After a good season last year, the Reeths-Puffer football team went into 2023 with a lot of questions, due to a lot of new faces in the lineup.
But after one game, the Rockets don’t seem to have skipped a beat.
They answered a lot of questions by waltzing to a very impressive 41-13 season-opening victory over Grand Haven last week and hope to keep it going on the road on Thursday against Farmington.
Last week's opener was the oddest of games that took two nights to complete.
Grand Haven took an early 7-0 lead with a first-quarter touchdown, then R-P led 14-7 when the game was postponed on Thursday due to severe weather. The Rockets were even better the next night, pulling away from the Buccaneers in decisive fashion.
The victory margin was greater than last season, when R-P opened with a 32-20 win over Grand Haven.
The outcome was more than pleasing for head coach Cody Kater, who said before the season that his team was talented but very green.
“There were a lot of big plays,” Kater said. “On Thursday we were just starting to pick up some momentum (when the game was postponed). We felt like our game plan was really strong.”
Kater said the Rockets had been practicing well and showing a lot of potential leading up to the game, so he wasn’t shocked with the way they played.
“I was not overly surprised,” he said. “We’ve been pretty consistent in practice. But we still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Several Rockets put up big numbers in the game, starting with several familiar names.
Senior running back Brody Johnson turned in his usual eye-popping performance, rushing the ball 18 times for 164 yards and two touchdowns, both covering 51 yards.
Senior middle linebacker Caiden Bolduc, the area’s leading tackler last season, totaled eight stops and three assists.
Other leading tacklers were Eliot Schneider (four stops, one assist, one sack and one tackle for a loss) and Brooks Johnson (three stops, two assists and two tackles for a loss).
Ethan Muskovin and Jezsiah Sims each had an interception.
One new starter who caught everyone’s attention was senior quarterback Antrel Jones, who completed 13 of 18 passes for 301 yards with four touchdowns.
Jones had a 13-yard touchdown pass to Travis Ambrose, a seven-yard scoring strike to Bryce Ross, a 13-yard TD pass to Ambrose, and finally a 66-yarder to Kameron Coleman.
“He was extremely accurate,” Kater said about Jones. “His eyes were in the right place and he had athletes out in space. (Passing success) was something we had to do, because Grand Haven had seven or eight guys in the box, just daring us to throw.
“Our offensive line did a great job of protecting him and ensuring that he had time to make those plays.”
The Rockets’ performance was far from perfect, Kater said.
He was not pleased with the team's nine penalties, and even though some of that can be chalked up to inexperience at a lot of positions, he said “We have to clean that up.”
Now the Rockets are preparing for a long trip on Thursday, when they will travel to the metro-Detroit area to play Farmington, a team that seems to be very similar to the Rockets.
Last year Reeths-Puffer was 6-4 and made the playoffs after several rough seasons. Farmington was also 6-4 and made the postseason after two sub-par years.
Farmington also opened the season last week with an impressive victory, 52-6 over Detroit Henry Ford.
While there is no detailed scouting report available on Farmington, it’s clear the Falcons have some playmakers.
Cameron Pettaway, who rushed for 145 yards and three touchdowns last week, is obviously one of them. Trenton Darden, who gained 107 yards and scored one TD, is another.
“Watching film from last year and this year, they are definitely a strong team,” Kater said. “They have athletes all over the place. It looks like they are trying to build on last year, just like we are.”
