Special teams propel Rockford
By Jeff Chaney / The Grand Rapids Press
ROCKFORD -- Luckily for
the Rockford football team, its special teams were special Friday
night.
On a night when the Rams' offense and defense struggled a bit,
the special teams helped Rockford to an exciting 20-19 win against
visiting Davison in front of approximately 7,000 fans at Ted
Carlson Memorial Stadium.
The Rams had a kickoff return for a touchdown, kicked two field
goals, blocked an extra point and stopped a 2-point conversion
by the Cardinals that would have given them a one-point lead
with less than two minutes to play in the game.
"We work really hard on our special teams," said Rockford
coach Ralph Munger, whose team improved to 2-0 with the victory. "They
responded really well, and made the difference in the game tonight."
That difference was evident right from the start when senior
Brogan Bibler ran the opening kickoff back 79 yards to give the
Rams a 7-0 lead just 15 seconds into the game.
Davison was shaken, but began to take control of tempo offensively
behind the strong play of quarterback Jake Thompson and a defense
that swarmed to the ball.
Thompson led the Cardinals on an eight-play drive to tie the
game later in the first quarter, then gave his team the lead
13-7 when he hit wide receiver Matthew Greer on a 97-yard scoring
strike.
Rockford junior kicker Paul Mudgett hit the first of his two
field goals, a 36-yarder, to cut the margin in half (13-10) just
before halftime, then tied the game early in the fourth quarter
with a 33-yarder.
"We take a lot of pride in our special teams," Mudgett
said. "Our team needed us tonight."
After running just three plays in the third quarter, the Rockford
offense began to flex its muscle and the defense woke up after
the second field goal to recapture the lead.
After an interception by defensive back Chad VanderWest, the
Rams' offense went on a five-play, 46-yard drive capped off by
a Ryan Cochran 5-yard touchdown run.
After Mudgett kicked the extra point, the Rams had a 20-13 lead,
but Davison had about three minutes left on the clock, and a
hot hand in Thompson.
He led the Cardinals to a touchdown when he and Greer connected
for a 19-yard score.
Davison's coaching staff decided to go for two, and the pass
fell short, giving the Rams the win.
"We already had protection issues on an extra point, and
we felt our defense couldn't stop them then, so we decided to
go for it," Davison coach Jeff Putnam said. "We came
here to win, and we had a chance at that."
Munger took notice, and had a sigh of relief when the clock
finally ran out.
"We needed a test like this," Munger said. "That
was a good football team. I'm proud of the way our guys responded."
