Rockford Rams 42. Holt Rams 7

Rockford rebounds from Week 1 loss to Lowell, rolls past Holt
Jeff Chaney | The Grand Rapids Press, September 01, 2011 10:42 p.m.

ROCKFORD -- It was a much better start for the Rockford football team this week.

An opportunistic Rams team jumped out to a two-touchdown lead less than 30 seconds into the game against visiting Holt on Friday night, and cruised to a 42-7 win.

It was far cry from a week ago, when Rockford stared down a two-touchdown deficit early, on its way to a 28-7 loss to Lowell in its opener.

"All week, our emphasis was execution," senior wide receiver Brandon Lubenow said. "Our effort was there last week, but our execution was not. It definitely felt a lot better tonight."

That improved execution was on display on the opening kickoff, when Lubenow took the ball at their 4-yard line inthe team’s "Starburst" formation and raced down the left side of the field for a 96-yard touchdown.

Last week, the Rams also had a kickoff return for a touchdown out of the same formation, but it was called back for an illegal handoff.

"Every day after practice this week, we worked on our returns," Lubenow said. "We made sure we were going to execute that well this week."

Then, on Rockford’s ensuing kickoff, Holt fumbled the ball, which Rockford senior linebacker Andrew Cunningham recovered on the Holt 12-yard line.

Senior running back Ryan Hartley darted in from 12 yards out on the next play, and Rockford had a 14-0 lead 26 seconds into the game.

The large crowd at Ted Carlson Memorial Stadium was still trying to find their seats.

"We talked about playing a heck of a lot better than last week," Rockford coach Ralph Munger said. "I kept emphasizing that we will be a different team than last week, and they responded. I thought we played very consistent, and kept putting the pedal down."

Rockford did, extending its lead to 21-0 late in the first quarter, before Holt responded.

The Rams, from the Lansing area, leaned on the bruising rushing of sophomore tailback Ty Glover, and cut the lead to 21-7 in the second quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run from quarterback Justin Alleman from the Wildcat formation.

But the early deficit was too much to come back from. Rockford continued to run the ball, scored one more touchdown before halftime, and two more in the second half for the final margin of victory.

"Talk about a worst-case scenario. That was it," Holt coach Al Slammer said of his team’s start. "Not to take anything away from Rockford, but we were our own worst enemy. I’ve never been down 14-0 in 30 seconds before."

Holt now is 0-2, after losing to another OK Red Conference team, Hudsonville, last week 24-14.

"We need to eliminate mistakes," Slammer said. "You had two angry teams today, and we are disappointed we couldn’t keep the game closer."

Rockford rushed the ball 33 times for 273 yards, led by junior Connor Darby, who went 90 yards on nine carries.

Glover led Holt with 115 yards on 21 carries.