Rockford's season of 'living on the edge' ends with stunning
loss to Holt
Jane Bos | The Grand Rapids Press
ROCKFORD -- An hour after Rockford’s football season ended
two games short of the dream, almost a dozen Rams players, still
clad in their black uniforms, were motionless on the bright orange
R at midfield.
Some knelt with their heads in their hands. Others laid on their
backs, looking up into the darkening blue sky. One simply stood.
This was it. The stands at Ted Carlson Memorial Field had emptied.
Holt halted Rockford’s perfect season Saturday afternoon,
posting a stunning 27-13 regional victory against top-ranked
and defending Division 1 state champions.
Behind a stifling defense and two interceptions, the Holt Rams
(11-1) limited the Rockford Rams to 26 yards of offense in the
first half, including just one first down on a penalty, and led
13-3.
Rockford, which had rallied to win at least seven games this
season, did not have one more magic win to pull out of its helmet.
“We have been living on the edge for how many weeks now?” Rockford
coach Ralph Munger said. “Some how, some way, these guys
found a way to battle back in. Then get it to stay that way and
win is amazing.”
It was not to be Saturday.
Rockford did pull to within 13-6 in the third quarter after
Paul Mudgett booted his second field-goal (45 and 36 yards).
And with 3:29 left in the game, Rockford scored its only touchdown
-- a 29-yard pass from Tyler Masiewicz to Zach Haugen -- to narrow
it do 20-13.
Then the defense did its thing, and with less than two minutes
to go, Holt had about one foot to go on fourth down from its
own 29-yard line.
Could this be it? Was this the magic Rockford needed?
The Holt Rams, whose only loss was a 34-10 setback to Rockford
in Week 2, said, "No." They went for it and got it.
And on the next play, Jake Gallimore rumbled 70 yards for the
score to seal the game.
“That is one of those ones where you go, ‘We ought
to be able to get a foot, for gosh sakes,’” Holt
coach Al Slammer said. “We had done it three times before,
and it things go right, it’s great. It worked. It was a
huge win for us.”
Holt senior quarterback Jordan Beachnau made sure of that from
the start. On the first drive, he scored on a 9-yard run.
The 12-play drive included a fake punt on a fourth-and-10 situation
from its own 36-yard line.
Two Rockford plays later, Holt’s Dom Todd intercepted
a pass, then on first down. Beachnau connected with Chris Scott
on a 50-yard touchdown pass with 4:43 left in the first quarter.
Beachnau, who amassed more than 1,000 yards rushing and 1,500
yards passing this season, also scored on a 2-yard run in the
fourth quarter. He wound up 83 yards on the ground and 146 yards
in the air.
Holt outgained Rockford 226-68 rushing.
“The first half was brutal,” Munger said. “We
got physically dominated. The bottom line is, by the time we
decided to get going, it was too late. Today was Holt’s
day.”
The win sends Holt to next Saturday’s semifinal against
Detroit Catholic Central, which beat Plymouth Canton 31-24 in
overtime Saturday.