Rockford rallies to beat East Kentwood, remain undefeated
Cris Greer | The Grand Rapids Press
ROCKFORD -- Stunned by East Kentwood's speed in the first half,
top-ranked Rockford needed two scores in the final quarter to
grab a 14-13 win against the Falcons on Friday.
The Rams stayed undefeated (8-0, 6-0 atop the O-K Red Conference),
while East Kentwood (5-3, 3-3) still is in search of its sixth
win for a guaranteed playoff berth.
"They have wonderful quickness, great speed," said
Rockford coach Ralph Munger, whose team is ranked No. 1 in Division
1. "Their defense played real fast, also. They caught us
on a couple things earlier and we had to make adjustments. You
realize how valuable it is to have speed.
"Kentwood is an outstanding football team without a doubt."
East Kentwood scored its first touchdown on a fumble recovery
and 20-yard run into the end zone by Kyle Rynkar. A good kick
by Quaid Anderson gave the Falcons a 7-0 lead with 3:01 remaining
in the first quarter.
They quickly made it 13-0 on a 10-yard touchdown run by Jamaal
Thomas with 1:45 left in the first quarter. The extra point kick
failed.
"We came here expecting to win. I'm proud of our guys." East
Kentwood coach Greg Hudkins said. "We've got speed and are
able to make things happen. We just didn't do a good enough job
stopping them.
"No matter what happened, we got better and stronger. We'll
regroup. We're going to go after Grand Haven -- it's our homecoming
next week."
East Kentwood blocked two field goals in the second quarter
and stopped a late touchdown drive to hold onto its 13-0 lead
at halftime.
Munger said his halftime talk with his team was very "matter
of fact."
"I said, 'It's either going to be a happy homecoming or
it's not going to be a happy homecoming.' "
Rockford made its move near the end of the third quarter and
finally punched one in on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Ryan Darby scored on a 1-yard run and Paul Mudgett's extra point
cut the Falcons' lead to 13-7 with 11:57 remaining in the game.
The Rams put together another great drive and got on the board
about 3 minutes later on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Taylor
Masiewicz to Tyler Pratt. Mudgett's kick gave Rockford its first
lead at 14-13.
Soon after, the Rams were helped by an interception by Zach
Haugen, who picked off a tipped pass while lying on his back
fairly deep in Rockford territory with 5:35 left in the game.
After the Rams failed to run out the clock, East
Kentwood had one more shot with its offense but couldn't capitalize.
Rockford's Nick Smythe rushed for 66 yards on 13 carries. East
Kentwood's Thomas had 79 yards on 17 carries, and Deonte Hurst
had 77 on seven carries.
Rockford's Masiewicz was14-of-23 passing for 183 yards with
one touchdown.
Images
courtesy of Michigan Helmet Project
