MUSKEGON TWP. - It almost seems like Year 1 again for head coach Cody Kater and his Reeths-Puffer football team.
Of course this will be Kater’s fourth season at the helm, and the first two went really well, with the Rockets making the state playoffs each year, with 6-3 and 7-2 records, respectively.
Last season was a bit of a step back, with a lot of new starters throughout the lineup. The Rockets posted a 2-7 record, the first sub-.500 year of the Kater era.
Ideally this would be shaping up as a big bounce-back year, and that could turn out to be the case, with a team full of fired up players who are fully invested in the program and eager to win more games. 
But once again there will be a lot of new faces in starting roles for the Rockets, because a lot of the new starters last year were seniors and graduated, while a handful of others who could have returned are not on the team this fall.
In their place will be a lot of guys with talent – including numerous sophomores – who will be gaining experience and learning on the fly.
It’s like a fresh start, and Kater doesn’t think that’s a bad thing at all.
“We have very good senior leadership, and everyone is really coachable,” said Kater, whose team will open the season at home on Thursday night against Forest Hills Central. “These guys want to be here and want to improve, and that’s all that we can ask for. We will continue to grow and get better.
“We are kind of starting over again. It kind of feels like ground zero again.”
Tough year, offseason changes
R-P’s 2024 season started out so-so, with a 2-2 record after four games, with early losses to Forest Hills Central and Caledonia, followed by wins over Spring Lake and Grand Rapids Union. Then things went south.
The Rockets lost their last five games, with particularly tough outcomes in the rivalry games - a 47-7 loss to Muskegon and a 40-0 loss to Mona Shores.
There were also some better efforts, including a very competitive 42-28 loss to a great Byron Center squad in Week 6 and a close 35-28 loss to Forest Hills Eastern in the final game of the season. Both of those opponents ended up being playoff teams.
Injuries really started to pile up for the Rockets in the second part of the season, and the impact was obvious on the scoreboard.
“In the Muskegon game we had a lot of guys going off the field with injuries, and in the Shores game we had about six guys not suited up at all,” Kater said. “Every team is going to have injuries, that’s where the depth of the team really starts to show, and we just didn’t have a whole lot of depth. I think we started to lose a little bit of hope and belief, and there was some off-the-field drama that we were working through.
“By the last game we just said let’s go play football and see what we have. We rolled up over 400 yards of offense. Overall we looked like we had somewhat of an identify.”
The difficult year led to some serious re-evaluation in the offseason, and some changes in the way the program operates, Kater said.
“We’ve been spending more time and creating more opportunities for kids,” he said. “This is the first year we’ve had our hands deep into the offseason strength training and mental training. We’re trying new things and being creative. We have handbooks and contracts for different position groups, so it’s more clear for the kids what’s expected. We have been doing better character evaluations, and getting deep into the mindset of things off the field.
“I’ve also got a coaching staff returning for the first time in back-to-back years, instead of having so many leaving and retiring. In the first few years we recycled quite a few guys. Last year my offensive coordinator didn’t get here from Colorado until August, and the defensive coordinator came about the same time. This year we have the same staff, and we’ve been pretty fired up since about May.
“We have finally found more balance in this thing, and we’re ready to prove ourselves. We have been making changes so we can compete at a high level.”
All of the offseason changes tended to weed out the roster a bit. Some players decided not to come back, but the net result is a team full of motivated guys who very much want to be a part of R-P football and are focused on getting the team back on track.
“Some of the kids found themselves out the door without us asking them to leave,” Kater said. “They saw the direction the program is going. The kids who are here want to be here and play football and earn people’s respect. They want to create a brand for themselves and rebound from last year.”
Offensive skill positions
The Rockets will only return a handful of players on each side of the ball who started or saw significant playing time last year.
The new look will begin at the quarterback position, where two players with no varsity experience there have been battling it out for the starting nod.
Junior Braylon Swain was the junior varsity quarterback the last two seasons, while sophomore Cole Piper was a defensive back on varsity last season.
“Swain navigates the offense real well and knows where the ball needs to go,” Kater said. “He executes at a high rate and doesn’t put the ball in trouble much. Piper is an athlete. He was top five in the county in the 100-yard dash in track. There is definitely a high ceiling for him.
“Both of them can throw. Both can play quarterback. They have kind of been dueling it out all summer, and they have been getting an equal number of reps. We are waiting for one of them to separate himself.”
The backfield will also have new personnel. Last year’s lead running back, Bryce Muskovin, transferred to another school district, opening the door for other candidates.
The first-string running back this year will be senior Cal Millis, who has been a defensive starter the past two seasons. His backup will be sophomore Garrison Niklasch, and Kater likes what both of them bring to the table.
“Millis has picked up the pace of it well,” the coach said. “He runs incredibly hard and he’s not going to go down on the first tackle. Niklasch is a big, strong, tough kid and gets downhill fast.”
The strongest part of the R-P offense may be the receivers, who are tall, fast and talented.
One new wide receiver will be a very familiar name – senior Mason Darke, who was the starting quarterback last season. He is a great athlete, as demonstrated by his success in track last spring, and Kater thinks he has the potential to be a naturally great receiver.
“We were never going to be able to get him into space at the quarterback position,” he said. “He’s more free to use his speed and showcase his talents.”
Junior Connor McManus, a starting wideout last year who showed some promise, will move to slot receiver. Junior Brendan Guikema, who was on the JV squad last year, will also be a key receiver, along with talented sophomore Ja’Michael Williams.
“All of them are taller than 6-1,” Kater said about the receivers. “We’ve never had that before. We will play a spread style offense, which means we can have four of them that we move around and get into space. Right now, with all four on the field, it looks pretty dangerous.”
Linemen, linebackers, secondary
Of course the key to the attack, as always, will be the offensive line, and the Rockets will be breaking in new personnel. Several of the guys played on varsity last year, but none started on the O-line.
Some names to watch for across the line this fall will be seniors Michael Moschke, Gus Pulos-Siegel, Garrett Olejarczyk and Devin Welch, juniors Owen Moore and James Helferich, and sophomoreTroy Swingley.
“They are inexperienced (at the position),” Kater said. “None of them were starters on the offensive line last year. Some played on the defensive line. The coaches have done a great job with them. Because they are so green, they are incredibly coachable.”
The defensive line will also be manned by mostly first-time starters. Three guys who are likely to see a lot of time are senior Hudson Roberts and sophomores Swingley (who will also play offensive line) and Paul Smith.
Millis, an All-Conference middle linebacker last season, will return to that spot on defense, pulling double-duty when he’s not running the ball on offense. Niklasch will also see time at linebacker, along with seniors Andrew Corradin and Connor Anderson.
In the secondary, Darke, Piper, Swain, Guikema, McManus, seniors London Rankin and Ethan Vossekuil, junior Bobby Gamble and sophomore Travis Henderson will all see playing time at safety or cornerback. Most of them are also inexperienced at those positions.
Ready to roll
The Rockets had a very tough schedule last year, going up against four teams that qualified for the playoffs – Forest Hills Central, Byron Center, Forest Hills Eastern and Mona Shores. Muskegon had an off year and did not make the playoffs, but was still very talented.
Last season R-P’s opponents posted a combined 45-35 regular season record. Fourteen of those losses came from Grand Rapids Union and Spring Lake, and without those teams the combined record was 41-21.
R-P will play the same nine teams this season, - including O-K Green conference opponents Muskegon, Mona Shores, Forest Hills Northern, Grand Rapids Union and Byron Center -- so pretty much every week will be a major challenge for the Rockets. 
Kater is excited to test his guys and see how well they measure up.
“We have quite a few guys who got playing time last year, especially because of injuries,” the coach said. “We definitely have more football-first guys. But we still have a lot of inexperience, particularly on the offensive line and in the defensive backfield.
“Everyone is counting us out because of our inexperience, and we’re okay with that. We will just be working hard to find ways to improve every week and give the community something it can be proud of.”