Rockford offense comes alive after first-half touchdown pass
in win against West Ottawa
Greg Chrapek | Advance Newspapers, September 16, 2011 11:27 p.m.
ROCKFORD - When trying to win a football
game on the road in the O-K Red, it's advisable to cash in on
every scoring opportunity.
West Ottawa had several scoring chances in the first half of
Friday's game at Rockford, but late in the first half the Panthers
had only three points to show for their numerous trips inside
Rockford territory.
The Rams, on the other hand, had their offense stuck in neutral
for much of the first half, but on their final play of the half,
the Ram offense caught fire and never looked back enroute to
a 41-16 victory.
After trading field goals for almost the entire first half,
Rockford had one final offensive play late in the first half
as it faced down on the Panther 41-yard line with 13 seconds
remaining in the half. That one opportunity was all the Rams
needed to light the spark as senior quarterback Mark LaPrairie,
seeing his first game action since an injury against Lowell in
the season opener, lofted a pass to Brandon Lubenow who got behind
the Panther secondary and hauled in the scoring strike with five
seconds left in the first half giving the Rams a 10-3 lead after
Steven Mette's extra point.
"That was a huge spark," said Rockford
coach Ralph Munger. "I only changed that play maybe three
times, I think it was my third choice. When you got so doggone
many plays to choose from, and I know what I want based on situations
and stuff, but that was the one, that was the one I was looking
for, so you get lucky every once in a while. Then the boys go
and execute it."
That touchdown lit the fuse for an array of Rockford fireworks
in the second half. On the first possession of the second half,
the Rams needed just two minutes and 15 seconds to drive 80 yards
with Ryan Hartley capping the drive with a two-yard touchdown
run.
After the Ram defense turned in a three-and-out against the
Panther offense, the Ram offense struck again even quicker fashion.
This time the Rams covered 59 yards in four plays with Hartley
slashing in from 10-yards out as the Ram lead grew to 24-7.
While West Ottawa's defense stalled Rockford's next drive on
the Panther 35-yard line, Mette kept the fireworks bursting as
he boomed a 52-yard field goal giving the Rams a 27-7 lead.
After West Ottawa scored its first touchdown of the game on
the next possession, the Rams needed just one play to get that
score back. That was when senior running back Brady Gent burst
through a hole in the middle of the Panther defense and raced
80 yards down the middle of the field for a touchdown with 34
seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Rockford upped its lead to 41-10 early in the final quarter
when junior quarterback Kyle Short hit Lubenow with a 38-yard
touchdown pass before the Panther closed out the scoring with
a touchdown with 9:11 remaining in the game.
