MUSKEGON TWP. - The Reeths-Puffer football team may have lost on Thursday night, but the Rockets sure made a fight of it in the fourth quarter, giving the home crowd something to cheer about all the way to the end.
The R-P defense held a highly-regarded Forest Hills Central squad to a pair of touchdowns and a field goal for three quarters, then the offense erupted for two long passing touchdowns in the final quarter, but it wasn’t quite enough in an 18-12 opening night loss at Rocket Stadium.
The last 10 minutes of the game were more than worth the price of a ticket.
With the score 18-0 with 9:50 left on the clock, R-P junior quarterback Braylon Swain dropped back and found Mason Darke for a 33-yard touchdown pass, cutting the deficit to 18-6.
R-P quarterback Braylon Swain gets ready to throw. Photo/Tyler Lirones
The Rocket defense then forced a quick three-and-out to get the ball back for the offense around midfield with 7:58 remaining.
Just three plays later, Swain found sophomore Ja’Michael Williams for a 19-yard touchdown pass, making the score 18-12.
The Reeths-Puffer defense then stood firm once again, forcing another three-and-out to give the offense another shot.
The Rockets took over on their own 49-yard line with 5:50 remaining and a chance to take the lead.
Three plays later, they threw an interception, giving the Rangers the ball at their own 45 with 4:19 remaining.
R-P's Cal Millis makes a tackle. Photo/Tyler Lirones
But the R-P defense still refused to break.
Forest Hills Central had a fourth-and-two deep in R-P territory with 2:55 remaining, and a first down would have all but settled the issue. R-P senior linebacker Cal Millis made sure that didn’t happen, bursting into the backfield and making a tackle for a loss, giving the Rockets yet another shot.
Three plays later, the Rockets hit a big pass and broke into the Forest Hills Central side of the field, but the receiver fumbled immediately after making the completion, and the Rangers recovered at their own 45.
FHC gained one first down before ultimately kneeling to run the clock out, leaving Reeths-Puffer with an 0-1 start to the season.
“Our kids are fighters,” said R-P head coach Cody Kater. “You could see that in the third and fourth quarters tonight. We kind of trained for these moments, so I’m not surprised at the fight we showed. We came up short a few times, but we fought our butts off. We just have to figure out how to be better and more connected going forward.”
R-P's Ja'Michael Michael Williams leaps to make a catch. Photo/Tyler Lirones
The game didn’t start out well for the Rockets.
Forest Hills Central marched 88 yards on 13 plays for a touchdown on the first possession of the game. Adam Piotrowski punched in a three-yard touchdown run, and the PAT kick gave the Rangers a 7-0 lead with 5:08 remaining in the first quarter.
Reeths-Puffer drove the ball into Ranger territory, just outside the red zone, to begin the second quarter, but was forced to punt.
The teams traded possessions until the end of the final moments of half, when Forest Hills Central sophomore Lucas Moeller knocked in a 30-yard field goal as time expired to give the Rangers a 10-0 halftime lead.
It could have been worse for the Rockets, because FHC had the ball at the R-P 2 before a bad snap, over the head of the quarterback, pushed the line of scrimmage back and forced the Rangers to settle for three points.
R-P's Connor McManus takes down the ball-carrier. Photo/Tyler Lirones
Reeths-Puffer was forced to punt to begin the third quarter, then the Rangers marched 75 yards over seven plays to extend the lead to 18-0.
FHC quarterback Nick Williams found Luka Nuo for a 53-yard touchdown pass, then the visitors got a two-point conversion to make the score 18-0 with 5:33 remaining in the third.
That score remained until the late R-P comeback, which fell just a little bit short.
Millis led the R-P defense with eight tackles while Connor McManus had seven.
Swain, in his first varsity start at quarterback, completed 11 of 18 passes for 154 yards and two TDs.
Darke, in his first game as a receiver after playing quarterback last year, had the 33-yard touchdown reception to his credit. Williams had three catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.
R-P's Mason Darke looks for running room. Photo/Tyler Lirones
“It’s a little bit different,” Darke said about debuting at receiver. “It’s a lot of fun though, and takes some pressure off of me. I can play a lot freer and not think as much. That’s where I’m best as a football player, so I enjoy it.”
While Darke was happy his team didn’t give up, he wants the Rockets to remember a loss is still a loss and find motivation from that fact.
“It was gutsy,” he said. “It was 18-0 at one point. We didn’t give up, but as we talked about, at the end of the day we still lost. That’s the new Puffer standard. We’re going to go all four quarters. We’re going to punch them in the mouth and come out with the win. So we’re not real happy with tonight.”
The Rockets will travel to Caledonia next Friday for another non-conference clash.
"We’re excited about our group because we think they’re going to continue to fight," Kater said. 'We just have to figure out how to be more connected by limiting negative plays and penalties.”