Rockford builds big lead, hangs on for Division 1 playoff win
over Howell
Steve Kaminski | The Grand Rapids Press, November 13, 2010 7:29
p.m.
ROCKFORD -- James Bond couldn’t have pulled
off the mission any better than Rockford senior cornerback Brian
Fischer in the Rams’ 31-27 victory against Howell on Saturday
afternoon.
Fischer’s interception at the Rams’ 20-yard line
with 25 seconds left in regulation secured Rockford’s Division
1 regional championship, which sends the Rams into next weekend’s
state semifinals against Plymouth.
Rockford (11-1) built a 31-7 third-quarter lead before Howell
quarterback Greg Cauley, who threw for 330 yards, rallied the
Highlanders. Cauley drove Howell 98 yards in 2 minutes to pull
Howell to within 31-27 with 1:44 remaining.
Howell’s onside-kick attempt failed, but moments later,
the Highlanders recovered a fumble. Cauley had the Highlanders
on the move again when Fischer, who was instructed to play “spy”,
picked off Cauley.
“We changed up some players out there, and we put (wide
receiver) Neil VanderLaan in to play corner, and they had me
play spy,” Fischer said. “They told me to read the
quarterback and go to the ball.
“That was the first time I ever played that. We were on
the sidelines, and they wanted to get in some faster players
to stick with their athletic players,and it worked out. They
wanted me to just be wherever he threw it and make sure no one
gets into the end zone.”
Added Rockford coach Ralph Munger: “It was like we quit
playing. ... We really didn’t quit playing, but they had
us scrambling, no question. I’m not real happy with the
second half. It was a tale of two halves, again. Fortunately,
we made a play at the end. We made an adjustment that proved
to be a difference maker. It wasn’t pretty at the end,
but we got it done.
“But credit Howell. They have a real good team. They are
big, fast and physical.”
VanderLaan proved to be one of Rockford’s biggest threats
on offense before he was asked to play defense on the final series.
Rockford junior quarterback Mark LaPrairie completed 19-of-27
passes for 331 yards, with nine of those completions going to
VanderLaan, who finished with 208 yards receiving.
LaPrairie threw two touchdown passes to VanderLaan, including
a 70-yard bomb that put Rockford up 31-7 at the 7:56 mark of
the third quarter.
“Neil was getting by everybody,” LaPrairie said. “He
is my first read. When I do my fake and everything, I just look
deep, and he is my first look. I was just throwing it up to him,
and he was making plays.
“I can’t say enough about the line. They were giving
me so much time to throw. I have to give them a ton of credit
also.”
Rockford was forced to punt on its opening possession, but the
Rams scored the next four times they had the ball to take a 24-7
halftime lead.
The Highlanders drove inside Rockford’s 30-yard line four
times in the opening half, but was able to capitalize only once,
when Derrick Palma ran 6 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit
to 17-7 with 2:45 remaining before halftime.
Any momentum Howell gained from its late score was erased when
Rockford marched 75 yards in the final 2 minutes for another
touchdown. LaPrairie’s 40-yard strike to VanderLaan gave
Rockford a 1st and goal at the 4 with 26 seconds left. LaPrairie
then tossed a touchdown pass to VanderLaan on the ensuing play.
“Mark had a great game and Neil had a great game, but
it wasn’t just those two,” Munger said. “It
was also the line and the backs. It was the whole package.”
The Rams will make their fifth trip to the state semifinals
in seven years. Rockford’s most recent trip was in 2008,
when it won the state title.
