Rockford and roll: Rams bring out
running clock
in rout of Grandville
By Jeff Chaney / The Grand Rapids Press
ROCKFORD -- Jon Von Eschen
was as shocked as the capacity crowd at Ted Carlson Memorial
Stadium on Friday night. The Rockford senior quarterback was
confident his team would come out and play well. But he could
not have predicted the
beating the Rams put on O-K Red Conference rival Grandville.
The Rams scored on six of their
seven first-half possessions en route to a 48-0 Division 1
district championship victory
over the visiting Bulldogs. The win also avenges a 13-10
loss to Grandville
in Week 6 of the regular season.
Rockford now moves on to a regional final game that it will
host at 1 p.m. next Saturday. The Rams will play Grand Ledge,
a 31-7 winner over Holt on Friday night. "
I would have never thought this," Von Eschen said. "We
came out on fire tonight. It was just amazing what happened."
Everything was going right for Rockford the whole night, and
especially in the first half.
In the first 24 minutes, the
Rockford offense compiled 376 yards, while the Rams' defense
limited Grandville's offense to just
122 yards. And Von Eschen did most of the damage for Rockford,
completing 16-of-23 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns
in the
first half. He also rushed for a touchdown in leading the
Rams to a
38-0 halftime lead.
The only thing that stopped Rockford
in the first half was the horn to end the second quarter,
as the clock ran out
with the
Rams driving. "
We had a gameplan coming in to pass on them," Von Eschen
said. "The last game they shut us down, but this game
we wanted to come out throwing, and it worked."
Rockford
coach Ralph Munger paced the sidelines all night watching
his offense slice through the Grandville defense. "
Our offense was high octane tonight," Munger said. "Once
we got some momentum going, we got into a great rhythm.
Things were clicking out there tonight. There might be a time
where
we are going to have to run the ball 50 times, but if
what you are doing is working, then you stay with it."
The
Rams' defense limited Grandville running back Shane Mitchell
to just 21 yards on 10 carries, one week after
Mitchell ran
for 320 yards in a playoff win over West Ottawa.
And
the Rockford special teams were solid, as kicker Mark Schlaudt
connected on two field goals and all
six of his
extra points. The second half was played under
a running clock.
"
They just manhandled us everywhere," Grandville coach Scot
Shaw said. "They out-played us. They were
faster than we were, and this makes for a good
argument for our kids to get
into the weight room in the offseason."
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