Rockford Rams 10. Muskegon Mona Shores Sailors 31

Mona Shores defense shines again, rises up to thwart third straight opponent
By Scott Brandenburg | sbranden@mlive.com  on September 12, 2015 7:00 AM

MUSKEGON, MI – Mona Shores senior defensive tackle Christian Boyd couldn’t make up his mind about which was the best unit on the Shores football team.

When asked about falling behind 7-0 13 seconds into their game against Rockford, Boyd said he wasn’t worried because he believes the Sailors have the best offense in the state.

A few seconds later Boyd was sharing his belief that the Sailors defense was the best in the state as well. That’s a lot of confidence coming from the Mona Shores sideline, but so far they’ve backed it up on the field.

The Sailors improved to 3-0 with a 31-10 home win over the Rams Friday. The other two wins were a 55-0 shellacking of West Ottawa and a 55-14 rout of Fruitport.

Through three games Mona Shores is averaging 47 points a game and giving up just eight points a contest. So you see Boyd’s dilemma. Both sides of the ball are playing at an extremely high level. Which is more impressive, 440 yards of offense or the defense allowing just 77 yards to the Rams Friday?

The offense gets a ton of credit, and rightly so. Tyler Trovinger, the senior quarterback who is very comfortable leading the Sailors, threw six TD passes, a single-game school record, against Fruitport in Week 2. He followed that up with an 18-for-27, 192-yard, 3-TD effort against a solid Rams defense Friday.

Trovinger has all kinds of weapons to choose from in MAC-bound wideouts Darece Roberson, Kobe Burse and Hunter Broersma. In the friendly rivalry TD competition, Roberson’s explosion of three TD catches pushes him to five for the season and into the lead. And when senior Dom Shermeta and Trovinger, both of whom bring at least 200 pounds of muscle to the ground game, can run like they did together Friday, opposing defenses will definitely be caught in a pickle. Shermeta rushed for 124 yards on 18 carries and Trovinger added 105 yards and a TD on 23 carries.

All the talk in the press box was how hard it will be for anyone to stop the Sailor offense. But as the game went on, at least some of the talk shifted to how impressive the defense was playing in shutting down Rockford’s power game.

“We really played tough football against a tough team,” Mona Shores’ 6-foot-3, 275-pound defensive lineman Mike Bordeaux said. “I think we really showed what we’re made of. We’ve got a pretty good group.” Believe it or not, the defense has been just as good as their counterparts. Despite giving up three total touchdowns, Mona Shores’ defense has yet to allow an opponent to reach the end zone. West Ottawa didn’t score at all in Week 1, Fruitport scored on a kickoff return and a fumble return in Week 2 and Rockford returned the Week 3 opening kickoff 90 yards for a score and added a 51-yard field goal from Penn State bound kicker Quinn Nordin.

Rockford never came close in establishing a long drive and couldn’t get to the red zone via the offense. This is the same Rams team which scored 24 against highly-regarded Saline in a Week 1 loss and beat Holt 47-0 a week ago. “We feel we are as physical as they come,” Mona Shores coach Matt Koziak said. “I think teams may underestimate us in that regard, but we haven’t had success for very long, so maybe (they underestimate us) rightfully so, but these guys have been in our weight program for four years now and have put on some weight. I think maybe teams do look at us as maybe being a fast team but don’t view us a physical team yet.”

The defense is anchored by a physical front four, which includes Bordeaux, fellow 3 year starter in 6-foot-2, 280-pound Christian Boyd, junior Evan DeYoung and senior Nick Brown. Tackling machine Dom Shermeta anchors the linebacking group, and four experienced defensive backs highlight what Boyd called “DB nation” in the Sailors defensive backfield.

The Sailor DB’s showed their talent and discipline on the few times Rockford chose to challenge them over the top. Hunter Broersma picked one pass off, and the Rams tried to run a reverse pass late in the game but took the sack when no receivers could be found open downfield.

“We knew we could dominate,” Boyd. “(The defensive backs) are amazing back there. They played lights out.” While Muskegon was racking up win No. 800 across town, Mona Shores was making its own statement. With both teams winning big, talk has inevitably turned to the Week 8 showdown between the OK Black rivals slated for Oct. 16 at Mona Shores High School. There’s work to be done by both teams before then, but the excitement is already building. The Sailors showed against Rockford they are a balanced enough team capable of winning titles once again this season.