Rockford
Rams 42. Grand Ledge Comets 14
Rockford rolls past Grand Ledge in Division 1 district final
Steve Vedder | The Grand Rapids Press, November 04, 2011 10:15
p.m.
ROCKFORD -- What opponents hadn’t been able to accomplish
against an impressive Grand Ledge defense this season, Rockford
managed in less than a quarter.
The Rams' offense was that good in Friday’s 42-14 thumping
of Grand Ledge in the Division 1 district final at Ted Carlson
Memorial Stadium.
Grand Ledge hadn’t surrendered more than two touchdowns
in a game all season, but Rockford tied that on Brady Gent’s
3-yard run with 7:10 left in the first quarter, then added a
third when Aaron Weston grabbed a 21-yard touchdown pass from
Mark LaPrairie with 33 seconds to go in the quarter.
Aside from crediting receivers with the ability to slip behind
the Comet defense, coach Ralph Munger said putting up 42 points
against a good defense was as simple as execution.
"Focus is an important thing, a great thing," he said. "We
were extremely focused and did a nice job of executing."
Good enough that the Rams led 35-0 at the half, and thus were
able to open the third quarter with a running clock.
The win was the team’s 10th consecutive victory and sends
the Rams (10-1) to next Saturday’s 1 p.m. regional final
against Grand Blanc at Rockford.
Rams senior receiver Justin Wustman, who caught two second quarter
touchdown passes of 52 and 54 yards, said there was no shortage
of preparation against the Comet defense during a successful
week of practice.
"We did what we had to do," he said. "We had
a great week of practice and studied their defense a ton."
Munger said Wustman, who wound up with 169 receiving yards,
had an outstanding night.
"His number got called, and my oh my did he respond," Munger
said. "He’s a player whose confidence is continuing
to grow."
LaPrairie. who opened the scoring with a 19-yard run at 10:21
of the first quarter, said the offense performed well.
"We made some plays, we had guys step up," said LaPrairie,
who hit just eight passes but threw for 220 yards. "We knew
they had a very good defense. We didn’t play perfect, but
we came out with the win."
LaPrairie also threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Connor Darby.
Grand Ledge (8-3) scored both its touchdowns in the last 11
minutes on an 18-yard run by Luke Vasilion and a 40-yard pass
from Nathan Megge to Ben Cornell. The Comets wound up rushing
for just 70 yards and had only 172 total yards.
"We didn’t give ourselves much of a break on field
position," said Grand Ledge coach Matt Bird, who works the
University of Michigan football camp with Munger. "But this
is the best game I’ve seen a Rockford team play as a group.
Ralph is a great playoff coach."
