A 10-yard touchdown run by Hunter Novak in the overtime session sent Rockford to a 27-21 win over Grand Haven on Friday and qualified the Rams for postseason play.
Rockford improved to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the OK Red Conference. The Rams have sole possession of first in the Red, one game ahead of East Kentwood and West Ottawa. Rockford takes on East Kentwood in a huge showdown on Oct. 17.
This is the 20th straight year Rockford has qualified a team for postseason. The last Rams team to miss the playoffs was the 3-6 team from 1994.
Three Rockford runners (Jake Sendzik, Novak and Brendan McKellar) each scored touchdowns for Rockford. McKellar's 40-yard run and subsequent kick by Quinn Nordin tied the score at 21-21 and forced overtime.
Grand Haven runner Schaefer Thelen ran for two touchdowns and finished with 26 carries and 163 yards. "Schaefer is a special athlete," Grand Haven coach Jason Duram said of his senior running back. "He did a lot to give our team a chance to win the game. We made the decision after week four to put him on offense almost exclusively, and that's really helped our offense. He's done some really special things for our offense. We wanted to take some of that extra burden off of him and let him focus on carrying the ball." As far as the overall game, Duram said untimely mistakes made the difference. "We couldn't convert a 4th and 1 at the goal line in overtime, but there were other plays earlier in the game that could have put us ahead too," Duram said. "Rockford just made more plays. We started out with the ball at the 10 in overtime and ran four straight times. We had some good runs, but we just couldn't punch it in."
Grand Haven (3-4, 0-3) is at Grandville on Oct. 17. "We've gotten better every game, but the OK Red is a great conference and we're struggling to get over the hump. If we go out and have a good week of practice, I think we'll be in good shape," Duram said.
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Rams outlast Grand Haven 27-21 in OT
