Rockford sees Red in loss to Muskegon
By Jane Bos / The Grand Rapids Press
ROCKFORD -- How many times can you say stunned,
shocked, surprised? The record crowd crammed into Ted Carlson
Memorial Stadium on Friday night spent the first two quarters
in a daze, saying it over and over and over again.
By the end of the game, after Muskegon had handed Rockford a
startling 34-6 victory to claim at least a share of the O-K Red
Conference, the words and head shaking were exhausted. Reality
set in.
Unbeaten Muskegon, ranked second in Division 2, is that good.
A win at Jenison next week would give them the outright title
with an astonishing -- and almost unheard of -- 7-0 record in
the O-K Red. And previously unbeaten Rockford, the top-ranked
team in Division 1, might need some work.
"Who expected that?" Rockford coach Ralph Munger asked. "But
that can happen anytime to anybody who plays a talented team
like that. It's as simple as that. They are a gifted group, they
are very potent on offense, they are dynamite.
"We could not do anything."
Munger was not exaggerating. Check out the final statistics,
the one where Rockford totaled a -13 yards on offense, including
a -41 rushing. The Rams also punted seven times.
Muskegon, meanwhile, amassed more than 500 yards in offense,
scored on its first five possessions and punted once in the fourth
quarter.
It was not the game anyone -- not one of the stadium record
13,657 fans -- anticipated.
"Shocked? I have been shocked all year," Muskegon
coach Tony Anesse said. "These kids, I hate to insult them,
but they could not win the O-K Green Conference championship
as sophomores. I think back to our first hitting drill this year,
and I did not think we would win a game.
"They have shown such maturity, such class. It is amazing
how they performed under pressure."
Jason Hannett, Muskegon's senior powerful tailback who rushed
for 124 yards and one touchdown, was one of those top-notch performers.
He was not surprised by the outcome.
"This win? No because we worked so hard, we worked so hard
all week," he said. "I give it to the team. To everybody."
Maybe Munger was not so surprised, either.
"This has been forthcoming for us for weeks," he said. "We
have been battling and scrapping as hard as we can to get where
we're at. We need to lick our wounds and come back strong."
Rockford had two bright spots in the first half when Brogan
Bibler and Nick Stokes ran back to big kickoff returns. They
both set up Paul Mudgett's two field goals.
