34 yards). " They have a lot of weapons, that
quarterback really moves well and throws well, and they really
brought pressure on us with
their defense," said Sterling Heights coach Rick Bye said.
" We needed to make some plays
early in the game because we needed a momentum switch. They
made the plays instead of us, and kept
the pressure on." Perhaps the biggest play made by the
Rams came with 10 seconds remaining in the first half. On
a Klukowski pass intended for Anderson, Rauser instead caught
the pass running on a slant across the field and dashed
to
the end zone too complete a 65-yard scoring play. It gave
the Rams
a 14-0 lead, and the momentum, Munger said.
"
That was huge," he said. "Having a two touchdown lead
changes things they can do and you can do."
Replays showed Rauser had been out-of-bounds, and then
came back in the playing field, which should have made
him an
ineligible receiver. Bye said the officials told him they
didn't see Rauser
out-of-bounds.
"
That's neither here nor there, I'm not complaining," he
said. "They made a big play there. We came in at
halftime, and our kids were deflated." Munger said
he couldn't see the action on the other side of the field. "
But you know when I watch the tape, I'll look for it," he
said and smiled. "Hey, we had guys in the right
places on that play. That's what you have to have to
make good things happen."
The Rams made good things
happen through the day. An 88-yard scoring drive to
take a 7-0 lead in the second
quarter
was highlighted by a 1-yard quarterback sneak on a
fourth-and-inches situation
at the Rockford 29-yard-line. Munger said he didn't
consider punting. "
We came here to win," he said. "It never crossed
my mind. I did check with the defensive staff, but I was going
to
overrule them anyway. I get two votes."
The Rams
put a stranglehold in the game with two third-quarter
scoring drives. O'Rouke, running a wrap-around trap
play set up through the first part of the game, ran
32 yards
for a score
with 8:19 remaining. Then Anderson, on offense this
time, caught a 34-yard pass from Klukowski. After
a two-point
conversion pass to Kyle Osborn, the Rams led 28-0.
Steve Kamphuis put an exclamation
point on the win with a 33-yard field goal with 2:10 remaining
in
the game.
"
It was just awesome," said Anderson, who is headed to
Central Michigan next year. "We did it as a team. That's
the way we do things at Rockford."
L.J. Robertson, the
standout running back for Stevenson, scored the only touchdown
for the Titans on a 57-yard
run early in
the fourth quarter. He finished with 118 yards
rushing.
"
It's been great to watch the creation of our defense over the
season," Munger said. "They really
came together. And on offense, we have a lot
of weapons. We just have multi-talented
kids, and we try to use as many of them as possible.
That's our program, and this is the result of
everybody doing it to the
best of their ability, kids, coaches, fans, community,
everybody." |