Rockford Rams 29. Muskegon Big Reds 26

Motivated Rockford rallies past Muskegon in OK Red football thriller
Mike Mattson | The Muskegon Chronicle, September 20, 2011 6:46 p.m.

Rockford and Muskegon - two motivated football teams – put on quite a show Friday night at Hackley Stadium.

Brady Gent made sure Rockford enjoyed the bus ride home as his winning touchdown catch with 3:02 remaining lifted the Rams to a thrilling 29-26 OK Red Conference victory.

Muskegon was motivated after losing three of its last four games to Rockford.

And the Rams were motivated by a tragedy earlier Friday when senior Ryan Hartley's father died in a car accident.

Hartley was dressed in his No. 6 jersey and jeans, but did not play in the physical, emotional game between the conference rivals.

“This one is for you baby,” a teammate yelled to Hartley in the post-game celebration. “We love you baby!”

Rockford coach Ralph Munger was brought to tears talking about his team's victory and the tragedy earlier that day.

“It's really difficult to talk about,” Munger said. “One of our seniors lost his father. You never know from an emotional standpoint how kids respond. They love each other. They never quit tonight.”

The Big Reds (4-1, 2-1) appeared to be on their way to knocking off the Rams (4-1, 3-0), ranked No. 3 in Division 1.

They went up 26-14 after a dramatic fake punt by Ryan Williams-Follins led to a 15-yard TD run by Jai'lyn Thompson with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

But Rockford answered as quarterback Mark LaPrairie tossed a 21-yard TD to Brandon Lubenow off a screen pass to pull the Rams within 26-21 early in the fourth quarter.

On Rockford's last possession, LaPrairie threw a short slant out pass to Gent, who broke a tackle and sprinted down the sideline for the winning score with 3:02 left. A conversion pass to Aaron Weston capped the 29-26 score.

“They did an excellent job defending our perimeter game,” Munger said. “We had to rely on the pass to pull this one out.”

On Muskegon's last possession, Muskegon quarterback Princton Duncan's pass was intercepted by Kyle Short on fourth-and-long and the Rams ran out the clock.

“We had our chances and came up short,” said Muskegon coach Shane Fairfield, whose team is ranked No. 3 in Division 2. “To beat a solid program like Rockford you have to have some luck. The luck went the other way tonight. We left some points out on the field.”

Muskegon had one first-half drive end at the 10-yard line and a third-quarter drive ended with a missed 23-yard field goal.

Rockford also scored on a 14-yard fumble recovery by KC Zenner on the first play of the third quarter for a 14-13 lead.

The Big Reds – fueled by a big block by Williams-Follins – answered with a 9-yard run by Jeffrey Hudson for a 20-14 lead.

Muskegon won the battle of stats in total yards (459-284), rushing yards (344-98 and first downs (16-9).

LaPrairie completed 12-of-25 passes for 186 yards and three scores. Lubenow had seven catches for 72 yards and Gent had five grabs for 81 yards. Gent also led the ground attack with seven carries for 73 yards.

Duncan completed 8-of-12 passes for 115 yards and carried 26 times for 125 yards. Lewis added 19 carries for 102 yards and Williams-Follins chipped in with seven carries for 80 yards.

“It was a very physical game,” Lewis said. “My hats off to Rockford. They played a good game. It's good to be in a battle like this early in the season. This will make us a better team.”

Rockford started the game fast, covering 64 yards in 11 plays, with quarterback LaPrairie tossing a 6-yard TD pass to Lubenow.

The Big Reds answered with an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped by Duncan's 15 yard TD run.

Muskegon got a break early in the second quarter when Angelo Corona recovered a fumble at the Rockford 43-yard line. Six plays later, Lewis gave the Big Reds a 13-7 lead on a 1-yard run that was set up by a 30-yard run by Duncan.

“I felt we could have won this game,” Williams-Follins said. “Losing this game will only make us better.”