Rockford rides blocked punt, turnovers to title
By Jeff Chaney / The Grand Rapids Press
DETROIT -- Alex Rojas is listed
as the smallest player on the Rockford football team's roster.
But the 5-foot-6, 150-pound senior running back made the biggest
play for the Rams in their Division 1 state championship game
against Lake Orion at Ford Field on Saturday.
Just before halftime, with Rockford clinging to a 13-7 lead,
Rojas, a special teams standout, fired through the Lake Orion
line and blocked a Dragons punt deep in their own territory.
One play later, senior running back Ryan Cochran scored from
6 yards out with just less than a minute to play in the first
half.
The Rams used the two-score cushion to go on and beat Lake Orion
26-14 and win their third state championship in the past five
years.
Rockford also won state titles in 2004 and 2005.
"Nobody in my family is very tall, and my dad instilled
in me that if you want something, you have to go and get it," said
Rojas, who blocked six punts as a junior and five punts this
year for Rockford.
"We call our punt-block team 'Jedi,' and it was a team
that I always wanted to be on, because it's on that team that
you have to go and get it."
Rockford coach Ralph Munger, who has led the Rams to five state
finals appearances in his 17 years coaching the team, knows the
importance of special teams to a football team's success.
"Special teams had a major impact in this game," Munger
said. "That (punt block) was an example of that impact.
Alex has blocked maybe five or six this year. He has great speed,
but maybe part of it is that nobody can see him coming."
Lake Orion coach Chris Bell said the blocked punt, and the final
two minutes before halftime that included a 47-yard scoring pass
from Rockford quarterback Tim McGee to Nick Stokes, were difference
makers.
"The blocked punt hurt because it gave them another score," said
Bell, whose team finished the year with a 12-2 record, both losses
coming to Rockford. "You can't make a mistake like that
in our kicking."
Although Lake Orion trailed 20-7 at halftime, the Dragons came
out spirited after intermission, especially in the third quarter.
Lake Orion controlled the clock and ran 20 more plays than Rockford
in the third quarter, including a 15-play drive coming out of
halftime.
But that drive ended in a Gabe Speirs interception of a Sean
Charette pass deep in Rockford territory.
The Rams gave the ball right back on a fumble, and Lake Orion
drove half the field to score and cut the margin to six points.
Rockford put the game away after another Lake Orion turnover.
The Rams drove 50 yards, the last 4 coming on a scoring run from
junior running back Ryan Darby with just more than six minutes
to play.
Lake Orion outgained Rockford in total offensive yards, 263-248,
but had three turnovers compared to one for the Rams.
Cochran's 72 rushing yards led the Rams, who totaled 176 yards
on the ground. Quarterback Tim McGee completed 3-of-3 passes
for 72 yards.
"Maybe we were a tad more conservative than I wanted," Munger
said. "And defensively, we were up, down and all around.
But we played well enough to win."
