Rockford emotional after beating Grand Ledge to
reach state semis
By Jane Bos / The Grand Rapids Press
ROCKFORD -- Heads in hand
and voices wavering, a handful of Rockford senior football players
knelt around the big orange "R" at
midfield following their regional final Saturday afternoon. You
would almost think these guys had lost. But, no, sixth-ranked
Rockford won, holding off fifth-ranked Grand Ledge 24-14 before
about 11,000 fans to advance to its
second-straight Division 1 semifinal.
What these players lost, though, was another chance to play
at home, to play at Ted Carlson Memorial Stadium. Next week's
contest, always on a neutral site, is set for 1 p.m. Saturday
at Lansing Everett High School. They will play Brighton, a 22-7
winner against Highland-Milford on Friday.
"
I don't mind admitting it, I am about to cry," said Ian
Bartholomew, a 6-foot-2, 273-pound nose guard who might have
made a few Comets players cry with his swarming ability. "I
am never going to play at The Ted again, and it's killing me."
The
final 10 minutes of the game -- which included a Comets touchdown,
a critical Rockford fumble and a blocked punt returned for
another Comets score -- didn't make it any easier. Defending
state champion Rockford (10-2), which had been in control of
the game and dominating the line of scrimmage,
led 24-0 early
in the fourth quarter. Suddenly, Grand Ledge (9-3) was back
in the game, pulling to 24-14 with 4:16 left.
"
I was freaking out, especially that blocked punt, I am like,
'Oh my, two more possessions and we are going to get it,' " Bartholomew
said. "We said we had to stop them, then and there. It was
all heart."
Really, the outcome was never in question. But Grand Ledge,
playing under emotions of its own, played tough. The Comets'
39-year
coach, Pat O'Keefe, retired at the end of the game.
"
In the second half, we tried to dig our way out of the hole,
we came back and made a game of it," O'Keefe said. "Their
kids played a really good game, they were well-prepared,
and we made some mistakes in the first half that gave
them good field
position."
That -- along with the defensive
play of Bartholomew, Charlie Haglund, Ryan Sheafor and Jimmy
Moerdyk -- was
a big difference. With the game scoreless at the beginning
of the second quarter and Rockford driving, Grand Ledge's Scott
Normandin
grabbed
an interception in the end zone. Then he ran it out
to the 2-yard
line before getting tackled.
Thanks to a big tackle
by Moerdyk and a broken up pass by Jeremy Jones, Rockford
didn't let the Comets advance
past
the 2-yard
line before punting. Five plays later, Mark Schlaudt
booted a 32-yard field goal to give Rockford a 3-0
lead.
After special teams and the defense
gave them good field position again, the Rams scored again
on their
next possession.
This time,
quarterback Jon Von Eschen ran in the 3-yard score
to put Rockford up 10-0 at halftime. Rockford added
two more scores, 1-and-12 yard touchdowns by Zach Breen, to
go up 24-0.
Then Grand Ledge rallied. "
It was kind of like our season, when we played well, we played
extremely hard," said Rockford coach Ralph Munger. "That
last seven minutes or so is not what we want to be all about.
We are better than that. I am just happy that we get to go on
and play again."
Just not at The Ted again this season.
"
It almost doesn't feel like we won," Von Eschen said. "We
have been playing football so long, this is
the last home game. I will never feel the excitement I felt walking
out here ever
again." Added Mackenzie Clark, who totaled
47 yards rushing, "This
is our home. We are going to miss our home."
(all photos by Chris Rozema)
