MHSAA Division
One State Championship
Rockford
Rams 16. Macomb Dakota 38
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Rockford championship run stopped cold
By Greg Johnson / The Grand Rapids Press
DETROIT -- When Rockford
coach Ralph Munger watched Macomb Dakota on videotape, he
figured his Rams might have some problems. "
Because they run extremely well," he said. The Rams had problems,
on defense, offense and special teams as Dakota's Cougars raced
to an early lead and then raced past
the
two-time defending state champions 38-16 in the Division 1 state
championship game Saturday at Ford Field.
"They were obviously
on their A-game," Munger said. "We give them
credit. They were a whole lot faster than we were, and a whole lot more aggressive
than we were today."
The Cougars (13-1),
the first team from Macomb County to claim a state title in football,
led 14-0 less than eight minutes into
the game, and 31-10 at
halftime.
Tailback Greg Gay scored a state championship record-tying four touchdowns
as a double threat running the ball (69 yards) and receiving passes (89
yards).
Rockford's pain will fade, fond memories won't
By Jane Bos / The Grand Rapids Press
DETROIT -- Kathy Munger
pointed her digital camera at her husband, Ralph, and a couple
of Rockford
football players and friends talking
quietly outside the locker room after the Rams' stunning state
championship loss. The flash went off. The moment sealed forever.
And that is what it is. One moment. A single second of an amazing
three-year playoff run by Munger and his Rams.
Oh, that empty
feeling might last. Those "what-if" questions
will linger. Moments -- downs and series and penalties and
squandered opportunities -- during Saturday's 38-16 defeat
by Macomb Dakota
in the Division
1 state finals are most
likely being analyzed and criticized in chat rooms and in newspapers across
the state. But should this one game, this one moment, define
the Rams? Does it?
What Rockford, led
by a pair of three-year, multi-positioned players in Zach Breen
and Callan Sherd, has done in three seasons
is remarkable. The Rams won
14 consecutive playoff games and two state championships before ending
one game short of a perfect three-peat. Still, for the first time
in their high school varsity careers, these two players lost
a playoff game. It will be tough to forget.
"
It might balance out with time, but for a long time, we will think about this
game," said Breen, an all-state running back. "It is your senior year
and the championship game, and you wished you could have won it. There will be
a bad taste in our mouths for a little bit.
Surprise season
" This is the
last game I will ever play with these guys. Hopefully, we can
think
about the good times."
Exactly.
After graduation losses
two years ago, no one gave Rockford a shot at repeating. And
they did. Then this season, no one expected
it,
either. "
In many ways, this has been a year of great struggle and great resolve, and these
kids just kept playing and playing," Ralph Munger said. "We have some
pretty good athletes, no doubt about it, but in order for this to happen again,
to even have a chance at getting here, we had to have a number of other players
step up in a major way.
" We have so
many guys busting their tails since last November, about 20-25
of
them, to get a taste of what last year's team did." Hopefully,
a bad taste does not linger.
"
Getting here is like a dream, I am sort of dazed right now, though," said
Sherd, named to the all-state team as a specialist. "It's
going to be weird the next couple of days. It doesn't seem
right that I am never putting on the
Rams horns again."
Life goes on
It will
be different. Sherd and Breen played 45 high school games in
three seasons. And this time, there is no next season. So they
will take a few days to adjust to life after Rockford football
and life after a loss. Breen plans to go hunting deer. Sherd
plans to relax and hang out with friends.
Munger and his crew
will be back. His wife, Kathy, will be back keeping stats and
snapping pictures. Next season will be a new bunch of kids hoping
to make it back
to the state
championship. Next season, there will be more moments,
good ones and bad ones. Here's to remembering the good ones.
