Rockford Rams 00. Caledonia Fighting Scots 42

Caledonia 42, Rockford 0: Scots pull off biggest football win in nine years

By Steve Vedder | svedder@mlive.com on September 26, 2014 11:07 p.m.

It took Caledonia's football team nine years to repeat a magical moment from its state championship season after stunning Rockford 42-0 on Friday.

That's how Caledonia football coach Tom Burrill equated the Scots' stunning upset of unbeaten and No. 2-ranked Rockford. Burrill said it was likely the program's biggest win since upending East Grand Rapids en route to a 2005 state title.

"We think this was the best game since the state championship year, so that's nine years," Burrill said after the Scots put together a 28-point second quarter, rushed for 344 yards as a team and snapped a disappointing two-game losing streak.

Caledonia (3-2) all but sealed the win by scoring 28 points in a nine-minute stretch in the second quarter. Tanner Christian ran for 8 and 61-yard touchdowns, Jalen Burton added a 4-yard run and Eddie Kelly closed out the scoring with a 2-yard run with two minutes to go in the half. Three of the scores finished off drives of at least 65 yards.

Kelly finished with 145 yards on 14 carries, while Christian rushed 12 times for 119. Both scored two touchdowns.

The win came after Caledonia had been outscored by a combined 71-26 in losses to Mona Shores and Forest Hills Central the last two weeks.

"We went from a real low the last two weeks to a real high," Burrill said. "Rockford is a great program and they were coming off an emotional win (28-27 over Hudsonville) last week. Our kids were sky high. We had a great week of practice and the kids knew this was our season. We had the phrase "resolve" this week. We used that word all week."

Despite the back-to-back losses, Burrill said the season has never been about a lack of talent.

"This is a very talented team and the seniors took a stand tonight," he said. "We may be as talented as we've been in a long time. The players talked about not worrying about talent, just play hard for 48 minutes. We wanted to play to our potential."