R
Rockford returns to Division 1 state finals
By Jeff Chaney / The Grand Rapids Press
EAST LANSING -- Brogan Bibler and
the rest of the Rockford football team walked off Michigan State's
Spartan Stadium in a single-file line, shouting encouragement
to a Muskegon team that was warming up for the second semifinal
in East Lansing.
The Rams wanted the Big Reds to
earn a win for the west side, just as they had done earlier.
Muskegon was successful, as the Big Reds rallied from a 35-13
third-quarter deficit to beat Davison 38-35 in Division 2.
Rockford was the first of nine teams from West Michigan to earn
a victory in the Michigan High School Athletic Association's
state semifinals. The Rams beat Livonia Stevenson, the defending
Division 1 runner-up, 27-13 on Saturday morning.
Rockford will advance to its fifth championship game. It will
play the winner of the Lake Orion vs. Dearborn Fordson semifinal
at 1 p.m. Saturday at Ford Field.
"We want the west-side teams to win (all the games)" said
Bibler, a senior defensive back and punter. "We prepared
all week for this game. They were a great team, hats off to them,
but we just wanted it more."
A fired-up Rams team came out and jumped on Livonia Stevenson,
going ahead by two touchdowns seven minutes into the game. Senior
running back Ryan Cochran ran for both touchdowns.
Cochran's first touchdown run, a 9-yarder, capped a 12-play,
68-yard drive to open the game. His second run was an 8-yarder,
and came after a 59-yard punt return by senior Drew Maroe.
But instead of piling on and putting the game away there, the
Rams began to self-destruct, and allowed Livonia Stevenson to
get back in the game.
Penalties and a blocked punt, which led to the Spartans first
touchdown, and a fumble on the ensuing kickoff allowed Livonia
Stevenson to cut Rockford's lead to one point, 14-13, with about
nine minutes to play in the half.
"That one drive was awful," Rockford coach Ralph Munger
said. "We have an uncharacteristic offsides penalty, had
a dropped first-down pass and then we screwed up that punt. But
it was good we were able to come back."
The Rams sure did come back.
Rockford fished off the first half by going on two solid drives,
the first ending with a Paul Mudgett 39-yard field goal, and
the second ending with an Alex Rojas 10-yard touchdown run that
gave the Rams a 24-13 lead at half.
"We just need to regain our poise," Munger said. "We
weren't going to let (the game) get away."
Rockford limited the mistakes in the second half, and took time
off the clock with a grind-it-out game plan.
The only scoring the second half came on a Mudgett 33-yard field
goal.
"We struggled controlling their front, they were quite
athletic," said Livonia Stevenson coach Tim Gabel, whose
team ends its season with a 10-3 record. "They pretty much
ran the game plan we expected, they just blocked the heck out
of us."
And the Rams tackled, holding talented Spartans running back
Austin White to 56 yards on 19 carries, one of his lowest totals
of the season.
"Our defense was great, especially late," said Munger,
whose team won state titles in 2004 and 2005. "We played
with a lot of intensity."
